Octonauts Party Ideas - How I Threw an Octonauts Party on a Budget

My oldest son is a HUGE fan of Disney's Octonauts (this is actually a UK show that is shown in the US on Disney channel). A little more than a month before his big day I decided to throw him the best Octonauts party I could manage on a limited budget and no access to Octonauts themed party supplies (the shipping from the UK is much more than I care to spend). So i set forth with nothing more than a computer, a printer, and google at my disposal. The first obstacle to tackle was finding inexpensive decor that had the look of the Octonauts. After some searching I found the Oriental Trading website. They had exactly what I needed: table cloths, favors, a cupcake holder all for the low price of $23 ( I managed to order on one of their free shipping days!). This is what I ordered:

Blue Polka Dot Baby Shower Table Cover

This matched the blue of the octonaut's uniforms very well :)

Orange Reversible Table Runner

 And this matches Kwazii (my son's favorite character)

Extending Telescopes

Since Kwazii is a pirate, we placed these on the table with....

Pirate Treasure Maps

In honor of Kwazii the Pirate :)

Pirate Ship Cupcake Holder

sticking with the Kwazii pirate theme I ordered this awesome cupcake holder

These were all great items and really added to the party's Octonauts atmosphere but it is just not a real Octonauts party without the Octonauts. This is where my creativity became useful. Using design software I put together some printables:

Letter Cake Toppers

I cut out my son's name, attached each letter to toothpicks, and added them to the top of his cake.

Kwazii Pirate Favor Boxes

 I could not find favor boxes that matched so I created my own!

Kwazii Birthday Shirt

I downloaded this coloring page image from the Disney website and added the color and number using my computer. I wanted to create my son's birthday shirt using this image so I flipped the image and printed it on iron-on transfer paper. 

Tunip's Fish Biscuits Sign

Tunip is a vegimal (half vegetable, half animal) and the cook on board the Octopod. He makes a lot of fish biscuits so I made this sign and attached it to a bowl of goldfish crackers.

For the cake I found a blog with a printable you could use to create your own cake bunting. This blog is amazing and saved me some much needed party planning time by providing such a great free printable. I downloaded the bright alphabet pages and used the blue and orange sheets. I attached the letters to string (spelling out Happy Third Birthday) then tied them to two wooden dowels which I stuck into the cake. I also needed fondant to create Captain Barnacles, Peso, and Kwazii. To make it by hand I used a video I found on YouTube. Trouble is I can not find it now so I will just tell you what I did:

1. First, create a  pile of powdered confectioner's sugar on top of parchment paper (make a crater in the pile to help keep the marshmallow from running off of the paper or the table). 
2. Then, melt one bag of mini marshmallows (add coloring when they are almost completely melted if you want the fondant to be all one color). 
3. Once the marshmallows are melted pour the marshmallow on top of the powdered sugar. 
4. Coat your hands in Crisco to keep the marshmallow from sticking to your hands.
5. Fold the powdered sugar over the marshmallow (which will still be hot) continuously until it becomes thick and can be kneaded (you may need to add more Crisco to your hands at this point). 
6. Knead the fondant until the marshmallow and sugar are completely mixed together. 
7. Lightly grease a piece of saran wrap and use it to cover the fondant.
8. Place the fondant in a Ziploc bag and set aside in a cool dry place (not the fridge) for 24 hours. 

I know a video would be more useful but I can not find the one I used. There are more videos on how to create fondant though. Just a simple Google search for 'how to make fondant" will give you what you need :)

I also found a gummy fish and jello fish bowl idea on pinterest which I thought would be fun for the kids. All you do is add gummy fish to blue jello (in a fish bowl) before the jello has completely set. I used a large bowl for the center of the table and placed small bowls on either side. 

To top it all off, I downloaded some fun printables from the Disney Junior Octonauts Page including creature cards (which I laminated) and coloring cards for the kids. This is also where I found the coloring page for my son's birthday shirt.

Well here are all the decorations and cake in action:

All the printables I created can be found on my weebly site. I included Kwazii birthday shirts for ages 1-6. They are free for PERSONAL USE but are not to be used for profit. 

So there you have it! One month in planning and it was all worth it. My son would not stop telling me "thank you" and "I love you" for the next week. Hearing him say that and seeing how happy it made him is more than I could ask for. This is one happy momma :)