Beach Party Cupcakes and Party Favors

My girls had quite the social calendar this weekend and ended up being invited to two birthday parties yesterday. Luckily they were both pool/beach parties so going from one to the next was easy.

One of the parties was held at the beach area of a lake community. The party was simple yet fun! The girls had a hula contest, played limbo, played in the sand and cracked open a pinata. Food was simple – hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill with fruit, chips and veggies.

I loved the cupcakes they served! The birthday girl’s mom said she had seen the recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine and that the cupcakes were super easy to make. Basically it is a cupcake frosted with white icing. You pipe blue waves on one half with blue icing. Sprinkle brown sugar or crushed graham cracker crumbs on the other side for sand. Add a paper cocktail umbrella for a beach umbrella and use soft peppermint candies as beach balls. Adorable!

The party favors were very creative, too. She took simple sand buckets and filled them with inexpensive beach toys – inflatable beach ball, crazy sunglasses, bubbles, silly straws and other cute goodies.

The other party was a basic pool party at a local community pool. The party was simple and the girls loved it. The best part was the creative party favor the hostess gave out - pool noodles! As each girl arrived they put their name on a pool noodle with permanent marker. They were able to use the pool noodles at the pool party and they got to take them home – definitely more creative than a goody bag!

Pool or beach parties are very simple, inexpensive and fun themes for kids summer birthday parties! Here are a few more items to help you get started planning your own pool party: