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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Octonauts party!

It's birthday time for both of my boys. Though 2 years apart, their birthdays are 6 days apart, so it's natural to have one party for both. With both boys (turning 6 and 4) being huge fans of kids TV show, The Octonauts, finding a theme for this years party was easy peasy, and producing the parts was challenging and fun! Here's what I came up with (and some fun ideas to try - if you're doing one too)...



Easy party hats and eye patches were made with coloured card. A 'party room' was set out within our open plan playroom, using walls of seaweed (streamers). Inside that space we set up a central table, set with sea shells, small sea creatures and the food.



The 'coral' and 'fish biscuits' were homemade cheese puffs, the chocolate bars were re-badged with Octonaut characters, various confectionery items became 'electric eels' and 'blob fish'. 'Octodogs' (made by slitting legs through red-skinned hotdogs prior to cooking) were served with 'ink sauce' (tomato sauce tinted with blue colouring!)



A large hand drawn 'Peso' poster on the wall became a game, following an episode of the Octonauts where he wins an "Iron Clam" award, we had the children 'pin the clam' (a silver painted shell - each with a childs name inside it) in his hand - blindfolded. Later the children were given a treasure map and were sent on a hunt to find their treasure boxes (which would be their goodie bag to take home).



Finally, sharing a party is one concession, but I wanted the boys to have a cake each, so they can blow out their own candles. They were each quite sure about their favourite characters, which were not so tricky to replicate in cake form: Dashi (above) for 4 year old Hugo, and Captain Barnacles for Dylan, 6.


A fun party, and I'm exhausted! I should have remembered after last years party! Now, who's got the vino?

*EDITED: Check out the comments section for loads of FAQs. Seems Octonaut parties are still awesome and our little party has inspired ideas for yours!

20 comments:

dixiebelle said...

Too clever, love the cakes! My kids like this show too, though it drives me a little crazy!

ninaribena said...

Ha ha, yes mine are obsessed - and hubby too, though I had resisted watching complete episodes until party research was necessary!

Have ordered some of the books which started it all and they look absolutely adorable.

Rosalind said...

Anya would LOVE this! ABC bookshop now has some books too.

Libby said...

This is amazing! My son is totally obsessed and currently makes us call him Dashi (even though he knows she's a girl) and calls me Tweak and my hubby Captain. Only his sister gets her real name. So funny. Anyway, your Dashi cake has inspired me - I think he would love it. Could you please tell me what you used to make the black part of the eyes? I think I have worked out everything else. Although would love to know what the name of the lolly is that you used for the nose.
Thank you very much - your party looked fabulous - you are so creative!

ninaribena said...

Libby that's so cute, these Octonauts are so obsessive aren't they?! So glad you love the cake, it was pretty simple really. The black in the eyes is actually rolled out licquorice (from Daryl Lea it's the softest) trimmed to shape, plus a tic tac for the white. And the nose is half of a purple-ish 'cloud' lolly which came in a pack from Hot Dollar (we served the rest of them as 'blob fish')! The cheeks are large marshmallows which I rolled in food colouring. I chose a cake mix with a caramel coloured icing included, then added cocoa powder to darken half of it.

Good luck with yours, and I hope your little Dashi has an awesome birthday! Octonauts to your stations! xxx

ninaribena said...

Actually Libby, there's a bowl of those lollies in the pic just under the Dashi cake, click to see it larger. xx

Libby said...

Thank you so much! Am preparing my shopping list for the cake - the birthday is this Sat! We received that CBeebies magazine with the Octonauts figurines in the post today (bought it off ebay) so he will get that as part of his present.
He is super excited about the cake! (We haven't shown him a picture - don't want to put that much pressure on ourselves!!)
Sound the Octoalert - Let's do this :)

Mommy Tales said...

Hi
Looks like this was a really nice party.

I just wanted to say that I have put a link to this article on my site for Octonauts fans.

Is it possible to use one of the pictures you have on here? You will be credited for everything of course.

I´ve also dropped a link on my Facebook page to this blog.

ninaribena said...

Hi Under Sea Heroes, that sounds great, happy to share the love! Thank you for the credits, cheers.

Nichole said...

love, love, LOVE your party, very clever! I am having an Octonauts party in a few weeks time, thanks for some great ideas and lovely photos!! xx

muminnewcastle said...

What a fabulous party, can you tell me what chocolates you used, I've downloaded the pics from ABC4KIDS but haven't had any luck with the chocs?

Thanks for the ideas!!

ninaribena said...

Thank you so much Muminnewcastle,

The chocs I used are actually just the little Cadbury 'furry friends' bars (bought in a pack of 5 or 6). I unwrapped them, the re-wrapped in foil, then re-badged in the new octonaut label. Worth the effort... I think they looked pretty cool!
So glad you found some ideas here.

Good luck with your party!
xx

muminnewcastle said...

Ahh, makes sense, I did buy a packet of those but didn't even consider unwrapping and using foil. That's how imaginative I am!

Thanks again, I'm getting busy with some foil...

angelique said...

Thanks for your blog - it's very helpful. Do you remember where you got the cardboard treasure chests from. They're lovely

ninaribena said...

Hi Angelique, The Treasre chests were an Ebay purchase. xx

Abigail and Jude's Mum said...

We are doing an octonauts party next week for my 5 year old. Can you post the link to the chocolate wrappers? I can't find it and it would be GREAT!
Thanks

Jennifer Christopher said...

Would love to know where you found the treasure chest favor boxes? They're perfect!

ninaribena said...

Hi Jennifer, the Treasure Chests were found on Ebay. I can't seem to find them there anymore. Try here though, these look good http://www.partykitnkaboodle.com.au/treasure-chest-party-box-746.html

cheers and good luck, xx

Stacy said...

This is absolutely adorable! My daughter is turning four years old this month & we are celebrating by having an Octonauts themed party. She LOVES anything & everything Octonauts, so she is super excited for her party in two weeks! We have been trying to make & buy lots of party favors & the chocolate bars with the Octonauts wrappers are so cute! I found out where to print them in the link that you provided, but would really appreciate any help that you can give on the sizing that I need to shrink the picture to & exactly what you printed them on. Did you print them on regular white printer paper & them taped or glued them to the wrapper or did you print them on a sticker sheet?
Thank you so much for your help! :)
Stacy

Unknown said...

What did you use to make the facial features on Cpt. Barnacles?

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  • Chairs of 2017! - Wow, its another year coming to a close, and our year in numbers has us having rescued approximately 150 chairs!! Here's some of our faves... Can you spot ...
    6 years ago