Fishy birthday party part 3 - getting ready

So yesterday I finished the rest of the preparations for the party, at least the ones I can do ahead. Of course I still need to cook, clean and set everything up, but I just feel better when the goodie bags and games are done.

First up were the fishing rods - what's a fishing party without the right equipment? These are cheap plastic bath toys, but they are the perfect colors and we already had one of them and it's fairly sturdy. The best part is the reel. My kids love it, and they were on sale so we bought a bunch and I labeled them with the guest's names today.

Next up: fish to catch. Using the fish stamp mentioned here and here  I just stamped cardstock in the party colors white, blue, red and yellow. I cut some of them out for other use such as goodie bags and table decoration, and the other half I cut more like tags, so I had more room to affix the treats to the back side. Before that I punched a whole and added metal clips since the fishing rods are magnetic, so the kids can hook their treats. 

Then on to the goodie bags. I spent weeks getting these guys here together. The little cards come in all sorts of topics, one of them being fish. Unfortunately they seem to be no longer printed, so it took me some time to get enough of them through used book sites. At least they were fairly cheap since they're used.

The actual bags were easy, I got simple kraft paper bags online (unfortunately simple brown lunch bags aren't widely available here and these ones came in packs of 20 so I can use the rest for Christmas gifts or the next party) and again used the fish stamp.

So here's what I did all morning. Wait, did it really take me all morning to get that done?!  I blame that on the photos I had to take, download and edit. Yeah right.

And here's a look at the garlands, just in case I forget to take pictures on the actual party day. Ha.

And I even made birthday crowns! Found the template here. 

So that was it, next up is the actual party! I'm so excited. Keep your fingers crossed that everyone stays healthy this year and we have a great party.

So what have you been up to while I've been stamping fish on everything in sight?