Beware!  It's a shark birthday party!

A fintastic shark birthday party full of fun DIY ideas for party decor, food, and entertainment #sharkparty #OrientalTrading

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  If you decide to make a purchase, I will make a commission, at no additional cost to you.  See my full disclosure policy to learn more. Thank you to Oriental Trading Company for providing some of the items mentioned below.

My little boys' birthdays are 3 days apart.  This year Dylan turned 3 and Christian turned 7 and they agreed that they would like a shark birthday party to celebrate.  Their birthdays are in December, so I wish I had known that this is what they wanted during the summer months when this kind of party stuff would be available in store.  Fortunately for me, Oriental Trading Company has a ton of party supplies that are available year round, and I can create additional fun party decor with my Cricut Maker.   So, this kids shark party turned out pretty awesome even though we had snow the previous week.

A fintastic shark party full of fun ideas for party decor, food and games #sharkparty #OrientalTrading

Here's a quick video to see our shark party in action:

You'll be able to find all of the shark party supplies and Cricut project files that I used to create this birthday party in list form at the end of this post.

I had a few items left over from my own Mermaid birthday party.  Hey,don't judge me! I know you watched the Little Mermaid on repeat when you were a kid too.  So I already had a seashell serving bowl, fishing net, and dolphin balloons.  Ready to dive in?  Let's go!

Shark Party Decorations

This shark party started off with an "underwater" canopy made with a blue plastic table cloth and sea creature shadow cutouts.  The kids had so much fun pointing up at the different turtles, octopus, and shark silhouettes.

Create an underwater canopy with a blue plastic tablecloth and sea creature cutouts. #sharkparty #CricutMaker

The buffet table was one of the major underwater shark scene setters.  I love this 9' x 6' shark backdrop from Oriental Trading.  The boys thought that it was so awesome while they watched me put it up on the wall.  They both kept screaming "ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, shark!" So much fun!  I'd like to be able to get the creases out though.  It's a problem I frequently come across with plastic.  So, if you know a good way to get crease marks out of plastic banners, or table cloths, I'm all ears.

Shark party buffet setup #OrientalTrading #sharkparty

To complement the buffet table, I made this dolphin balloon column.  Christian and I got sucked into watching YouTube videos on balloon columns one day, so I was pretty excited with how this turned out.

Dolphin balloon column as a fun decoration for any Under the Sea themed party #sharkparty

Also floating by on the buffet table was this sea turtle cardboard stand-up from Oriental Trading.  I think I might throw another under the sea party just because of him!

Sea Turtle cardboard cutout to add a special touch to any underwater themed party #OrientalTrading #sharkparty

As for the food, I wanted to stick with the ocean theme, and keep it kid friendly.

Ocean themed food - shrimp and fish sticks for a fun shark party buffet #sharkparty

"seashell" pasta salad perfect for serving at any Under the Sea themed party #sharkparty

"driftwood" pretzels served up at a fintastic #sharkparty "seaweed" spinach dip for a fun shark party #sharkparty

Shark Birthday Party Food

  • fish sticks
  • butterflied shrimp
  • "seaweed" spinach dip
  • "seashell" pasta salad
  • "driftwood" pretzel sticks
  • "shark bait" gummy worms
  • goldfish crackers
  • "ocean water" lemonade

The kids really liked these shark plastic cups from Oriental Trading.  They were perfect for serving goldfish crackers in.

The cutest shark cups ever from Oriental Trading Company! Perfect for serving snacks at a fintastic shark party #OrientalTrading #sharkparty The cutest shark cups ever from Oriental Trading Company! Perfect for serving snacks at a fintastic shark party #OrientalTrading #sharkparty

For dessert we had cake, cupcakes, and shark cookies.

Shark party desserts for a fintastic shark party! #sharkparty #undertheseaparty

I made these cookies using Sugar Spun Run's super easy royal icing technique.  I usually spend at least 5 minutes on each cookie when I'm decorating with royal icing, but these took less than 2 minutes for ALL of them.  Once the icing was dry, I think it was another 5 minutes to airbrush the sharks onto the cookies by using the stencils I made with my Cricut Maker.  You can find the Design Space shark stencil files here.

DIY custom shark silhouette sugar cookies for a fintastic #sharkparty #CricutMaker

Having fun at a shark party with airbrushed shark silhouette sugar cookies #sharkparty

I also used my Cricut Maker to make the ocean waves cupcake wrappers and shark cupcake toppers.  For the toppers I cut out circles slightly bigger than the Shark stickers I got from Oriental Trading.  A little hot glue and some toothpicks and we had easy shark cupcakes!

Shark themed cupcakes for shark themed birthday party #sharkparty

DIY shark themed cupcake wrappers and toppers for fun shark party! #sharkparty #CricutMaker

For the shark cake topper, once again I used my Cricut Maker.  I welded a "happy birthday" file with a shark image and love how it turned out.  You can find this cake topper ready to cut out here.

Weld images in Cricut Design Space to create custom cake toppers like this fun shark birthday party cake topper #CricutMade #sharkparty

For the backdrop on our a dessert table, I used mint green paper fans from Oriental Trading.  Paper fans make such a huge difference to any party setup and they're so festive.  I also included a shark tooth birthday banner made with my Cricut Maker.  (cut file here)

Shark party backdrop using paper fans and a shark tooth party banner made with Cricut! #CricutMaker #sharkparty

For the shark birthday party tablescape, I used my fishing net instead of a table cloth, and set the table with paper plates in different shades of blue and grey.

Use decorative fishing net instead of a tablecloth for a fun under the sea shark party #sharkparty

Part of the table decor were these shark favor boxes.  They were also made with my Cricut Maker (cut file here) and decorated with the shark stickers and these shark tooth necklaces from Oriental Trading.

Party favors for a super fun shark birthday party made with the Circut Maker and embellished with stickers and shark tooth necklaces from Oriental Trading Company #sharkparty #OrientalTrading #CricutMaker

Thanks to my Cricut Maker and those awesome Oriental Trading Co. shark stickers, I also customized the napkin rings and drink straws.

Shark Party table setting #sharkparty #OrientalTrading #CricutMaker

During the party, we had a few games in addition to the usual little boys' shenanigans.  We played pin the fin on the shark (made with the Cricut Maker - cut file here.)

DIY Pin the Fin on the Shark game made with the Cricut Maker - perfect for a super fun shark birthday party #sharkparty #CricutMaker

DIY Pin the Fin on the Shark game made with the Cricut Maker - perfect for a super fun shark birthday party #sharkparty #CricutMaker

We also played octopus ring toss.  This cute game is from Oriental Trading.  I wanted to add some height to the game, so I attached it to a short balloon column.

Super cute Octuous ring toss game from Oriental Trading Company on top of a balloon column #sharkparty #OrientalTrading

Having fun at a shark party with this octopus ring toss game from Oriental Trading Company #sharkparty #OrientalTrading

These would also make fun shark week party games.  Something to keep in mind for later!

Anyway, this shark birthday party was a swimmingly good time!.

Kids having fun at an awesome shark party! #sharkparty

I was so happy with how the whole party turned out.  The boys loved all of the fun shark party supplies from Oriental Trading Company.  And even though I made a lot of projects with my Cricut Maker, they were all really simple.  I was able to cut out and assemble everything the night before.  Keeping the food simple and kid friendly also worked really well - the kids actually ate (and not just because they wanted to have cake afterwards LOL)

Ocean themed kid friendly food served at a fun and affordable shark party! #sharkparty #orientaltrading

Here are some more pics of all of the fun.

A fun and affordable shark party put together with items from Oriental Trading Company. #orientaltrading #sharkparty

Beware of sharks! Aren't these cupcakes perfect for a shark themed birthday party or for celebrating shark week? #sharkparty #orientaltrading

Want to recreate this shark party?  Here's what you need:

Shark Party Supply Shopping List

Links to Shark Party Cricut Project files

That's it for this shark birthday party!  If you recreate this party for a birthday or for shark week, I'd love to see it!  Tag me on Instagram or join and share pictures in my new Facegroup group for easy entertaining tips.

Until next time!

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