Finding Nemo Centerpiece Ideas

RE: Finding Nemo Centerpiece Ideas Post By (Guest Post) (07/28/2005) I'm doing a nemo party for my 2 year old and i came up with the idea to use small fishbowls (like those you can find in the floral dept in wal mart.. I'm going to write each childs name on a bowl so they can be used as place cards but i will also fill them with blue jello so they are a snack i've decided to put nerds candy in the bottom for rocks and gummie sharks suspended in the middle of the jello RE: Finding Nemo Centerpiece Ideas Post By (Guest Post) (07/26/2005) we used 3-d fish boxes for our nemo party center pieces....they were weights for the nemo mylar balloons. little fish bowls with gold fish in it would be cute. RE: Finding Nemo Centerpiece Ideas Post By (Guest Post) (07/06/2005) I recommend a big Tiki faced thing, like in the initiation scene in the dentist's aquarium scene. Oriental Trading Company sells them, I believe--I think they have big inflatable ones. There are lots of Tiki type things at dollar stores also. Or you could make your own. However, Your son and his peers are not going to care about this centerpiece the way you do and so don't stress too much. I threw a Nemo birthday party for my daughter last year on her third birthday (she demanded that we call her Nemo for about 7 mos last year) and the Nemo Cake I made was awesome. That was the centerpiece on the table. I made a very large round carrot cake with cream cheese frosting colored that lovely Nemo coral-colored orange (matched it to her Nemo doll and the Nemo party favors I had)--to do this, look at the back of a regular multi-colored food coloring set for help, usually it means using lots of red and yellow. With a disposable cake decorating kit, I made black and white stripes just like on Nemo across the entire top. The black was made with black Wilton food coloring paste (bought from Walmart's sewing/crafting area) and white frosting. Be sure to mix in a little bit at a time with a toothpick since you won't need much. That was piped on in straight lines. The white was done in little scrunched star tipped dots until it all filled in. It was gorgeous. If only I had taken the photos with a digital camera I'd share. An alternative to the black icing is thin black licorice string or finding black sugar crystals if you're lucky. I recommend making the cake the mainstay of the table. It will be the crowning achievement anyway so why hide it? Just don't bring it out until everybody is ready to be seated, so as to not tempt little fingers. However cute it may seem though, I'd avoid the live goldfish for young ones. It may become very messy, wet, and even inhumane towards the poor little fish. A two year old is not the best or most careful connoisseur and you may find that a temper tantrum or two when you remove the fish will ensue. Besides, the worst thing you can do is expose them to a spilled fish choking to death on the rug. The main thing is to fill little bowls with goldfish crackers or make plates of cheese or sandwiches or meats cut out with fishy cookie cutters. They like stickers. Lots of Nemo Stickers. If you have a good printer and colored ink cartridge you can even try to borrow a Nemo image online or scane in one from a coloring book. Use blank sticker paper, available at Staples, Walmart, Target, etc, and cut out the biggest stickers of Nemo you want. Or make Nemo T Shirts with Nemo printed out Tshirt Iron-On transfers. Toddler shirts in plain white can be fairly cheap. Choose things orange, like Cheetos, if you insist on junk food. Orange streamers went a long long way and were hanging everywhere. Very cheap! I would recommend getting a big piece of blue posterboard and gluing to a big box, or painting a big piece of cardboard blue. Mount it somewhere and leave enough space for you to hide behind. Give them little fishing poles, preferably made with something fairly safe that can't be used as a weapon, like a wrapping paper tube and string. Tie a hook or magnet to it, and let them go fishing for their goodie bags or prizes that are nearly identical. Try the dollar store. Another thing is to make a pin the lucky fin on the Nemo game with a bandana, if they will understand that one. Even if they don't parents can guide them while they're blindfolded. My daughter was the only one who was scared and wouldn't wear the bandanna. In that case, she guided her favorite blindfolded big kid at the party and got a prize that way. Any flexibility with toddlers is certifiably sanity saving. Find a Nemo coloring book, if you have kids that age at the party. Photocopy one page or let them pick out their favorite page and have a coloring contest. Just each one in a special way rather than picking the best, and give everybody a bottle of bubbles or a special big orange cookie as a surprise, for example. Criteria were, at my daughter's party: most colorful, most careful, most fishy, most watery, whitest, silliest etc. Don't stress and have fun. They grow up really fast and the last thing you want to do is miss it while you're all keyed up over the details. RE: Finding Nemo Centerpiece Ideas Post By suzi homemaker (Guest Post) (06/22/2005) I like the idea of using a real aquarium like a 10 gallon, fill with water and put Nemo fish and turtles in the water. You can paint plastic ones to be the right colors of the movie theme and weight them down with a small weight and fishing line. RE: Finding Nemo Centerpiece Ideas Post by Bonnie G (2) | (06/06/2005) Contact Well of course you are going to have little bowls with goldfish on the tables for each kid to take home! The only way to go.. Bonnie RE: Finding Nemo Centerpiece Ideas Post by Katie A. (146) | (06/06/2005) Blog! | Contact What about enlarging a picture of Nemo, then coloring two of them with bright markers, cutting along the edges, then gluing or stapling the two together back to back with a little stuffing in between the layers to make it 3-D. Then insert a stick into the bottom edge and add a little more glue. Stand the stick and Nemo up in a jar with sand in it or something like that. You could make it as big as you wanted. RE: Finding Nemo Centerpiece Ideas Post By Emily (Guest Post) (06/05/2005) One idea would be to get some small bowls- you can find them in the floral dept at walmart, or at dollar stores, yard sales, or wherever, and put goldfish in them. I don't know if your son would try to grab the bowls or not, but I know my 2 year old loves watching the fish swim around. I know they aren't exactly Nemo, but they are orange, and that might be enough for a 2 year old. Hope that helps some!! Emily