School's Out For Summer Pool Party

The last two years, we have had a pool party on the last day of school inviting school and neighborhood friends.  It has made so many wonderful memories for us. The kids dream about it for weeks, and its just been a great way to kick off the summer! We live on a tight budget so I make a lot of the decorations to keep the party expenses low, which means planning early. We have been so blessed in our community with so many wonderful friends and I really wanted to capture that as the heart of the party.  I love this famous maritime quote and it fit perfectly as the party theme:
"Here's to tall ships. Here's to small ships. Here's to all the ships on the sea. But the best ships are friendships. Here's to you and me."
 



The red and white circle garland is made from left over felt that I had from other projects. I just used a glass to trace circles on felt, cut them out and then sewed them together. Very inexpensive but adds a lot of character.
We served snacks including homemade organic popcorn and served an ice cream bar for dessert. The ice cream bar was the highlight of the party and it consisted of Breyer's Natural Vanilla with homemade chocolate syrup and a variety of toppings for dessert, including homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Friends also brought snacks to share and toppings for ice cream.


The goody bags were full of water balloons, a water gun, salt water taffy from Trader Joe's, and side walk chalk. I picked up the stripped bags and "ahoy" tape at Target.


This party cost less then $100 total and many sweet memories were made.