29 Sep Lily’s 9th Watermelon Party
The amazing Claire Cosh from Claire Collected shares her daughter Lily’s watermelon-themed birthday party, which is full of DIY goodness. Prepare to be inspired!
My daughter Lily’s love of all things watermelon turned into a whole lot of DIY crafting craziness and her ninth birthday party theme. I have to admit, the lead up was just as much fun as the actual party. We had so much fun turning our brollies into fruit salad, making giant watermelon piñata and painting our old converse. 
The best part of the party, without a doubt, was the T-shirt painting, thanks to Blank Canvas Gifts. Lily and I discovered them when deciding what she would wear on the day. After choosing the perfect watermelon bathers, Lily decided she’d like to make her own T-shirt to wear.
Having created so much of the party decor ourselves leading up to the party, it was becoming a bit of a DIY project all the way – so I thought ‘Why not?’ We did a practice run and loved it so much that we realised it would be a great activity for everyone to take part in at the party.
The girls were the perfect age for the activity. I extended the party for an extra hour (three hours: craft, food, swim) and the T-shirt painting filled in more than a whole hour. They kept dashing back to add more glitter and finishing touches throughout the afternoon. Seeing the creativity from the girls was just delightful. Not one T-shirt was the same. Even better, it filled in so much time – that combined with swimming and the watermelon piñata – we had no need for any other games.
The party wouldn’t have been the same without the amazing invitations, watermelon scatters and party favour tags from the fabulous Piccolo Studio. Getting those organised in advance made the day so much easier to plan, I really just had to fill in the gaps.
The table was decked out with decorative goodies from the fabulous The Party Provider, a watermelon-themed tassel garland from my friends at The House of POM, marquee lights from the gorgeous Little Letter Lights Company (link removed) and the table frame and drinks canister were hired from Adelaide party stylists Red Apple Events. The oh-so-talented cake maker, Create Me A Cake made Lily’s amazing watermelon cake. For those of you living in Adelaide, there’s no one better.
Looking back at Lily’s birthday party, my favourite thing this time around was definitely our DIY approach to the whole event. To be honest, I’m not that crafty, yet we totally got into it for this one and it really did end up being the best thing about it – I totally surprised myself.
Watermelon Bathers Molo / Lily’s Watermelon Headband Top Knot Girl / Ruby’s Watermelon Top Bobo Choses / Claire’s Watermelon Top Gorman Clothing / DIY Piñata Instructions Oh Happy Day / DIY Fruit Slice Umbrella Instructions Studio DIY / Custom Invitations + Scatters + Party Favour Tags Piccolo Studio / Honeycomb Balls + Party Plates + Cups + Straws The Party Provider / Custom Tassel Garland The House of POM / Personalised Cake Topper Zilvi / Cake Create Me A Cake / T-Shirt Painting Kits Blank Canvas Gifts
Claire Cosh is an Adelaide-based mum of three to Eddie, Lily and Ruby, and family lifestyle blogger of Claire Collected. Her Instagram feed and blog is filled with super fun party ideas and colourful home decor that makes us smile and keeps us inspired.
Compiled by Jenna Templeton / Words + Images by Claire Cosh
