decorations

Minnie Mouse 2nd Birthday Party: DIY Recap

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On April 12, we held the long-awaited (at least, for me) 2nd birthday party for my little toddler. Here is a recap of how it went and what I did. I’m not including pictures of everything, just the DIY items.

Here is Nadia wearing her fabric/tulle tutu and applique tee I made her. She is also wearing her Minnie Mouse ears. Every child got a set to wear. The tutorial for them is here.

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The next two pictures show how the centerpieces from this tutorial were used. I put them on the two 8′ tables I pushed together, as well as on the mouse ears/bubbles table.

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In the previous picture, I used this tutorial from a blog called Crackers and Carrots as a guide to make the info poster. It now hangs on her bedroom wall. The original does have our last name on it, but I edited it out for privacy purposes.

I made these goodie bags (with a little help on assembly from my Mom) for each kid guest. They were very easy and fast to make (sorry, no tutorial). They were filled with age-appropriate gifts since we had several ages present. I used things like: crayons, Play -Doh, stickers, baby board books, jump ropes, sunglasses, ball and paddles, pencils, Rubik’s cube, etc. All were Mickey/Minnie theme with the exception of the Play-Doh, and were found at Party City, Michael’s, and Target.

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The back had the following sticker, found from this shop on Etsy.

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Next up is one of my favorite touches from the party: the food signs! I used this tutorial from Laurel Lane crafts to get myself started.

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Nadia LOVED the dipped cookies! She kept sneaking away to get them.

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A friend made this cake, but it was so adorable, I had to share!

Oh, and here is a family shot with Hubby and I wearing the Mickey and Minnie Mouse pocket tees I embroidered that morning along with the birthday girl. His tee came with the pocket, but I made mine from a fabric quarter I bought at Hobby Lobby:

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I think that pretty much covers all of the DIY projects for the party. Simple, but full of pink, black, and white. Baby girl and her guests had a blast, and I was really happy with how it all turned out! Thanks for reading! Which was your favorite? Have any questions? Leave a comment below!

Minnie Mouse Centerpieces

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If you’ve clicked on this post hoping to get a tutorial to make this adorable centerpiece, you won’t be disappointed! This was super easy and cheap to make, so keep reading if you want to make them too!

I started out with these cute pink pails from Target. They were on the cute aisle when you first walk in that’s full of treasures and goodies if you’re crafty, a teacher, or a Mommy. In my case, I’m all three!DSC_4783

Black paint and paintbrush from Joann:

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Cute hot pink/white polka dot wired ribbon and floral foam (Joann):

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Small and large Styrofoam balls (Joann):

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Pink and white polka dot paper straws (Target) and black tulle circles (Joann):

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Toothpicks (Kroger)

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First, I protected my table with an old tablecloth and laid the balls out like this:DSC_4799

I grabbed the brush and acrylic paint and got to painting!

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They took a while to try. A couple of days later, I had time to get back to work. I cut the floral foam in half using a dull kitchen knife, and inserted a paper straw in the center. I used “StyroGlue” to help secure it to the bottom of the pail.

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Next, I took several tulle circles, folded them, and pushed them down around the green foam. Poof! The foam is invisible!

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Just a few more steps! Take one of the large foam balls and push it on the top of the paper straw. Stick toothpicks on either side of the “Minnie head”, and attach the small balls on either side for the ears. If you prefer larger ears, simply purchase larger styrofoam balls instead of the smaller ones. 🙂

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I made a bow, and used a stick pin to secure it to the top of the head. I hesitate to use hot glue on styrofoam, which is why you see me trying out styrofoam glue and pins and alternate methods to attach things to it.

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That’s it! I have 5 more to make for the party and I’ll be set.

We’re going to have 3 tables for food, and one of these will go on each side of the table.

Since the party is now almost a week out, I will probably put up only one or two more posts before then. I’ll take lots of pictures of the decor and put it all in a handy dandy post for you to recap the festivities. Thanks for reading!

Birthday Party Planning: DIY

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As mentioned in the first post, this special young lady turns two in April!

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Well, April is just around the corner! The party is 12 weeks away from tomorrow, which sounds like a lot of time. However, if you’re like me (wanting to create a lot of personal touches), 12 weeks is just enough time to create the Minnie Mouse party I see in my mind.

When I sat down to plan her party, I came up with the following categories:

  • Party theme
  • Party date and time
  • Guest list
  • Invitations
  • Decorations
  • Favors
  • Activities/schedule
  • Menu
  • Cake
  • Photography

Once I had the categories, I researched to see how much each should cost, as well as when we need it by. I split the total cost up over January-April budgets, and will slowly purchase everything needed between now and then. My motto for this is: “Slow and steady wins the race”.

Last year, we had her first birthday party at our house. While it went well, there was a LOT to be learned from the experience. I spent a lot of time of Pinterest (and I do mean a lot), and came up with ideas for each category listed above. I have started enlisting the help of those who are needed to pull this off, and I have made my list to DIY projects for the party.

The posts over the next several weeks will show the process behind completing those projects. They include:

  • Pin the bow on the Minnie like this:

Pin the tail

  • Centerpieces like this:

Centerpiece

  • Minnie/Mickey ears like these:

Ears

  • Favor bags like these:

goody bags

  • Birthday outfit like this (I think….I may do a cloth tutu):

Outfit

  • And, info board like this:

Info board

I plan to tackle the Minnie/Mickey ears first, so expect to see how those turned out on the next post (1st Friday of February). So that’s it, y’all! A (very) brief synopsis of how I get the ball rolling when planning a small event. I’m sooo looking forward to digging in to all of the DIY awesomeness!