A Mickey and Minnie Christmas

While waiting in line to see Mickey at Animal Kingdom, I was inspired to decorate my tree this year with a Disney theme.  I absolutely love Disney because it is so full of creativity and imagination.  It never fails to inspire my next project.  I decided it had to be Mickey and Minnie.       

The results of this project are extra special since my five year-old and I made many of the ornaments.  I was on vacation the week of this past Thanksgiving.  Every day we'd wait until my one year-old took her mid-day nap to work on our decorations.  I have to say, that week is one that will be marked in my heart forever.  I hope my daughter remembers it forever too. 

Our tree is small this year because I have a one year-old.  The temptation of a tree in full reach would just create too many unhappy moments for my baby (and me too).  Somehow, we (mothers) just know better with a second child.  It is just not worth the fight.  ;)

I found these wooden hearts at Michaels (on clearance! $.33).  I used these as the base for some of our decorations.  I replaced the twine with more appropriate polka dotted ribbon.

I then used the Mickey and Friends Cartridges on my Cricut to cut out various Mickey and Minnie faces.  By the way, the Cricut is my absolute favorite toy in the whole, wide world.  :)  These are a few pictures of the beginning stages of some of our ornaments...

My princess suggested everyone should have a special ornament with their initial.  Here they are...

She decided to count the Mickeys.  She said there were 258.  I did not check her number.  :)

 The heart in this picture is double sided.  On one side is Mickey's face.  On the other side is Minnie's face.  You can see the reflection in the mirror.  How fancy is that?

A few more shots of some other die-cut ornaments.  We used sparkly paper to make them extra special.

A shot of the bow.

 

 We also spray-painted Styrofoam balls with silver and black to make these precious Minnie and Mickey ornaments.   

We made a garland too.

  

 Finally, a few shots of the ornaments we purchased. 

My princess insisted we add Alice.  :)

One last shot of our little tree. 

Merry Christmas!

Tangled

The entire inspiration for this party came from my favorite quote from the movie's theme song...

"And tomorrow night, lights will appear just like they do on my birthday each year."

My daughter asked for a Tangled party as soon as she saw the trailers for the movies.  My daughter is 5 now and has a very strong opinion about her birthdays.  Lucky for me, she picked a theme about a story I loved as a child.

Rapunzel's dress is purple and pink.  Naturally, I used those colors in the decor.  I also incorporated lanterns, suns and the yellow lilies. 

I wished we were saving this theme for an older birthday because my vision was to light up the backyard with lights and lanterns.  I decided we would begin the party on a late afternoon, knowing it would surely last through early evening.  As I envisioned, the outcome in the day was great but at night it was perfection!

I used regular cardstock in purple and pink to make the outside of the the invitation.  The inside was a golden paper (golden like Rapunzel's hair).  The golden sun in the front of the card was the ultimate giveaway. 

For centerpieces, I used "magical" yellow lilies. 

I made paper lanterns for the tables.  I used battery operated candles to ensure everyone's safety.

All about the lanterns!  The lanterns were such a special part of the movie.   

Some shots of the table.

 

A five year old's party must have tons of entertainment.  I bought small plain white lanterns from Oriental Trading.  The intention was for each child (and adults!) to take one down, decorate and hang it back up.  These were to be taken home at the end of the party. 



  

Children's craft area

    

Decorated lantern



I displayed the piñata near the entrance of our house.  Funny story about this piñata...this piñata would not break!  My husband had to tear it apart to get to the candies.  It was quite entertaining to watch the kids try and try but piñatas are meant to be broken easily.  I have decided piñatas are not my strength and I will not make them ever again.  :)

The little girls all wore tiaras. 

I ordered the cake from a local grocery in purple and pink.  Can you believe the theme was so new, they did not have a Rapunzel cake yet?  I bought the figurines from the Disney store. 

The birthday girl wore no shoes!  She insisted she needed to be barefoot just like Rapunzel.  It was her day so I let her.  :)

 

The birthday girl and me.

Parties!: Minnie Mouse Birthday PartyIf you love to decorat...

Parties!: Minnie Mouse Birthday Party
If you love to decorat...: Minnie Mouse Birthday Party If you love to decorate for parties, then you know that the best part about throwing a party for a one year old...

Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

If you love to decorate for parties, then you know that the best part about throwing a party for a one year old is...you get to pick the theme! 

I was inspired to use Minnie Mouse when the birthday girl met her at Disney.  She was completely smitten with Minnie. Just look at her face in this pic.  She was only eight months but she really enjoyed meeting the characters at Disney.  

Of course, I just had to put my own creative twist to it.  I don't like the ordinary look of store bought decorations.  I like to make everything.  I decided on the theme "Fashionista Minnie".  Fashionista Minnie loves polka dots and the color hot pink.    :)

We held the party at our home to keep it simple and comfortable for the baby.  I moved my furniture around and out of the house to create more of a party feel in the living room.  

I used a Cricut to create diecuts for many crafts.  The Cricut is a life saver!  If you are crafty, it is a great investment.  I bought mine on overstock.com at a greatly reduced price. 

I made a topiary with a white bucket (Target $1!) as a base and a Minnie shaped frame with a picture of a special moment of the birthday girl.  I made 11 of these, one for each month. These topiaries served as favors at the the end of the party.  They were quite a hit since pictures are so personal.  (Month eight in the picture below is another picture taken when the birthday girl met Minnie. :)  ) 

I glued Minnie Mouse shadows with a pink bow onto a candy jar.  The candy jar was filled with M&Ms.  I came across these jars at Michaels and had to have them because the lids were polka dotted! 

I made balloons with the same Minnie shadow and bow for the cupcakes. 

I made the banner with the Cricut as well. 

I made hats out of cardstock and feathers for the kids.  I made mouse ears out of foam.  I displayed the hats by placing them on top of the favor boxes. 

The birthday girl wore a special hat with a tiara on it. 

The girls had necklaces and bracelets to choose from.  I bought glow in the dark bracelets for the boys.  Having only two girls, it is a challenge for me to keep the boys in mind but the glow in the dark bracelets were a success!

On the tables, were tall topiary arrangements of pink and white flowers.   

A touch of Minnie made out of styrofoam balls and spray painted in black. 

And custom made table runners in black with white polka dots and pink trim.  They came out pretty good given it was my first time on a sewing machine. ;)

A few more shots of the decor...

The birthday girl in outfit number one.

 

With my girls.