Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

So today, nearly one month later, I'm sharing photos from little E's first birthday party! Our plan was to do a Winnie the Pooh "Hundred Acre Wood" theme outside because both of my boys LOVE the newest Winnie the Pooh movie right now and it was E's favorite ride at Disney World.  Sadly, we knew a week before the party that Oklahoma was going to have terrible weather that weekend and we couldn't be outside like we had hoped.  SO we made a quick adjustment and went with what we knew and what the kiddos also love - Mickey Mouse!

The decorations for this party were under $25 and were a mix of store-bought and DIY.  I think it turned out pretty cute!  One thing that really shocked me when I looked through blogs of Mickey parties I had pinned was how much money went into their DIY party.  For me, part of the value in DIY-ing is saving money.  So, hopefully, if you found this blog and this post, this will help you throw a cute Mickey party without breaking the bank or breaking your back for that matter!  So without further ado...

We started by pulling what we had.  Fortunately, we have 9,032 Mickey Mouses.  Joking.  We actually have 11.  Ha!  So we found all those guys and his pals and utilized them in the decor.  Big impact, no money spent. (Also, that blur is me! If you're throwing your first first birthday party or any child's birthday party, you too will probably be a blur.)

The cupcake toppers were free too!  I had craft sticks, construction paper, and a  stack of stickers we'd received free in the mail from Disney Movie Club offers.  I simply cut two circles, glued them together on the stick, and put a Mickey sticker on front.  Easy!

The second cupcake stand was made using wrapping paper I bought at Hobby Lobby.  It was half off so only $2.  (You could also do SO much more with this paper if you were having a Minnie party.  I had a lot left and saved it for presents at Christmas.) My Mom wrapped the box for me and it became great storage for the party decor in post.  The Mickey on the box was a left over from the "E's Clubhouse banner which I explain below."

Love what you have! (And these little toys are WELL loved! I highly recommend them for your little ones or as gifts for little ones 1+!)

So up there is what our ledge looked like.  My sweet husband took all the pics and forgot to get pics of the Mickey ears he and I stayed up 'til 1am making for the kiddos that came!  Bummer!  The kids were 1-3 and didn't LOVE their ears, but we also sent them home with balloons and the ears made great weights.  HA!  The ears may be loved later though... J found his set lately and wore them a few hours.  I used this tutorial found here but did not use the template she suggested... instead, I just free handed and I think they turned out ok!  ONE TIP - DON'T use hot glue if you don't have fabric glue on hand unless you're starting at 10pm and refuse to go to Wal Mart.  HA.  But seriously, I spent forever picking it off and they still weren't "clean." All in all, the headbands were a great treat though!  We made 6 and each were about $.40.

My sweet Mom made these oreos we saw on Pinterest.  We followed this tutorial and they came out pretty good!  We used $1 oreos from Wal Mart (off brand) and they broke easily.  Regular oreos may hold up better, but I don't know!

Ok, a couple things from this pic...

First you have the banner over that window into my kitchen.  It's hard to see and I hate that there's no good pics of it (below are 2 I managed to take with Instsgram)!  It ended up really cute.  Basically I took a Mickey shaped cookie cutter and traced it on black construction paper.  Then, I cut the shape and painted the bottom with red poster paint.  Next, I added white 3D stickers to spell out "E's (full name) Clubhouse) and taped ribbon behind them to hang.  The project cost me about $2 between the ribbon and stickers (I bought on sale) but I loved it so much and now it's hanging in his room!

the making process

The banner & oh look, the ears are up there too!

Also, on the window I made that banner with construction paper too!  It was SO simple!  I cut a triangle template, cut several triangles and then a few small circles to glue to the black triangles.  I used construction paper I had and what was left of that ribbon.  I hung these on the windows in the dining and living room and they got so many compliments!  E doesn't have curtains in his room, so now those are adding a little pizzaz in there too!

Both these projects were cheap, simple, and neat!  I literally did them while watching TV with my husband that week (I think the VP debates, actually!).

I LOVE that store bought banner up there!  I think it was $7 and you can put in any age you want.  It's definitely one to save in case we have more Mickey parties in days to come!  I also love those squiggly thing changing from the ceiling.  I think they were $3.  We have HUGE  ceilings that are 24' so adding lots of banners and such is a good way to fill up space and make the area look more festive.

There's a little better pic of that banner on the window...

The Mickey on the wrapped shoe box was left over from the "E's Clubhouse" banner and just taped on.  :)

And here's a pic of the little birthday boy himself while we sang "Happy birthday."  He was a little scared of all those voices coming at him and cried.  Poor fella!  OTHERWISE, he had a pretty good time and the rest of his family sure did too!  :)

Oh, and in case you wondered we served fruit, pulled pork sandwiches (which I made in the crock pot to save money), chips, the oreo Mickeys, cupcakes, tea, and juice boxes for the kids!

I loved this party.  It was heartfelt, handmade, fun, and CHEAP.  :)