Makena's Mickey Mouse Themed 2nd Birthday Party!

Makena had so much fun at her long awaited birthday party!! The day before the party was her actual birthday. We had a busy day out and about and had guests coming to stay with us that evening so when we got home we had a quick dinner of Chipotle (Makena loves the black beans and plain rice!) and then as she was finishing eating I snuck into the other room to decorate her cake. (I know snuck isn't a word, but I still use it, lol.) All along she'd been asking for a Mickey cake, and I had grand ideas but quickly decided I'd just be making simple cupcakes for the party. She is slightly addicted to the "Mickey Birthday Game" (as she calls it) on the computer. This is the link- It's really cute, and she wants to do it "me self!" but needs our help and gets frustrated. Her favorite part is decorating the cake (she always picks the Mickey head shaped one) and she likes the bubbles, and the blowing out the candles part. And printing out the coloring pages. Pretty much she loves the whole thing.  http://disney.go.com/disneyjunior/birthday-fun/birthday-fun-games/disney_junior_happy_birthday_party-1943115

So she really had a Mickey head shaped cake in her mind, and a friend suggested I make her a cake for us to eat on her actual birthday, then cupcakes for the party. Genius! I had considered making both for the party, but with our Disneyland trip planned for the next day I was feeling overwhelmed enough already.

This is what I made, using 2 circle pans. We only have 1 circle cake pan, so the ears were cut out of a pie pan that I used, lol. I just freehanded it, then slathered it with frosting and put the #2 candle and figurines on top. We bough them at the Disney Store in an after Christmas sale.

She loved it, she was beaming! We had the lights off and sang and then she blew out the candle (all that practice from the game was perfect!) and then she picked off each character and licked the frosting. We cleaned them off as after she ate a bit of cake I put a somewhat wrapped Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Playset in the middle of the living room floor. I went in the kitchen and asked, "So where is their clubhouse?" and she shook her head and said "I know?" (her way of saying "I don't know?") and we went to go look for it. She saw the present and opened it and was thrilled!! This was an awesome score from craigslist, it was used but in great condition, and I got it super cheap! It talks and the Mousekadoer moves and lights up and everything. She loves it!

So, on to the party! These were the invites we sent out. I wanted to hand make them, but again I got too busy with too many projects so I bought a kit with the pieces from etsy and we assembled them ourselves. We love how they came out!! Unfortunately, according to a few guests, they fell apart in the mail. Bummer!

I also ordered these big Mickey head cut outs and hands, and I cut some letters to make this birthday banner! I love it! They were so expensive online, and though it was time consuming, I really enjoyed making it!

I printed out 3 photos of Makena and put them in frames with some Mickey embellishments. They looked super cute, and they were free!

 This is the photo I used in the frame above. My brother's girlfriend made this adorable hat!

We were so thankful to get to use the preschool where Pam works for the party. It had so much space, and so many toys and a full kitchen! It was great. The only downside was that it is heavily decorated and looks like a typical preschool room, so we put up some Mickey touches wherever we could!

 

There was another frame with this photo. I wanted to make the skirt myself, but saw this one on sale on etsy and realized it was probably cheaper than buying all the supplies. And the shirt was made from a vinyl iron on that I had made for us. I also ordered 3 for our Disneyland shirts, so we all matched and looked awesome. I ended up making her a shirt with some red little polka dot fabric I had, I cut out the letters T, W and made a black Minnie head then ironed them all on. I was super proud of how nicely it came!

We made those Mickey party hats, and they were a hit! I love her feet in that photo.

After an initial near catastrophe because the cd player wasn't working, Pam saved the day and found us a replacement one. We had a cd of Mickey and the gang singing a bunch of different songs with Makena's name in them, and it was imperative to me that we had it on in the background!! And I made this giant Minnie head for a Pin The Bow on Minnie game! I think I totally nailed it!

Oh, she's just so darn cute!! She was over the moon when she saw all the decorations. She had a blast playing and waiting for the guests to show up. Then as they started to arrive she got shy and clingy, but she warmed up the second her best pals walked in the door!

There were markers and crayons set out with lots of Mickey coloring pages. We kept our tradition of playing a Makena Trivia game for the adults, and we also had a jar full of red, black, white, and yellow M&M's for people to guess how many. Winner took home the whole jar! The parachute was such a blast last year that we played with it again for this party! We bounced the Mickey stuffed animals around, and took the kids for a spin.

We served Pasta Primavera, from my moms recipe. She came early to help with party set up and took over making the dish, thank goodness!! Nobody makes it as good as her anyways. :) We also had bread and butter, crackers, snack mix, and lots of fruit. And an Edible Arrangement!! They just so happened to have a promotion on their licensed arrangements, so I ordered the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse one and it made a perfect centerpiece! I had the attached note say, "Happy 2nd Birthday Makena! I'm so excited to see you tomorrow! Love your pal, Mickey" And, how cute/clever am I for the Mickey head plate set up?! Love it!

It was time for cupcakes finally! We kept them simple, last years were so detailed and took forever. I used a Mickey head punch out and some black sugar sheet paper, and some brightly colored sprinkles (from the funfetti cake frosting) The cupcake wrappers were Mickey themed. Makena's eyes were huge as I brought the tower of cupcakes over and set it in front of her. She blew out the candle while we were still singing, she was just so excited!

Present time!! Makena got some really fun gifts, Lincoln Logs, her very own LeapFrog Laptop, a Snoopy hoodie, a cash register, clothes, books, a handmade apron, a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse dvd to watch on the road trip, and some Disney gift cards to spend on her own! I made her a pillowcase with Minnie Mouse printed fabric. :)

It was a great party, she loved seeing all her friends and when it was over we quickly cleaned up and went home to PACK!! What a whirlwind! Next post will be all about our unbelievably wonderful Disneyland trip!!