For each of my children’s birthday’s I am always planning months ahead. For Gabriella, she has had such a love for Mickey and all things Disney for the past year. What made it extra special this year was taking my kids to Disney where she was able to meet Mickey himself. The smile on her face was priceless and is forever engraved on my heart.
Gabriella is my third child. She learns everything from my oldest two children. She was counting and singing her ABC’s by the time she was 18 months old. She is miss independent and wants to do everything herself. She is very vocal and has no problem telling on her siblings or telling them something is hers. She also has learned to fib and get her siblings into trouble, but we have caught on quick to this. Gabby did not go through the baby stage for long, which was very difficult on me. I wanted her to be my little baby for just a little longer and she was just eager to do everything her siblings were doing. Gabriella is the child you will find climbing the stools in the kitchen, putting herself in her own high chair and telling you she is tired and ready for bed. She is a teenager in a two-year-olds body and I love every ounce of her. She amazes me every day and I am just so proud of the little girl she has become. And without further ado, her party details:
As I mentioned, the actual planning of the party took months. I always begin my planning with Pinterest and making a board designated to all the details of the party. I also make a ton of lists: what I bought, what I need to buy and items that I already have that I will be using. I actually owe you all a post on that. I store all of my party decorations in clear containers in my garage and actually reuse a ton of items for the parties I throw for my kids. When it comes down to the actual day of their parties, I wake up a 6am in the morning to decorate. The reason is that I could never get everything done with them awake. Just as I was wrapping up all the last details, the kids were finishing up breakfast and I get to surprise them with the outcome.
It’s all in the details
Minnie Mouse Topiaries
My daughters love for Mickey grows deep. While Mickey did attend her party, I made it Minnie Mouse themed. I did not use traditional colors of polka dot and bright pink for her party. I really loved the idea of a garden party with flowers, greens and blush pinks, which is ultimately what came to life.
For the arrangements, I used topiaries that I already had in my home. I made the Minnie ears out of twine and shaped them accordingly. I simply stuck them into the topiary, which had a foam insert. I have a bin of faux flowers and used three of them for the center of the ears.
Minnie Mouse Backdrop
I purchased three gold wire hoop wreaths from Michaels for one hoop on the bottom and two on the top to mimic Minnie’s head and ears. I secured the hoops with wire. I then used a glue gun to attach the eucalyptus and flowers to the hoops. I had a wood cut out made with Gabriella’s name on it and used it as an overlay for the hoop wreaths. This was used as her backdrop to the food and dessert table.
Balloons
I always create a balloon arch for my kids parties. I can probably make it in my sleep by now because of how many I have made. This was the first party that I did not use it at the food/ dessert table and alternatively used it on my daughter’s outdoor house. I filled in the gap of the balloons with greens and faux flowers.
The balloon bouquet was purchased from Party City. Did you know that they deliver balloons? It is such a time-saver. With three kids, it is quite the chore to go into stores and then have to carry out balloons while holding their hands on the way out to the car.
Invitations
I searched tirelessly on etsy for the perfect invitations until I came across this design. It was absolutely perfect and the exact concept I would have created if I made it myself.
Food
For all of the kids parties, I usually have a dessert table that is left out through the duration of the party. For Gabriella’s birthday, we had a heat wave, so the desserts were only taken outside after we ate lunch. I cut a watermelon out into the shape of Minnie Mouse and scooped out the center to put fresh fruit. I used the ends of the watermelon to make Minnie Mouse’s ears.
For the desserts, I had a floral Minnie Mouse cake (I made the topper of Minnie Mouse ears and “two” out of wire). The kids and I also made dipped pink candy apples. My friend who always makes cookies for the kids birthdays made the floral Minnie Mouse Sugar cookies. She is incredibly talented and her cookies taste like almond (my favorite). I also had pink Hershey kisses and pink lolly pops.
For the actual food, my mom, Gabby’s grandma, made turkey and cheese sandwiches and peanut and butter sandwiches cut into Mickey Mouse shapes. We also had home made pasta sauce with ziti and a large deli sub for the adults. I put potato chips into prepackages brown paper bags and cut them short so they were easier for eating with.
Outfits
Gabby wore her Minnie Mouse dress for her actual birthday. For her party, I thought it would be fitting for her to wear a floral dress. I was so happy with the quality of the dress when it came in that I bought one for her sister as well. My son really wanted to wear one of his shirts he wore to Florida, so he wore his custom “I’m here for the snacks” tee shirt. I wore a floral dress as well and love the fit of it. It was also very light weight for such a hot summer day.
Flower Bar
I used a mixture of fresh flowers from Bloomsybox. I used our wheel cart, which started off as a farmers market cart, but has since made its way though every one of my kids parties. Stay tuned for an outdoor movie night where I will be using the cart as a popcorn and drink cart. I have also used it as a candy cart for Giuliana’s Four Ever a Unicorn: A Magical 4th Birthday Party. For the Flower cart, the idea was supposed to be to have each guest bring a fresh flower home, but the faux flowers ended up working out just fine. We had some fresh roses on the cart and Grayson, being the gentlemen and best brother that he is, kindly gave his sisters two roses.
Entertainment
We never anticipated the day to be so hot so I didn’t know if the kids would use the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bounce house, but they did. We also had our waterslide out as well and the kids just went back and forth from bouncing to the the waterslide. The kids always get so excited when the bounce house truck rolls up on our street. The wait patiently as the guys set it up and then run as fast as they can to use the bounce house.
The biggest entertainment was Mickey Mouse himself paying a visit all the way from Disney. My daughter was so excited. Mickey Mouse made his entrance and came out to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song. He gave everyone a hug, took photos and was on his way. Mickey deserved a special reward for coming out in such a heat wave. Props to Mickey Mouse and for making my daughter feel so special.
A party is never complete without a piñata. I could not find a Minnie Mouse piñata that fit her party decor, but I did find a custom number piñata that was absolutely perfect. This company is absolutely amazing and so easy to work with. They only had a number 5 piñata available on their site and were so accommodating to make me a number 2 piñata. It came out perfect from the fluffy tissue to the gold bow. Gabby was so excited to hit the piñata because her absolute favorite thing to eat is candy. Gabby, my kids and all their friends had such a blast.
The party was an absolute success. The birthday girl even got a nap in after the cake. While it was humid, what saved us was the waterslide and having a tent to keep our family and friends cool. I can’t thank my husband and mom enough for all the time and effort they put into the day as well. Without them, it wouldn’t have been achievable.
Aaaaah everything looks amazing! You did such a great job; elegant + fun.
Thank you so much Tana. I am so happy you like it. I had such a fun time planing it.