Shipwrecked on Fabulous Island

'Twas the night before birthday and ALLLL through the house,

Mommy was stirring but quiet as a mouse.

When in walks Daddy with 2 sleepy girls,

They spent the day with daddy and TOTALLY rocked his world!

They were ooh-ing and aah-ing and giggling with glee,

Then downstairs with Pop-pop they went for snacks and movies.

The day had finally arrived; it was Minnie party time! In addition to the cake and games, we were announcing the news of our family Disney trip so the excitement was high for everyone! I think from about 8:23AM, she was asking if 1. it was time for the party or 2. it was time to get ready for the party. Here she is waiting patiently by the front door for the party to begin.

Let's talk details shall we?! What did Munchface wear?

You must mean BESIDES a lip pucker and a hand on her hip. LOL. She was Minnie for Halloween 2 years ago so we already had the 50th anniversary ears. She didn't want the typical poofy dress or tutu we would normally have; I ordered a simple tank dress from LuvThatLook. It was an adorable embroidered dress that arrived in less than a week! Partnered with her fab rockstar "skinny pants" (as she calls them) and sneakers I sparkled with her name, she was comfortable and cute in an outfit she can re-use!

Of course, our friends had to be Minnie-fied, so I purchased 3/$1 headbands from the Dollar Tree, black foam, and polka dot bows to make fabulous little headbands (placed by the entrance) on a shoe string budget:

Our friends looked fab in their ears!

Even daddy looked great. Although, I didn't appreciate him removing the bow to make them Mickey ears. It did, however, work well with the adorable matching Mickey shirts he bought for us (he and I) from the Disney store :) My gun-burnt fingers worked HARD on the projects for the party; he could've saved me a burn or two by requesting a pair of ears sans bow - LOL. :)

Now that we've talked fashion, allow me to give you a tour of the space. We placed our annual guest book and mama-made Minnie Ears on a small table by the door. We started a tradition a few years ago of buying a theme- or color-coordinating book for guests to sign. After the party, we have a cool down moment with Munch where she writes on the first page of the book.

MOMMY MOMENT: it is aww-mazing to see scribbles turn to words over the years! *tear for growing up*

The adult area was on the back balcony... I re-purposed 1 of the Mickey gloves my brother brought back from Disney a few years ago into a topiary centerpiece. Of course I really like the look but the LITTLE effort it required made it even more awesome!

The children's area was under the big shady tree my parents planted when I was 10:

It was here that our little guests crafted, played Minnie Says and took swings at the mama-made piñata.

I separated craft supplies into bags placed at each setting (hot glued shut with "faux" handles). Each bag was filled with:

- Hair bow holder: wooden craft dolls (that came with mini markers) from the Dollar Tree I embellished with ribbon, buttons and jewels to create a color-your-own craft.

- Stickers: Each girl got a black mirror (that I glued bows to) for decorating. The bag included Minnie, bow, and Princess stickers.

O and I used wrapping paper to make the table pretty without having to cut a table cloth for the lower table. Pieces like this really helped to tie decor together without spending a lot of $$

Can we talk about the pinata?

I found a fabulous tutorial for a Minnie Mouse pinata and decided to simplify the design to fit ANY party. Here are the steps.

She turned out fabulous!! Here she is with more of the poms:

The Dessert display was simple and cute but that chandelier was a star!!

Cake! I LOVE how it turned out!

The cupcake tier is from Wal-Mart and was on sale for $3. I fancy-fied it with a little pom ribbon and, since it came with Mickey picks, I added them to the brownie bites.

I ordered micro-cookies from here and, while they are small (4 dozen is pictured below in cupcake wrappers), they made for perfect Mouse Snacks :)

I completed the dessert display with a bow table runner... Just another small detail I really enjoyed...

Food

We had a hot dog buffet (hot dog Mickey song, anyone?!) with all the fixin's and Pop-Pop's yummy chili. Another easy crowd pleaser was the cheese platter. As my mom said, "can't have mice without cheese"

I always enjoy tailoring the menu to fit the theme and the age of attendees. We kept it simple and used catchy names (and Disney spellings) for the food...

CARBS! Bow tie pasta salad and mac-n-cheese in individual portions made it easy to ensure we had enough! For the macaroni, I purchased 2 pans of frozen macaroni, cooked it until it was melted, then scooped it into the baking cups (sprinkled some seasonings on top), then finished baking... SO EASY!

I folded the napkins into bows and hot glued scrap ribbon as napkin rings... The rectangular-shaped (guest) napkins work best.

Water bottles are a party must, might as well label them to fit your theme, right? I ordered a print package from here and it included everything I needed to make my party have that special touch for only cost $10!!

BowBerry Punch...

Last, but certainly not least, the BOW-tique...

I had a vision of a hair bow buffet and, before I decided to display/create 100+ hair bows, I knew I wanted to do a spin on the favor buffets I've done in the past...

For the topiary behind it, check out the tutorial here. I love it!

OK, back to the buffet! I purchased red bags 3/$1 from Wal-Mart and ordered labels from here. The labels read, "Big bows and big thanks for Zion's 5th birthday!"

Every flower was a bow, every jar was filled with bows and clips and headbands and YAY! My labor all paid off when I saw the finished product! It wouldn't be a Minnie party without big polka dot bows and each girl left with 2 big black polka dot clippies in a baggie:

Enough with the details, our friends are here and ready for fun!

Activities

Activity 1 - CRAFTS. Munchface and I have Mommy&Me Mondays where we craft so, crafting is in our routine...in our BLOOD, LOL...

Completed bow holders:

Sometimes when you're 4 and almost 5, you need a woo-sah moment... ESPECIALLY when you stay up late, have a party scheduled during nap time, are too excited to sit still or even eat...YES! Woo-sah all around! Not sharing with our friends? Having a STANK attitude? O NO! I don't let birthday parties provide a license to misbehave. Consistency is key so, take a woo-sah or get in TROUBLE. Pick your fate:

Woo-sah it is and we're all better:

Munchface's completed bow holder:

Activity 2 - The girls decorated their own mirrors:

Next up, competitive activities. The girls competed for these beauties (which were filled with a Target mini-purse, nail polish and a lip gloss):

Activity 3 - Minnie Says (Simon Says). My friend, Dani, came dressed for the role of leading the girls in Simon says... Another activity that gets them moving without having them running around (you have to listen to hear what Minnie Says)...

The Leader:

Listening intently for the next move:

We have a winner:

The girls were so excited to see the prizes:

Activity 4 - Pin the Bow on the Minnie (Pin the Tail on the Donkey). Dollar Tree poster and foam core boards, 2 kitchen bowls and scrap ribbon made our own version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey!

We have a WINNER:

Activity 5 - Dance Contest. Munchface's song of choice? BRICKHOUSE lol. The judges decided:

And Munchface's b-boy, wigglin' moves WON!

Activity 6 - Birthday wishes:

Hilarious:

Me: Z, blow out your candles.

Z: HUH?

Me: BLOW!

Z: O OK. *puts hand on hip and smiles*

Me: NO, not POSE, BLOW.

Z: O OK!

DISNEY NEWS

Once upon a time there was a girl named Zion who turned 4. She had to be a good girl for a whole year before she could turn *crowd says* 5. Well, everyone who thinks she's been a good girl say WOOO. *crowd says wooooo*

Well, she's been such a good girl for such a long time, her family has been keeping a secret, isn't that right, family? *family says* YES!

Since Minnie couldn't make it and she really wanted to be here....PACK YOUR BAGS, we're going to Minnie's house in FLORIDA at DISNEY!!!!

*Munchface looks around TOTALLY confused*

UH... not the reaction I was looking for...

SERIOUSLY? Do you know what that means? DO you wanna go??

*claps hands,* YES!

That's it folks. That's how it went down... THAT'S what happens when you try to keep a secret from a kid who knows everything except the difference between DISNEY WORLD and the DISNEY STORE!! LOL. Ah well... Maybe when she gets a NEW CAR we'll have a video worthy reaction... OR, if you've got a kid like mine, when she opens gifts like HAND SANITIZER she'll squeal with excitement. SMH.

BIRTHDAY GIFTS and THANK YOUs

We got our big girl bike:

The reaction to the bike was better:

Activity 7 - Piñata.

Apparently, my piñata was built to last because... they had to stomp to get the candy... Kinda sad that my pretty little creation was treated so poorly; the life of a piñata!