My son, Gavin’s birthday party is tomorrow. Today I’ll spend the day preparing for his big day. Last night I put together these little tags for the candy favors that will go inside the Muppet tote bags his guests will be receiving. One of Gavin’s favorite candies is Swedish Fish (yum). I have to admit, he gets his sweet tooth from his Mommy. Anyways, I thought I would be perfect if these special fishes came from The Swedish Chef. He is Swedish, you know.
The little bags came out cute and I’d love to give each and every one of you a bag, in honor of Gavin’s 7th birthday. However, the shipping fees would kill my bank account, so I thought I’d share the file for the tags instead. I think the tags would be a perfect accessory for “Muppets Most Wanted” movie night treat or if you plan on throwing a Muppets themed party too! I found the image of The Swedish Chef on Wikipedia and it’s most likely a copyrighted image. These little tags are not for sale and are only being used for my son’s party. Having said that, here’s the PDF file for your personal use:
Print the page out on a piece of 8 1/2″ x 11″ white card stock.
The PDF file has two rows, one with The Swedish Chef’s images and the other with the “FROM THE KITCHEN OF THE SWEDISH CHEF” text. Cut both the Chef’s image and the text out in a square that measures 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ .
Glue the two sides together back to back or what I did was insert a 1 3/4″ x 1 3/4″ piece of a brown or blue card stock between the top and bottom and then I glued it all together.
Hole punch it, add the string and your ready to go.
Now for me to get back to the kitchen. Have a great weekend! “BORK BORK BORK!”
My son, Gavin, is a HUGE Disney Infinity fan. I have to admit that I enjoy playing the game with him, although with my lack of good gaming skills I just hold him back! One of the things that I really like about the game is the creative side known as the “Toy Box” mode. Seeing Gavin create a world of his own is a pretty cool experience. It’s amazing to watch his six-year-old mind inventing before my eyes.
As you could probably guess, when I asked what kind of party theme he would like to have for his upcoming birthday, Gavin instantly said, “Disney Infinity!” Unfortunately it’s not an easy task to be able to set up enough game systems for his entire class to play together. So another theme was chosen for the party that he’ll invite his classmates to attend. And in addition we will have a small party on the day of his birthday with his grandparents where he can challenge them to an afternoon of Disney Infinity game play.
Even though it will be a small gathering, I still want the afternoon to have a festive feel so of course I’ve started to look for Disney Infinity party supplies. If you’re trying to find them too, let me save you some time and tell you, I can’t find a thing created by Disney! So I’ve started making my own and thought I’d share how with you.
First, let me start by telling you that the images that I’m using are the property of Disney. I am using them solely for the purpose of decorating my son’s party. I don’t sell the party supplies, but I will tell you how I made them, so you could do the same for your child’s party too.
So here’s what I worked on last night…
Cupcake Garland
The card on the bottom of the above photo came as part of the original game set. What’s super cool about this card is that it can be easily used for so many different decorating ideas. The bottom of the card has an open area that is perfect to use for personalization. All you have to do is scan it into your computer, insert the picture into Publisher, add a text box and then you can add your child’s name, or whatever birthday message that you’d like! The font I used is called Captain America and I used the eye dropper tool on Mr. Incredible’s shirt to get the right color match for the font. Then I hole punched the personalized cards and laced ribbon through them. I plan on using red ribbon, not the green featured in the photo. Once the cupcakes are made, I’ll attach each end of the RED ribbon to red and white straws and insert them into cupcakes.
Party Garland
Every Infinity character comes with a card like the one in the top right corner of the photo above . I’m in the process of scanning each card into my computer and resizing them for a party garland. It a simple, yet perfect way to add a touch of Infinity to our little gathering.
These are two of the ideas that I worked on last night and I’ll share more as I continue to work on Gavin’s two different parties. Did you notice on Facebook what Gavin’s other party theme is? And I also have a little princess turning three years old soon too. YAY- Parties!!!
Look for many Disney-Inspired party planning posts coming up in the near future!
Celebrating the Happiest Place on Earth with Happiest Party on the Block
This week on the blog I will be featuring extremely creative and magical party ideas to help you and your family throw the perfect Pre-Vacation Walt Disney World Party. Today I’m delighted to share with you A Magic Kingdom Party created by Erin of Landsdown Life. Erin designed this party for her three-year old daughter’s birthday and what a pixie dusted perfect day her little Mouseketeer was given!
The attention to detail found at this party was outstanding. Erin took the time to custom design and create the party invitations, décor, food, party hats and favor bags (featured below). Since her daughter’s two favorite rides are It’s a Small World and The Enchanted Tiki Room, she included both into the party’s design.
On her blog you’ll find not only decoration details, but also four other posts regarding the Magic Kingdom Party details.
You’ll find a wonderful tutorial on how to make Magic Kingdom Party invitations.
An Activities post to tell you all about the fun Disney themed activities that little ones played while at her party.
A Favors Part1 post, where you’ll find the details on the adorable favor bags and treats. This post includes a free favor bag template.
A Favors Part2 post, where you’ll learn how to make a special Mickey treat. This post includes a free printable Mickey Inspired favor tag.
You’re going to love her party! Below is the link to take you to her Party Decoration Details first:
Add a touch of magic to your child’s birthday portrait this year by incorporating their birthday party theme into the photo.
It’s your baby’s birthday! You’ve started planning his birthday party months in advance. You’ve fretted about things like the color of the plastic spoons. Pinterest has become your best friend, as you spend hours every evening pinning party décor ideas. Have you given this much time and thought to your child’s birthday portrait?
The party day has arrived and you’re running around making sure there is enough ice in the ice bucket. Then you blink your eyes and somehow the day is over. Everyone had a blast and you sit down to look at the photos you’ve taken…or didn’t have time to take. If you’re lucky enough to have a friend or family member that is willing to help, and has a good camera, assign her to photography duty. Believe me, you’ll be pleased that you did. However, with all the activity at the party, there is no way to get a portrait of your child that symbolizes this unforgettable year of their life.
Take some time to think about why you chose your child’s birthday party theme. Most likely it was because your child lights up the moment he sees Mickey Mouse or maybe she goes running to the TV the second she hears the voice of Mickey Mouse and starts dancing to The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song. These are moments that I know I never want to forget and I’m certain you don’t want to either. Incorporate those “magical moments” into your child’s portrait.
For example, if you read my blog post yesterday I shared with you my daughter’s first birthday party. It was themed Mickey and Minnie’s Flower and Garden Birthday. At the end of the party Victoria handed out Minnie Mouse Inspired “Now Sew” flowers to all of the female guests. I’ll never forget how she loved the flowers and enjoyed handing them out. She had more fun doing that than participating in any activity that I had planned for her that day. Since I had her portrait taken after the party, I made sure I brought a few of them along for her to play with during the photo shoot.
After your child’s party is over, look around at the décor that you purchased or made for the special day. Before discarding think about selecting a few key items for your child’s birthday portrait. The Minnie Mouse prop showing her name in her birthday portrait, was used as part of directional signage at her birthday party. For my son Gavin’s second birthday, he had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party and his love of airplane started that year too. The toy airplane, that can be seen in his portrait, was his favorite toy during the entire second year of his life. Gavin is six now and still loves planes. The toy is no longer in our home, but because of this portrait I will never forget that was the year his love for Mickey Mouse and airplanes began.
Every photography studio that I’ve used has welcomed extra props, especially if they engage your child. I’ve taken props into places like Portrait Innovations and Picture People and they’ve easily used the props in the pictures. However, the most special moments in my children’s lives, like the ones you see here, I bring Gavin and Victoria to a Fine Arts Studio. The quality of the prints are archival and the individual attention that my children have received make a huge difference in the sincerity of the image. The photographs in this post are courtesy of Kaiser Fine Photography. Owner Cheryl Kaiser has been my “go to” photographer for very special moments in my children’s lives. Her ability to capture a moment in time and have it speak volumes is amazing. I’ll forever cherish these photographs.
This year when planning your child’s birthday party remember to plan out their birthday portrait too. You probably already have the props and they are ready to create Portrait Magic!
My nephew and my daughter’s birthdays are only two days apart. So when my sister-in-law, Karen Enke Wheeler suggested we throw a dual birthday party for my daughter’s 1st birthday and her son’s 2nd birthday, we instantly knew it had to be a Minnie and Mickey themed party. Mickey and Minnie birthday parties are super popular, so we thought we’d give it a twist. Both of our children love the outdoors and we knew from visiting Mickey’s home in Magic Kingdom that Mickey loves to garden and Minnie loves flowers. That’s how our idea of a Mickey and Minnie’s Flower and Garden Party was born. Today I’d love to share with you some of the unique items that we created for the party and some of the themed food that we served.
Since this was a party for both of our immediate and extended friends and families, we knew that we were going to have guests attending the party that didn’t know where to park. I created this Party Parking sign out of wood, spray painted it and then used vinyl lettering to complete it.
These two signs, featuring the birthday girl and boy’s names, were also made from wood. I wanted to make sure that even if it rained the signs would withstand the weather. The Minnie sign has a separate bow, which I glued on. To do the lettering, I found the font style on-line, printed out how Walt Disney might have written their names and used it as a guide to paint their names on the signs.
Here is a photo of our guests’ seating area. The day was a bit windy, so the balloons were a challenge. Unfortunately, all of the polka-dotted red and white balloons blew away during party set up. With my daughter walking through the area the tables looks like Minnie Mouse put on the finishing touches. Each pail, used to hold the balloons down, has a name of a little party guest painted on it. They were filled part way with dirt for the children to use later during the children’s flower-pot activity.
The kids table featured tons of polka dots. All the boys’ place settings were red and white for our pal, Mickey and pink and white for the little girls’ spots representing Miss Minnie Mouse. Karen and I purchased the terra-cotta pots at a local craft store and painted them. Inside of the pots we gave each child a Minnie or Mickey magic towel that they could use to clean up their hands after they were done planting their flower. The garden markers that they used to write their names on, I found in Target’s dollar section. The small gift, a Mickey Mouse vinylmation, was a surprise for them to take home.
When hosting a birthday party I like to have thank you favors for the adults who attend the party too. I made these “No Sew” Minnie Mouse Inspired Flowers which were from Victoria and given to her guests.
Karen made these adorable Mickey Mouse chocolate dipped Rice Krispie treats for my nephew to give his guests.
Here is a close up of the gift tags that I made for the Rice Krispie Treats. Once again I used my trusty Mickey Mouse punch. LOVE that thing!
The following photos will show you some of the food offerings that we had for the party guests. We kept it really simple, as most of our little guests preferred to play in the yard with the oversized balls, that polka dotted the lawn, than eat food. In addition to the items that are featured here, we had Pluto’s Hot Diggity Dogs, Pete’s Pizza and Daisy’s Drink Station, to name a few.
Minnie’s Flower Pot Surprise was yummy Dirt Cake!
Last But Not Least The Birthday Cakes and Cupcakes!
Thank you Fairy Godmother Kerri for such a beautiful birthday cake!
My nephew’s adorable Mickey Mouse birthday cake with Mickey inspired cupcakes made by Karen.
Karen and I had a wonderful time creating this party for our little Mouseketeers. I’d like to thank Tia Maiolatesi Welsh for taking the beautiful photos that I shared with you today!
The birthday weekend is finally here!
