My 2 daughters are 22 1/2 months apart, which means their birthdays fall 6 weeks apart. This year they are turning 2 and 4 years old and I decided to have a combined birthday party for them for all our family and our close friends/pseudo-family. (My 4-year-old had another party with her little friends closer to her actual birthday too). I also promised Husband that this year I would go low-key and mellow with the kids' birthday parties, so I did (sorta). I didn't spend a plot of money at all and I didn't spend a ton of time on this party either, most of the fun was really in the food. And people have to eat, right?!
I needed a theme that appealed to both girls, and since my littlest is OBSESSED with Minnie and my older one loves all things Disney, Minnie Mouse Bow-tique seemed perfect. It was nice because then I could do all things Minnie/Mickey Clubhouse and Bows and all things with Bows.
And I reused this for my 4-year-old's Pajama and Pancake Party too!
Every party needs a fun dessert and treat table. Keep scrolling down for details on the food. The food was the most fun part of this party.
This table was near the front and had Minnie and Mickey ears for everyone. It also had props for the photo wall, and some framed pictures of my girls with Minnie Mouse (and other characters) in Disneyland and Disneyworld.
The food was so fun and really the main "decorations" of the party. It was all themed and so fun for the kids, and even for some of the adults too.
I don't know why, but I was so in love with how my plate settings turned out! Black paper plates, small black plates, and black bowls (all from the Dollar Store!). I wrapped some plastic utensils in a pink napkin and wrapped a pink ribbon around it to make it look like a bow. Then I set it up to look like Minnie! I had this set up on each end of my food buffet/bar.
And the fun thing was, these stayed like this through out the whole party because honestly no one needed a small plate (not in my family...) or a bowl at anytime.
Mickey's CLUBHOUSE Sandwiches
And of course, the cheese is all cut into Mickeys (with a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter).
Hot-Diggity-Dog Bar
Grilled hotdogs with all the fixins'. Chilli, cheese sauce, grated cheese, diced tomatoes and onions, yellow peppers, ketchup, mustard, relish, etc.
Plutato Chips and Gooey Goofy Dip
Potato chips and dip, of course
Toodles Bow-tie Noodles
(I also thought of just calling Minnie's Bow-tie Pasta, but I wanted to use Toodles somewhere.)
Bow-tie pasta salad (Bowtie pasta, halved cherry tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, carrots, celery, mini pepperoni, cubed cheese, red onion and I used creamy Italian dressing this time-which was very popular...)
Donald's Cheese and Quakers
Cheese and crackers, but set up on one large black platter and 2 small black plates to look like Mickey!
Daisy's Garden Veggies
Of course, also displayed like Mickey with the black platter and small plates.
Pluto's Punch
Minnie's Bows
These were fun! But my littlest one was eating them faster than I could make them! Each bow is 2 strawberries (I tried to get them similarly sized), 1 grape, and 1-2 toothpicks holding each "bow" together.
Minnie Cupcake and Minnie Mouse Brownies
These cupcakes were a favorite of the kids! I just made regular cupcakes, frosted them and then topped each one with a regular Oreo and 2 Mini-Oreos. After I made them, my almost 4-year-old told me that they had to be Minnies, not Mickeys and they all needed bows... She did say that about everything, but the cupcakes were easy to add a bow to ( the cheese slices, not so much). I had some heart candies and I just frosted the ends together to look like a bow.
Mickey Brownies
I used the Mickey cookie-cutter to cut Mickey's out of a sheet of brownies. I was going to add the heart-candy bows to the brownies too, but ran out of time and ambition and just sprinkled them on the tray instead. It looked cute and the kids love eating the candy through-out the party.
Mikey Pretzel Melts
These were fun and surprisingly (or not?) very yummy too.
Square/Grid pretzels
Regular M&M's
Mini M&M's
Candy Melts (I sued pink since I couldn't add a bow)
I put a Candy Melt on each square pretzel (about 15 at a time) and put them in the oven for 10 minutes at about 275 degrees. (I tried the microwave, didn't work as well).
When I pulled they out, I put one regular M&M and two Mini-M&M's on each pretzel. If I had too many on the tray, they would cool too soon.
Figaro's Gooey Fish
Colored Swedish Fish
I got the big Minnie Mouse baskets after Easter for under $5 at Kmart and Walmart. I also got the Minnie buckets on-sale after Easter too.
I made this Happy Birthday banner with my Cricut. I used the Mickey Font cartridge that I bought brand-new off Ebay for only $16.
I also made all these signs with the same cartridge.
"Thanks for stopping by!"
"We've got ears, say cheers!"
"Come inside, it's fun inside"
I bought these cute things at Wal-mart and Target, but they were available at every retail store in the Minnie Bow-tique party section. There were cute hanging ball lanterns with bow-ears and then on the wall was a fun photo-backdrop wall, it even came with fun Minnie's Bow-tique props. Both of these items were about $8, and much easier and cheaper than me trying to make something like this.
