We celebrated Maggie's third birthday Minnie Mouse style. I'm not a big character party kind of Mom, but I'm pretty sure I found some ways to make this our own. {and avoid Party City}
I started shopping around for this thing nearly six months before the date. I know you aren't surprised, but really it was primarily due to the fact that we had a wee one coming at the end of August. My goal was to do as much as I could {shopping wise} before Lucy's arrival. Then the next months of being home with a newborn could be for assembly purposes.
All I can say is thank goodness I planned it out this way. Baby number three and a big boy going to Kindergarten certainly monopolized my time this Fall.
But, the main reason I point this all out to you is because somewhere mid-August, my little Maggie Mouse announced she wanted a "Princess" party.
Hmmm...too late, your Mommy is a serious planner? I tried that...it half worked.
What finally did the trick is when I pulled out bag after bag after bag of Minnie Mouse party loot. Maggie was back to her Minnie party loving self. And she sweetly announced, "when I's 4 I have a princess party". {Not confident enough to start shopping for that one yet though}
Back to Minnie.
I was seriously shocked at how much stuff you can find out there with that mouse on it. It's nuts! Just in the way of food, I was able to find Mickey nuggets, Mickey Pretzels, Mickey crackers, Mickey Cheese, Minnie yogurt, and Minnie bagged apple slices. Unbelieveable.
We did a black, white and hot pink theme. Lots of polka dots too.
There were three activity tables {although I think the sand box was the biggest hit}. The first {and my most fave} was "Maggie's Bow-tique". I had necklaces, boas, Minnie and Mickey ears, diamond rings, and sparkly sunglasses for the girls to dress up with and take home. I set a mirror out for them to admire themselves. It was darling to watch.
Maggie could not keep her hands out of this stuff during the prior prep months. Every time we went downstairs she was dolled up to the hilt with it. Come party time she didn't touch it. Go figure...maybe the novelty had worn off. Either way, I was so bummed. I was really hoping for a picture of her...she was so adorable the other 100 times she put it all on.
The second table was "Maggie's Cookie Corner". I was shocked at what a hit this was. The table was full the entire party with waiting guests. I made Minnie sugar cookies for the girls and Mickey cookies for the boys. I put out pink, red, black, and white icing and tons of sprinkles. I also had little take home bags available. Most of the kids ate theirs right on the spot though. It was a fabulous mess.
The last table was "Clubhouse Coloring". At this table I had jumbo Mickey and Minnie coloring sheets, Mickey and Minnie crayons and lots of stickers. This was an easy hit with the kiddos.
For goodies, we did Mickey polka dot crayon rolls for the boys and Minnie polka dot crayon rolls for the girls. I found Mickey and Minnie crayons at Michaels to stuff them.
We had a great time and especially loved celebrating with all of our friends. We were in somewhat of hiding since Lucy's birth. This was a great way to break back into the social scene again.
Maggie felt all the love just as I hoped she would. And she filled up with even more sweeteness {i.e cookies, sprinkles, lollipops, cupcakes}. Sweet Three...that's what I'm hoping for anyway!
I'll let the pictures do the talking from here. But before that, I need to give serious props to
Andrea Wood for her fabulous photography and Tracy at
Sweet Peach Papiere for the adorable paper products. Thanks Ladies for making my favorite three year old's day so wonderful!
