Johnathan's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo Choo Express Birthday #DisneySide

How can this little guy be 2 years old already.

I was picked to host a "DisneySide Home Celebrations" party.  

What they didn't know is that pretty much every birthday is Disney themed in our little Dearieland! 

I was shipped an amazing piece of luggage, random supplies that had something to do with Disney running & ESPN sports [??], HP cards for printing, Hanes Tshirts to decorate, and Mickey Mouse plates, cups, & Party decorations.  

Since we were having it at a park and it was for a 2 year old, I opted to use only the latter items but passed the other items on to loving homes [except that sweet rolling luggage..that baby is mine!]. 

One of Johnathan's first clear words outside of family names was "Choo Choo". 4+ years ago, Jesse's first grouping of words was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo Choo Express.  

So it was a natural theme for the party this year.

Created using the software of MyDigitalStudio from Stampin UP.

So all that being said, here is what we did for Johnathan's 2nd birthday.

Using the balloons they sent and the Mickey dangles, I did a ribbon balloon banner of sorts from one pole to another at the park.  Made us easy to find and was a large but inexpensive impact.  The balloons were strung on using the tiny little rubber bands for hair.

Train PB & J sandwiches {Could have been Mickey heads easily, too, but I wanted to bring out the Choo Choo Express side of this party.}

Veggies, pasta salad, mini subs, & potato chips we brought back from a factory in Ohio during a side trip into Amish country while we there for the funeral.

We covered all the tables we would use in plastic table covers from the dollar tree. When you are sharing a pavilion at a park, I think it is good to mark your space so your guests know where to sit.  Plus it's cleaner, right?!

We always bring additional tables for the food.  The "cake" table, featuring the actual Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo Choo Express train.  Both my boys are quite train crazy...  

I also made the 3 ingredient Peanut Butter cookies as alternative treat.  Both older ones are allergic to dairy & wheat, so no cupcakes for them, but they want some fun food, too!

These are Death By Oreo cupcakes with the mini Oreos turned to look like ears.  :)

Make a Wish!

The kids like to dress for the theme of their party and since this was trains, Jesse & Johnathan dressed like train conductors with Abigale in her Minnie wear.

 The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom to continue to celebrate Johnathan's birthday weekend.  Often the children dress up when visiting Walt Disney World so Johnathan & Jesse again wore their costumes.  Besides a pirate or prince, there isn't much for boys to pick from, Disney.. 

Besides, Jesse's career plans have him eventually working on the Magic Kingdom trains or at least that is what he has stuck with for the last 3 years!

 Abigale took the princess route.

{I think she was trying to give me a "Princess~like stare".  haha

Had to meet some princesses while we were here, of course!  

Love it!

 Hopefully Johnathan had a fun & memorable birthday weekend and everyone had a great time playing & celebrating their own #DisneySide!

Thanks for looking~

Beyond Pinterest, there are some amazing party ideas at these websites, too.
http://www.disneysidecelebrations.com
www.Spoonful.com
www.DisneySide.com
Also just discovered a unique Disney sponsored parenting connection site called www.Babble.com that you might want to check out!

Abigale's 2nd Birthday~ Japanese Theme

{Dress by Grandma}

I was an exchange student to Japan in 1993, the summer before my senior year of high school. It was an amazing experience. Since I never throw anything away, I had lots of mementos from my time there, of course.  

While walking around EPCOT last year and strolling through the large store in "Japan" there, it came to me what theme I wanted to do for Abigale's 2nd birthday.  I already had the decorations, the theme easily leads to yummy food, & some of the authentic favors could be obtained in the shop there in EPCOT.  So rather than Elmo or the obvious "Abby Cadabby", I opted to go Japanese while I was still in control of her birthday themes.  Hah!  {Note: Minnie Mouse is the 3rd birthday theme, so I was right in claiming control while I still could. ;) }

Invitation created using My Digital Studio from Stampin' UP

{Compilation shot of some of the ideas}

For the food, I made most of it with sauces I got from the Asian section.  We served a veggie tray, featuring Edemame, Rice Krispy "Sushi", "Tokyo snack Mix" I picked up in EPCOT's Japan, Potstickers {one of my favorite foods when I lived there}, Yakisoba noodles {similar to Lo Mein}, and Yakitori {grilled chicken on a stick}.  For dessert, I made 3 different cupcakes: Strawberry Limeade, Chocolate Cupcakes topped with Chocolate Ganache and Japanese cookies {from EPCOT}, and Coconut Cupcakes.  Some of the food missed the photo shoot but you get the idea. ;)

 

I made the banner & other little signs using My Digital Studio and punched the shapes using my Big Shot all from Stampin Up {of course}.

I found the fonts "Last Ninja" & "GoJuOn" on one of the free font sites and downloaded them to use with all the signs.

For the decoration areas, I got a few books from the library and most of the rest were items from my time there as an exchange student.  I was able to borrow a few Asian items from a friend that had hosted a Chinese exchange student, too.  

I used take out boxes for the boys favor boxes. I bought them from our local Asian take out for a steal!  The little Asian purses were actually scored 6+ months in advance from the Dollar Tree, if you can believe that!  They were filled with candy from Japan/EPCOT and little toys with an Asian theme I ordered from Oriental Trading under their Chinese New Year Theme. 

I made tags for each kid with their name in Japanese and a little Japanese character.  Arigato means Thank you.

We asked friends to dress up in Asian style clothes if they happened to have them and our friends happen to have coats from their Chinese exchange student that worked perfect!

Time to blow out the candle, little lady!

Mommy, Daddy, & little Abigale

YUM!

 

Hope you enjoyed looking at our pictures as we remembered the fun we had with family & friends celebrating Abigale's 2nd birthday.  Our world {and her personality} changed one month later with the addition of her little brother, Johnathan, but that is an entry for another time.

Thanks for looking!

{Japanese for goodbye!}

All crafty supplies used to make the various signs are available at my website, www.AmyDearie.StampinUp.net.

Argh Matey Jesse's Pirate Birthday Party

Jesse turned 4 on November 8th, 2011.  I love themes.  They inspire me!  I got inspired for this party when Stampin' Up clearanced the Pirate Party kit from a couple of years ago down to $2.99 last spring.  At the original price of $16, it was a bargain, and now they were practically giving it away!  

Little did I realize the Pirate theme was going to be so popular this year.  So much for being original.  

But here are my little spins on the theme and what we did for his 4th birthday party.

His Invite {created on My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up then just printed as a 4 X 6 picture at Sam's!}. 
Picture of Jesse was taken by Nate Mundell Photography at another Pirate {& Princess} party we attended a month prior.

First, our tradition is to go to Walt Disney World on our birthdays since we have passes.  Had to take a few "pirate shots" while we were there!

 I did a "Candy Barge" on a taller dresser and had bags for the parents to fill for the kids. I tried to get candy that was either wrapped in gold or jewel tones or sea related. 

The sign that read "Beware Thar Be Pirates" was made by my husband from a pallet broken apart and rough looking on purpose.

The banner hanging is 2 kits put together and then I embellished with chunky glitter to add a little something to half of the flags.  I also hung another of this banner over our sliding glass door that lead to the bounce house. Sorry, it's no longer available for purchase.

My mom made the costumes for my 2 littles.

 The "Pirate booty" came from random metal items mom or I had laying around, along with the wooden boxes and gauzy material. When draped together with the beads and such, it reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at the Magic Kingdom, which is the look I was hoping for in this area.

 The girls had headband bandannas with red polka dots and the boys bandannas had a pirate print.

The treasure boxes also came in that kit from Stampin Up.  Since I had so many kids coming, I put out tags for the parents to tape to the treasure boxes.  This didn't happen.  

And the boxes kept {mysteriously} opening to be pillaged.  

So I wouldn't recommend having the boxes within children's reach or untagged.  

If you want the name on it, put it on.  {What was  I thinking?}

I like to name the food served with the theme because I am that cheesy.  So we had "Submarine Sandwiches" {and yes, I know that subs are more current than the typical time period when we think of "Pirates" but go with me..};  Deviled Ships {Deviled Eggs that kind of resemble a boat thanks to the flag from the kit}; Pirate Booty ~of course; and Shipwrecked Salad made with Sea Shell Pasta. 

Pictured here is also the Salted Caramel Cupcakes {Salty Sea..get it?}.  I loosely followed the inspiration of this recipe.  But I used a normal yellow cake mix with a pinch of salt and used a jar of caramel ice cream topping for the filling.  I did use her recipe for the frosting.  Great stuff!

The Treasure Chest Chocolate Cake turned out pretty good despite me waiting to the last minute.

 I didn't really do games other than the "Search for Buried Treasure" using an under the bed type storage box filled with a bag of sand, beads, rings, & other small trinkets.

We asked the kids to wear pirate gear if they had it and some of the girls wore princess outfits, too.  We provided the bandannas & eye patches in case they didn't already have something. Dress up always makes it more fun and I love to incorporate that for the guests and {of course} the party honoree!

Friends let us borrow their home bounce house which gave the kids another outlet to play.  Highly recommend!

Jesse had a great time and I think the kids did, too.

Click Here for my Pinterest Board I used to collect my inspiration.

Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for looking!