Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

Has anyone gone through life with children withOUT having a MICKEY Party?

Well! We not only had a Mickey Mouse Party... We had a Micky Mousetach party!

See, my nephew who's birthday is one day before my youngest's had to have a Mickey Party, and at that age you can't argue with them.  So my sister in-law and I decided to combined the parties since they are so close in dates and who wants to consume an entire weekend with birthday parties!?  NOT me! 

SO evolved the Mickey MouseSTache party!  

I've always wanted a "little man" themed party with ties, vests, top hats and mustaches but with the great opportunity to combined parties and with my nephew not parting ways with Mickey Mouse anytime in his near future I thought we should combined the theme as well! 

So here are a few pictures to gaze at... We are getting into the party planning business soon as well, but if you should live far, far away then we can send you the items for you to adorn your party with all by yourselves!   WARNING- combining a party does not make less work! It only makes it more fabulous! 

ENJOY :) 

Logan (left-3) Brandon (right-2) 

THE BIRTHDAY BOYS

Artsy made the shirts! They turned out ADORABLE!! 

Mickey Top Hats- we made from cheap top hats then added ears and a red stripe to tie into our colors

Mickey shapes were added to the tops of our favor bags with a mini clothes pin and we also put them on tall bamboo skewers to add some depth and cuteness to our tables.

oh and here is a top hat for one of the girls that planned to stop by and share some minnie love ;) 

An amazing chocolate cupcake with shipped cream frosting and red sprinkles! 

YUM, Brandon liked them! 

We also set up a fancy photo booth with dress up clothes! These are the oldest BROTHERS to the young Birthday Boys! 

a beautiful mickey balloon decor for the wall 

so the mustaches didnt make it through the entire theme but it was still cute and came through some of decor!

dont forget the marshmallows!

The Mickey Cookies that CookieXchange did only dipped the ears in chocolate instead of using any royal icing decoration.

...and some more yummy desserts...

FRUIT KABOBS

FRUIT TARTS

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES OF COURSE

more cute favors

ADORABLE FRAMES!!! 

On the back of the boys' shirts Allison ironed on some cute sayings-

Logan turned 3 his shirt said _ YIPEEE IM 3!!

Brandon turned 2 his shirt said- WOHOO IM 2!!

ALL JUST PICTURES TODAY no tutorials or where to get things... 

I'll try to keep you updated with out crafty lives over yonder...  please be sure to comment.  If you ask any questions about anything you see I will be sure to give you my answer!!!

XOXO

FAVOR BOXES WITH A SOCCER FLAIR

Thought I would share that there are people out there reading this!!   hehe, we have 11 worshipers... I mean "followers" .. wait is this a cult? NO way!  I won't make you drink any special koolaide, and I wont ask you to live with me and my "other followers" :)
I only ask you read these posts from time to time in hopes you like my ideas and share your own experiences or become inspired by the things I snap pictures of and talk about.
It has been a busy month of February and I am sort of glad it is over with. I want to share with you the favor boxes I made for my son's 7th Birthday extravaganza at Chuck E. Cheeses (James just HAD to have his party there, and I think if you can afford it, every kid should have it there once in their lifetime).
Now I say extravaganza because it sure hurt the wallet like one!  But only the best for my little guys!
So soccer was the theme at this party so I decided to fall back on the good 'ol kraft boxes I purchased from U-line, or was it Nashville wraps?  I can't remember but I will update on here when I do!
This is what I made.

Can I just tell you the parents were very excited about these... I think they wanted their own too :)  The cookies were my first attempt at "soccer balls" so I think I need a bit more practice AND more time to try these guys out, but for last minute and just a platter cookie, I think they turned out pretty nice.
What I think was very clever about these boxes is that I put a pink ribbon on top of the boxes that had girly colored goodies inside! That way I wouldn't have to look inside each one once the kids were leaving to make sure there weren't disappointing boys because they got pink punch balls or parachute ninjas!
NOW- these don't have to be Soccer, they can be all pink, they can be princess themed, football themed ANYTHING you and your little one set your minds to! Contact me if you want your own labels designed. Anyhow... 
Here is the ingredient list

4x5x6 recycled kraft boxes  (from ULINE ...i think)
20 yards of soccer ribbon (I may need more for a future project)
a hole punch (regular sized)
I used the Sentimentals cartridge for my cricut expression for my scallops in black (cut at 2 inches)
I also created a sheet of "thank you" circles with soccer ball borders  (EMAIL me if you want a copy)
I used the "center point" on my cricut to cut out the images
what I think would work BETTER is a 2 inch circle punch!! HELLO, why didnt I think about that sooner... well its pretty expensive, so I went with the obvious choice until I can add that to my collection!
Black curling ribbon I got at my local party store Boswell's this place is local for me, so I don't have to pay shipping. So my advice is to just get a nice large spool of it (you pay soo much for a tiny spool why not get a big one since you'll need it soon enough)
My trusty ATG gun WHICH I LOVE!
..and finally a patient hand!

So I punched a hole with a standard punch in the opposite sides of the boxes (for the side ribbon/handle)

So this picture above shows the two front holes, this is for the tag, for the HANDLES you need to punch a hole on the left side (towards the back of the box) and then on the right side you need to punch a hole on the front side (the same end as the tags/front). This will allow for a spill free, kid wobbling running around party experience.

The soccer ribbon is thick enough that when you tie a knot on the inside of the box it will not come out of that hole you punched unless you pulled so hard you ripped the box...
Now we take a look at the tag portion on the front side of the box. I punched 2 holes side by side about a 1/4 inch from each other and off set it to the side off the center of the box, it just looked better that way!
Then I took 2 cuts of 12 inches of that black curling ribbon and threaded them both through the inside of the box to the outside. Then I slipped all 4 sides of the ribbon through the tag which I also punched a hole into after using my ATG tape gun to adhere the tags together.

I took both sides of the ribbon and tied one knot onto the tag, then I took one ribbon from each side (leaving 2 pieces of the ribbon dangle) and tied a bow. THERE, the tag is snug, and it looks darling!

I loved making these knowing that kids will enjoy them for a long time. Who doesnt want a cool box to tote things around of theirs! My son still has his and he carries all kinds of random things in it when he wants to tote them along somewhere.
Please email me for a FREE copy of the soccer Thank You labels to print out on your own computer. I just ask you become a cult member... I mean... follower and I will gladly HOOK YOU UP, as my son would say.
ALSO, for the pink ribbon (the girly boxes) I just punched 2 holes into the top/lid and threaded a hot pink ribbon through and tied a knot, just to poke out.

A QUICK LIST OF GOODIES I PUT INTO OUR FAVOR BOXES

slinging frogs (party store)
primary colored party bubbles (Walmart)
punch balls (party store)
globe key ring (james insisted!/party store)
ninjas on parachutes (party store)
NOT PICTURED- CAKE POPS!!!! from ArtsyAlcie (James' aunt!) 
and those lick ball thingies that you catch back into the net things (real technical i know..)
..OH and don't forget the infamous silly bands (we put in star wars themed from walmart)

some more pics

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ARTSYALCIE WHO MADE THE CAKE POPS THAT WENT INSIDE THESE BOXES AND SOME ADDED EXTRA FOR THE TABLE FOR THE PARENTS TO ENJOY!!

HAPPY CRAFTING EVERYONE!!!
   please leave a comment, I want to know what themed parties you are throwing in your near future!!!

Rainbow Cupcakes - Happy Birthday James!

Tomorrow my darling young son is turning 7!
Where has the time gone?? Why not celebrate with this...

I'll show you how, it's super simple!

Last year for his birthday in Kindergarten we made some yummy cupcakes that he just had to give to his friends this year again!  I think they may have made him a bit more cool at the time and who doesn't want their kids to be cool!?
I think I found this idea about a year or two ago in a magazine and since then I will catch a glimpse here and there online. 
So I thought I would share my process with you all just in case you want to make some for St Patties Day, a birthday or just because. Now- WARNING... these aren't Sprinkles Cupcakes, they aren't "to die for" they are just very cool, and fun... I wouldn't make these ever to show off at a meeting unless it was for a cub scouts meeting...just saying that they are more cute than they are tasty :) NOT saying they aren't moist sugary cupcakes, cause they are... but once you dowse food coloring into all that cake mix, it tastes well, like food colored cake mix! I have nothing against cake mix, there have been some amazing things conjured from it (i.e. ArtsyAlcie YUM!!!!) and the occasional german chocolate mix and frosting... WAIT I'm veering from the point...My point is these are GREAT kids please'rs, kids will be talking about them for months!!!!

So I started with these

1 box betty crocker white cake mix (white only because we are trying for some solid colors)
1 tub of cream cheese frosting (get the kind you like)
green "sprinkles" from wilton
1/3 cup applesauce (YES, applesauce!)
3 egg whites
1 1/4 cup water
7 cups
7 small spoons
large mixing bowl
wooden spoon or whisk
Gel food coloring (you can use what you have on hand)
****
red
blue
green
yellow
pink (not necessary for the full rainbow affect)

...and NO OIL!
"BUT why no oil Jessica"? Because we used applesauce sillies!   HELLO, this cuts down on fat MUCHO. It calls for 1/3 cup oil, but we substitute with applesauce for that moisture leaving an oil free cake, MAMMA likes and has been doing it for years!!!  You can use that in most of your baking recipes!!!!
I wouldn't leave the oil out of a chewy brownie recipe though, some things you just can't mess with :)

SO, get that cake mix in the bowl, seperate those eggs, measure out that water and applesauce.

Good, now we are ready to mix WAIT--- Turn that oven onto 325...
..then just dump all the liquid ingredients into the dry mix. There is no science to mixes, they are made to be fool proof, although when it gets into the oven it's all up to the baking gods and your timer!

Don't mix TOO much only because we are going to be mixing colors into the batter soon and we dont want this batter to be beaten or mixed to death!
Once your batter is smooth and incorporated you want to pour about 1 cup into each of those 7 glasses.
I use gel coloring only because I have a big stock of it for my cookie business. But you can use what you have on hand. I love gel because it gives you a bright color without having to use half the bottle or more than a tablespoon and doesn't add further liquids! But these portions are small so you dont really need too much to brighten the batter up.

So start your coloring; red, blue, yellow and green are their own colors, but for purple you need to mix 1 drop blue to 1 drop red (you may need to add 1 more of each but play around with it one drop at a time). Orange you need 2 drops yellow, 1 drop red. Mix those in until they are a solid color.

I used white cupcake liners and I used 2 liners for each cup to prevent browning (browning takes away from the beautiful colors we are working so hard to achieve). The alternative to using 2 liners is to get those foil liners, those would be perfect but since I only have white in stock, thats just what I did and it worked wonderfuly!
After all your colors are mixed and you have lined your cupcake pan you want to start with purple.
PURPLE: take your purple and put about a spoonful in each cup, and make sure the bottom is completly covered (this can get tricky), I used a butter knife and swirled it into the bottom of the liners and you can try shaking the pan a little in a swirly motion.
BLUE: same process about a spoonful or two, on the next layers you will need to sort of lay the batter on top of the last layer so it doesnt just plop into the bottom of the purple layer. Be gentile.
GREEN: be gentile
YELLOW,
ORANGE,
PINK,
RED.
Keep in mind you wont be able to get a perfect layer of each, so dont spend too much time on trying to spread each layer, give a little shake (to your pan, not your backside) and move forward to the next color.


I set my oven to 325 degrees. I don't have a fancy convection or anything, just a standard 60's model GAS of all things, but Petunia has been good to me (yes, I have named my oven).

Put those cupcakes into the oven when it comes to temp and I left mine in there for about 14 minutes but I would check after 10 just to make sure everything is copacetic..probe one with a toothpick, and the toothpick should come out with a crumb or two.

how cute are those!?
Here is a picture of the side of the paper, you can see through them...it's a rainbow!!

the kids are going to LOVE these!!!
When they were cooled I just spread a thin layer of my cream cheese frosting to avoid sugar blow ups on the playground (I think Mrs. Bauer will appreciate that!), then just sprinkled the green "sparkles" thats just the color I happened to have.

..and I love how the cakes stain the white papers:)

So with the time saving luxary of a box mix, why not spend that extra 30 minutes to make a special treat for yourself or children so they will never forget their Birthdays and get those brownie points with their classmates!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!  MOMMY LOVES YOU!!!!

XOXO

..questions or comments please post below!!