a lovely living

Since our children happen to have birthdays that are two weeks apart, it seemed fit to have a combined birthday party. I figure we’ll get away with this as long as we can. We were leaning towards a Peter Pan/Tinkerbell party, but when my son decided that Captain Hook may show up he nixed the idea. We then settled on a Mickey/Minnie theme and invited those who wished to dress as their favorite Disney character.

I enjoyed their first few parties where we were basically entertaining our own (adult) friends. That was a piece of cake (pun intended). Now I needed to incorporate entertaining kids….not an easy task. That’s where I decided to turn the party into a carnival, hoping to keep everyone entertained and prolonging any meltdowns for as long as possible. From what I gather, I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I’m no Martha Stewart, but I love pulling ideas from pinterest/etsy etc and putting my own twist on them.

Here are some of the details, thanks to a great friend because I failed to capture the moments myself!

I ordered Jack’s t-shirt and Madelyn’s dress from Etsy shops and was thrilled with how they turned out. Madelyn also sported her brother’s first pair of red converse sneaks. I think she pulled them off well.

I made the Happy Birthday sign myself. It took me an afternoon to complete, but I was happy with how it turned out. My Father in Law happens to be a retired high school art teacher, lucky me! He volunteered to make the Mickey/Minnie’s that anchored the food table. They were the perfect finishing touch to the decor.

When the children arrived, they each had their own goodie bag to decorate. After we ate, the carnival opened up keeping everyone busy playing an assortment of games in which they could win tickets to exchange for prizes. For the past month I had been picking up any Disney themed trinket I could find. They seemed to be a hit!

On to my favorite part, the dessert table. I did my best to describe what I wanted the cakes to look like and a friend from high school did an amazing job with them. It pained me to cut into them! She included two cupcakes for the birthday kids and Madelyn fully enjoyed her very first cupcake. I wasn’t about to have her dress ruined, so the birthday girl had a chance to wear her birthday suit ;) We also had treat bags for everyone to fill up for the road….sorry parents, I hope that didn’t ruin your night!

I love party planning, but it’s such a relief when it’s all over isn’t it?!