Annestyne's Minnie Mouse themed First Birthday!

I won't be able to plan the theme for my kids birthdays forever. So when they're little, I like to take full advantage of DIY birthdays (well at least the first birthdays).

For me, if I budget correctly and use items I have laying around my house, I can still spend the same amount I would spend if I bought the pre-made party packages (ie, character plates, cups, table cloths, table centerpieces, etc) that you can get at party city. The thing I like about DIY parties is that most of what you make can be used as decor after your done.

For some reason, Minnie Mouse just really stuck out to me. I had previously been on Pinterest and had gone pinning crazy for a Winter Onederland theme, but that quickly changed.

I didn't spend a lot of time planning. I literally just spent the 2-3 weeks before her party looking for ideas via Pinterest, and going out to buy everything I needed to.

Door Decor!

I found this chalkboard in this frame at a local store back when I was pregnant with Annestyne. At the time it was being used for labeling something for sale in the store. I talked them in to letting me purchase it. We used it for our gender reveal party, and since then it's just kin of been lying around the house collecting dust. So I decided to paint it, and my lovely neighbor with better than I handwriting wrote the phrase I wanted on it for me!

BEFORE:

PAINTED:

FINISHED PRODUCT:

Food & table decor:

For the food, I wanted to stay within the Minnie Mouse theme. Of course, with a simple Pinterest search I got plenty of ideas!

I wanted a more modern feel on plates/napkins/cups/tablecloth -- no premade character stuff from Walmart or Party City. So I kept it simple.

Black/pink plates: party city/Walmart

Pink cups: party city

Black silverware: party city

Black w/white polka dot napkins: party city

Wire silverware basket: Target $1 section

Black stripped straws: Target $1 section

Pink serving/Veggie tray: Hobby Lobby

Pink bowls: party city

Chalkboard Food tags: Hobby Lobby

8x10 pink frame: Hobby Lobby

Balloons: Party City

Minnie Mouse DIY table centerpiece: details later down

These are the chalkboard food name tags. I loved these, and had to have them. For a pack of 4 I think it was $3.99.

The menu consisted of:

-Daisey's veggie garden

-Minnie's bows

-Goofys grapes

-Donald's Dips & Chips

-Oh toodles noodles

-Hot diggity dogs

The cake:

The cake and cupcakes came from our local bakery, Cakes and All Things Yummy. My friend Whitney is a cake decorator there, and also did Hasting's first birthday cake, along with other cakes for us!

Other decor:

We've also had this window forever. We found it in our shed when we moved in to our house. It was also used at our gender reveal party with Annestyne to hold US photos. So all I did with this was:

-spray paint it pink

- tighten the wires

-added mini clothes pins (hobby lobby)

-added pics from birth-12mo of A

-added a minnie bow & super glued black plates on the corners (to look like minnie ears)

I had the "Annestyne is One" chalkboard made by my lovely neighbor!

The table centerpiece was styrofoam balls painted black with acrylic paint. I used dowels (Walmart or hobby lobby) to hold the ears in place. I made the bow out of thick (3/4") ribbon, and super glued it on. I used a longer dowel, spray painted it black, and stuck it in the bottom of Minnie's head. It was placed in a pink tin bucket I found at Walmart, then I stuffed pink confetti like paper in the bucket (party city).

The "I am One" burlap banner was a pain. I bought the burlap banner pre put together from hobby lobby. I used stencils and acrylic paint to decorate it on my own.

The "ONE" letters were primarily made for her photos I took, but I used them above our fire place at the party (which is where gifts were stored". They came un-painted, and I just painted them.

Annestyne's area was set up in our living room. Her banner was hung, and her high chair was moved in front of the banner. I also added streamer to fancy up her high chair a bit.

I lucked up on her outfit. I was originally going to attempt to make her tutu on my own. I came across someone selling one on a yard sale page I'm in on facebook, for only $10. I had to snag it. The minnie ears came from Walmart, the babylegs are from www.babylegs.com, and the Onesie was made by my friend Katy, who owns Sarah Paisleys Handamade (check her out on Facebook yall!)!