We limited the guest list to just the little kids that Witt plays with regularly (and their siblings). So we invited 3 other families. The twins couldn't come, so we had Witt and his 2 friends June and Grady and their siblings, my boys and 6 adults. I like to keep the guest list small. My kids get overwhelmed in a big crowd. I think they have more fun with just a few kids (and just a few grown-ups).
For the invitations, I made Mickey ears out of black construction paper just by tracing two different size circles. Then I typed the invitation using a cool free Disney font, printed it on white paper and then cut it out into a circle just smaller than Mickey's head and glued it on. Super simple. The invitation read:
Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog
Now we got ears, it’s time to cheer
Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog
It’s Witt’s Birthday
Whatcha waitin’ for?
Get up, come over, dance on the floor.
See ya soon from Mickey Mouse
And the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!
(if you've seen Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, you'll recognize that I just tweaked the lyrics a bit)
I'm a proponent of having activities for the kids to do during the party rather than the mass chaos of free play. Maybe it is the control-freak in me, but I think it is more fun for the kids and less mess for Mom to clean-up afterwards, but it does require a bit of creativity.
And coming up with activities for two-year-olds is not an easy task.
So, here's how the party went:
The decor was simple: Stuffed Mickey Mouse in our old Disneyland popcorn bucket on the kids table. Cupcakes were the centerpiece of the grown-up table. Toodles (described below) hung from the ceiling. Mickey flag hanging. Mickey Mouse placemats on the kids table. Goofy game on the wall. And a streamer of mouse heads made with black construction paper and string running through the mouse ears. All of which I had or made at home. We bought enough balloons in assorted colors for all the kids, and we tied a mylar Mickey Mouse balloon to Witt's chair...which he kissed (and bit) and thus, tore before the party was over.
When the kids arrived, we had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the TV, giving them something to do while we waited for everyone to arrive. That didn't take long since we were only waiting for 2 families. So I then passed out paper Mickey Mouse headbands from the party store and told the kids that they were at the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Most of them knew the reference, but the ones that had never seen the show picked it up really quickly. I explained about Toodles, Mickey's friend who brings Mousekatools whenever he has a problem. I had made our own Toodles on a white posterboard. Our 4 Mousekatools were birthday candles, a step stool, cheese and the Mystery Mousekatool.
I told the kids that the first thing we were going to do at the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was to make our own pizzas. Before the party, I cut circles out of Pillsbury pizza dough and made individual Mickey pizzas for each kid. I gave them each a spoon, and I spooned out some pizza sauce for each of them onto their doughs. They spread their sauce, and we realized we had a problem. We had no cheese! So we called Toodles, and Toodles promptly provided us with a big bowl of mozzarella for the kids to put on their pizzas. They were allowed to top their pizzas with other toppings too...but most were too picky and opted for the cheese pizzas. I offered them baby carrots and Ranch and apple juice or lemonade in their very own Mickey sippy cups found in packs of three at Wal-Mart.
While our pizzas baked, I told the kids that Goofy wanted to send Witt a special birthday wish, but that Goofy was all confused...he was missing his eyes, nose, teeth, ears, and hat. So we had to help him. But the problem was that Goofy is tall...too tall for 2 year olds to reach his head. So we had to call Toodles again who brought us a step stool. The kids then all took turns pinning items to Goofy...Goofy was drawn on white posterboard (copied meticulously from an image off the internet) and his ears, etc., were cut out of construction paper. We didn't use a blindfold or anything...just worked together to make Goofy look right.
While the kids ate, the adults made their own pizzas. I think they might have had more fun than the kids. I provided an array of toppings: fresh mozzarella, fontina cheese, pepperoni, prosciutto, grilled chicken strips, red and yellow peppers, red onion, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and spinach. I also provided a Caesar salad as a side dish. I served lemonade, iced tea and water (and of course, they could make an Arnold Palmer).
While the grown-ups ate, we let the kids watch the rest of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Then we sat down for cake. Again, we had a problem. No candles for Witt to blow out. So Toodles brought us our candles. I made white cupcakes (and had cute Mickey cupcake papers that Mammy found at Hobby Lobby). I iced the cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Then using a mini-food processor, I ground up Oreos. I dipped each iced cupcake in the Oreo crumbs. Then I placed two mini-sized Oreos into the cupcake for Mickey's ears.
After cake, I told the kids that Mickey loved to dance at birthday parties. I pulled out the parachute from Will's birthday party last spring. We cleared the living room floor and made a circle around the parachute. But we couldn't dance without any music. So our Mystery Mousekatool was a radio with Disney music. We put on the music, danced around, shook the parachute. We tried popping Mickey up on the parachute, but that distressed Witt too much. It was amazing how entertained they all were by that parachute.
Finally, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse would not be complete without the Hot Dog dance. So we fast forwarded to the Hot Dog dance on the TV and danced with Mickey and friends.
Witt dressed as Mickey. I bought him black tights, a black turtleneck, and some yellow slippers. I sewed big white buttons to some red shorts and pinned a black tail to the back. He was to wear my old Mickey ears that I got at DisneyWorld when I was little, but he didn't keep them on.
I dressed as Minnie. I wore black tights, a black skirt, and a black t-shirt and red shoes. I made myself an apron with red and white polkadot fabric I had leftover from Christmas and a big bow for my hair. I wore black mose ears, and I added a black nose with makeup for effect.
Michael dressed as Goofy. He also had a black nose, and 3 black freckles on each cheek. He wore black dog ears and found the rest of his costume in his closet: orange shirt, black vest, blue jeans and brown shoes. I wished we had had one of those big green Goofy hats.
I think Witt had a good time...it's hard to tell from a two-year-old. But I know his big brothers did. Each child took home their cup, their mouse ears and a balloon...you know how little ones love balloons. I saw tons of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse junk at the Dollar Store, but I opted not to get it. I don't ever want all those pencils and bouncy balls that my kids bring home in their goody bags from birthday parties. I figured the parents would much prefer a new sippy cup and the kids a balloon.
