Penelope Jane's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 1st Birthday Party

Well it's official.

A certain someone turned one year old on Sunday.

I've felt such a mix of emotions over the last few weeks leading up to this momentous occasion. Nostalgia for 1 year ago as we awaited her arrival, going through childbirth (yes, part of me loved that experience), spending those precious early days and nights with her, just feeling disbelief that she was here. Pride and accomplishment that we made it through the first year. Sadness that my baby is growing up. Happiness that my baby is growing up happy and healthy. And most of all, excited to celebrate my sweet baby girl. 

And to ring in the first birthday for my little Sweet P, I couldn't think of any other way than to have a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party. 

Penelope truly adores Mickey Mouse and we watch more of this show than I care to admit. When Mickey comes on screen, she lights up and if she's in the middle of a meltdown, Mickey is a great way to distract and relax her.

So with that in mind, I constructed the party with everything Mickey in mind. It started with the food (of course).

We rented a tabletop hot dog cart as the showpiece for our Hot Diggity Dog Bar.

The cart was awesome and had large trays for the hot dogs and two more to hold other warm goodies (we used these for saurkraut and hot dog onions). We provided lots of other fixin's too including pickled onions, cheddar cheese, relish, chopped bacon, Frank's Red Hot, and of course, ketchup and mustard. My mom made a big slow cooker filled with delicious Clubhouse Chili for topping and I purchased ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles along with little hot dog trays for serving. I think this was a really fun addition and of course, matched with the classic Mickey Hot Dog Dance theme.

Other food included Minnie Bagels, Pete's Potato Salad, Goofy Greens (with lots of dressings from which to choose, as well as dried cranberries and crumbled goat cheese) and Meeska Mouska Mac & Cheese. 

And can't forget about the Handy Helpers! I set these up in white and metal Ikea planters lined with red napkins.

I made all of the table cards and Hot Dog sign with a super simple template in PowerPoint, printed them out and adhered them to card stock. I'm the furthest thing from a designer and so these did the job. I downloaded the Minnie font and that made everything look very 'Mickeyfied'.

I also made these flag banners using card stock and the Mickey Ears font. I taped the flags together on the back sides and strung them together with red baker's twine. This involved a lot {lot} of cutting and kind of made me wish I just had a Silhouette, but I did it over a few nights in front of the TV, so it wasn't so bad.

The finished product was so darn cute, it was worth it!

And I couldn't forget about the birthday girl's high chair...

Close up on her cute shoesies:

I had a blast making this photo board of some of my favorite photos from over the last year:

For added fun, we set out some of Pluto's Popcorn, complete with sprinkled toppings, including sour cream & onion, cheddar and chocolate marshmallow.

I kept drinks simple with wine (Trader Joe's FTW), beer, soda and a pretty water jug with lemon and ice. Honest juice boxes for the kids.

I made little goody bags for the kids, again with labels I created in PowerPoint. I filled the bags with a Mickey cup, crayons, bubbles, stickers, a puzzle and a package of Goldfish (one of Penelope's favorite snacks).

After we ate and played, it was time for dessert! We had a pretty sweet spread.

I ordered a huge cake (Mickey, of course) with one layer of yellow cake, one layer of chocolate and Bavarian cream filling. I also made chocolate-dipped Oreos to look like Mickey's pants. My mom brought a beautiful fruit platter and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Edible Arrangement and my Aunt Janet made her famous chocolate chip cookies.

Penelope was not impressed with the Happy Birthday procedures.

It wasn't her favorite part, but overall, she was a champ throughout the long day.

 

After dessert, it was cake time for Penelope!

I made her smash cake in a mini pan and kept the decorating simple with white vanilla frosting, a red frosting P and yellow non-pareils. Again, a decorator I am not, but I made it with love!

We had such a great day. Shaun and I collapsed on the couch later that night to watch the Super Bowl while Penelope slept like a rock (and I finally got to enjoy some of the food!). It all seems surreal that I am the mother of a one year old child!

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet baby doll, my little love bug and the light of my life. You have brought us so much joy and you fill my heart with overflowing amounts of love!

 

*I can put together a source list of products, if there is interest...please let me know! 

Comments

[Kristen]

Love her so much!!! You did such a great job!!! We had an awesome time.... Glad I got some Penelope holding time with so many people there ;)

[Jeannemarie]

I had a mickey party for my son and wore the same shirt!! Such cute ideas! Love following you bc our kids are only a month apart.

[Lauren at Keep It Sweet]

OMG I loooove this, SO cute! Happy happy birthday to your sweet 1 year old:-) What a fun birthday theme, so glad you had such a great party!

[alex]

WOW!!!! what a fun party!! I NEED that hot dog cart!! how fun is that?! I've never seen such a thing! You put on such a great party for your little one. I would say you are quite crafty!! congrats to you on making it to the one year mark! good job mama!! xoxo

[Our Eating Habits]

That looks like an amazing birthday party! Even though she will never remember I she will always be able to see how much work you put in with these pictures! So cute, love the shirt!