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! 

Create a Dexter Theme Party

I'm pretty excited for Sunday night. As you may or may not remember, when Dexter premiered last fall, I created a cupcake to celebrate one of my favorite shows. It was featured on USAToday.com, CNN's Eatocracy, AOL City's Best and more. Since there's really no topping that in my opinion, today I'm rounding up all the other goodies you need to throw a killer Dexter season premiere party. I love theme parties!

(clockwise, starting from lower left corner)

Dexter is back for Season 6! Though Season 5 was not my favorite, Season 4 (with John Lithgow as the Trinity Killer) remains as one of the best seasons of TV ever in my opinion. I'm not sure how I feel about this whole 'Avenging Angel' thing, since that's not exactly how I think of Dexter, but I'm ready to find out what that means for this season!

They may be hard to come by during the fall season, but your party will be just perfect with the addition of some blood oranges. We all know that Dex loves some freshly squeezed ones, so I recommend using them in a cocktail or to make a glazed loaf cake!

If you're having a party, you're going to need my Dexter cupcakes. Period. Soft vanilla cake, sour cherry filling, whipped cream frosting and red gel blood spatters make this a dessert that even Dexter would kill for! Don't forget the fun microscope slide with a drop of 'blood' in the middle. So fun.

These DIY Halloween candles from Young House Love are just about the coolest. Drizzle red wax over white candles and it will look as if Dex went all Dark Passenger on it.

As any Dexter fan knows, plastic wrap will be paramount for your gathering. As Dex's dismantling technique of choice, this is an easy item to work into your party. Simply cover tables and chairs with plastic wrap, coat platters with plastic and place food on top. If you are feeling particularly in the spirit, you could even drap clear tarps over your walls and floor. Oh and don't forget to hang up big photos of your guests. They are now on the list!

If you're looking for some easy 'blood', I recommend Wilton's red sparkle gel. It's the perfect bloody red with a nice sparkly sheen. I used this for the 'blood spatter' on my cupcakes and also to create a fun Dexter logo.

If you're hosting the party, this black apron is a must. Though it's Dexter's outfit of choice for getting the deed done, it will work for you as not only an homage, but also as a practical and cute hostess apron.

I made this bloody cocktail in honor of True Blood, but I think the same principal will apply. Change it up with orange flavor, instead of cherry, and add a few drops of red food coloring. Fun!

Everyone knows that Dex loves his breakfast. For easy fare, make up some eggs on toast, drizzled with just a bit of hot sauce.

This is one of my favorite opening credits of all time.

What's a party without a cool manicure? I absolutely love this amazing nail design from Kimber's Lacquer Korner. You just can't go wrong with blood spatter.

These cute red and white straws from Bake It Pretty are the perfect way to lighten up the mood while still keeping with the red and white theme. It's a perfect way to jazz up your signature cocktail for the evening.

So there you have it. My {possibly slightly crazy} Dexter mood board. Perfect for your upcoming premiere party!

Questions of the Day:

Are you a Dexter fan? Will you be watching this weekend?

psst...we're rounding up a bushel of handpicked peaches over on The Peach & The Pit! Head over to find some links to stuff we're loving around the web today!