Celebrating our #DisneySide

We had such a great time at our #DisneySide party! Since we didn't have any major events to celebrate we decided to go with a low key get together with a group of moms and their preschoolers. We did it potluck style and I encouraged the kids to come dressed up as their favorite Disney characters to show their own Disney Sides! Getting ready for the party was so much fun. We used the decorations that were provided and even made a few extra decorations to get into the Disney spirit!

*Decor*

 

When I told my little guy that we were having a Disney Party and I needed to decorate he ran upstairs and grabbed all the stuffed animals he could find! He laid them out on a few of the chairs we have and told me he was a big helper! Big helper indeed! I didn't realize just how many Disney stuffed animals we really have. He even helped make that ornament tree show its DisneySide!

*Food*

 It was great weather so we were able to eat and play in the back yard. 

I didn't get a picture of all the cute Mickey Shaped foods we had for lunch but here are a few of the options! I loved that everyone brought out their DisneySide with their foods! We had Rice Krispy Mickeys, PB & J Mickeys, Oreo Cupcake Mickeys, Mickey chicken nuggets, and even Mickey shaped granola bars! We even had an awesome Kermit the frog apple platter that one of the guests brought that was amazing! (Of course I didn't get a pic before the kids ate it all up!)

 *Activities*

We played a Hidden Mickey game where I had taped a bunch of Mickey silhouettes to my dark kitchen cabinets and the kids searched for them. Once they had collected their Mickey's they traded them in for their Run Disney bracelets that we received in our box of goodies for the party. The kids really liked pulling the Mickey's off and I found out a lot of the parents didn't know about Hidden Mickeys so it was a great way to talk a little about the Disney Parks and get people even more excited to plan a trip. 

I had a photo booth set up with a green screen so we could make some photos for our guests. We had a Mickey wreath that the kids took pictures with in front of the green screen and then we photo shopped them after the party for our guests! I was able to talk to the moms about the HP photo paper I was handing out and how we could print the pictures that we had taken here on them. We also talked about TwoSmiles website and the awesome printable gift cards!

 *Gift Bags*

After everyone ate and played they left with a little goody bag filled with all the fun swag that Disney and HP provided as well as a few extras to help them show their Disney Sides at home. The Mickey Mouse bags were a hit and I had several people tell me the kids had already put together their puzzles as soon as the got home.

I did one bag per family and then I added a few items to the bags in addition to the giveaways that were provided. I got a puzzle for each of the kids that attended and put in bubbles for each family. 

Here are some pictures from my DisneySide package reveal post (see it here) to show what we got to host this party. In each bag I included an HP Photo Card Pack and the ESPN Run Disney bumper sticker (seen in the pic hiding under the bracelets). We handed those bracelets out to each kid after they completed their "Hidden Mickey" Challenge.

The Craisins were included in each of the bags as well as those awesome Mickey Stickers and Goofy Tattoos! Those measuring cups we used for all the ingredients when making the cupcakes :)

 

Each family took home one of these awesome Mickey and Minnie 11x14 prints!

We had so much fun hosting a #DisneySide Celebration!! I think every party should be a Disney themed party!! Thanks to Disney, HP, American Tourister, BSM media and everyone else that helped to put everything together to help me have an awesome party!

If you are looking to get ideas for your own party you can check out some of these awesome websites: DisneySideCelebrations, DisneySide, Spoonful or even my Disney Pinterest board.

***I received free products in order to host the #DisneySide @Home Celebration. The opinions expressed here are my own***

#DisneySide Package!

 

We were so excited to open this package! It was like Christmas morning. Take a look at the goodies we received to throw an awesome #DisneySide Celebration!!

American Tourister was one of the sponsors of the kits and I have to say this hostess gift is great!! I now have my very own Official Luggage of Walt Disney World and it is even in Mickey Mouse colors. My son thinks it is his suitcase, haha yeah right! It has those swivel wheels and lots of storage room inside. I can tell it is just asking to be taken to WDW.

Inside the kit we received some cards with ideas for how to paint faces for the party

Cookie Cutters

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Decor

After my son saw these he would not stop singing "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, come inside its fun inside!"

Craisins, Mickey Stickers, and Goofy Temporary Tattoos for the guests 

and The Chew measuring cups for me!

HP was another one of our sponsors so we got these awesome Photo Card Packs to hand out to the adults at the party. Along with those, Run Disney sent us some bumper stickers and bracelets.

We also got these Disney posters. Besides the luggage this was my very favorite item in the pack and I got 10 so I can hand them out to all the families! Aren't they adorable?! They are 11x14 and go perfect with my valentines decor but I might just have to leave it up all year!

The box also had a hostess packet with Bingo cards, Disney Trivia and recipes we could use for the party. So much fun, I can't wait to get started!

We can't wait to host our #DisneySide party! Now off to http://www.disneysidecelebrations.com/

to start planning. This is an awesome website for ideas on themes, decor, activities and food! Check it out if you are trying to plan your own Disney themed Celebration. Also, you can check out DisneySide.com and Spoonful.com for even more ideas!

***I received free products in order to host the #DisneySide @Home Celebration. The opinions expressed here are my own***

Monster's, Inc Birthday Party!

  We went all out for our Little Guy's 3rd birthday! Monsters, Inc was always his favorite movie and with Monsters University just coming out people were really excited about the theme.

*Cake*
We made these two cakes for the party and they turned out awesome! We are not very skilled in cake making so I was impressed when my husband was able to make my idea come to life. He did have a nice hand cramp after the "Sully" cake but people were really impressed with how great they looked. We used a Grass Tip to make the fur and the dark for "Mike's" eye are just M&M's. I got the inspiration for the cake from the Beth Kruse Custom Creations blog post she did on her Monsters, Inc party. I loved her entire party! As you will see I used a lot of her ideas to help our party come together.

*Food*  

"Mike's Eye Grapes"

 "Monster Watermelon"

"Smores Doors"

We found some Mike Juicy Juice apple juice boxes

On the table we also had "Sully's Sprinkled Popcorn" (which I didn't get a picture of!!) and we attempted to make "Mike Rice Krispy Treats" from the recipe that they put on the back of the Rice Krispy boxes but they didn't turn out as well as we hoped! Also, you will see the big bowl of Pringles because we used the cans for parting favors and there was no way my little family was going to eat 8 cans of chips before the party!

*Decor*

The colors for Monsters, Inc are great and look awesome for decor. We did lime green, purple and blue streamers all over the house (why can't I find a picture?!!). Take my word for it they looked really cool. We also added balloons of all those colors and the kids loved them and could have played with them for hours. They are a great distraction for the kids while the guests are still arriving. 

   

 So I got a little creative with our stairs. We really wanted to keep the kids downstairs so that we didn't have to clean upstairs keep going upstairs to look for them. Also, I had a little one who slept through some of the party so she was able to have a little quiet away from the guests. I didn't want the blockade to be just a plain gate so we decorated it with caution tape and a plastic tablecloth with the CDA letters on it to keep the kids away. CDA= Child Detection Agency

  

We also decorated a closet door we have downstairs as "Boo's Door" just for fun.  The top even had the red dot announcing that the door was active! 

 *Activity*

So to get the kids into the spirit of Monsters, Inc I came up with a little game. I wanted something to keep them all engaged and since most of them were under 3 years old I sort of modified a treasure hunt along with some quick monsters, inc boot camp.

 First I had them put on their Monster, Inc work hats and get ready for scare training! I played the portion of the movie, towards the beginning, where Mike wakes up Sully to have him do his exercises for the day. We watched it once so they could prepare and then I asked them to do the exercises too.

 

 We then played it two or three more times while they did it along with Sully. So they did "scary feet, scary feet" (running in place), bunk bed scares (roaring up and then down), they even did brushing their teeth and all the other fun things Sully does. It was super cute to see them all doing the actions with Sully and some of them really got into it.

After they completed their warm ups and practiced their "scares" I told them they needed to fill up their own scream cans just like Mike and Sully do when they are working. So I gave them each a "Scare Card" which had the faces of Disney kids on them.

 

They were to find each of the kids around the house (I posted them on the walls at their height in each of the party areas) and they were supposed to do their best scares! Once they scared all the kids they would have filled their scream cans up and could take them home.

 

 The house was filled with roars and it was so much fun. My little guy really got into it and scared all the faces on his card to earn his scream canister. 

 The scream canisters were full of all sorts of goodies for the kids to take home.

 

I got the monster bubbles and the monster pops from Oriental Trading, then picked up stickers, band aids, fruit snacks and mini note pads all Monsters University themed and fit them into the canisters. The kids got to take home their canisters and their work hats.

 

 When the party was over "Boo" was tired and there was still cake to be eaten. My son had a great time and he still talks about how great his birthday was. Can't wait to plan his next birthday! First I get to plan one for that sweet little girl's First!!

 

There were so many great ideas for a Monsters, Inc or Monsters University party that I didn't have the chance to use. Here is a link to the Pinterest board I used to gather up all the ideas for the party and have even added more as I have seen ideas:
 http://www.pinterest.com/katelyng/logans-monsters-inc-party/

If you like Monsters, Inc you might also want to follow my #DisneySide pinterest board where I post all things Disney for future parties! 

http://www.pinterest.com/katelyng/disneyside-party-board/