Minnie Mouse First Birthday Party

I LOVE a good birthday party and was thrilled to be part of the cutest Minnie Mouse First birthday party for my blogging friend's daughter. Victoria Sharp of One Sharp Mama blogs about infertility and her new place on the path of motherhood. Victoria and her husband had a long road getting their little princess here and after a successful year, she and Dave were ready to celebrate this important milestone in style.

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Minnie Mouse Birthday Theme

Minnie Mouse is a character beloved by many, celebrate your little Princess with a Minnie party!

A Minnie Mouse party theme was a no brainer for this little one. She loves Minnie Mouse; gets really excited anytime she sees her and carries her three stuffed Minnie Mouse dolls EVERYWHERE! She's feeling pretty special on her big day with her “I am one” highchair banner from Creations by Chrissy Co.

Minnie Mouse Invitation 

Did you know Halfpint Party Design can do a custom party invitation just for you? Any theme you want.

This invitation set the stage for the color scheme she wanted and and I'm happy to announce she loved how it turned out. Victoria was lucky enough to win a free invitation design from the Halfpint Party Design Etsy shop as well as a banner from Cut-It Crafts in an Instagram giveaway to celebrate our half-birthday and opening of our Etsy shop.

Minnie Mouse First Birthday Details

Victoria made me laugh when she sent over her party vision board and said

Some of our planning stuff is very extravagant, but, she's our first and birthday's are a HUGE thing with both of our families. 🙂 Don't judge lol.

She asked ME not to judge a crazy extravagant party. Hmmm…I might need to send her to a few more of my posts! 

Minnie Mouse Balloon Arch

The balloon arch entry was supposed to be the focal point. Unfortunately the wind didn't cooperate so the arch moved inside the garage. This caused some disappointment as the first impression wasn't as, well, impressive, as she'd intended it to be. She wanted to communicate the party theme immediately. I'm still so impressed with the amount of work these two put into everything to make it just perfect for their little princess!!

Minnie Mouse Gift Table 

I love the large banner they used above the gift table to welcome guests inside their home and direct them to the gift table. In Victoria's words:

The welcome to Princess Caroline’s first birthday massive poster is still hanging up. I can’t take it down. I love it. It’s ridiculous, I know.

I don't blame her! It's super cute and was probably pricey. Banners, backdrops, and large signs can hit the budget hard. I'm always on the lookout for great affordable solutions. I just used VistaPrint and waited for a great sale to order my latest backdrop. They regularly have 50% off sales, but it's never when you need them, so start thinking ahead to your next event now so you can snag them when they do come around!

Sign In Book & Time Capsule

Having a story book double as the guest book has been the best upgrade to guest books in the last decade! It'll be so fun for them to read it together as Caroline grows and see all the names of the people that love her.

But my favorite idea just might have to be the time capsule that Caroline gets to open on her 18th birthday! What a cool gift for a teen about to head off to college and the real world. Reading the hopes, dreams, and wishes her loved ones have for her future is a huge a blessing and can help put life back into perspective for the typically self-absorbed teenager. Which of course Caroline won't be! But I WAS, and I think something like this would have been super fun for me at that age.

Minnie Decorations

Minnie Photo Booth 

The most prominent piece of decor is the Minnie Mouse photo frame. Everyone, young and old, took pictures in it, whether they wanted to or not! Now it hangs in Caroline's room and she points to it every day. Victoria can’t wait to tell her about it in years to come. The original design was ordered from Etsy and sadly was pretty horrible upon arrival. She ended up rush ordering a second one from Lara Girls Designs and LOVED it. It ended up being more expensive with the added rush shipping but was totally worth it.

The photo props from Its Twinkle Time were the perfect addition to the photo frame. Gave everyone a chance to be silly. And with a mostly adult guest list for a first birthday party…..isn't that what it's all about?

Minnie Monthly Photo Banner 

The picture banner from Cut-It Crafts was a huge hit. People commented on it the whole time. Dave and Victoria love it so much – it’s also still hanging up in their kitchen!

Monthly photo banners are such a fun way to showcase the rapid growth of your little one. This one had mini clothes pins behind for a clean and beautiful display. Not to mention a pretty cute little lady!

As another detail Victoria create a photo pallet using more images from her first year of life. This one included more of the special people in her life and created a large number one.

Themed Minnie Mouse Balloons

As if the balloon arch wasn't enough they also created a Minnie Mouse balloon tower! It's such a fun detail, one that the kids were able to enjoy during the party….and after. You can grab the balloons at a local party store and top it with a Minnie Mouse mylar from Celebrate The Day Party.

Party Clothes

The birthday girl sported a fancy new outfit and looked oh so cute while doing it. All you need is this sparkly Minnie Mouse onesie from My Birthday Boutique Co and a fluffy tutu from A Sweet Baby Boutique with a sequin bow.

Minnie Mouse Party Food

You gotta start with the healthy stuff and everyone knows that food in a fun shape will get eaten a lot faster! Use a cookie cutter to transform anything like watermelon and pineapple Minnie's on the fruit and veggie table….

While the the carnivores enjoyed cheeseburger Minnie's.

And some peanut butter and jelly sandwich Minnie's for the kids and kids at heart! Cause sometimes there's nothing better than a good ol' fashioned PBJ!

Pretzel sticks dipped in light pink chocolate and gold sprinkles rounded out the fabulous menu!

Minnie Mouse First Birthday Party Favors

I love using the favors as decor when I can and these Minnie sugar cookies favors sure looked great as the centerpiece of the dessert table.

A sweet little thank you tag and cookie to show appreciation for all the love and support friends and family have given over the last few years. This little lady is loved by so many and Victoria and Dave are so grateful to all of you!

Minnie Mouse Birthday Cake

With any event planning there's bound to be a hiccough or two. For Victoria….it was the cake.

I met with a local bakery recommended by a family member. I gave them the picture of the cake I wanted {above}, discussed colors, writing and which details to leave off the pictured cake that we didn’t want. They could do everything we asked for, no problem they said. The day of the party, we had friends pick up the cake on the way to our house, since we were cooking all day. The cake arrived and I literally cried. It was horrible; {below} not at all what we discussed, wrong color scheme etc. I know it’s ridiculous to cry over a cake but I was stressed and it happened.

I think there's a valuable lesson to be learned here! Pick up your own cake if possible so you can make changes or get a discount if you aren't happy with the result. PRINT out the photo and leave it with them with your explicit instructions of what you want and more importantly what you DON'T want.

At least Victoria found a beautiful Minnie Mouse First Birthday cake topper from Purdy Mays and a few extra custom order cupcake picks from Halfpint Party Design to spice it up! **And if you are the baker of that inspiration cake please let me know so we can properly credit you!!**

Minnie Mouse Smash Cake

In addition to the main cake was a small Minnie Mouse Smash Cake for the birthday girl that Victoria's family made. And it turned out just right!

I don't know about you, but it looks like this little lady had a great time with her cake!

Things I Learned as a First Time Party Mom

I asked Victoria to share a few things she learned as a first time party mom….

Highlights: My favorite part is hard to nail down because I loved planning and decorating for the whole thing.

Advice #1- don’t get so obsessed about different party features that you’re almost in tears if it doesn’t pan out right- yup, I almost cried multiple times that day. We got tons of compliments for all the details around the house.

Advice #2 – don’t cry over a messed up cake.

Advice #3 – Big advice, listen to Brianna and hire a photographer! {or get a family member with a good eye} I totally wish we would’ve budgeted that because I feel like my cell phone pics don’t do it justice!!! Plus I couldn’t get photos of everything because I was so in the moment- which was a good thing!

Final Advice – Remember it’s a party, as long as everyone has a good time and your little one has a memorable first birthday then who cares about the minute details- nobody else other than you knows about them anyway.

Minnie Mouse First Birthday Feature Summary

Victoria did a great job with this party, had fun, and most importantly was able to play with and spoil her little princess on her big day. I can't think of any part detail more important than that. Thanks so much for sharing your special day with us Caroline! And I hope that all you readers come away with some fun new Minnie Mouse first birthday {or any age birthday} party ideas!

Can I feature your next party?

Have a party you’d like to share? Let us know! We’d love to show off all your hard work. I feature a new party on the first Friday of every month. With YOUR help I might be able to have a feature every Friday! What do you say? Are you ready to join the Halfpint family? I sure hope so.

Until next time my friend,

Psst! Looking for more First Birthday Party Ideas?

• Planning Your First Children's Birthday Party?
• Butterfly First Birthday Party
• Peter Rabbit in Mr McGregor's Garden First Birthday Party
• One Love First Birthday Party
• Winter ONEderland First Birthday Party