Mickey Mouse Three Musketeers - 5 Years - Birthday Theme

Another year rolls by, and my son still has not gotten over Mickey Mouse! I didn't want to do Pirate Mickey again - but I made the mistake of suggesting Kansas City Mickey and realized that was going to be boring for me. But eventually, on his own, he settled on Three Musketeers Mickey Mouse.

Invitation

He had received an invitation a while back from a school friend which had the birthday boy's photo on it. He liked it so much and said he would like one like that as well. My point of reference for ideas this time too has been Mamas Like Me - http://www.mamaslikeme.com/2013/06/a-very-mickey-first-birthday.html. I got introduced to PicMonkey and the tip about getting the invitations printed at Walmart - and yes, they included envelopes for free.

My son helped with the design and was overjoyed with the comic bubble concept - he went around for days asking us to read it to him, then reading it himself - to us, to his brother, to himself - I cannot describe how happy I was to have made him happy.

I used two images from the web http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mickey-Donald-Goofy-The-Three-Musketeers-2b7e8c2f.jpg and http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/File:ThreeMusketeers01.jpg.

Party Supplies

As usual, I spent every spare moment browsing the web for ideas. But knowing that time was sparse, I decided to keep things simple. I talked to my son and he made my choices clear. We decided to stick to a blue and yellow theme with the hat and the cape from the movie to add character. 

Since the time I made the Mickey Mouse Pirate Hats, I have not swayed from the idea of making hats using construction paper to fit in with whatever theme was at hand. I bought a pack of construction paper from Costco (http://costcocouple.com/pacon-construction-paper/) 2 years back and we have been doing a lot and lot of craft work but we are yet to run out of it, except for one color. That came in handy this year too.

Blue and yellow balloons, blue plates and cups, yellow table cloth, white napkins and silverware made up the rest of the party supplies.

Decor

My son's toy collection made for the theme decor - Megabloks and Mickey and friends plush.

Costume

Made a cape for my son and got him a sword; and the hat completed his Mickey Mouse Three Musketeers costume.

Cake

The cake was not in theme - but it was made to please my son! I took pictures of my sons' most favorite toys and made a storyboard out of them. My sons' birthdays are a month apart - so the cake was for both of them, though this party for the most part was catered to my older son's fancy - the younger one is too young to care!

Photo cake is the easiest to customize exactly to your needs and budget, in my opinion.

Cake : Torrance Bakery - http://www.torrancebakery.com

Party Favors

My son loves giving - together we chose gifts that were both his favorite things and something I hoped that parents won't have a headache dealing with once the novelty of receiving a goody bag wears off for the children.

A Book (http://www.scholastic.com/parents)
A Pack of Playing Cards
A Pack of Oreos

Packed the goodies in a clear bag and tied in the theme with a Mickey Mouse cut out and a Musketeer cape.

Finale

The execution was a miss. But the fun was spot on. Everybody seemed to have a good time. In the end, that is all that matters!

My son was involved every step of the way and he had absolute fun - both preparing for the party and during the party. He didn't notice any of the flaws that were immediately apparent to me. For once, I didn't sweat it. I saved my attention for the important things - my sons and the guests.

Thank You Cards

Personalized Gift - Part 2 of Personalize Your T-Shirts

Facebook Advertisements are extremely intelligent.  I will never know how, but the advertising software correctly determined that I was a narcissist and suggested gifts for me to buy on my birthday - T-Shirts printed with words that might have been invented for me : "Aged To Perfection".  However, I took one look at the price tag and it immediately processed that I was a miser, again correctly, and completely stopped making any more suggestions for my birthday gifts from the very next day.

Nevertheless, the idea stuck in my mind and I had decided then and there that I was going to make a personalized t-shirt for my husband for his birthday.  His preference is Whiskey.  Johnnie Walker to be precise.  But their labels did not hold much appeal for a t-shirt design.  So I turned to Jack Daniels.  I had to look no further than the very first image that Google fetched : https://www.etsy.com/listing/200354291/51st-birthday-shirt-for-men-and-women?ref=market.  I copied the design and added my own words.

I take credit for the bottom line - "Lives Responsibly" - inspired by the words "Drink Responsibly" on the Blue Label box that was staring at me.  Johnnie Walker did add the final touch, after all.

I used white Crayola Fabric Marker, but once it dried, I found that it was so light that nothing showed two feet away.  So I traced the entire thing with Tulip Matte Dimensional Fabric Paint.  In a way it was an advantage.  Since I had made it by free hand drawing, after the second run, I noticed that the fabric paint stood out in stark relief on the black background that the mistakes I had made with the marker disappeared in contrast.

The paint came in an easy flow bottle, so it was just like piping.  I thought I might run out while using the 1.25 fl oz white from the 6-pack, but there was still a lot left when I finished.

Personalize Your T-Shirts

I wished to paint like her... Preethi in my 8th standard class.  I still remember watching her paint flowers on fabric - red on the bottom, yellow on top and blended into orange, in the middle, with a fresh brush.  This technique of double-coloring, as we called it then, fascinated me.  This inspiration withstood time and procrastination, and then another inspiration joined in.

I was researching Mickey Mouse themed birthday parties for my son and came across this gem of an idea : http://www.mamaslikeme.com/2013/06/diy-mickey-mouse-shirts.html.  Though I was quick about getting some basic supplies to start off with, another year had passed before I told my son that I was going to paint t-shirts for him with his favorite characters.  Again, I was quick about making a trip to the store; we got a pack of Hanes t-shirts that could be worn as undershirts, so they would not go wasted should my attempt turn out to be a disaster.

Thankfully, since my son knew of the plan, there was no putting it off beyond a day full of expectant and excited "WHEN?!!"s, and one final, despairing "when, amma?".  We sat down and made 3 in succession in no time.  It made my son's day and mine.

We drew on construction paper and cut them out.  Then transferred them to the t-shirts, padded underneath with paper, by tracing the outline with fabric pens.  Fabric pens worked out great for me as a first timer - I found it less daunting than painting with a brush.

It was mostly free hand drawing of images copied from books and online.  Ruler and compass are a great help, and stencils, if you have any.  To halve your work, fold the paper in half and draw one side of the desired image, cut it out and unfold to get a symmetrical whole.

Whenever I draw, I marvel at how complex a thing I am trying to copy on paper is.  But unless you pay close attention, you don't realize that cartoons are formed with amazingly simple lines and strokes that come together to create complex, distinct characteristics and details.  Ingenious.

On-the-fly Mint Chocolate Icing

Short on time and long on laziness - nothing like this combination to whip up a quick fix.  Today, the call was for icing - the cupcakes were all ready and waiting.  My son is big on mint chocolate; since that and butter was right at hand, the course seemed obvious.

Took 6 pieces of mint chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Heated it for 30 seconds.

Stirred the melted chocolate until smooth and added 1 1/2 tbsp of butter at room temperature.

Stirred to blend it in.

All done!

Just a glaze should do - the flavor is strong.  This was enough to frost 6 cupcakes.

Or you could scoop some into a food bag, snip a corner and let your little one pipe his own decoration.

It may serve well to pipe letters too.

Chocolate cake to die for (in my opinion) :  http://foodess.com/1982-moist-chocolate-cake.html.