Happy Birthday Minnie Mouse
In honor of Minnie Mouse’s 83rd birthday, Disney Junior will celebrate all next week (November 14 -19) with the launch of a new series of Minnie Mouse shorts called “Minnie’s Bow-Toons.” The new series, based on the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” episode “Minnie’s Bow-tique,” follows the adventures of Minnie Mouse and her good friend Daisy Duck as they run Minnie’s Bow-Tique, a specialty shop stocked only with colorful bows and bowties.
The new series will air at 8:55 am EST each day of Minnie’s birthday week. On Minnie’s actual birthday, Friday, November 18, 2011, Disney Junior will run a block-long marathon featuring the new shorts and Minnie-centric episodes of “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” from 8:55 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET/PT, as well as the following day Saturday, November 19 from 6:30 – 9:00 am EST.
Fans can also log on to DisneyJunior.com/Minnie to play Minnie-themed games and download new coloring pages, as well as see a special sneak-peek of the following day’s episode before it premieres on air!
As a special treat, I am excited to share with you a sneak peek at the very first episode. (My daughter already watched it and can’t wait for the rest to air next week. Every time the commercial comes on she talks about the new series and Minnie Mouse’s birthday!)
Happy Birthday Minnie Mouse!
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPc4SgdPc4k
Minnie Mickey Mouse Birthday Party Decorations, Cake, Ears & More
I have had so many requests for this post, it is embarrassing how long it has taken me to post it. My daughter’s second birthday party was Minnie Mouse, and I searched everywhere for ears for the guests to wear. When I wasn’t able to find anything that was both cute and affordable, I decided to make my own. I posted my Minnie/Mickey Mouse Ears Tutorial, and the response has been tremendous. I am so proud of all the moms who have been inspired to make ears for their little Minnie or Mickey Mouse birthdays and Halloween costumes! But the moms want to know what else I did… So more than a year after posting my Minnie Mouse Ears tutorial, here are more pictures from the party and decorations I made. Enjoy!
My party theme was Minnie Mouse, specifically Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Minnie Mouse, with pink and white polka dots, but all of my decorations could easily be made with the classic red and white or Mickey Mouse.
The first step to a great party is the perfect invitation. Guests knew Minnie Mouse would rule the day the moment they opened the invitation. I searched high and low for the pink and white paper. I even put out a plea on Facebook, and a friend in Tennessee found the paper at Hobby Lobby and bought me every sheet in stock.
The mouse head shape and bow were created with the Disney Mickey and Friends Cricut Cartridge. If you don’t have a Cricut machine, they could be hand cut, but man does the Cricut make it quick work. I downloaded the Walt Disney font (for free) online – just Google it. You can’t tell from the picture, but I also used dimensional tape when I assembled the invites so they are 3D.
What’s a birthday without a birthday cake (or cupcakes). Baking is the one “project” I can’t take credit for. If I made it, no one would have eaten it. But luckily I have an amazing baker friend who took my invitation, and turned it into a cake. Not only was the cake ADORABLE, it was to-die-for yummy carrot cake (a family favorite).
The cupcakes were made by another friend because my daughter loves cupcakes, and I wasn’t sure the kids would love carrot cake as much as my family does. Plus, I had this great idea to decorate the cupcakes, so we had two deserts. (Cupcake toppers were also made with my Cricut, a bit of hot glue and lollipop sticks – found in the food section of craft stores. If you don’t have a Cricut, you can also use a Mickey Mouse punch and just add pink ribbon for the bows – I have this medium punch and large punch too.)
More about the food… I found these Mickey Mouse head chicken nuggets by Kirkland at Costco. They are all white meat and made with whole grains, and for frozen nuggets, pretty tasty. The kids loved them! I also bought Organic, Winnie the Pooh Disney animal crackers - not Minnie, but as close as I could find.
I used store-bought Minnie Mouse paper plates and napkins, but to try to be more green I purchased the reusable party cups for all of the kids. (I was able to get these for about $.80 each, so it was part of the take home goodies. Tons were left behind, so we actually have a full set for the kids to use here.)
The tables were decorated with confetti created with a small Mickey Mouse punch, the cupcake toppers with playdough stands and pictures of K at Disney.
For K’s first birthday, I purchased 1-9 cookie cutters. I don’t bake, but I do love to use them as a stencil for crafts. I cut out “2″s and hung them from the trees out front, the chandlers and door knobs and even taped some to the bathroom mirrors. (Notice the banner in the background? I made that for K’s first birthday. For her first birthday it had cupcakes separating the words, and each year I just swap out the characters for the new theme. It hangs the length of two sliding glass doors – like +20 feet – so I don’t have any great pictures of it.)
And, of course, no party is complete without goodie bags! The bags turned out so cute, if I do say so myself. Again, they were made with my Cricut machine, and then I just printed the kids names out on white paper, cut out the name circles and glued them to the heads. Then (and here is where my cleverness paid off) I used rubber cement to attach the heads to the bags. Using rubber cement allowed the moms to carefully and cleaning peel the Minnie/Mickey heads off the bags. I told the moms (via a note in the bags) that the names were made to be hung on the kids’ doors, and more than a year and half later several of the kids STILL have their Minnie/Mickey names hanging on their doors (including K, of course). The kids loved it, and the moms did too!
Inside the goodie bags were small Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Minnie/Daisy) coloring books that I picked up at Walgreens around Valentine’s day 2 for $1; Minnie Mouse bowls from the Disney Store, picked up on clearance for $1.50 each (the boys got CARS); and Minnie/Mickey and friends stickers.
Of course, the highlight of the party were the Minnie/Mickey Mouse ears. Read my tutorial to make your own.
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie’s Masquerade w/ Mickey Mote
Hot dog! A new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode staring Minnie Mouse. What more could a two-year-old, MMCH fanatic who LOVES Minnie Mouse want? How about a new gizmo that allows her to interact with her new movie on a whole new level?!
From the moment she noticed the DVD on the counter, she couldn’t wait to watch it. So, of course, we watched it right away. Like all MMCH episodes, she loved it. I was also excited to see Minnie’s Surprise and Secret Spy Daisy on the DVD – two of her other fav episodes. We watched the DVD several times before Mommy and Daddy got around to being ready to program the gizmo – lucky for us she hadn’t noticed it yet so she was perfectly happy just to watch the “movie.”
Tonight was the night we finally got around to the Mickey Mote. Good news for moms and dads, it is super simple to set up. Although my hubby set it up, I totally could have done it it myself. She was so excited about the Mickey Mote, “It’s shaped like Mickey! And it has a square, a star, a circle and a triangle!” (Very exciting stuff!)
I was a little worried that it would be too video game and she wouldn’t be into it, but it wasn’t at all. Basically, it takes the show and inserts little questions into the show. Since she already LOVES to answer Mickey out loud when he asked questions, the transition for her was seamless. The questions were simple, with several of them asking an opnion with no right/wrong answer. The ones that did have a right/wrong answer gently promoted her if she made a mistake (which she only did once the first time through – she is so smart!), and she was able to change her answer and proceed. From a nit-picky standpoint, the inserted questions are a little awkward in the transition, but that didn’t phase her.
I am currently predicting a bit of an issue when we watch MMCH on live TV tomorrow and she wants to use her Mickey Mote! LOL.
It’s a cute new gizmo, and the first interactive DVD for toddlers starting Minnie Mouse, so it was perfect for our K. It remains to be seen how often we will use the Mickey Mote, but I think Mimi has a DVD that will work with the Mickey Mote so she might like to use it over there too.
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie’s Masquerade was released on DVD yesterday (2/8), and for a limited time you can save $5 with this coupon. It is also available on Amazon right now for just $13.99. If you have a Minnie Mouse lover in your house, this is a must have!
PS – it comes with a paper mask that she also thinks is fabulous. She wants to wear it every time she watches the DVD.
Designer Disney Kids Luggage Collection Sale
Private sale site zuilly is having a 3-day sale event for the “Designer Disney” luggage collection by Heys USA. zuilly is free to join and features sales events with up to 70% savings on items for moms, babies, and kids.
The luggage is available in Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Cars, Nemo, and Pooh themes and all sport great features such as light-weight polycarbonate composite bodies and light-up LED inline skate wheels.
Normally priced at $70, you can pick them up for $41.99 during this three day sale. You can also use coupon code CCABIN10 for 10% off your purchase. Head over to zuilly to check them out. You’ll need to create an account to browse their sales.
How to Make Mickey Minnie Mouse Ears for a Party!
This post is a long time coming. I made 30 pairs of ears for my daughter’s second birthday party back in March. When “designing” the ears, I looked all over the Internet for a good guide, but everything I found was too complicated or too simple. I wanted something reasonable, but super cute. So, as I created my own “design.” I detailed my process with pictures planning to share it. Unfortunately, everything else has taken precedence, and I am just now posting more than 3+ months since I made the ears. Oh well, better late than never! I hope you enjoy my guide, and if you make some, please share your pics and/or experiences!
Materials -
- Headbands – look for about a 1/2 inch wide, any color because you are going to cover them. I found flexible ones at Publix that won’t break! Cost – $2 for 5 headbands, and I used coupons and got for free! ($5 off $50 purchase, so I bought them over time using my $5 coupon for 2 pairs each coupon.)
- Black Felt – I purchased felt made out of 100% recycled water bottles, cheap and eco-friendly! (Don’t forget your 40% off coupon if shopping at Joann’s or Michael’s)
- Foam Sheets – I bought the ones with sticky on one side, it was helpful. There were 2 thicknesses at Joann’s I bought the thinner ones and doubled up. (Again, use your 40% off coupons for these and buy a bulk pack because color won’t matter.)
- Circle Tracer – I used a circle tracer from Scrapbooking materials I have, but you can use anything that you want to trace the right size. Circles approx 3 inches and 3.5 inches will be needed.
- Scissors – sharp enough to cut felt smoothly.
- Chalk pencil in white – to trace your shapes on the black felt to be cut out.
- Sharpe marker – t0 trace your circles on the foam to be cut out.
- Hot glue gun – LOTS of glue!
- Ribbon – This is for Minnie Mouse bows, so you can skip if all Mickey Mouse. You will need 1.5 inch ribbon for the bow and a thin ribbon 1/8 inch to tie it on with – preferably in the same color.
Step 1 – Cover the headband – The dimensions used in this step vary based on the headbands purchased. You will basically need to measure enough felt to be wide enough to wrap the headband and long enough to close on either end. Roughly 2.25 the width of your headband and 1 inch longer then the length.
Since I am always nervous abut cutting fabric and wasting it, I recommend cutting 2 strips that you think will be the right size. Test one and use the other as a pattern for the rest of your strips, adjusting bigger or smaller if needed.
To cover your headband, place a line of hot glue down the center of your strip. Then starting with 1 end of the headband, rock your headband down the center of the glue until you reach the end (be sure to leave a little extra fabric on either end of your tip to close up – about 1/2 inch). Remember, when working with hot glue, you want to press with your finger as you go so you don’t end up with lumps.
Next, bring one side around and seal with another line of glue down the edge. Finally, wrap the other side around and glue down. Note – there will be lots of bumps and lumps, once cool, you will want to go back and fill in with little squirts of glue to seal flat. For the ends, put a little dot of glue in each end and pressed closed with my fingers. Once cool, cut off any extra fabric.
Step 2 – Cut foam circles – The foam circles will stiffen your felt ears so they stand up nice and firm on their own. Since you will totally cover your foam, any color works. I made my mouse ears 3.5 inches in diameter. This size works well for toddlers – adults, but you can adjust if you like. You will need 4 foam circles for each pair of ears – remembered I doubled my thin foam to make stiffer. The foam circles will be 3 inches in diameter.
When cutting out your foam circles, it is not necessary to be exactly precise. As you can see from my pictures, my foam circles are not pretty – jagged and you can see the Sharpe marks. It won’t matter because they will totally be covered.
If you purchased the thin foam with adhesive, go ahead and stick your foam circles together in pairs.
Step 3 – Cut your felt ears – When creating your felt ears, you will create 2 circles joined together by a small rectangle (see picture). The purpose of this shape is to wrap the ears onto the headband. The circles will each be 3.5 inches in diameter. The size of the rectangle between the circles depends on your headband, the rectangle should be approx double the width of your headband (already wrapped in felt). Again, cut a pair to test and adjust accordingly.
Cutting perfect circles is not an easy task. I did my best to make them look nice and round, but I didn’t kill myself making perfect circles. Remind yourself that these are handmade, and people will be impressed with that. Plus once they are on, you won’t see tiny imperfections in your circles 
Step 4 – Create your ears – Once you have everything cut out, it is time to assemble your ears. (Note, cutting is the longest process, I cut all my pieces out over several days because if you are making 30 like I did, your hand will get tired!)
Starting with a foam circle (doubled), use the sticky side to attach to the center of one side of the felt ears. Next squirt a generous amount of hot glue all over the top of the foam circle and fold the other side on top. Again, squish as flat as you can. Note, in order to avoid large lumps you want really hot glue, yes, you will burn your fingers a bit Sorry.
Go ahead and glue all of your ears. Be sure to leave the rectangle area unsealed (for now).
After your ears have cooled, go back and run a thin line of glue on the inside edge of each ear to seal. Again, not on the edge with the folded rectangle.
Step 5 – Assembly – Now it is time to put your ears on the headbands. Slide your headband through the loop created by the rectangles at the bottom of each ear. Once you determine where you want your ears, squirt glue into loops securing ears to headband. (I attached mine a little less than 2 inches apart – this is rough because I did each pair to look.) As you are securing your ears, be sure to pinch the ears down firmly to the center of the band. Add as much glue as needed to seal.
Step 6 – Minnie Bows – To create your bows, cut a length of ribbon approx 9 inches long. Fold the two ends back until they over lap in the center, and then pinch all three layers at the center. This creates the look of Minnie’s bow. Next take the thin ribbon (in matching color) and tie around the pinch at the center. Vola, a bow! Next wrap the thin ribbon around the top and bottom of the headband and tie off. Then glue the ribbon flaps down, and use a squirt of hot clue behind the bow to secure.
That’s it. Minnie Mouse bows in just 6 steps. This pattern could be modified to make bear ears, dog ears, etc. The hardest part about the project is cutting straight felt circles and working through each time consuming step – if making multiples. Good luck!
If you are having a Minnie Mouse (or Mickey Mouse) birthday party and want more ideas for party decor, check out my other post with details about all of the other fun decorations for a Minnie Mouse Birthday Party.
