So this happened. I was selected to participate in the Disney Side Home Celebration campaign. I received an awesome official Disney Traveler suitcase from sponsor, American Tourister. It's purple, my favorite color, which they learned when I filled out the application to be considered for the campaign, courtesy Mom Select via Blogalicious B-Link. It arrived full of everything I would need, thanks to Disney Parks, to throw a Mickey Mouse themed party as well as party favors for guests and a few other gifts por moi.
If y'all have learned anything about me over the years, you know that I was a reluctant Disney fan. I made sure to tell Disney Parks this on my application, so it's all good--we can talk like family. I didn't grow up on Disney. Wonder Woman, Looney Tunes (wait--is that Disney?) and The Smurfs were my jams. I've never been to Disneyland. I've never been into Disney princesses. The only Disney princess movies I have seen are The Little Mermaid and Mulan and I just watched Mulan a couple of years ago after me and my now six year old son read the book. I celebrated the first black Disney princess--haven't seen the film yet, but my son's first and favorite Leapster game (I won the Leapster 2 and the game at Blogolicious one year) is Princess and The Frog. My pre-parenthood Disney movie watching happened in college. Lion King and it's soundtrack are forever my Disney all time favorite everythings. Because I didn't grow up on Disney, when I had my son, I had no intention of growing him up on Disney. But one day he saw Lightening McQueen on something someplace and about a year after that saw him moving and talking on a television in kid care while I was at the gym and resistance was futile after that point. My son is a car fanatic (that is not an understatement) and since Cars came out and Wall-E and Pixar came into my sons realm of exposure, we have not missed a Disney beat. We did go to see Frozen and those sisters totally opened my heart to Disney Princess movies. So that's my history with Disney.
When I received my suitcase with everything for a Mickey Mouse party, I knew I couldn't throw a Mickey Mouse party. So I thought to mix Mickey with Monster's Inc. because it was a cool mix of classic Diseny and modern Disney Pixar and the alliteration in Mickey Mouse & Monsters Inc. Mashup made for a good title on the evite and on this blog post.
Keep reading for a brief rundown of my Disney Side Home Celebration party elements and more details on how to enter my Disney Mickey and Minnie Art Memorabilia giveaway.
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Since I had my Disney Side Home Celebration after my son's birthday party, it ended up being a just because party, which nobody complained about. Since my son isn't a Mickey fan, I added Monsters Inc. to the mix and had a bit of fun merging the two totally unrelated characters into a cohesive theme. It was all wacky but lots of fun, which was the point.
Menu
In a future blog post, I'll share great detail about my food recipes for this party and give away a copy of the cookbook I used for inspiration called Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids. Be sure to subscribe to my blog in the sidebar or follow me on Facebook or Twitter so you won't miss the chance to enter for that.
All the food at my party was free of wheat, gluten, soy, eggs, nuts and dairy.
- Hot Diggity Corndog Bites- Pamela's Gluten Free corn muffin mixed and portioned into mini-muffin pan and Applegate organic, uncured hot dogs cut and popped down in the center before baking. These were a huge hit with the kids and adults and were great with and without mustard and ketchup.
- Everything-free pizza- This recipe was featured on my blog a while back. This time I made it on a cookie sheet with Mickey pepperoni faces and sliced olive ears. Every inch of the pizza was gone.
- Monster Mouths- made with organic sliced pear, sunflower seed butter and coconut chips. This recipe would also work well with apples and yogurt covered raisins for kids without food sensitivities or allergies.
- Mickey Monster Mashup Marshmallow Treats- I made homemade marshmallows from the Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids book and mixed in organic brown rice cereal without BHT to keep it crunchy. Since there was no crunch, I couldn't really call them rice crispy treats, but treats they were. When I decided to make this recipe, I only read the ingredients and not the instructions. I was a few moments into mixing the marshmallow mixture with my cheap hand-held mixer when my friend pointed out that I was to keep mixing them for 28 minutes. I immediately gave up, but she and another friend of ours really wanted to see the process through, so we took turns holding the mixer until it was done. I used the Mickey-shaped cookie cutters I got in my American Tourister suitcase to cut out the shapes and used blueberries to accent Mickey Monster's ears and finished the Mickey Monster Mashup with candy monster eyes and hair from a Monster cupcake decorating kit I bought.
- Fruit and little bottled waters rounded out our party offerings.
Props and Games
- Photo booth- Mickey Mouse ear headbands, Minnie Mouse heart-shaped sunglassess and Monsters Inc. eyeball glasses were props for our photo booth. I used the tablecloth Disney Parks provided for the backdrop.
- Monster Crafts- The girls had fun with the monster crafts--making monsters out of pipe cleaners, pom poms, wiggly eyes and glue. I say the girls because Zack and the boys were more interested in playing with my son's Bey blades and Hot Wheels and Just Dance on Playstation than participating in the craft-making.
- Ring Toss- I upcycled a 4-pack of Spicy Ginger Brews, a cut-off end of the tablecloth from the photo booth and some of the ESPN sports bracelets Disney Parks sent as favors into the old-fashioned carnival game. There was a little interest in the game, but not much to speak of. I was still proud of it though.
- Pin The Nose On Mickey- This was a fun game that all the kids enjoyed playing on the way out the door. I found it at Party City. Each kid put their name on the nose stickers and took turns attempting to put the nose in place while wearing the blindfold.
Party Favors
Each child left with their choice of Mickey or Monsters Inc. plastic tumbler and Minnie Mouse sunglassess or Monster's Inc. eyeball glasses and assorted Disney stickers and tattoos. The girls took home beautiful classic Mickey and Minnie Mouse art prints. I have six left over, which leads me to my giveaway.
Giveaway (Begins March 8, Ends March 21)
I received these prints from Disney Parks for my Disney Side @ Home Celebration, but only the girls took them home, so I have these left over.
Six winners will each receive one Disney Mickey and Minnie print called "So This Is Love" by artist and creative director of Yellow Shoes Creative Group, Will Gay. The lithograph measures 14 x 11.
There are several ways to enter. Choose one or choose them all!
Good Luck!
Looks like your party was so much fun. I thought the mickey shape in the pizza was so cute. I also love the fact that your party was allergy free and the kids could all have fun.
Posted by: Katherine G | March 2014 at 10:30 PM
I am subscribed.
Posted by: Francine Anchondo | March 2014 at 12:07 PM
Looks like you all had an absolute blast. I really liked the Mickey on the pizza. Everything looks really cute.
Posted by: Katherine G | March 2014 at 08:31 AM