Happy 3rd Birthday!

I debated quite a bit about Em's birthday--I thought I could do just a simple celebration at home with family and she would be fine.  As it turned out, none of our family was able to make it, so I decided to throw her a bigger party and invite her friends from school.  We invited everyone from her class, plus a couple of other friends, and ended up with about 13 kids total!

Em said pretty early on that she wanted a Mickey Mouse party, which surprised me--especially since she's been Peter Pan for the past couple of months.  Honestly, I think she would have been excited no matter what we had decided.  Mickey was easy for decorations though, and I went a little crazy with Pinterest inspiration :).  I made her outfit, and thought she looked just adorable (although the tutu didn't stay on long--she took it off for a different princess dress before the party).



We planned for a bounce house in the backyard, but it rained the whole morning, so I had to come up with toddler-friendly activities inside.  I bought this roll of craft paper and just taped it along the walls and set out crayons--Em needed to try it out before her guests arrived!

  I just can't believe how grown up she looks.

This was our front door welcome.

I think we overdid it with the food, but I didn't know what to expect, and didn't want to run out.  We had tons left, so it was a good thing it was all stuff we like :).

The paint table was a huge hit--I covered the table with a plastic table cloth and put out foam brushes, paint and paper.

These were our party favor bags and party hats (a must have, according to Em).  I made the hats, and got the bags from Etsy.

Heather is a friend of mine from work, and her daughter Emma is almost exactly one year younger than Em.  The older they get, the more they have in common.

Em and Max are in the same class, and good buddies.

I got her cake at Publix, and I thought they did an awesome job!  I found my inspiration picture on Pinterest and took it in--they said they could do everything except the ears, so I just made the ears from black foam and stuck them in.

It was yummy and beautiful--and this is when the white shirt lost the battle!

Em's little circus tent was a popular hiding place--I think there were at least six kids in there at one point.

This is Em's best buddy Declan, who was in her class at Gateway, and Riley, a little girl in our neighborhood who's 4.

This was the after-party mess.  It actually could have been a lot worse!

People brought so many thoughtful, generous gifts!  This was one of her favorites--Rapunzel dress and princess gloves and shoes!

A few more decorations--I put streamers on all the doorways,

and used all of Em's stuffed Mickeys for decorations too. 

I made these out of Styrofoam and spray painted them.

They looked a little better from a distance :).

I also made the Happy Birthday banner, and then finished everything off with balloons.

We were happy with the turnout, and everyone seemed to have a good time.  It's so unbelievable that we have a three-year old now!