I planned my first toddler birthday party and now I’m insufferable

I’m starting to feel like my head is more above water now.

We have a routine that we mostly stick to. We’re about 99.9% potty trained (though my couch still weeps in remembrance of our recent accidents). And more excitedly, we’ve waved “adios” and said “hello” to the next stage of toddlerhood. S is officially 3!

Last weekend we gathered with our family and friends to celebrate the life of the little girl who has changed our lives. We had 20 minutes to set everything up (my planning skills came in clutch that morning) and a rough 10 minutes for tear down. It was the quickest hour and a half of my life.

S double-fisted cupcakes and a ham sandwich, opened a wide array of gifts she loved, and got two hours of uninterrupted swim time with her Bubba (Gabe) and friends. She was in heaven!

This was the first birthday party I got to plan for a child and as S was on Cloud 9 with her mountain of sugar, I was in the same spot while planning and seeing my final vision come to life.

I knew I wanted the party to have the underlying theme be focused on Minnie Mouse, but I didn’t want everything to be, well, Minnie Mouse. Maybe you’re in the planning stages (or maybe you’re not) but here’s what worked for me…

I did some Pinteresting and Amazon searching before I stepped into Hobby Lobby. With the party ultimately being a pool party, I first found S’s swimsuit and used that as the inspiration for the color scheme: light pink, orange, blue, yellow, and purple. If there’s anything I can suggest from the get-go: find the focal point to work off of.

Then, I got to WORK, with multiple trips to Hobby Lobby (to Gabe’s great joy).

Our party timing was limited. We only had the room for an hour before two hours in the pool which meant the simpler the set up, the better. But I’m a party planner at heart and I needed the space to feel celebration worthy! One balloon was not enough.

Hobby Lobby’s balloon collection (which is amazing, btw) supplied a rainbow arch kit with the color scheme AND an additional big pink bow balloon, which was very Minnie-themed. Focal point secured. By the way, this one isn’t the exact foil balloon I got, but it’s the same concept! I also paired it with a big ol’ 40 inch number 3 foil balloon to complete the look.

Then came the table set up. A light lunch catered by Publix included sandwich, fruit, and veggie platters, a smash cake with two dozen cupcakes and drinks (sweet tea, lemonade, and waters) served in my gorgeous drink dispensers. I also purchased these milk bottle cups at Hobby Lobby and personalized them with these cold transfer stickers so each kid had their own cup.

Then came the two matching light purple tablecloths, a table runner that just so happened to also match S’s swimsuit perfectly (with matching napkins and cake plates) and two scalloped baskets to hold chips and lunch essentials like silverware, cups, etc.

But what about a personal touch? In came Etsy with the sweetest personalized cupcake toppers with S’s smiling face! Though I can’t show you those to protect her little face, I can promise you they were perfection! And for party favors? We avoided sweets and instead bought this Crayon party favor packs to be used with these personalized Minnie Mouse coloring sheets via Etsy.

I’m going to be very honest here so please forgive my big head for a moment, but as a first-time mom I was pumped, nay, THRILLED, that my vision had come to life. It felt like a big win in the midst of potty training accidents in every and all places imaginable. Does anyone relate here?

If you’re a mom in need of a focal point for a birthday party and don’t know where to start, give me a call. This may (but probably won’t be? who knows!) the start of something, and I want to help any and all mommas who need it.

It doesn’t have to be hard but it can be overwhelming. Ultimately, my joy was found in celebrating S. But the win of the decor in the midst of life and toddlerhood was a big deal.

Happy Friday, friends! I’ll see you next month.