Luckily, as a Children's book author, my creative imagination is always in full-swing. When my littlest one announced she would like a Doc McStuffins birthday party, I quickly discovered this was going to be a do-it-yourself project.
To start the party preparation I used Microsoft Word, Paint and my printer as my handy-dandy birthday tool belt to bring an idea to life. First step. The invitations. All of the graphics are owned by Disney. I found them using Google. I used Word to make the clouds to insert the party information. I printed them out on photo paper giving them a store-bought quality.
Decorations
| I was going with the simple, soft, and elegant look. My
goal was simple and not to overflow the house with streamers,
balloons, and wall decorations. Instead of balloons, we incorporated
colorful flowers into our decor. I purchased the flowers at Wal-Mart
for a little over four dollars a bouquet. I only had to purchase two
bouquets for the look I was going for. I was able to divide the flowers
into two vases. The price I paid for the flowers, came to the same price I
would have paid for a boutique of balloons. |
To go with the art theme, "Clear Puppyitis" I placed the flowers into a glass. I then placed the glass into the vases and inserted the girl's crayons into the empty space between the glass and the vase.
I once again found an image of Doc and her friends using Google. After inserting the image into Word, I used word-art to frame the image with "Happy Birthday Hope". Afterwards, I cut out the photo paper using scallop scissors and gave the paper a construction paper backing. Four long curly ribbons added a bit of charm. I placed the decorations in four places; two on either side of the fire place, one in the room with the art project, and another by the living room. Simple, themed and tidy, gave it the appearance of decorations without the overflow look.
In the middle of the fireplace, in-between the the two decorations, I added one more element. I used a construction paper backing, and added a sticky flower that I found in the gift-wrap section, which gave a tad bit of texture and softness to the design.
Games
Our first event was an art-project. The little "Doctors" had to cure the puppy from " Clear Puppyitis"
The puppy lost his color, so the children had to paint the color back onto the puppy. The 16 puppies, three packages of paint, plates, hand-wipes, and hooks cost only $25.00. This was also part of their goody bag treat to take home. It was a huge hit!
Once the puppies were cured, it was off to heal Stuffy! My publisher hires an illustrator for all my books for a reason. My drawings consist of stick figures; however, I must say some how by the grace of God, I was able to pull off a hand drawing of this little guy! Stuffy dropped the Big Book of Boo- Boos on his thumb. The children had to try to place the band-aid on the boo boo.
Once Stuffy was all better, it was time for our last game. Doc McStuffins medical bag was missing all of her medical instruments! The children had to go on a hunt for the missing items. There was one set of instruments per child. Each child was handed an instruction sheet and a paper bag before they were released to go on the big hunt. The children really enjoyed this game and the parents had a few good laughs.
The instruments and bandage are available at the Disney Family Go Site.
Goody Bags
At the Dollar Store we found pink and blue miniature cloth bags priced at three for a dollar. I filled each bag with a candy necklace, lolly-pop, candies, the hook for the puppy, play-dough, and this little treat.
The Food
During the snack, the children watched an episode of Doc McStuffins on T.V.
The biggest splurge were on the mouth watering gourmet petite cupcakes by,
Incr-Edible Cupcakes. They were on the TV Show, 'Cup Cake Wars'. The out of focus photo is not doing the cupcakes justice at all. They were the perfect size, not even a crumb was left or dropped. Every bite was like a taste of sweet heaven. All the children loved them. Most adults will pass-up on the sweet treats, and at first they did, until the one adult took a nibble and their excitement of pleasure caused a chain reaction. The adults raved over the delicious explosion of perfect flavor they were experiencing on their pallet.
For a twist of fun we made colorful ice-cubes using Kool-Aid packets and clear soda (Sprite, 7-Up, etc.). I adjusted the recipe I found on Pinterest. I thought the soda had enough sugar and did not add any additional to the Kool-Aid mix. To make the ice cubes bright, I used two cups of water for one packet of Kool-Aid. For some, we even left out the soda and used water. The results were the same and everyone enjoyed watching their drink change colors and flavor.
For the remainder of the snacks there were quarter cut sandwiches, gold fish crackers, Micky Mouse shaped cheese, miniature pickles, and plastic cups with a tablespoon of ranch dressing on the bottom filled with carrots and celery sticks.
By the end, everyone had a joyous time. As for the Birthday Girl, she passed out on Grandma's lap; the prognosis by the doctor, too much party fun.
