Turning one is a pretty big deal. And for your little superstar, it’s a huge milestone. Remember the first time you watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse together? The sheer joy on your little one’s face the first time they heard the “Hot Dog Song”? I do. And I wanted to capture that magic at my daughter’s Mickey Mouse birthday party.
Mickey Mouse is a timeless party theme, and for good reason. It’s playful, colorful, and instantly recognizable. Plus, it works perfectly for a first birthday – because virtually every baby has watched an episode of Clubhouse or Funhouse by then. My daughter was already obsessed with Mickey – not Minnie – by the time she was 10 months old, so choosing a Mickey Mouse birthday theme was a no-brainer for me.
I want to share all the party details from my first child’s first big party! My methods have improved since then, but I’m still proud of a lot of the details. I was on a super-tight budget back then, so I DIY’d everything from the invitation to the birthday cake!
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DIY Mickey Mouse Birthday Invitation
My mother gifted me a used OG Cricut machine (yep, the 6-inch one), so being the crazy person I am, I decided to hand-make twenty party invitations. It took a very, very long time. Each one was a piece of 8.5×11 red cardstock folded in half. I designed and printed the party details on white cardstock before trimming and attaching them to the inside.
For the front, I trimmed black cardstock down and attached it, then used a white gel pen to add some faux “stitching” details. I used an old Cricut Cuttlebug with a gear-patterned embossing folder to create the pattern on the blue cardstock before gluing it on. The green hills were cut freehanded. The black ribbon with white polka dots was something I had on hand and used for some visual interest, since black and white is part of Mickey’s colors.
For the “You’re Invited!” word bubble, I printed several of the texts spaced out on a sheet of cardstock, then used an EK Success Word Bubble hole punch to cut them out! It’s since been discontinued, and these days the process is much easier with Cricut’s Print-Then-Cut feature.
The parts to Mickey Mouse were individually cut out using my Cricut and the Mickey & Friends cartridge. You can now purchase it on Design Space for a couple of dollars!
Venue & Decorations
I had about 40 people come to the party, and our little old starter home was never going to work for that big of a crowd. Fortunately, my husband got a steep discount on renting rooms at the local community center, so we had the party there! Somewhat unfortunately, it meant I was super-limited on my decorating options. I wasn’t supposed to hang anything on the walls, and the ceilings were too high to hang anything from anyway.
Color Scheme
For the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme, I went with the primary colors prominent in the show. My main colors were red, black, and white in honor of Mickey Mouse. Pops of yellow, green, and blue were found throughout the party’s decor.
Tables
The food, drink, and cake tables were all covered in red plastic table covers for cohesiveness. Each guest table had a different cover color (red, black, white, yellow, green, and blue) to make it more interesting. They were also a nod to the other Clubhouse characters (Donald, Goofy, Pluto)!
Balloons
To keep on budget, I bought zero balloons – because the helium tank we bought came with a pack full of random colors! There were plenty of brightly-colored balloons to use around the venue. We had a couple floating over each table, then blew up a bunch of balloons with natural air for the kids to play with on the floor.
DIY Centerpieces
The centerpieces needed to travel easily and be cheap. I got the red buckets at the Dollar Tree and taped two white circles on both sides of each one. Voila! They resembled Mickey’s signature red pants. After arriving at the venue, I placed a balloon weight inside each one with a couple of helium-filled balloons attached. Then I filled each bucket with white shredded paper to cover the weights.
DIY Birthday Banner
Using the Mickey & Friends and Mickey ABC Cricut cartridges, I cut out a bunch of Mickey-head silhouettes and the letters for “HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY” from cardstock. I punched holes at the edges of each ear and used sheer black ribbon to tie them all together. To separate the words (and flank the ends), I cut out the parts to assemble the heads of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy.
Despite the size limitation with the old Cricut, I was really happy with how it turned out! It ended up being a great size since I had to hang it in front of the food tables instead of on the wall.
Tableware
I was even able to theme the tableware to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! I arranged black plates and bowls so that they formed Mickey’s head silhouette. Red napkins with white polka dots reminded me of Minnie Mouse’s dress. I placed the cutlery in red cups and labeled them “Mouse-Ka-Tools”.
Additional DIY Decor
Info Chalkboard
I knew I wanted the chalkboard-style print that told all about Lily. Back then, you couldn’t get a cheap template on Etsy… so I designed my own in Photoshop! I printed it on black foam core via Mpix (use that link to get a $10 coupon!).
Block Letters
I bought large MDF letters to spell “LILY” from Michael’s and painted them to resemble the core four Clubhouse characters: Mickey Mouse, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, and Minnie Mouse. If your child has more letters, that just means you get to include more characters! We used the letters as room decor for years after the party.
I also framed Lily’s first year of monthly photos in this frame I received at my baby shower. The middle frame was also a gift, and the photo inside was taken earlier that morning! I had it printed at Walgreens on the way to the venue.
Foods, Puns, & Drinks
I have never thrown a party where the food wasn’t all named after puns related to the theme. It’s just part of who I am, haha! These are all the foods we served our guests.
Mickey’s Clubhouse Sandwiches
Club sandwiches are the perfect main dish for a play on “clubhouse.” Each sandwich had ham, turkey, and American cheese, and we had mayo and bread-and-butter pickles on the side. These sandwiches went over so well, I made “Snake Subs” for my son’s safari-themed 1st birthday party!
Pluto’s Hot Diggity Dog Bar
A second main dish? Yep! Our families can EAT. Plus, how can you not have hot dogs when the “Hot Dog Song” ends every Clubhouse episode? Since we had to travel and keep them warm, we placed them in a slow cooker after grilling! It worked great.
Chip & Dale’s Chips & Dip
Could these character names be any more perfect for a staple party food?
Goofy’s Garden Veggies
It is well-known that Goofy is a master homesteader, vegetable garden included.
Daisy’s Fruit Dippers
Fruit is consumed in much larger quantities than veggies at our parties, which is why there is twice the amount of fruit on this table.
Minnie’s M&Ms
I love having sweets to snack on until it’s time for cake and ice cream, so I put out a huge bowl of candy. We had small plastic cups next to it so guests could scoop up a serving without putting their hands in them.
Donald’s Drinks
The South = sweet tea. We had lots of soda and cold bottled water in a cooler under the table, too. We chose not to do punch due to the location. As a bit of added fun, I bought red and white paper straws, cut little Mickey heads out with my Cricut, and turned them into sleeves to slide onto the straws!
As you can see, I managed to name a food or drink item for ALL of the following characters:
- Mickey
- Minnie
- Donald
- Daisy
- Goofy
- Pluto
- Chip & Dale
I was so proud of myself!
Girly First Birthday Mickey Mouse Outfits
My splurge for this party, budget-wise, was definitely Lily’s outfits. She even had a costume change! Both outfits came from Etsy, although neither store is there anymore. But there are plenty of sellers with very similar dresses!
The tutu was made from red and white tulle attached to a very stretchy red top with a Mickey head silhouette sewn on. Red ribbon with white polka dots formed the straps. This is the dress she wore for most of the party. I had hoped she’d be walking by then, but alas, we carried her tutu’d booty around the room!
The onesie was so nice with the design embroidered and customized to have Lily’s name. There are current stores on Etsy that offer fairly similar designs. We put this onesie on her just before giving her the smash cake. Believe it or not, a little Oxi Clean spray took the black frosting stains out, and it is now in her keepsake box!
DIY Cakes
I saved a ton of money by making both the main and smash cakes myself! Also, for the record… these were the first cakes I ever made. Yep, I chose a three-tier fondant cake for my initial foray into cake decorating.
The Clubhouse Cake
If I were not such a detailed planner, there is no way I would’ve had a chance at my first fondant cake coming out this well. Could it have been better? Of course! But I was very proud of my first-ever cake. Here is the actual plan I designed in Photoshop before I even ordered the cake supplies!
I’ve made many fondant cakes since that did not require a blueprint, but this one was actually really complicated for my first go at it, and I’m glad I had this available for reference. The top layer is one half of the Wilton ball cake pan, and the ears are solid fondant that I hardened with tylose powder and used extra-long toothpicks to attach to the ball. I cut out the letters to her name by hand.
All the fondant designs on the second layer were also cut out by hand! I bought a collection of fondant tools that made this easy. I used an edible marker to draw the lines on the windows and the door to the house.
For the bottom, I purchased all four gear cutter designs from this Etsy shop and used them to cut out primary color gears to decorate all the way around. And finally, after getting the cake to the venue, I placed various Mickey Mouse Clubhouse character figures around the cake, and piped buttercream grass for the “yard” around the clubhouse.
I ordered all of the fondant from Amazon, and it was all either Satin Ice or Fondarific brand. I LOVE Fondarific, but much to my dismay, I can’t find it anymore. These days, Wilton is my brand of choice for consistent (if not perfect) quality and availability.
Mickey Smash Cake
For a simple but theme-appropriate smash cake, I bought a Mickey Mouse-face cake pan and baked a white cake. The only place I’ve found that still stocks the pan is The Party Works, but with luck, you can sometimes find it here on Amazon. I made buttercream frosting using the Wilton recipe, and my mom helped me pipe on the design.
We had to “help” Lily get started by putting her hand in the frosting (to let her know it was okay), and she had a blast after that!
Party Favors
These days, I send everyone – adults included – home with party favors. But for this party, I just had a few bags prepared for the kids attending. Each one was full of budget-friendly Mickey Mouse-branded toys and noisemakers.
And that’s it! We did not play games at this party, partially because all the children in attendance were still babies or young toddlers. But since we couldn’t hang anything from the ceiling or walls (so no piñata or pin the tail on the donkey), there wasn’t much we could’ve done anyway.
I hope my daughter’s very first Mickey Mouse birthday party inspired you to plan your little one’s celebration! See ya real soon. 😉
Before You Go, Check Out…
- Toy Rotation – you’ll want to do this after getting all those birthday gifts!
- Printable Black and White Happy Birthday Banner – it goes pretty well with a Mickey Mouse theme if you don’t want to make an elaborate banner.
