DIY Projects: 1st Birthday Decorations

The days are numbered until my little monster is turns one. Since I had a Mickey Mouse cake for my first birthday, I thought I would do a Minnie Mouse themed first birthday for my little one.

To get ideas I went online to view other Minnie Mouse themed birthday parties. I got so many creative ideas, but felt like I'm still missing something. Then it clicked.... Minnie Mouse tsum tsum themed party. For those who don't know what tsum tsums are, they are little plush stackable dolls by Disney. It's also a video game Disney created.

I wasn't able to find any tsum tsum inspired party decorations, so I had to create some myself. Here are some of the things I created for my little monster's first birthday party. 

Material List:
- Paper Mache Letters/Numbers
- Black and Red Paint
- Foam Paint Brush
- Ruler or a Straight Edge
- Black, Pink, Red, Red w/ Polka Dot, Beige and White Paper
- Scissor, Hole Puncher and Glue
- Black Ribbon
- Red and White Tulle

First Project: Minnie inspired "A" and "1"

This was probably one of the easiest DIY projects I have for this party. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought the paper mache letters and painted them black and red. I applied about 3 coats of paint of each color. For the polka dots I cut out circles on white paper and glued them on randomly.

 

Second Project: Tsum Tsums and Banners
I found a Mickey and Minnie tsum tsum picture online that I used as a template for the cut outs. I printed multiple pictures to cut out each component that makes up the tsum tsum. For the polka dots on the bow I used a hole punch. I think Minnie's eye lashes were the hardest to cut out.

This is the mess I made while making the tsum tsums and banner.

Here's the final product of the tsum tsum.

For the banner, I downloaded the Disney font (I used Waltograph) and typed out the letters on Word and printed them out. I used scrapbook paper with polka dot to give more of a decorative look. Then I hole punch two holes at the top to string the banner.

I'm pretty sure I could have used a cricut machine. Since, I didn't have one, all of this was cut by hand. While I painstakingly cut out all the components to make each tsum tsum, I was watching SBS's Pinocchio (Korean Drama) starring Lee Jong-Suk and Park Shin-Hye. My niece help assemble the Mickey and Minnie cut outs.

Third Project: Tulle Skirt for High Chair
I basically recycled the tulle skirt I made for the little monster during Christmas. I used red and white tulle and looped them on a black ribbon. Here's a link on how to make no sew tutus, I used the loop method to make the tutu. To attached the tutu onto the high chair, I taped the tutu underneath the white tray.

Fourth Project: Monthly Photos
I used the same template as the tsum tsum cut outs and banner and printed the little monster's monthly pictures on them. The big monster (my husband) painted her name with red and black paint. It turned out better than I expected.

I really enjoyed making all of these decorations. Feel free to message me with questions on how I made these decorations.