Minnie Mouse Highchair

I'm sad.  This is the last of the "Avery's Minnie Mouse Birthday Bash" tutorials I'll be posting.  I hope if you're having a Minnie themed party of your own, you've gotten some ideas for your party too!  So, here it is, the last tutorial:  *drumroll*  a Minnie Mouse highchair (as seen here as my little girl chows down on her birthday cake)!

 I lucked out on this chair.  I had been wanting a cheap highchair for pictures to paint a bright color, like yellow or turquoise, until we decided that Avery would be having a gigantic Minnie Mouse party and this idea was born. 
Wanna know how to make one for yourself?  Here's what you'll need:

• Highchair (obviously)
• Black spraypaint
• Minnie Mouse polkadot fabric
• Foam circles
• Polka dot ribbon
• Hot glue gun
• Sandpaper

I found my highchair at Goodwill for.....get ready.....$5.  The legs wobbled a bit and it didn't have a tray to go with it, but it was FIVE DOLLARS.  I could deal.  It was also a little bit dirty.  So, step one was to sand the highchair down to remove all the stickers and junk that littered the arms and seat of this bad boy. 

After sanding, I began to spray paint. It took two coats of black spray paint (I bought the cheap Walmart brand) to cover the whole thing.



 

When the chair was spray painted and dry, I brought it into my house to add the Minnie skirt along the bottom.  Finding the fabric that perfectly matched Minnie's skirt ended up being the hardest part of this project.  I went to FOUR different fabric stores before I found the perfect print (Thank you JoAnn's Fabric).  I got two yards and it ended up being JUST enough, so get 2 1/2 or 3 to be safe.  I was sweating as I was coming to the end because I really thought I was going to run out.  Here's how to attach the skirt (and if my instructions don't make sense, hopefully the pictures will....I'm a visual person, not a descriptive one). 

 

Take your hot glue gun and put about an inch worth of glue along the chair and attach the fabric.

 

Now, put about a quarter of an inch of glue along the end of the fabric that you've just glued to the chair.  Fold the fabric back and glue it down. 

 

Repeat the above two steps.  You'll be creating a sort of ruffle effect along the entire chair. 

 

Once you've done a few "ruffles," you'll get the hang of how to do it.  Continue along the entire chair. 

 

When I first started working, I wanted a floor length "skirt" on my highchair.  Because I didn't get enough fabric, I had to cut it in half to have enough to finish the entire chair.  I like the finished look better, I think.  It's appropriate because Minnie doesn't wear a floor length skirt!

 

After you've finished the skirt, spray paint the two foam circles black (this will take MULTIPLE coats with a heavy hand because the foam soaks up the paint like crazy).  Then attach with a hot glue gun to the sides or top of your chair.  Glue a matching red and white polka dot bow to one of the ears and you have your very own Minnie Mouse highchair!!

 

I hope you all have enjoyed the entire Minnie Mouse series!  If you're interested, check out Avery's Minnie birthday invitations and envelopes, canvas bag party favors, personalized Minnie Mouse wreath and Minnie Mouse birthday bash recap (including a Minnie Mouse Cozy Coupe)!  Now, what to do for the 2nd birthday......



Minnie Mouse Initial Wreath

I promised you tutorials on how to make a few of the personalized items that I had included at Avery's birthday party.  I'm just not a "cookie-cutter" kind of party planner.  I'm not all for going to Wal-Mart and buying the package of coordinating plates, cups, napkins, table runners, candles, etc.  I'd rather have a handmade and from the heart kind of party.  I'm not knocking you if that's the kind of party you like to throw.  Lord knows, it's wayyyyy easier than the route I took.  But if you're like me, here's a tutorial on how to make your very own Minnie Mouse Initial Wreath.  It hung on the front door to welcome guests into the party and now is hanging proudly in Avery's room.  Ready to make one for the Minnie fan in your life?  Grab your hot glue gun and let's get started!

Materials needed:

• Styrofoam wreath
• 2 small Styrofoam circles
• Black cardstock paper
• Initial of your choice
• Small circle sponge brush
• Red and white acrylic paint
• Ribbon
• Hot glue gun

{step 1}
I started with my Styrofoam wreath and wrapped all the way around with a silk black ribbon to create the base for my wreath.

{step 2} 
After the wreath was wrapped, I took the two smaller Styrofoam circles (that had already been spray painted black) and hot glued them to the top of the wreath as Minnie's ears. 

{step 3} 
Taking the black cardstock paper (I picked glitter paper--thought it looked more "girly"), I cut out two circles that were the same size as the Styrofoam circles and hot glued them onto the front.

{step 4}
I painted my wooden letter A in cherry red to match Minnie's dress.  Of course, Minnie wouldn't be complete without her signature polka dots!  So I took a small circle sponge brush and white acrylic paint and added polka dots all over the letter.

{step 5}
I attached the letter to the wreath and made a bow out of red and white polka dotted ribbon.  It's not in the picture, but I added some leftover ribbon at the top for the wreath to hang from. 

And voila!  Avery now has her own personalized Minnie Mouse wreath.  I'm thinking about making a family sized one to go on the front door now......

Minnie Mouse canvas bags how-to

It's supposed to be an "Organize One Thing Wednesday" kind of day, but  I still have that specific project on my mind and I STILL can't find the materials I need.  Maybe this is the universe telling me that I need to learn how to sew so I can just make the idea myself.  harrumph.

Instead, I'm going to be posting one of MANY tutorials from Avery's Minnie Mouse themed 1st birthday!

This week:  Minnie Mouse canvas tote favor bags!
I knew I wanted to do something a little different than the plastic-favor-bag-picked-up-at-WalMart route for Avery's little friends.  I had a couple of canvas tote bags laying around...and the idea was born! 

Materials Needed:

• Canvas tote
• Black, red and white fabric paint (I prefer Tulip brand)
• Round sponge brush
• Medium sized paint brush
• Pencil
• Cereal bowl
• Small drinking glass

{step 1}
Find two rounded items to use for Minnie's head and ears to trace around.  I chose a cereal bowl and an orange juice glass.

{step 2}
Trace around items with pencil.

{step 3}

Using your medium sized paintbrush and black fabric paint, trace around each edge of the circles.  To make it easier, I squirted the paint out onto a paper plate for easier dipping.

{step 4} 

Fill in each square with the rounded sponge brush.  You could also use the regular paint brush to finish the entire Minnie head, but I found the sponge to be easier. 





{step 5} 
Add the details.  I free handed a big red Minnie Mouse bow and wrote each little girl's name on each of the bags with the white fabric paint.  But this is your bag....get creative!
Inside each bag, I added the standard party favors:  cheap, but fabulous sunglasses, Minnie Mouse bubbles, Minnie ears and a container of Puffs (for the babies).  They were a hit!  Of course, these don't have to just be for parties.  Make one for your little girl to carry to school or to use as a purse.  Or, if you're a grown-up Disney freak like me, make one for yourself!  Use it as a work bag, a diaper bag, a reusable grocery bag....the options are endless!!

Stay tuned for more Minnie Mouse party themed decorations and tutorials!!

Organize One Thing...Interrupted.

I interrupt this regularly scheduled "Organize One Thing Wednesday" to bring you.......my kitchen. 

Holy party throw-up Batman.  Avery's 1st birthday party was this weekend and, as you can see, I'm still recovering.  Am I the only one that gets an after-huge-event hangover?  Not the alcohol kind, but the "I planned my rear off for months and spent the week of hot-gluing and decorating and obsessing over every single detail so now I feel like doing absolutely nothing but sit on my couch and watch the Olympics" kind.  I literally have done nothing domestically related since Saturday.  Well, that's a lie--I unloaded and reloaded my dishwasher....once.  And that was only because Avery needed clean bottles.  After her party, I told Marty to just dump everything in the kitchen one night and I would pick it up the next day.  Well, here it is, Wednesday already, and I've done nothing.  But my kitchen is starting to smell and Avery wants to rip up every bag that's laying in the floor.  Not to mention the fact that I want to have a panic attack every time I come into my home.  So, as much as I would love to share my organizing tip for the week, I've got to do a little personal home organizing of my own.  I promise though, next week's project is going to rock your socks off. :)

A letter to my Avery...

My sweet Avery girl,

I can't believe you're already a year old!!  A year ago today, I was laying in my hospital bed wondering how I could ever love anything more than I loved you at that moment.  I'd known you less than 24 hours, yet you were completely perfect and I knew that I had been put on this world to be your mommy.  Over the last year, I've watched you grow and learn.  I've watched you develop a personality (and an attitude!).  It's so funny to watch you learn something new...you're so proud of yourself whenever you finally master it and you look over at your daddy and me to make sure we're watching you.  You're so smart (doesn't every mother say that??).  You bring joy to everyone around you--your personality is contagious!  Your entire family loves you beyond words and spoils you to no end....all you have to do is point and grunt and people go running to get you whatever you want!  It's been a joy to watch you learn different stages---rolling over, crawling and now walking!!   To watch you learn new words and phrases (your favorite right now is "I want that!") and use them more and more everyday.  You go nowhere without your Minnie Mouse doll and we quickly have a panic attack on our hands when you realize she's not in reach.  Unfortunately for mommy and daddy, you still don't sleep well through the night and don't nap much, but you'll learn!  You are the complete spitting image of your daddy---busy, can't sit still, into everything you can get your hands on and completely adorable.  I know you've only been in our home for a year, but I can't remember what life was ever like without you.  I thank God every morning that I get to wake up and spend another day watching you grow.  Nothing matters more to me than being your mommy.  I love you so much sweet girl.  Thank you for making your first year the best one of my entire 26.  Happy birthday.

Love,

Mommy