Mickey and Minnie Party: Candle Holders

As you know, I am busting my booty on planning my kids a fantastic Mickey and Minnie party for their second and third birthdays in May. However, I have champagne taste on a beer budget.

Here are the cutest candle holders ever that I wanted to buy, but couldn't see paying nearly $30 for two with shipping. They are from Hands 2 Design.

So I tried to make my own from Playdough. The turned out super cute (I know the photo quality sucks...camera phone, ok?).

However, they dried like this even though I followed instructions on how to dry playdough out without it cracking (totally B.S.)...

So I bought some awesome Crayola Model Magic Deluxe Variety Pack and tried again.

 I used cut toothpicks to hold the balls together and hot glued a hand-tied bow to an additional toothpick for Minnie's bow.

Playdough is much easier to work with and looked much better before it dried. The Model Magic was much harder to roll into smooth perfect balls and it got a bit smooshed when drying from its own weight. I think I like them....if I decide I don't like the new ones, I'll make playdough ones last minute and just use them wet! God knows Bubbi has eaten her share of playdough and lived to tell the tale!

Mickey and Minnie Party: Birthday Banners

You know it, I'm cheap. So when I decided I wanted two separate custom birthday banners for the kids Mickey and Minnie birthday party in May I flipped out at the thought of paying somewhere between $15-$50 PER BANNER! Love me some etsy.com, but hell no!

So what would any wannabe Mommy Stewart do? Make them herself!

I bought super cute paper at Michaels. I scouted out what I wanted then waited...no way are you going to catch my cheap ass spending almost a dollar on ONE piece of paper! A few weeks into watching the ads and the paper I wanted went on sale for $0.25 a piece (now that I can do). See ladies, you must plan ahead if you want to save money!

I also bought the letters at Michaels. I was tempted to buy a Cricut 29-0001 Personal Electronic Cutting Machine, but decided I'm not into crafting enough to justify the purchase. I think two packs of letters cost me about $4.00....I found them in by the poster board.

I bought the Mickey Head Punches and Scalloped Circles at Jacquelines Paper since I opted not to buy the Cricut 29-0001 Personal Electronic Cutting Machine and do it myself.

The best item I purchased for this project is my Martha Stewart Crafts™ Large Circle Cutter. Works sooooo well and I have already used it on several other crafts!

Here are the finished products:

I liked round for the girly Minnie look with red and white polka dots....

And I went with the triangular flag look for the boyish Mickey banner with red and white stripes...

I am currently working on another banner for an All Star themed baby shower. I will show a break down of how I made that one for those of you who want to make your own but aren't too crafty!