As I discussed over margaritas, I’ve been working on material.  My son, Noah, is turning 3!  Although I’m astounded at how much of a little man he has become, part of me questions how this little firecracker can only be 3 – he has given me significantly more years worth of memories and laughter!  He is great.

He has many favorite things.  His favorite cookies are Oreos.  His favorite color is orange and his favorite TV show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  The scenario ended up resembling the scene I described in the Cinderella Princess Party post.  We had taken a family vacation to Disney this year.  As my daughter did a few years ago, my son instantly became enthralled and obsessed with the magic of Disney – more specifically Mickey Mouse.  I left Disney not only in awe of the magic but also with the realization that a lot of the magic came from the details:  the towels folded like Mickey Mouse, the pancakes and butter shaped as characters.  I wanted to bring some magic into Noah’s Mickey Mouse birthday party.

I started with a vision of creating Mickey Mouse chair covers.  Sounds like an easy task, but for someone who doesn’t know how to sew, it was a little more challenging that it appears.  My mother had been offering to give me her old sewing machine for a while.  I kept resisting, because I didn’t think I would use it.  I finally caved when I realized hand stitching wasn’t a time friendly option.  The second issue was I had a vision in my head, but no pattern.  Not that I know how to follow a sewing pattern anyway, but I needed some idea of what the hell I was doing template of where to start.  The below link will show you my chair measurements and the template I created.

Mickey Mouse Chair Cover Pattern

I started by cutting a black rectangle roughly 4″ wider than the widest point in my chair and 2″ higher.  This allowed for enough room to sew on each side.  In hindsight, I could have probably gotten away with only adding 3″ to the side, but as a newbie to the sewing world, I would rather be safe than sorry.  You can either cut 2 rectangles to sew together or if you want to get by with as little sewing as possible (like me) just double the height and fold over at the top.

I then cut a red rectangle about 9″ high and 1′ 6″ wide.  Again, hindsight being 20/20, I could have gone an inch or 2 above the 9″ in height.  I think the width was perfect.  Finally, I used a light layer of fabric glue to secure the buttons.

Ta Da…

I had some extra fabric, so I also made a table runner.  No sewing required – SCORE!  I simply cut a strip of black cloth about 1′ longer than the width of the table.  I then cut a red runner about 2″ narrower than the width of the black fabric.  For the length I went about 2″ shorter than the width of the table to allow for a border.  Since I was working with felt I could get away without sewing.  I simply laid the red runner on top of the black.  I then used a little fabric glue to secure some buttons.  I completed the tablescapes by arranging some plates and bowls to resemble Mickey Mouse.

Since I am the constant multi-tasker, I had the chair covers serve duel roles.  After dinner we used the chair covers as bags to collect candy and toys from the pinata.

Stay tuned to see how the rest of the party came together.  Including my first ever Mickey Mouse cake…