Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Toy Story Midway Mania Carnival Birthday

It's that birthday party time of year again.  This year Stephen decided on a Toy Story theme.  Rather than going the "normal" route, I decided to commemorate our family's first trip to Walt Disney World with his 6th birthday party and made it a Toy Story Midway Mania party.  Stephen thought this was the best idea because, what 6 year old doesn't LOVE games?

The theme was a bit of a challenge, having never seen a Toy Story Mania party before, so I leaned towards a carnival theme using some game titles from the actual ride in Walt Disney World.

the invitation
I found an adorable carnival inviation online that inspired me to make this one.  I just loved the 3D ticket design. 

the food
Come one, come all!  Look at this spread.  =)

I made the sign from foam board, added Christmas lights through the back and used my Cricut for the lettering.  The "poles" are white mailing tubes with red ribbon wrapped around them.

From left to right.  Hot dogs, candy (note the bullseyes... get it?  Bullseye?  Toy Story?), bite-sized candy apples.  Awesome in theory, but they turned out the be a bit of a *fail*.  The moisture from the melon-balled apple, melted the candy coating from the inside out within 30 minutues. =(.  I bet caramel would work better.  The "peanut" bags actually have circus peanuts in them (I got the bags from Etsy seller DimeStoreBuddy). 

The cake is a basic 9" round with a Mr. Potato Head toy on top.  The cupcakes on the other hand....

... are crazy adorable!  Topped with mini marshmallows, snipped on the tops in half, 1/3s and 1/4s.  Then spray yellow.  The adorable cupcake wrappers were created by Etsy seller Party Paper Creations.


Then we've got cookie pops, more candy, popcorn...

...LGM (Little Green Men) marshmallow pops, lemonade, soda, chips, animal crackers and Jessie's Hat cookies.  The inspiration for the pops came Pampers, Play Dates and Parties.  The cookies, from Family Fun.

the games
Drawing inspiration from the ride in WDW, Shoot Camp, Hamm & Eggs and Spinning Tossers are named after games played on Toy Story Mideway Mania.

The game boxes are made from, just that, boxes.  Large cardboard boxes, covered with striped table cloth, from a roll.  Inside each is lined with wrapping paper then decorated, based on it's theme.  In total, the games run 12 feet long.  The signage was all created on my Cricut.
   
Andy's Room - knock the cans down.        Shoot Camp - shoot the ping-pong-balls

Hamm & Eggs - egg toss      Al's Toy Barn - bean bag toss
  
Flying Tossers - shoot down the rockets


Game time! 

the prizes
The kids had a great time "practicing" the games throughout the party but when crunch-time came, they each got to play each game once to earn tickets.  Each prize was worth 1 ticket (they all earned enough to get 1 of each prize!).

After their tickets were won, each child got a LGM favor bag to fill with their prizes.

"The Claw" is cut from foam board.  The sign and LGM "parts" were made on my Cricut.

Rexy's Ancestors (dino masks), Mrs. Potato Head Kisses (lip whistles), Giant TS Pens, Mini Slinky Dog toys, Pork Bellies (chocolate coins), Mr. Shark Squirters

Space Ranger Stencils, Army Men, Ken's Superstar Glasses

Assorted TS candy, Mini Monkeys in a Barrel, Wheezy Pops, Mr. Potato Head Glasses

TS Maracas, Sherrif Badges

A great number of the prizes were purchased from the wonderful party supply website Oriental Trader.

Enjoying their prizes!

the photo booth
Can't have a carnival without a photo booth!





Props for the photo booth were printed directly from the internet or cut on my Cricut.