For my daughter's 5th birthday we planned a family trip to Disneyland, especially since this is the year that Disney is giving out a free ticket on your birthday. So it was natural for the theme of her party to become a Mickey Mouse theme. Originally, this was supposed to be an outdoor party, which got changed to an indoor party because of a spring storm, so changes were made to the structure of the party. Invitation: The invitation was taken from the Disney.com website in the celebration center. Using the quick print invite option, I only used the part of the invitation that contained the party information, and made additional color copies. I then cut it out in the shape of mickey mouse ears, and using scrapbook mounting squares, placed the ears on red card stock to make postcard size invitations. Decorations: I cut out mickey ears in 3 sizes (Poster board, Medium and Small),and 4 Colors (Black, Red, Yellow, and Blue). I used construction paper for the Medium and Small.  I also used the disney.com and i-love-disney.com for clip art to trace the ears. The poster board ears were placed on the front door, hallway, dinning room wall, and over the fire place.  The small and medium were all over every wall of our house. My 3 and 5 year olds put up all the ears in about 20 minutes and had a blast, all I did was put tape on the back. It had a wonderful random look, and gave them responsibilities for the party. The Medium Red and Yellow ears were then used for the Thank you notes after the party. Again from the disney.com website, I used the birthday banner from the celebration center. I printed out Happy Birthday Child'sName in alternating red and blue pennants. I strung them together with ribbon that was red with white polka dots (for minnie's bow).  This banner was hung in our formal living/dining room space, taking full advantage of our cathedral ceilings.  Between Happy and Birthday, we had black mickey ears. The Dining room table had a red table cloth and was scattered with mini Mickey and Friend's stickers for confetti. At $1 for 100, it was a lot cheaper than confetti, and was used on the thank you notes. At the 4 craft/game tables, we had blue table cloth with a large square of red with white polka dot fabric in the middle.  Plates, Napkins, and Cups were in Red, Yellow and Blue.  Silverware was in mini red, yellow and blue sand buckets. I always use clear plastic cutlery so that I can use the leftovers at the next party.     Activities: The children had to color and cut out a minnie bow, which was later used in pin the bow on minnie game.  We had make your own bookmark (disney.com magic artist site), coloring pages (disney.com) and two games of checkers/tic tac toe that I got at big lots from mickey mouse club house.   Games: Once the children had done the activities, we played Pin the Bow on Minnie.  Using the I-love-disney.com website, I was able to blow up a large poster board size minnie mouse without her bow.  The Mask was the same polka dot fabric as on the tables, and children were spun around 5 times (age of birthday girl). Once they finished the game, the guest was given a Mickey Mouse party blower.  Outside games were going to be Donald, Donald, Duck (duck duck goose), Hootenanny Hop (potato sack races) Kiddie Horse Shoes, and Goofy Dance Off.  Costumes: I found a wonderful Minnie Mouse headband for my daughter to wear during the party. Party Snacks: We served Hot dogs and Chips, Lemonade, Sodas, and water. Cake: The cake was a Costco cake with 5 balloons on it.  I took chocolate frosting and piped mickey ears on each of the balloons. We had a mickey candle, and then placed goofy and donald toys we already had.  We also served chocolate and vanilla ice cream that I had pre-scooped into cupcake liners, and placed 2 mini oreos in each scoop to look like mickey ears.    Favors: Mickey Mouse Club House favors from the dollar store with all of the characters. Each bag had box of crayons (3 to a pack), card game (2 to a pack), spinning top (2 to a pack), crazy straws (6 to a pack) and mini stickers. Because of the minnie mouse items, we had to do girl/boy gift bags. Each guest received a red bag with black mickey ears mounted.  For the girls bags, they had red with white polka dot ribbon bow.  With good planning and research, it is easy to throw a theme party without having to purchase expensive licensed character items. By using solid colors, you can use the leftovers for other parties. Beside the favors from the dollar store, the only actual Mickey Mouse items we splurged on were the Candle and Stickers.