Maileg Mouse Birthday Party - Part 1

Maileg Mouse Birthday Party – Part 1

February 16, 2023

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Six years ago, our incredible girl was born. Six! Every parent will tell you that it goes by so fast and it truly does! I took a break from social media and blogging last year to focus on beginning our home-school journey, but I hope to be a bit more active this upcoming year and share a few things on my blog. I was encouraged by family and friends to post some of my DIY projects for Hattie’s birthday this year because the party she requested doesn’t have a lot of resources readily available. We had so much fun creating the decor for her Maileg Mouse themed birthday party!

If you aren’t familiar with Maileg mice, they are the most adorable little toys for kids. They come in a variety of sizes from baby mice all the way up to Grandparent mice. The biggest mouse is around 6″ tall, so they are perfect for little hands and pockets. We’ve spent the past few years adding each family member to our collection, along with some fun accessories for her doll… I mean MOUSE house! As a designer, I absolutely love the attention to detail, patterns, colors, and overall style that is consistent in their entire collection. They truly are the most adorable little critters! If you’re curious about the mouse collection, you can check out the Maileg Website to learn more. And don’t forget to read their adorable blog posts. The “Day at the Beach” is Hattie’s favorite and we read it all of the time! (I may need to make a separate post just about these amazing little toys and all of the fun things you can do with them!)

When I started searching for ideas, I did find a few on Pinterest but there isn’t a specific Maileg-themed birthday party decor package you can purchase. They have something simple available, but my daughter just wanted mice and not bunnies. I knew I’d be making everything, but I really do enjoy planning and creating special decorations for Hattie’s birthdays so I was totally up for the challenge! Luckily, there are Maileg napkins available on their website and their wrapping paper can be used for many things.

I typically start talking about birthday party theme ideas with Hattie at least 4 months ahead of time. This is because we’ve only had one party theme with items that could be purchased (Spirit). The rest, I’ve had to make up and create myself and that definitely takes a lot of time. So, I start early and keep an eye out for anything that could be used while I’m at the craft store, Target, Dollar Tree, etc… I’ll break everything down into three separate posts explaining how I created or found each thing.

Decor

After we settled on the Maileg Mouse theme, I chose the “Mouse Party” wrapping paper as my guide for the decor. I ordered some to use for garland and a bit more to wrap some gifts with. I noticed that there were mushroom houses, stems with circular flowers and berries, cheese wedges, and, of course, adorable mice. I managed to find some cute mushroom jars from the Target dollar spot last Fall that happened to be in the colors that Maileg uses frequently. Hattie loves purple, so I ordered a sweet gingham table runner in a muted lilac that went well with the other colors. I looked at the mice and the fabrics that are frequently used and decided that gingham, floral, and polka dots were the ones to focus on. I ended up finding the perfect Maileg floral brand napkins that included purple flowers just before they went out of stock on their website. I’ve always loved Meri Meri, so they were the first place I looked for plates, and ended up ordering the pastel gingham large plates and smaller mushroom dessert plates. I found a matching mushroom balloon and polka dot balloons at a local party store, The Party Darling (you can order from them on Etsy or their website). The Maileg castle gift bags I ordered to use for her gifts were also re-used as decor.

Wrapping Paper Banners

After I gathered everything, it was time to put it all together. I downloaded a template for various banners here and used that template to trace the pattern onto the back of the Maileg mouse wrapping paper. I also traced the same template on white cardstock. After it was all cut, I used stick glue to adhere the wrapping paper to the cardstock so it would be more durable and stay flat. I didn’t want to cut holes in the paper, so I trimmed a paper straw into 1.5″ pieces, taped the straw onto the back of each banner at the top, and ran the thick hemp string through each straw.

Cheese Banners

The cheese banners were all Hattie’s idea and I absolutely love them! We ended up using a ruler to make our triangle shape on a piece of cardstock and then traced that triangle onto some thick yellow cardstock I found at the craft store. After the triangles were cut, I used a regular hole punch and a slightly larger hole punch to make a variety of holes on each one and then threaded the string through those holes.

Wrapping Paper & Bags

The wrapping paper that I used is called “Mouse Party”, but there are a variety of other options available on the Maileg website. I love the florals, harlequin, dots, and, well, pretty much everything! Any combination of these would be so cute. Hattie is crazy about the mice, so we went all in with the mice. If your little one is more into the bunnies or bears, there are specific choices for each one of those as well.

During Christmas, I picked up some cute wrapping paper at Target from the Sugar Paper line that’s white with little pink polka dots. I knew it would work well with the Maileg paper so I purchased it in advance. Some stores carry this line throughout the year and some don’t so double-check your store to be sure. If not, there are other cute polka-dot options on Amazon. Simple dots or stripes in the muted, natural colors would go well with any of the Maileg wrapping paper.

Table Decor

I knew we’d use the mice as part of the decorations, so I tried to keep everything else pretty simple. Hattie helped me arrange a little scene on the table with everyone and it turned out so cute! We utilized our long mantle in the dining room for gifts and then turned it into a little decor area after she’d opened them. She has a medium size mouse that we made a party hat and flag for and used her as part of the decor also. I found the out-of-production Maileg birthday cake tin on Mercari, so keep an eye out there and on ebay for previous collection items.

To add a little height and variety, I found a simple white vase and added a few branches with faux berries in the colors we used. The smaller mushrooms are actually Christmas ornaments I found on clearance at my local craft store. We also purchased the mini mushroom table and chair set at the craft store in the fairy garden section.

Wall Decor

We are all about painting and drawing at our house, so when Hattie had the idea to include her art as part of the decor I was immediately on board! She painted her entire mouse family on a canvas that we framed and then drew individual portraits of the others. We have a blank wall in our dining room that we haven’t found the right decor for so it was the perfect spot to create a little gallery for her artwork. I used a backdrop from Target to make it a little more fun. I love how this turned out. I think we’ll have to continue this tradition next year.