The Doc is In: Celebrating 2 with a Doc McStuffins Party

I’ve been a little radio silent here recently between the holidays, sniffles, a new semester of students, and prepping for Lily’s 2nd Birthday. It’s definitely been a balancing act. Onwards into spring in Florida! I’m going to diverge from the Gator theme today to blog about Lily’s 2nd birthday party. This is more of an informational post for party ideas as if I talk about my little baby turning 2, this Mama may get emotional. 😉

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

Lily is obsessed with Doc McStuffins, as in she knows all the characters, even obscure ones like Hermy the crab (which makes me proud since he has a wicked Boston accent) and Gustave, the green gator on Doc’s brother’s Gulpy Gulpy Gators game (yay, a gator reference)! So OF COURSE we had to have a Doc party. There are so many little nuances with this theme to think about, but it was so much fun to plan. I started several months ago in order to do a little at a time as I knew this party would come out amazing based on all the small details coming together for a big impact.

Doc Birthday Outfit

Outfit by Lil Abbe on Etsy

There was lots of pink/hearts/girly touches with this party and since her party was in March, I knew to plan ahead and watch for Valentine’s sales on decorations and candy. I utilized my PhotoShop skills, a lot of supplies I already had from my scrapbooking stash, and my new Cricut Explore (cutting, scoring, writing machine) that I got over the holidays. It really helped me do some new things I’ve never been able to do on my own before. And believe it or not, I think one of the easiest ways to theme this party was simple Doc stickers. I used them on everything.

Location: The Cottage at Lake Lily

Doc Party

The Cottage at Lake Lily looks like Doc’s clinic to me!

I discovered the perfect location for the party that could hold about 30 adults and toddlers. The Cottage at Lake Lily (ironic, huh?!) was intimate, beautiful and the perfect setting for a toddler birthday. PLUS the exterior kind of reminded me of Doc’s clinic (yellow!) and the interior colors were perfect to work with. You can rent by the hour through the Maitland Art & History museums, and it was convenient to our friends and family here in Central Florida. There are options to rent tables/chairs as well as the linens and chair covers. A Farmer’s Market takes place on Sunday mornings, so parties can’t begin until 1:30, but that worked out really well for us. NOTE: The color overlays and chair bows in the photos were fabric/tulle I brought and not part of the linen package.

Doc McStuffins party!

The Cottage at Lake Lily all decorated!

Invitation

I designed the invitation in PhotoShop and then printed them through Shutterfly. They came out awesome! I also designed Lily her own Doc address label and printed those through Shutterfly as well. Since the invites went out before Valentine’s Day, I was able to use some pretty heart postage stamps.

doc-mcstuffins-party-invitation-photoshop

Her invitation I designed in PhotoShop.

 

bubble-labels

I used the same template I designed for both these bubble labels and her own address labels.

USPS_2014_FOREVER_HEART_STAMP
These heart stamps worked perfectly for a Doc theme.

Decorations

For a splash of color, and in my opinion, really tied the room together, I went to Joann’s and bought fabric to use as tablecloth overlays.

Doc McStuffins party

Doc McStuffins colors/decorations.

Orlando Party Store provided the balloon bouquets and I placed those in tins I got at the $1 bin at Target. They are awesome to work with, and I’ve used them for several events. The tins had a chalkboard heart on them that I added white stitch marks to with a chalkboard pen (Michael’s), and then simply placed a glitter heart sticker and a Doc bandage sticker (Michael’s) on an angle. I then filled the tins with cotton balls to hide the balloon weight.

Doc McStuffins balloon party

Doc balloon sculpture by Orlando Party Store (I supplied the Doc balloon and they put together).

A close-up of the tins. $1 at Target. I added the white stitching with a chalk pen, and then the heart sticker and a bandage sticker.

A close-up of the tins. $1 at Target. I added the white stitching with a chalk pen, and then the heart and bandage stickers

The banner on the wall was from Michael’s and I added the letters (cut out on Cricut Explore) and stickers.

Doc McStuffins party

Banner from Michaels. Letters made on Cricut Explore. Centerpiece tins stuffed with cotton balls.

We of course had to have a “Doc is In” sign. I found the image online and adhered to a piece of wood. I then added modge podge over it and added a ribbon hanger. She had fun turning it around to officially start her party! (Download the Doc is In image below)!

The supplies used to create the sign: Hot glue, a wood piece, a print out of the art, paper trimmer, modge podge, ribbon, and I added flowers to hide where the ribbon attached.

The supplies used to create the sign: Hot glue, a wood piece, a print out of the art, paper trimmer, modge podge, ribbon, and I added flowers to hide where the ribbon attached. I added Washi tape from Queen & Co. to add a childish feel to the piece.

The Doc is In

Turning around the Doc is In sign.

doc-is-in-sign-handmade

The Doc is In!

Check-in Table

We had the check-in table on the porch.

We had the check-in table on the porch.

Everyone coming to the party passed by the check-in table, where a Doc McStuffins soundtrack was playing on repeat. (We kept this outside to set the tone, and it was nice to not have that music inside with everyone). I made Doc headbands for everyone to wear. I found the glitter headbands at Joann’s and then placed a sticky pink flower and then added a rhinestone on top (Hobby Lobby). So simple! The headband sign is just a bunch of various stickers/labels and washi tape all on a notecard I cut out on the Cricut Explore.

Doc McStuffins party

Doc headbands for everyone to take. A picture frame highlighting sayings from the show.

Doc headband

Everyone in matching Doc headbands!

I once again designed her “stats” sign in PhotoShop myself, and then went to Office Depot to get it printed.

Doc McStuffins Party sign

I designed this in Photoshop and then printed at Office Depot. 16 x 20

I also designed a Doc McStuffins graphic with all the sayings from the show and printed that out and placed in a frame I had (in photo with headbands). I took a picture of Lily a week before the party in a Doc-inspired outfit and placed that in a frame I decorated with stickers. I had that mini clipboard in my scrapbook stash from years ago… score!

Upon arrival, the kids could “check-in” their toy they brought. I designed ID bracelets in PhotoShop and then used my handy Cricut Explore’s Print and Cut feature to trim those. Kids received a clipboard (I had these already from Office Depot), a check-up check-list (printable available below), and a crayon (Party City). Once they headed inside, they could go to the check-up station, Lily’s birthday present and the perfect activity for this group.

Doc McStuffins party

Check-in your toy!

Activities

We also had a Birth Center where the girls could “Build a Friend.” My parents gave her the little table and chairs (Buy Buy Baby) as a present and it was the perfect workspace for them. I bought the unstuffed animals from Bday Bears, and was really impressed with their size, quality and pricing. Each bear came with a heart the girls could make a wish on. I bought the filling at Wal-Mart and it came with a handy stick to help get the stuffing into all the right places. Afterwards, I filled out a Birth Certificate for each girl that I designed.

Build a Bear/Animal activity

Build a Bear/Animal activity. Birth Certificates on table.

growgators-Doc-check-up

The Check-Up Station ready to be played with! We had the Doc bag with stethoscope already (check-up clinic does NOT come with a stethoscope).

build-a-bear-heart

Making a wish on her heart for her stuffed unicorn.

build-a-bear-project

This turned into a Mom activity as the girls wanted to play with the check-up clinic.

check-up-party check-up-station

Goodies

Once again, the Cricut Explore came in handy! I couldn’t find a Doc goodie bag I liked on Etsy. They weren’t the right size, theme, or were just too generic etc. So I decided to make my own. This was actually my first project on the Cricut Explore (I like a challenge!). I created a Doc shape in Illustrator and then tweaked it all in PhotoShop to enlarge it to the right size. The bag is about 8 inches wide, and consists of 2 sides, 2 pink glitter handles, 2 side panels that are scored for easy folding, and the bottom. I then designed the Doc band-aid emblem just using shapes from the Cricut image library and used glitter pink heart stickers. I found all the paper at Hobby Lobby.

Doc Party

Doc Bags and goodies! The heart signs on the walls for each “station”: I bought at Michael’s, and added stickers and ribbon.

A close-up of the bags and sign.

A close-up of the bags and sign.

I filled the bags with pink paper shreds (Michael’s) and put in:

  • Doc Band-Aids
  • A Big Book of Boo Boos. (I found glitter notepads at Target and added a heart sticker on front). Easy!
  • Doc fruit snacks
  • Doc hair ties ($1 Target bin)
  • Doc stickers
  • Little flower pot with lavender flower seeds ($1 Target bin)
  • Purple bubbles (Michael’s). I added a label (see above) that said “Thanks for Coming to my Party” that I designed and then printed as Shutterfly address labels. These were free as I had a coupon code!
Doc McStuffins goodie bags

A look inside the Doc Bags I made.

The girls also got Doc McStuffins coloring books ($1 at Michael’s) and a “diploma” I designed in PhotoShop.

A Doc Diploma for the graduates.  Her friends' certificates were signed by Doc Lily.

A Doc Diploma for the graduates. Her friends’ certificates were signed by Doc Lily.

Adults got to take home hand sanitizer from Bath and Body Works. I bought the labels on Etsy and used my Cricut Explore to print and cut them. (So easy to do and perfect lines)! I knew Bath and Body Works annual clearance was in January so I planned ahead and got the little bottles for about 33 cents each.

Doc labels purchased on Etsy, and resized to fit on the Cricut. Nice clean cuts!

Doc labels purchased on Etsy, and resized to fit on the Cricut since the Cricut can’t handle an 8.5 x 11 cut-out. I ended up with nice clean cuts!

growgators-Doc-party-goodies-sanitizer-sign

Hand sanitizers from Bath and Body Works. Sign made on Cricut (scallops, and writing feature). I added the stickers and washi tape on top.

Doc McStuffins Party

Close up of hand sanitizers with labels.

Outfits

Lily’s outfit was from Lil Abbe on Etsy, who does AMAZING work. The attention to detail and different fabrics she uses on the appliques is spot on. The stethoscope even has a little pearl on it. Everyone LOVED her outfit. She books up MONTHS in advance. I reserved Lily’s spot back in August (you don’t need a theme at that point, just hold your spot). Lavender socks: Janie & Jack. Shoes: Sofia the First shoes from Target.

We ordered lilac scrubs from Amazon.com and then I designed name badges for us: Doc Mom and Doc Dad.

Doc scrubs

Doc scrubs

Food

Publix for the win I tell you! The Publix at Dr. Phillips has an event planning coordinator and it was so helpful to go and sit down and order the trays and cake with her rather than just standing at the deli counter. We had Popcorn Chicken, fruit, veggies and sandwich rings. Plus apple slices because you know… “An apple a day…”

Doc Party

Doc McStuffins food for her party. We had the Doc toy and accessories.

For the food tent cards, I used the Cricut Explore to cut out the scalloped edges and then layered washi tape (Queen & Co.), labels (Michael’s) and Doc McStuffins stickers (Michael’s). To add a little dimension I used 3D glue dots instead to raise the sticker a bit.

Doc McStuffins Disney Jr Party

Chilly’s Chicken and Hallie Says Eat Your Veggies!

The cake… I love cake decorating and wanted a great one for this party! I went to one place and got a quote for a simple 2-tier cake… $400! That’s crazy, plus they didn’t deliver on Sundays so I would’ve had to pick up the day before. No thank you! So by chance I asked Publix what they could do. Turns out you can customize the Birthday Surprise cake! So we ended up having a 2 tier cake with cupcake topper that they customized the colors for us. I then added the Doc McStuffins figurines I bought at Once Upon a Toy at Downtown Disney. It was so simple and the total cost was just over $50 plus the figurines! It came out so good and instead of eating the decorations, Lily got a nice take-home toy!

Doc McStuffins cake by Publix.

Doc McStuffins cake by Publix. Figurines from Disney.

Sweet Table

It was fun to put together Doc Lily’s Apothecary!

Doc Party candy table

Sweet Station at Lily’s Doc Party.

Doc McStuffins party sign

Close-up of Doc sign from Hobby Lobby. A friend did the lettering and Doc bag by hand with chalk pens from Michael’s. We added a little glitter heart for a touch of bling.

  • I owned the apothecary jars and tags and just had to embellish with stickers.
  • Straws purchased on Etsy.
  • Tins from Target and decorated with ribbon and stickers.
  • Goodie bags from Target.
  • My friend Todd is a graphic designer and he hand-lettered the chalkboard sign himself! (Sign from Hobby Lobby).
  • We had cotton balls (marshmallows), vitamins (pink M & M’s), Hugs and Kisses for Boo Boos (Hershey), Medicine (York patties– hearts from Valentine’s Day), and thermometers (chocolate covered pretzel rods made by my friend Krystina).
  • Milk bottles: I added ribbon and stickers, and done!
Doc McStuffins party thermometers

Details of the sweet table.

Doc McStuffins party sweet table

Details of the sweet table.

Downloads

If you’d like to use some of the graphics I made/tweaked, here are some of the downloads I used. I may open an Etsy store for some of the customized items like invitations, the stats sign etc. so stay tuned! If you download any items, please leave a comment about your upcoming party. I want to hear from you. 🙂

  • I resized the Docs_Toys_Checklist I found online since we had small clipboards and set them to 2 per page. The larger version is available through a Google search.
  • I also enlarged the Doc is In sign a bit from what I found online and there wasn’t much pixelation. Feel free to download that here!

I have some of the items for sale including the fabric overlays, tent cards, some headbands, etc. Send me an email at jaclyn at growgators dot com to inquire.

I’ll be posting these images over on Pinterest if you want to pin to your idea boards.

I feel better, so much better now that the planning is over and the party was a success! Thanks for reading!

Check out all the Disney options Cricut now offers! From Frozen and Mickey to Princesses and Pooh Bear!

Edit: Updated with affiliated links September 2016

14 Comments on The Doc is In: Celebrating 2 with a Doc McStuffins Party

  1. Ashley
    June 18, 2015 at 8:46 pm (9 years ago)

    Love all of the details for the party! Looks like it was a huge success!

    Reply
  2. Jenna
    October 21, 2015 at 12:48 pm (8 years ago)

    Do you have a free printable invitation? Or is there a fee?

    Reply
    • Jaclyn Rhoads
      October 21, 2015 at 4:44 pm (8 years ago)

      Hi Jenna,
      No sorry as this was a custom graphic I designed for my daughter. Check out Etsy for templated invite ideas!

      Reply
  3. Aidee
    November 13, 2015 at 9:40 am (8 years ago)

    Are you willing to make design for a party?

    Reply
  4. Alicia Daley
    December 20, 2015 at 7:41 pm (8 years ago)

    I love everything about this! My daughter will be turning 2 in March 2016 & I want to have a Doc McStuffins party for her. You have so many amazing ideas. Thank you!!!

    Reply
    • Jaclyn Rhoads
      December 21, 2015 at 12:49 pm (8 years ago)

      Thanks! It was lots of fun to put together. 🙂 I still have some supplies left over if you’re interested 🙂

      Reply
  5. Breanne
    February 21, 2016 at 1:50 pm (8 years ago)

    My daughter will be two in two weeks and she is also a Doc McStuffins fan so we are doing a Doc party. I LOVE your party bags and I also have a new Cricut explore, I’m looking for the bag template you used, but am unable to find it, can I get the name so i can upload it to my Cricut and cut them out. I just got my new Cricut Explore so I’m a newbie to the whole Cricut Design Space, I’m still trying to figure everything out. 🙂 Thank you for you help, your party was my starting inspiration.

    Reply
    • Jaclyn Rhoads
      May 10, 2016 at 9:30 pm (8 years ago)

      Hi! I’m so sorry with my delayed response! I was actually in labor when this came in!! 🙂 I hope your party was a success and thanks for stopping by! 🙂

      Reply
      • Ruby
        August 28, 2016 at 1:09 pm (8 years ago)

        I was wondering if you can tell me how to find the template for the bags because im planning for a Dr. Mcstuffins Party in november for my daughter

        Reply
        • Jaclyn Rhoads
          August 28, 2016 at 2:11 pm (8 years ago)

          I tweaked a doctor bag file I had in Illusrator and Photoshop. I then brought it over into my Cricut to cut out. It took forever! The bag is actually 7 parts.
          – front panel/back panel
          -2 sides
          -bottom
          -pink handle X 2
          I then hot glued all together.
          I may have one in pieces I could sell you that you could trace onto papers and cut out by hand. I have to look to see what I have. My email is jaclyn@growgators and we can discuss.
          I don’t have this on my Etsy store because they are so time consuming to cut and make, but I do have other Doc items: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LilacLilyStudio

          Reply
  6. Carla
    March 6, 2016 at 11:00 pm (8 years ago)

    Oh my goodness you are truly awesome I too have a cricut and don’t know how to do anything. I have to do a dr Seuss party, I wish that you could help me with what stuff to use in design space, you have some out of this world ideas. Go girl.

    Reply
    • Jaclyn Rhoads
      May 10, 2016 at 9:31 pm (8 years ago)

      Thank you so much! It’s a lot of trial and error and figuring out the software. Head to Etsy and Pinterest for some inspiration and try to recreate! That’s what I do on some things. Also, I supplement a lot with PhotoShop when it comes to the printed items.

      Reply

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