Make Life Lovely

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Disney UP Themed New Beginnings Program

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I was recently asked to put together a program for the 12-18 year old girls at our church called New Beginnings.  I decided to go with a Disney UP themed evening after seeing these two fun programs here and here, and because it’s a lot more fun for everyone when have a great theme!  Many of the ideas I used came from these two sites, and many I came up with on my own.

I wanted to share what I did with you, because a lot of these ideas can be applied to any UP themed party, whether it’s a birthday party, a baby shower, bridal shower, etc… the sky is the limit!  😉
The photos taken from that night were taken at night in a church building when I was scurrying around trying to make everything perfect, so please keep that in mind 🙂
I bought some sky and clouds butcher paper from here that worked perfectly as a backdrop for the evening and the decorations.  I have a large PVC stand that my husband and I came up with for our party backdrops, and it worked perfectly with the cloud paper!
I found the cute picture of Russell, the boy from the movie, and added the words “It’s UP to you to Come Unto Christ.”  This is one of the ways that I tied the UP movie theme to our Young Womens New Beginnings Program.
I made Russell’s little Wilderness Explorer sash and badges, too, just for fun, and will be sharing an easy tutorial soon on how I made it!
The girls each got a small bag of colorful gum balls with the same Russell picture and words as the above sign.
I love this easy garland I put together for the program using Party City paper fans, these Pixar Retro UP Poster Art prints, and some string.  It added a lot of color and added to the overall UP theme, too.
All of the leaders helped me out and brought some delicious treats for dessert!  I forgot to push the table back up against the sky paper until halfway through the night, so ignore that little space in between the table and the paper.
One of my favorite decorations of the night were the brightly colored paper mache houses I spray painted in bright pastel Krylon spray paint colors.  I used the colors Blue Ocean Breeze, Gum Drop, and Satin Meringue to paint each of the 6 houses.  
I attached balloons to all of the houses, and used some on the houses on our main table, and some as centerpieces on the round tables we used.  
Because I didn’t have enough houses to use on each table, I also used grape Crush soda on the other tables, with balloons tied to them, UP retro style posters leaned up against them, and paper fans lying by them on the table.
I feel like the evening was a great success, and everything went really well.  The girls, leaders, and parents all loved the theme, and it was a lot of fun to put together!

Oh, and I almost forgot… here’s one of the photos I put on Instagram taken at church, when I passed out the girls’ invitations.  They LOVED them!!  I designed some cute invitations with a house on them floating with tons of balloons on the top, and a blue sky background.  I attached the invitations to each balloon (that I filled up during the second hour of church), and passed out to the girls at the end.  I wanted them to get excited about coming, and I think these balloon invitations did just that!

xo, Laura
Sharing here: Show + Tell

About Laura

Hi! I'm Laura, owner and creator of Make Life Lovely, a creative blog filled with creative craft tutorials, DIY projects, party tips, holiday ideas, home decor, and so much more! Make Life Lovely is dedicated to making everyday life more lovely, and I hope to inspire you and show you how!

Comments

    • Laura says

      Hi Kellie, Sorry I didn’t respond sooner, I just saw your comment. I do have the blank invitations that I created if you still need a copy that you can edit and add your info to. Just email me and I’d be happy to send it to you! 🙂 makelifelovely (dot) laura (at) gmail.com

      Reply

  4. Lindsie says

    This is too cute! Excellent job! We are having this same event this Sunday. I was wondering if you could help me with how you got those darling retro pictures to print. I’m having trouble figuring it out. I would appreciate it so much thanks!

    Reply

    • Laura says

      Hi Lindsie, Just click on the link in the post where it says “Pixar Retro UP Poster Art prints,” then right click to save on each poster that you would like. Then all you do is open them up in Word or Pages or another program, make them the size that you like, and print (or save and get them printed somewhere like I did). Hopefully that helps! Let me know if you need more help. Good luck on Sunday!

      Reply

  5. Camille Schank says

    Hi! Is there anyway we could use the Russell Picture with the Come Unto Christ on it? We are doing this theme as well this Sunday?

    Thanks

    Reply

      • Katrina reider says

        I was wondering where you got the picture of Russell with Come Unto Christ on it? I am doing the same theme for New Beginnings in a few weeks and would love to use the picture. Thanks

        Reply

  6. Ttaschia says

    You have a brillant eye for detail and an awesome idea. We are looking to do your idea if thats ok for our new beginnings night here in australia. Would it be possible for you to share the invites with me? I would so appreciate that. Again well done

    Reply

  7. Julie says

    I love this theme idea. Thank you for sharing! Could you please send me the Russell print you put with the gumballs? I would really appreciate it. Thanks again

    Reply

  8. Mybree says

    Hi Laura!

    I found your blog on pinterest, and I love this UP idea for new beginnings! Now I’m loving looking at lots of your posts. Is there anyway that I could also have a copy of the blank invitations and the russell picture. They are cute!

    Thanks for any help,

    Reply

  9. Ashlee says

    Love this theme! So cute. I am curious on what you did for the program. I know you did this awhile ago but if you could share any of that with me I would greatly appreciate it!

    Reply

  10. Shannon Lee says

    Laura-

    Totally AMAZING! Would you by chance be willing to email me your program…what you said to the YW to tie in the UP theme to the mutual theme? I’m at a loss and we have NB this week!

    – Shannon
    chefsL@hotmail.com

    Reply

  11. Kelly Olivier says

    We are doing your darling theme and I was wondering where you got the picture of Russell with Come Unto Christ on it? Is there anyway to get that. Its so cute!! Thanks for the idea

    Reply

  12. Emily says

    For some reason I can’t view your photos and I’ve tried through three different browsers. Any idea how I can ciew these photos? I’m especially interested to see your Russell print out and invitation. Anything you could email me to view would be great!

    Reply

  13. Cassie says

    I love the UP theme New Beginning Program. Anyway that you might tell me where you got the picture of Russell with Come Unto Christ you used? And the blank invitation you used if possible. Thanks in advance 🙂

    Reply

  14. Shantelle Ericson says

    For some reason the pictures aren’t showing up anymore. Any idea why? We are doing an “Up” themed new beginnings in a couple of weeks and would love to see the pics!

    Reply

  15. Corrianne Lee says

    Hey we are doing this theme for our Young Womens and absolutely love your program with the picture of Russell and Come Unto Christ saying on it…is there anyway you could email that to me so I could edit it to our date and time etc…? Also we would love to see what your invitation looked like up close, could you email that as well? Thanks so much! corriannelee@gmail.com

    Reply

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