Nautical Birthday Cake

This year was a long and exhausting year. With two kids and both being under 2 most of the time; I struggled to sleep and struggled to stay awake. For Jared's first birthday I had planned to make his birthday cake, and a small smash cake as well. When we finally arrived at my in-laws house, we were chatting with my Mother-in-law and she said I should just purchase the cake and that she would pay for it. I agreed with some hesitation, but after the party was over and done with, I was so happy I did. I wasn't completely tired from being up all day and night, I wasn't dealing with two kids while watching cakes bake, and I wasn't stressing over a cake meltdown or disaster.

I had made some decorations for the cake, before I decided to not make the cake. I also had redecorated a #1 candle, as I could not find anything that matched our colors or theme. I used puff paint and painted zig zags on the candle. It was super easy and only took about 2 full days to really dry.

NOTE: We did not light this candle. I do not know how the puff paint will react to fire. Please know that this candle was for decoration ONLY!

I purchased the 1/4 sheet cake with whipped frosting and a extra large cupcake for the smash cake. I then placed all the decorations on the cake (the ones I made before we even drove down to southern California).

This is the large cupcake, also with whip frosting, and I just purchased the blue candle last minute when I thought I forgot the one I made. When I didn't forget it, I just used the light blue candle for his smash cake, and we light that candle.

He had no idea how to blow out the candle but he sure was cute about the entire thing.

He wasn't to excited about smashing the cupcake, but once he got the hang of it he loved it.

A family photo of my happy birthday boy and wet brother. Best day ever.

In the end, I am so glad I made those cake decorations before we left, that way I already had something to put on it. I also was happier during the party, more relaxed because I got sleep and I wasn't stressed out. I am so glad my Mother-in-law paid for it and was nice enough to do so.

If I can help save at least one mom from doing what I did for so many parties, stressing out over all the baking, then I hope it was worth it. I know for myself, I felt like I captured so much more joy during the party, instead of being stressed out and freaked out. Remember, just because we order a cake doesn't mean we are being a bad mom, just means we wanted to have more time with our kids.

It Was A Beautiful Day,
Sarah

Jared's 1st Birthday Party

In June, we had a small week vacation down to southern California, to celebrate our little guys 1st birthday. I seriously can not believe this year went by so fast. Why do they have to grow up?

It was an exhausting trip, and I was struggling with: doing everything or just let some stuff go. So, I did what the new me would do, I let some stuff go. The end result was a wonderful party, and I enjoyed every second of it, and I hope everyone else did too!

Heres a few pictures from the party, and don't worry the tutorials and more photos will follow this post later this month! Keep an eye out for some tutorials and fun ideas.

I made a front door "wreath" and loved how it turned out!

up close

 While I spent a lot of time cutting out these pieces of paper, I really feel like they made the decorations come together.

Of course I have to do his photos through out the year...

His Birthday Boy chair!

The cake and goody table... yum!!

Heres where I decided to let it go. I made the decorations, but bought the cake. I just was so exhausted and did not want to be up all night making a cake; thanks to my mother in law we had a wonderful store bought cake, with my pre-made decorations!! (I also made the candle... well decorated it to match).

The individual large cupcake was for his "smash cake".

Mints (or life savers, to go with the theme), sugar cookies with royal frosting and chocolate stars which were all made by me!

Cookies!!!

I will more then likely post a tutorial on how I made these fun buckets, so keep an eye out for them. Total I believe I spent about 15 bucks for everything inside!!

I made the traditional Happy Birthday banner.

Heres those hand cut out anchors, sail boats and ship wheels:

 Of course we had to do cake time:

Such a happy birthday boy!

Blowing out the candle!

Getting his hands dirty.

Family photos, we had small kids pools set up; so excuse the wet 2 year old.

After a costume change, we got to the presents.

Which Jared LOVED opening.

Of course no birthday is complete without mommy dealing with two kids and their complete meltdown at the same time!

Best gift ever... I had something very similar when I was a kid, and thanks to Grandma Leonard, Jared now has one too.

Lastly, here is Jared in his shirt and shorts that I made. The outfit worked great with the theme, and all the colors worked so well together. Thank you to my mom, Grandma Leonard, who purchased all the wonderful balloons and helped me out so much.

 In the end, the day was perfect. Not super big, not super small, but just right. We literally had enough cake for everyone, and had tons of cookies and candy left over. It was a great party and I really have to thank everyone who helped, came to the party, and shared in on our celebration for Jared's 1st Birthday!

Thank you to my Mother and Father in law, who let us use their house and made all the wonderful food and had all the drinks and alcohol to share. Thank you to my entire family for helping me pull this off from afar, and purchasing items here and there for us. Thank you to my wonderful husband who helped watched the kids from time to time, to let me get stuff done for this party. Thank you for agreeing with your mother that I should just enjoy the day instead of bake all day! It was a great idea, and I seriously enjoyed myself, and I know Jared LOVED every second of it.

Another Successful Birthday,

 Sarah

Diaper Cake

Diaper cakes are fun. I have now had a chance to help with one, and make another. I helped make the diaper cake for my baby shower (for my second child) and made this one for my sisters baby shower. I only helped with the one for my shower (the green one), but I made the one for my sisters all on my own (blue colored).

I used this technique:

      You simply lay a few diapers stacked a half inch or so apart, and roll them up. I did about 4-5 diapers at a time and tied them with ribbon (the cheap stuff, almost like twine). I used less as I got closer to the top. I used about 10 or more bundles of the 4-5 diapers for the base, and just took a bundle or two out for each layer I went up.

      I also wrapped loose diapers around each layer on the outside to hide the bundles. You do the same technique as before, layering the diapers, and this time just tie them to the round with some decorative ribbon as you see in the photos. You can use tape or glue to place the two pieces of ribbon together (don't forget to place that in the back).

      I was transporting mine, from one house to the other so I was not using any structural support inside the diaper cake. If you are hanging things or placing stuff from the top to the bottom that you can not do on sight; you can simply purchase wooden rods from any craft store or hardware store and place those on the inside of the diaper layers. Simply slide it into the bottom base (about 3 or so), place your second layer on top making sure the rods slide between the diapers, and then either place new rods or continue stacking, depending on how long your rods are.

The finished product should look something like this:

Just finish it up with some cute toys, candles, rattles, bows, letters, spoons, or even travel size formula!

Heres the diaper cake from my shower, that I helped put together:

Happy Diaper Cake Making,
Sarah

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday Party

My son turned the big 2 this month. So of course we had to celebrate in style! I wanted to share all the ideas and decorations with everyone. Some of these ideas I found on pinterest, and others I just came up with on my own. I also made the cake and cupcakes. I did buy a lot more decorations then I normally do, because I threw my sister a baby shower the weekend before and all my decorating skills and cake making went into her party (as its her first child) and this was just my sons second birthday!

Enjoy!

Ill start with the decorations.

When you entered the door, I wanted to say "yes, the party is here"! I made this wreath by simply purchasing black and red ribbon (3inches in width), I hot glued at the starting point, wrapped around tightly, and hot glued at the end. I then cut out two yellow ovals, glued those on, and made a hanger for it with black ribbon. End result, a wreath that looks like Mickey Mouse!

I purchased this banner at Party City, as well as the streamers. I purchased these balloons at target, and blew them up myself. I did purchase balloons at Party City, which I will show you in a minute.

My son has a mickey in every size, and I borrowed this one for the day. We also purchased the hanging red plastic mickey streamer from Party City. They come in a package with several others, and I have to say I was shocked at how many actually came in the package! It was way more then I thought I would get.

Heres the rest of those steamer, plastic, Mickey themed items I purchased from Party City.

I have a horrible time actually sending out thank yous, so I made a small station (right next to the front door) and when everyone came in, I made them write their address on the card. This way all I have to do is write the thank you, add our address and send them off. (Now we wait and see how fast I get to them!) Oh and the party hats were purchased from target.

I purchased these balloons at Party City and placed them in the living room, behind the chairs and not in the way of the TV. My son is still playing with them even a week later!

Adding balloons to the presents table is a simple way to dress it up and it looks super cute when all the gifts are on it. Sorry I did not catch a photo of it with all the gifts. It looked cute though, will you just trust me?

This banner, over the kitchen was hand made. I personally cut out each letter, each mickey, and each circle. I then punched holes in the circles, glued on the mickey heads and glued on the letters. Once everything was dry I added the ribbon, and ta-da, its beautiful! Check out a quick and easy step by step tutorial HERE!

Note the letters are made to look like the writing from Disney/Disneyland.

This is a pinterest find. I used foam (from a craft store), cut out mickey heads, and purchased the clear bags. I headed over to Sams club, purchased an extremely large animal cracker container, tossed a few into the bags, folded them up and stapled the heads to the bags. The end result is awesome. You could add a note, saying thank you, or thanks for having toodles and oodles of fun! However, like I said before I just didn't have the time. I found these were a huge hit as even the adults liked them!

The dessert table is always the highlight at my kids parties! I purchased the balloons, the banners, and streamers all from Party City. I had the cupcake tiered stand on hand, and purchased the table cloth from Party City as well. The goody bags on the right I made from red bags (I believe I bought at target), cut out black construction paper, and yellow ovals, and then glued them all on. I only glued them on the front, and nothing on the back. You could spend the time and glue them on the back, but I just didn't have the time (or the construction paper). I purchased bubbles, candy, key chains, stickers, chalk, and pouched applesauce for the goodies. The kids loved them and I believe I only had one left for my son!

In the dining room, I put up streamers, balloons (some I blew up), and table cloths. It came out great, and this was by far my favorite room.

Once again the dessert table!

Lastly, my mother in law found the pinata at Party City and I have to say it was a huge HIT! (Get it, hit, haha). My son loved it! It took a ton of hits, and after I gave it three really strong hits it broke. These pinatas are made well, and I say totally worth the money!

Alright, now lets talk outfit.

I purchased the white long sleeve shirt from Walmart (practically the only place that sells blank shirts, anymore.) I then purchased some of the material for his shirt, as I had some of it at home. You can purchase fabric from Walmart, Joann's, or a fabric store in your local area. Once I had the material I cut everything out, and put it together. I will have a tutorial for it soon. So here he is in all his cuteness:

With Grandma.

Dirty and playing.

So excited to blow out his candles.

Lastly, I made his cake and cupcakes. I have been making cakes for awhile, and I seriously enjoy making them for my sons birthdays. I can not wait to make one for my youngest sons 1st birthday, this summer.

 Let me start with the cupcakes. I love to add cupcakes to all my parties. They are the perfect size for those small kid sizes mouths, or the mother/father/friend who wants something to eat, but doesn't want to over do it. I made both chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing, and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing. I usually do some sort of collection of flavors, for those who prefer one over the other.

Note: Tiered stands help give the dessert (or food) table even more surface to add items to, as well as help give the table height and something visual to look at. I always recommend using a cupcake stand, or a tiered cake stand like this one.

I then made my brother in law a cake as well. His birthday was the day of my sons birthday party, so I made him a cute little personalized cake, just for him!

I kept his cake, still apart of the theme. This helps make it personal for him, but also keeps it from standing out too much! I even went over board and bought the 2 and 9 candles for kids, and used them side by side to say 29! It was a fun spin on it, and made it child like (to fit the theme)! I believe he liked it.

And of course, the main cake for the birthday boy. Its Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, like the actual clubhouse. We had purchased the figures as toys for my son about 2-5 months prior, as we just collected them as we saw them. Thankfully, by the party we had all 5 of the main characters. We still need Pluto, Claribel, and the Professor; so if anyone sees them, let me know!

 Side by side, you can see the clubhouse a little better.

The front of the cake, and hey look the goody bags too!

Right side.

Left side.

Well, thats it. That was the party, and we had a wonderful time. My son was extremely happy, and I think he enjoyed it a lot. I want to thank my Father in law, who cooked all morning long and made the best lunch (and dinner) ever! He also makes a great margarita! Yum! I want to say thank you to everyone who came out, it was a ton of fun, and I always love seeing the little ones!

Happy Birthday to my son,
Sarah