Yay! We did it! Mini-mini-me managed to stay healthy this time around and the cake-decorating party (finally) went off without a hitch! I can honestly tell you that I have never been so happy to have a party behind me. But, it really was a great party and I promised to share, so here it is...
We had twelve girls attend the party. This was a manageable number, but I really wouldn't suggest going too much higher than that. Upon their arrival, we greeted the girls with one of the frilly no-sew tulle aprons that I showed you all previously. They seemed to go over pretty well - I mean, who doesn't like tulle and ruffles? After the girls washed their hands and put their hair back in ponytails, they got busy decorating their cakes. I had already set up the table with all the necessary cake decorating supplies and a two-layer cake was placed at each setting. Now, if you have the time and the desire, by all means, bake the cakes yourself. Sadly, I didn't have the time (or the desire), so I ordered them from a local bakery. ;-) I specifically requested that the cakes be "smoothly" iced with white icing and with no additional piping or decoration. This was important because I wanted the girls to have an opportunity to practice with the icing bags.
I had pre-filled 12 icing bags with six different colored (pastel!) icings and fitted them with a variety of tips.
I placed one bag at each place setting, but made sure to instruct the girls to take turns sharing colors and tips. I also set out plates of pretty sugar flowers that I bought from a cake supply shop...
...and lots and lots of butter-cream roses (which I had piped myself ahead of time)...
Of course, there were also a variety of colorful sprinkles and sugars...
Each girl also received a hunk of pink fondant with which to practice making their own roses and decorations. The girls took the task of decorating their cakes very, very seriously.
And, as you can see from the results, the cakes turned out just beautifully!
Some, like my daughter, took the opportunity to truly "gild the lily"...
While others showed a bit more restraint and went for a simpler design...
When everyone was finished decorating, the girls went off to sing, dance, and scream to Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, while I packed up the cakes and quickly switched the table over to party mode. Instead of paper plates and cups, I used these pretty pink and aqua plastic ones that I found at Target in the children's housewares aisle! They were such a great deal, too - about 50 cents a piece! And we can use them over and over again!
We had scheduled the party for mid-afternoon, so I was luckily able to avoid the whole pizza ordeal (not good when you have shabby chic white sofas!). Instead, we served cake (ordered from a favorite bakery, so as to not destroy any beautiful works of art)...
..and ice cream with confetti sprinkles. Beverages included pink paper-wrapped water bottles and pink lemonade. Served with lots of pastel striped straws!
And if that wasn't enough sugar, I also gave each girl one of the old-fashioned candy baskets that I showed you the other day...
When it was time to go home, the girls left with their beautiful cakes, a cake decorating kit, and their tulle aprons.
So, that's it. We did it! It was lots of fun and Mini-mini-me had a wonderful time, but next year I think I'll be doing my best to convince her to go bowling!
Don't worry - we'll make it pretty :-)
XOXO
Jessica
