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
Ok you are seriously the coolest mom ever. I would have died for a party like this when I was younger. Everything turned out soo beautiful!
Posted by: Kristen | March 22, 2013 at 01:41 PM
You are an awesome and loving momma, Jessica!
Posted by: Melin | March 22, 2013 at 01:59 PM
Fa ~ la ~ la ~la this was soooooo sweet to behold! I'm over the moon and rolled in sprinkles with delight at how wonderful the party was! Hope mini-mini "you" received lots of pretties! Now if only I could have a party like this with ruffled aprons! Lori
Posted by: Lori | March 22, 2013 at 09:35 PM
just amazing <3 The colours and the idea! Love very bit of it!
Posted by: Kim | March 22, 2013 at 11:38 PM
Wow! Yet another fab party, it looks like the girls had a great time. It's my daughter's 6th birthday party next weekend, I've been inspired so much by your previous posts and have a fabulous tea party planned with plenty of cool crafts to keep them entertained. Can I ask you how long the girls spent decorating their cakes? My daughter and her friends will be cupcake decorating, I've planned for four cupcakes per child, how long would you allow for this craft? Thanks for all your fantastic ideas, keep up the good work!
Posted by: Helen | March 23, 2013 at 05:24 AM
Thanks for sharing...gorgeous! I look forward to your girls parties every year, and have been inspired to create pretty parties for my daughter. I did a Princess party when she was 3 inspired by you...everyone said it was the prettiest party they had been too. For her 5th this year I did a Frost Fairy Winter Woods party...I enjoy colour theming it all down to the party bags! Parties here in UK. Dont seem to be as pretty, and some of the supplies expensive..so its fun to get creative and source what you can and adapt! Parents now say I have a standard to keep to and expect lovely things each time! Just glad I have,1 daughter!! You know you wont be bowling next year haha! Debs x
Posted by: Debs Adams | March 24, 2013 at 05:58 AM
This is all ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!! Love it. So pretty, all of it!
Posted by: Melissa@Julia's Bookbag | March 24, 2013 at 02:16 PM
What a Wonderful, Fantastic Birthday Party! Oh my, those girls are going to have Fabulous memories for their entire lifetimes, I bet, of the Great time they had decorating those Beautiful cakes! (I Love the really Fancy ones the Best, but the more restrained one is Very Pretty too)! What Lucky Girls: going home with all those Pretty things! Such a Creative Party, too, where the children can have fun letting their artistic qualities come out w/the icing, roses & colorful sugars! Those little pink bowls you used for the sugars are so pretty! The colors of everything are just Dreamy! I wish I had had such a party when I was a little girl! My parents made do w/little pink plastic baskets to hold goodies at each place setting and I thought That was the Epitome of Prettiness & Birthday Festivity-ness, but this Birthday Celebration is just Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing all the lovely photos! So FUN!!! Glad it all went so Marvelously well this time! (Also, those icing roses you made are BEAUTIFUL! You have talent! I love All the colors, but Especially the Periwinkle blue ones)!!!
Posted by: Zell | March 25, 2013 at 11:10 AM
I forgot to add that I Love how you attend so carefully to each detail of the party - to the plates from Target in those lovely colors, to the neat striped straws, the paper flowers, the colors of the cake decorating sugars, flowers & icing - it all fits together so Beautifully & really showcases those Extremely Pretty Pastel colors of the party!
Posted by: Zell | March 25, 2013 at 11:15 AM
Oops, I forgot to add One More Thing! I think it's just Great that you provided the girls w/all the delightful decorating things, the roses, flowers, sugars, icings - And, of course, the "palette" of the white cakes - and then you left them alone to decorate to their heart's Content in whatever style they wanted! It's clear they all had a Blast & you gave them such a fun way to express themselves w/the cakes! You Created a Truly Cool Party Experience for everyone! I think kids should be encouraged & allowed to Create as much as they can, in as many fun ways as possible & cake decorating Definitely is a Great Idea!
Posted by: Zell | March 25, 2013 at 11:26 AM
I wish I had a little girl in my life right now to throw a party for. You are so inspiring.
Sheryl
Posted by: Sheryl Remy | March 26, 2013 at 10:32 AM
What a fabulous idea! I love it. My daughter would love this because she love baking cakes and she's only 3 years old!
Posted by: Shantel Turner-Collins | April 13, 2013 at 08:55 AM