Turning 3 Under the Sea!

I cannot believe, our little Elle turned 3! With a newborn I wasn't sure if I'd have the energy or desire to throw a birthday party but I'm a little crazy so I went ahead ;). No promises for next year! I tried to simplify a little though! Luckily I had Elle's mermaid photos and invitations done before Trooper was even born!

My sister-in-law Hayley made these adorable canvas signs for her daughters under the sea birthday party and she was nice enough to let me borrow them!

Party Table!

Elle was so excited to order all these Ariel party things online with me. I already had the beads and shells and it was fun to buy dinnerware and decorations to match the invitation and theme. 

One of the ways I simplified this year was by making a character cake instead of a multi-tiered cake. This was my first time every trying to make a character cake and while it was much less time to make than my traditional cakes, it was still tricky! I had the hardest time with her eyes. How do you make frosting look like eyes?!?! haha. Overall I am happy with it and even more importantly Elle was thrilled with it. I originally was planning a elegant 'under the sea' themed cake with aqua and lavendar and ruffles and mermaid scales and sea weed and pearls and then it dawned on me... Elle will not appreciate or even like this cake! The last two years I have just done what I thought would be fun and interested me because she was too young to care. I took a step back then and asked Elle what time of cake she wanted for her birthday? She said, "I want an Ariel cake". So Ariel cake it is my daughter. 

The birthday girl admiring the decorations and cake -- she would not stop taking the gems and shells and beads and treasure chest off the table! It was all I could do to keep it together before the party haha. I had to keep her from swiping her little finger at the cake too to sneak some frosting. haha. 

Elle's Little Mermaid 3-year old photos I did with her which you can see here

I promise we invited a couple girls but all Elle's boy friend's showed up! haha. It was hilarious having all these boys at a girl princess party! :)

Truman is Sebastian, Elle is Ariel, & I am Ursula

...And little Trooper was Ariel's faithful friend Flounder!

We love this birthday girl! She got these jammies as one of her presents and naturally insisted on wearing them after bath. Our little Elle can drive you crazy but also brings us more joy and love than we had ever known. Happy Birthday Baby Girl! :)

Moo Moo! She's 2! (Elle's Fancy Cowgirl Cake)

Elle's 2-Year Old Birthday Party!

This year I decided to do a Cowgirl Party! Emphasis on the "cow" and add some red and I went crazy! Do you know just how much cow print stuff there is out there?! It's scary. I had to restrain myself big time...

I'm won't lie, this party was a lot of work, but oh sooo fun! I found myself giddy at times :)

Made this with a canvas, cow print fabric, tissue paper and a hot glue gun in 10 minutes! Ez-Pz

Truman cut an old fence post for me and attached them. Then I watered down some old white paint from the garage with water and brushed it on real quick. I then used my trusty hot glue gun to write her name in cursive with rope. 

To be honest, I wasn't even sure if I was going to do a big party for Elle this year. Life can be overwhelming and I had about 7 other projects in the queue. But... when I thought up the cowgirl theme with cow print and red and started to brain storm cake ideas --I was sold!

I saw many cakes online and took a lot of inspiration from different people. I loved the look of the top and bottom tier being the same. I made a rope out of fondant for the base of each cake and made a set of red boots to be my cake topper and candles. 

These were a fun part of the cake that I proudly came up with on my own. I tried to make boots that looked similar to Elle's with the stars on them. I made rice crispys, shaped them into boots, then carved them further, then covered in chocolate candy melts to smooth out the rice crispys. Then I covered in red fondant, used a stitching tool along the bottom, sides, and top, then I piped some black, and added a few white dragees. To top if off I made stars and spurs and covered with edible gold metallic shimmer dust. Before the party, I drilled holes into the top and put a candle in each. 

Two boots, two candles, for two years old!

Top tier

Middle tier

-This design was tricky! I bought a cake decorating class that teaches you how to do some stenciling techniques but doing it on a round cake was hard! There's lots of imperfections but I am happy with how it turned out! I painted over the white paisley's with black dye to make them stand out more.- 

Bottom tier

-I did a little rope knot for the bottom tier just off center to the left and "frayed" the little ends to make it look more realistic.-

This was my first go around at cake pops! They are certainly not perfect, I actually had 5 bite the dust. When I saw something like this on Pinterest and I had left over cake and frosting and white chocolate --I knew I was doomed! I love the little red ribbons around the neck. I made up a batch of royal icing to pipe the cow print on so that it would harden and keep its shape. 

 I bought red paisley goody bags and filled them with red and white swirl dinner mints and York Peppermint Patties to go along with the theme. I tied them with a ribbon and attached a sheriff's badge to each. 

There were so many different types of plates to choose from but I loved these red and white gingham bordered ones. Who wouldn't want to drink out of one of these cow print cups?? :)

Love this paisley bunting flag

Side views of cake

Moo Moo Moo!

Oh how I love red forks and little swirly straws!

I love the vibrant contrast of the red balloons against the cow print balloons

I think this has been my favorite cake to make yet. I can't say that I'm getting any faster but I am learning a ton and I love the finished product!