Day 1: Gold Medal Birthday!

Gymnastics.

 

As if there was any question about what would be Ariel's number one. We are having a gymnastics party at the recreation center to celebrate her birthday. 45 minutes for party and 45 minutes to jump on the trampoline, swing on the bars and balance on beams. A good time to be had for sure. And it looks like we'll be signing her up for gymnastics class in June. Sounds like the beginnings of a future Olympian.

 

Pirate Girl, Arrrgh!

Costume on a Shoe String: Pirate Style

Ariel was invited to a Pirate birthday party. The family asked the guests to dress in costume. Now Eric and I are not pirate people, so that meant we needed to find a costume. Luck would have it that it was too early in the season for Halloween costumes to be out. So we were now engaged in an exercise of creativity and ingenuity.

What we started with: a plain white t-shirt, frilly socks, black shorts, red material, large lace, red tulle, purple satin, and unrelated costume pattern.

What we bought: sheer dance skirt, black shoes, sequin trim, stiff white felt, and headband.

<-----I used this picture for inspiration.

How we brought our Pirate Girl to life:

1) Trimmed the bottom off the t-shirt. It was a 3T and way too long. Released the gathers in the sleeves. Sewed the large lace onto the neckline and end of loose sleeves.

2) Use Simplicity pattern #, for the vest on the monkey costume. Pinned, cut, and sewed vest and hand sewed sequin trim on the vest. (Yes, this was tedious and time consuming. And yes I stabbed myself…repeatedly).

3) Folded 4 inch wide tulle in half, and ran it through the sewing machine to make it gather and scrunch up. Glued to head band. Using a picture of skull and crossbones on the Internet, traced the image onto stiffened felt and cut two out. One for the headband, one for the belt.

4) Cut a 4 inch wide piece of purple satin 18 inches long. Folded it in half and sewed a seam. Turned it inside out and closed off the opening for the belt.

5) Sail Away:

The shirt was tucked into black shorts and the sheer skirt went over them both. The purple sash was tied around Ariel’s waist and the skull patch was safety pinned on. On went the vest. Ariel’s hair was kept down and curly. She loves headbands, so getting her to wear it was easy. Frilly socks and black shoes and our pirate girl was ready to sail the open seas!

*apparently Ariel was not in a picture taking mood, so this is all we have.

La-la-lala, la-la-lala, Birthday Time!

Guess what Elmo is thinking about today? Ya-ta-da-day!

Ariel's 2nd birthday.

We had a small family party simply for the fact that I didn't want to mess with the hassle of a big ordeal. Still put in a lot of work, but everything was perfect.

Obviously we had an Elmo themed birthday party, as per the princess's request. We also had a BBQ meal that her daddy cooked so deliciously.

My parents were able to make the trip for her party and Ariel enjoyed having her family around her. We presented her with the celebratory cupcake and, after all the singing, Ariel attempted to blow out the candles. I don't remember telling her to do this, but she apparently knew what to do. That's my smart girl.

Gifts varied from Little People playsets, to puzzles and a stuffed Cookie Monster, to a bubble machine.
But the big highlight was a bubble lawnmower and a Radio Flyer tricycle. That girl is doggedly determined to learn how to ride that trike down the street. Right now, we are taking baby steps going down hill in the drive way. Ariel doesn't quite have the strength to peddle, so gravity is her BFF at the moment. I'm so glad she has a helmet because she's nearly crashed several times. I realized a tumble off the bike is an inevitable reality, but if we could delay it, all the better.

Vicki took her official birthday pictures and I hope to share a few shots from the session next week (or when we get them). It's so hard to believe that our little baby is 2! Hardly seems possible.
Here are some pictures of the day. Enjoy.

cupcake

presents

grandparents

riding pretty

park

hot wheels

Super Star Birthday!

My honey turned 31 last week! So of course, we had to celebrate.

In October, Eric asked me to make him a Super Mario Bros. cake for his birthday. No prob, I said. Then I saw a picture of the cake (left).

Ummmm....yeah right! So with a little compromising, I made a Red Mushroom cake. It's a classic icon of the video game and with it being on an invincible star board, everyone should know what it is. It's just not the same if you have to explain what it is.

Since I used to watch a lot of Food Network: Challenge, I have been very interested at trying my hand at rolled fondant. Fondant is a type of icing that is commonly used on wedding cakes. It can be molded and handled like clay, but of course, its edible (well, if you can get past the taste anyway).

Some things I would change next time around:

1) in the case of the Red Mushroom, I would use a broader bowl to make a more squat mushroom. The bowl I used made the cake have a bit of an X-rated appearance.

2) use a traditional buttercream for the filling. I made a Swiss meringue buttercream, which tasted great on day one, but when we cut the cake, I think the heat messed with the texture a bit. It was still tasty.

The results of my fondant experiment are below. It wasn't too much hassle to work with and it does give everything a very polished look. If I attempt another fondant cake, I'll definitely cover a sheet cake that way it won't bunch in the back of a spherical form.