A Very Glittery First Birthday

It's monday and I have the post-party blues. This past weekend my baby girl had her very first birthday party. There was an abundance of pink, glitter, and red balloons. It was everything that a first birthday should be.

When it comes to throwing parties for the girls, I try to play super-mum and make everything myself. After all, hand-made is always better than store-bought, no? Everything that you see in the following pictures were either made by myself or my sister. I must also mention my mum who cooked two tables full of main dishes that I forgot to photograph (oops).

Seeing my two girls eyes light up that morning when they were greeted with hundreds of balloons and all the pretty food and decorations just made my day. It may have been my daughter's birthday but their giant grins were the best present I could ever receive. For anyone keen on planning their own party, full details at the bottom of the page.

 

 

DECORATIONS

- The gold fish scale feature wall was made from circles cut out of tissue paper then layered onto foam board. It may look impressive but it really took no more than three hours to make. 

- Tissue paper pom poms are my go-to party decor. They're inexpensive, easy to make and looks great. Here's a great tutorial.

- The glitter bunting was made with scrapbook paper and ribbons. I lined each flag with doubled sided tape and then applied glitter. The tape ensures a neat and uniform edge.

- For the Happy Birthday garland, I first printed the words on the computer then traced and cut them out of thick stock paper. The rest is pretty straight forward, glue, glitter and string up.

FOOD

- My wonderful sister (baker extraordinaire) kindly offered to bake the birthday cake. The bottom tier is a classic chiffon and cream cake. The chiffon was baked in three layers of different shades creating an ombre effect. The top tier was intended to be a smash cake for the birthday girl. The ruffles along with the cake toppers were all made from fondant. 

- My sister also made the gorgeous macaron cupcakes. Funny story, we actually started off with 150 macarons but after consuming almost the entire batch we had to use the remaining 15 as cupcake toppers. 

- One of my favourite ways to serve strawberries is with a little drizzle of balsamic reduction. You can find the recipe here in a previous blog post. 

- These donut brownies were inspired by a similar milk and cookies display I saw on Pinterest. I used mini donut pans to bake my brownies in but you could easily use a bit of foil for the same effect. 

- Luckily for me, pavlovas are readily available at the supermarket in all shapes and sizes here in Australia. All I needed to do was add a spoonful of double cream and a drizzle of passionfruit syrup. But if you're interested in making your own pav, I have a great recipe here. 

- No-bake cheesecakes are a fast and easy alternative to your regular baked cheesecake. Plus with this method you can go crazy with presentation. The white chocolate shards on the cheesecake have edible glitter and crushed macarons set in them. 

- Store bought shortbread is a lot less fragile than homemade which makes them much better as party food. Here I paired it with David Lebovitz chocolate fudge sauce. See here for a homemade version.

- The quintessential party food, fairy bread. No further explanation necessary.

Friday's Fancies: Party Planning

Party planning is in full force this week. My baby girl officially turned One last week but we decided to postpone her party till this weekend. I've been busy making all the decorations while my sister is baking up a storm and my mother, preparing dishes upon dishes of delicious food. Meanwhile my dad is busy organizing his wine cellar and cleaning up after us. It's all hands on deck in this household. Suffice to say the guests will all be going home bloated and hopefully slightly disgusted of themselves (sign of a good party, right?). I only wish my husband was around for his little girl's first birthday. I guess it's only fair since he had to miss out on her sister's first birthday last year too. Poor hubby, it must be so hard to always miss out on key events. These are the times when Skype just doesn't cut it. But enough about that, here's a sneak peeks of what's in store for her party. More photos to come.

A sneak peek at the dessert table. Note the countless hours spent catching up on my favourite shows while completing that gold fish scale wall. Although tedious, I love the overall effect.

 

A sweet little birthday wreath for my sweet little girl. There was really no design process behind this wreath, it was merely me using up whatever materials I had on hand. Surprisingly it all came together really nicely. Don't you love it when that happens? 

 

Happy first birthday to this little one. 

Stringing up garland with her name and making gold glittered accent letters.

  

150 macaron shells, 10 minutes in the oven, two eager ladies (being my sister + me)... and now only 50 left for the party. Big fat Oops with a capital O. 

Friday's Fancies

Happy friday everyone! First off, who else is excited about the return of Downton Abbey? I can't wait till it airs on TV here, in the meantime I'll just cover my ears and avert my eyes whenever there's any mention of it.

This week has been filled with nonstop party planning in preparation for my littlest one's first birthday. She officially turns the big One next week. I know it sounds cliche, it seems just like yesterday when I was still waddling around with her baking away. I'm quite certain I broke some kind of world record for mother's height to baby's birth weight ratio but that's a story for another day, maybe. I have so much fun stuff planned for her birthday bash and I can't wait to share it with you soon. For now, a few snaps from life this week. xx

This use to happen to me when I was little so I held my breath as I watched my two year old lick away. The look of surprise and anguish on her face was too much to bear.  

I love seeing my girls get along. These days they are obsessed with this doll's pram. They both take turns sitting in it. That's right, even my 25lb toddler finds a way to squeeze herself in.

These fuchsia pumps have been glued to my feet ever since I picked them up. I'm certain they match with EVERYTHING in my wardrobe. Just a warning, you may be seeing a lot of these in the near future.   

It's been a while since I've seen so many people on the street and it feels good. For now I'm simply enjoying watching the world pass me by as I sit and sip my coffee. 

Thank you to the traffic department for these clever little reminders. They've saved me from driving on the wrong side of the road more times than I'd care to mention. 

Don't forget only two days left to enter my Love Bangle giveaway. Winner announced on Monday September 24th. More details here.

Bows, Blooms and Balloons

I still cannot believe my baby girl is turning the big One in two weeks time. Soon I'm going to have two full grown toddlers running around the house, *faints.  I've posted before about throwing a Red Balloon themed party for her. I just love the images a simple red balloon conjures up. A feeling of hope, of love, of childhood and dreams. It's the perfect theme for a first birthday. 

Aside from the red balloon, I'm also picturing lots of ivory, gold and pastels, with a pop of red. Think Marie Antoinette meets shabby chic. Here's a look at what I've got planned for her big day. Most of these images can be found on my Pinterest. Make sure to follow me there if you're anywhere as obsessed with food and party planning as I am. 

 

Party Food

One of the main features of any party is always the food. Here, I am envisioning an opulent dessert table, think Marie Antoinette "Let Them Eat Cake" with decadent cupcakes, pastel macarons, candy covered popcorn and stenciled sugar cookies. As for savory foods I'm leaning towards more casual fair with paper wrapped sandwiches, bite sized appetizers and a fruit and veg buffet. 

Party Decor

If I had to come up with a name to describe my vision for the decor I'd have to call it shabby glam. Although those two words combined seem like a contradiction of each other. I'm feeling inspired by sequin filled glass vases, favors in stamped muslin bags, ombre garlands, chandeliers as cupcake holders, and lots and lots of pastels with gold accents.

Birthday Cake

I love the idea of a smash cake alongside a regular sized cake for guests. We had one when my older child turned one and it was a huge success. I'm really loving all the mini cakes popping up all over Pinterest. Right now I'm leaning towards a pink ombre smash cake with buttercream frosting topped with a gold leaf bow. And for the guest cake, a delicate two tiered white ruffle cake with mini birthday bunting and an asymmetric red felt balloon. 

Birthday Wishes

For the main event I'm thinking of having each guest write a message on a red balloon and then fill it with helium. As soon as my little girl blows out her birthday candle, all the balloons will be released into the air filling the sky with a red cloud of well wishes.  

White Canvas Cake and Pink Lemonade

This week we celebrated our older daughter's second birthday. Before you begin I must warn you that this is a lengthy post. Now, back to what I was saying... I still cannot believe my little girl is two years old! It seems like only yesterday when I was rushed to the hospital only to endure the longest labour in the world (or so it seemed) and then be greeted by a new life staring back at me.

Instead of throwing her a party this year I decided to keep things small and intimate. It's easy for a child to be overwhelmed and honestly at this age, everyone who attends are more likely to be my friends than hers anyway. The night before her birthday, I turned one of our spare rooms into an explosion of balloons and pink and yellow. For those of you on my instagram you're probably sick of seeing pictures of the decor by now. But if you stick around, I promise there's something different towards the end of the post.

 

 

 

While browsing cake inspiration online, I stumbled across the idea of a paintable cake. The genius behind the gorgeous baking blog Sweetapolita created a birthday cake covered in white fondant so her kids could decorate and paint themselves. As soon as I saw it I knew I had a winner. The idea for a cake canvas was just too charming to pass up. I used strawberry box cake mix with vanilla meringue buttercream and store bought fondant.

This was the first time I've used meringue buttercream and it made a huge difference to the cake. The meringue component made for a light and icecream like icing. It won't be easy going back to regular buttercream after this. Thank you to Sweetapolita for the wonderful recipe and inspiration.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
8 egg whites
2 cups sugar
5 sticks unsalted butter cut into cubes
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

Method
1. Rub small amount of lemon juice or vinegar in bowl and mixer to remove any trace of grease.
2. Add egg whites and sugar and simmer over a pot of water till sugar has dissolved, whisk gently.
3. With mixer, whisk egg white until mixture is thick and glossy.
4. Add one butter cube at a time mix over low speed until a thick, silky smooth texture is achieved.
5. Add vanilla and salt, mix well. Use immediately.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a look at my daughter's first birthday party from last year. We were in Australia at the time so I was fortunate to have my mum and sister around to help out. Actually, my talented sister was the one who made the three-tiered birthday cake. Being winter at the time (Southern Hemisphere) I wanted to inject colour and vibrancy into the day so I themed the party around a spring garden. There were pompoms galore, grassy cupcakes, toffee apples, fairy floss machine, chocolate fountain, and an explosion of pink and green. I'm embarrassed to say there were more people at my daughter's first birthday than there were at my own wedding.