4th Birthday party

As I had mentioned before my daughter turned four 2 weeks ago. December is really a busy time for us since we have to get ready for Christmas and for the birthday. I try to keep it simple but I think there is no chance for that.

I had a few things in mind that I really wanted like a Congrats sign and a successful cake. I decided to use a red and white color theme since it fit with the already put up Christmas decorations. So here is a little glimpse into the party…

The Congrats sign!

So I wanted a sign with letters with lights. the sign reads congratulations in Finnish. Letters are made from cardboard (I just cut out the letters by hand. Didn’t use any templates.). Cut out sides to the letters from the cardboard and taped them to the letters. I covered the letters with newspaper which I had dipped into a water flour mixture (Cheap!). I let it dry and then I punched the holes for the lights (the toughest part). I made sure the lights fit through the holes before painting the letters white. The I just let them dry again and then put the lights in.

The base I used is actually an Ikea frame where I removed the glass and just covered the the base with red paper to make the letters pop. This also framed the letters nicely and allowed me to make the letters stand easily. I lightly glued the letters onto the red paper with a glue gun so if I want to change the red paper I can very easily just take the letters off. The white goes with everything but I can just change the paper in the back to go with any party from now on. Reusable… Yes!I was also able to hide the cable from the lights easily behind the paper.

The cake!

I scrambled through about 10 cake recipes before I knew what cake I wanted to make. I ended up making the Red Velvet cake again for multiple reasons. Of course, the color theme was just correct (if you haven’t seen the inside of the cake, check this earlier post of mine.) Even though the cake itself is simple to make and looks simple, it is delicious and by adding some decorations on top you can turn it into a cake for kids. I know it does not look like the Red Velvet cake from the outside.

The donuts!

Don’t worry, I didn’t make the actual donuts myself. I wouldn’t go that far ( first I’d have to practice). I decided to just decorate the donuts a little myself. I bought edible glitter which I carefully dabbed over the donuts with a brush. I made little flags using toothpicks and my washi tapes and stuck them onto the donuts and put them into these cute caupcake cake liners.

I added little touches of red and white here and there also with paper straws and the washi tapes. You can make your everyday glasses a bit more festive just by adding a little washi tape to them.

I also painted some branches white and added a few simple banners to it. I once again used the washi tapes I had chosen to decorate the banners. By using them in multiple things it brings everything together. I got the branches to stay in the vase easily just by stuffing it with some tin foil.Ok that’s it for the party. I noticed that actually photographing the party is extremely hard when you are the one organizing it. I luckly had a talented photographer who helped me by taking some pictures as well. A big thank you to him!

I’ve still got three other cakes to show you. We had another birthday party a week later where we had our relatives join and once again I had the joy of making cakes. But this time I had a few helpers as well. I’ll share these pictures soon with you.

-Alina