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My daughter is a May baby and her 11th birthday is coming up real soon. In honor of our little girl, I decided to update this post from 2014 when she turned ONE! May really is the best time of year, isn’t it?
The whole first year of her life, my husband and I spent in shock that we had a baby girl. Then we were in shock at how quickly she had turned one. There’s nothing like a growing child to prove just how quickly the time passes. We spent the whole weekend singing “Happy Birthday” to her over and over. We also kept saying things like, “Remember when she used to fit in our arms like this?” and “Remember when she just laid there on her playmat, not able to really do anything?”
We took off from work on her actual birthday to spend the day with her. Since the weather was crappy, we didn’t do much of anything besides get things ready for the next day’s party. Luckily, the forecast for party day was perfectly cool & sunny. Here she is with her Grandpa, having birthday tea on the playroom floor with her Fisher Price Magical Tea for Two tea set, which has been discontinued, but Fisher Price makes this sweet alternative called Laugh & Learn Sweet Manners Tea Set!
She liked to share and tried to very forcefully jam the spoon into your mouth. Then she would hurl the cups and saucers over her shoulder in a very Mad-Hatter way.
My husband practically insisted on a May Flowers theme, and I agreed it was an easier and more fitting theme for the time of the year. I’ll re-explore the Mad Hatter theme for when she’s older and has real girlfriends to invite for tea.
That night, Jeff made dinner and we celebrated with the Grandparents and some cupcakes. I spent the rest of the night decorating more cupcakes with homemade chocolate icing that I made with Ghirardelli cocoa powder and a mini cake that I covered in fondant. Screw making my own cake batter. When people rave over them, I always tell them the batter is from the box.
I’m not one to take credit for something I didn’t do. Mr. Hines and Mrs. Crocker are my friends and they do quite a fine job in this busy mother’s opinion. Can I, and have I made my own? Yes. Maybe one day the negative stigma over boxed cake mixes will be a thing of the past. What’s your take on it?
The little flowers on the chocolate cupcakes are made out of royal icing, which dries rock hard. It’s the cement for bakers. I made a big batch of these flowers a long time ago after my mom sent me a birthday package full of Wilton cake decorating supplies. If you don’t have time to make your own, Wilton sells a ready made royal icing.
When I was a kid, my mom was a talented cake decorator at a local arts & crafts store called Lee Wards, which was bought out by Michael’s craft stores. I remember going there as a kid and seeing her decorated cakes hanging up on the wall. I was like, “How the heck do they stay up there?” I didn’t realize they were fake. Anyway, royal icing decorations keep in an airtight container FOR.EVER. This is the third time I’ve used them and I still have a bunch left. I recommend making a ton if you have the time, so you’ll always have a stash to make your cupcakes pop.
This mini cake was the first time I experimented with covering a whole cake with fondant. The design was inspired by the Cake Boss and thanks to his TV show, I felt like a real pro. “I’m not a professional cake decorator, but I learned how to be one while watching TV.” I had a little extra help with this Cake Boss Flower Cake Kit, which suggested purchasing pre-made fondant. Luckily, I didn’t have to buy any because I made a big batch of it to make this Fox cake for my sister Tracy’s birthday. She loves Fantastic Mr. Fox, the movie.
I colored the white fondant with black gel coloring to make the ears, eyes, eyebrows, and nose. If you decide to make a batch of white and you can add coloring to make it any color you need! I used these Wilton gel colors to it to match the colors in my daughter’s birthday decorations.
This stuff is like play-doh for adults. So. Much. Fun! It probably helped that I had a couple drinks while making the cake. I’m not a big drinker, so usually, a little goes a long way with me. As you’re rolling it out, you’re supposed to periodically lift the fondant sheet up and dust your table with more powdered sugar. Well, I didn’t. Whoops!
It ended up sticking to the mat in a very big way so I had to scrape it off with a bench scraper and start over. Oh well, lesson learned. You’d think all the cookie dough I’ve rolled out would have taught me that lesson, but no. I like to learn things the hard way. Here they are, in all their glory. Aren’t they adorable with their festive Spring cupcake liners?
The cupcake stand is also a Wilton product. It collapses so it stores nice and compact on a shelf in my garage. The nice thing about it is that the tier surfaces are slanted outwards so the tops of your cupcakes are always displayed. You can also attach ribbon, lace, or any other decorative trim to the sides to add another element of design to your display.
For the party decor, I picked up some basic cups, plates, and napkins as wells some tissue paper balls, paper lanterns, and helium balloons. For a little personal touch, I printed out one picture from each month of my daughter’s life and hung them in chronological order from a strand of pink & white baker’s twine using wooden clothes pins. I remember it being so hard to pick my favorite one, but the experience of going through all of those photos was a nice way to reminisce about her first year. The below photo is from her baptism earlier that year and I ended up re-using the paper triangles of scrapbook paper for her birthday banner as seen above. I save most of the birthday decorations for my kids and just re-use it.
The big tissue paper pom poms you see above can be made yourself, like I did for her baptism. I used all the tissue paper from the shower gifts! However, for her birthday, I purchased the pom poms to save time because I wanted to focus my energy and time on her cake. Call me cheap, call me frugal, call me a hoarder, but I save all of it! I flatten it out as best I can and store it in my basement with the hundred and one gift bags I’ve received over the years for baby showers and birthdays. You have to understand too, that I’m an environmentalist by education and profession. I do care about not wasting resources, so when I can, I try to recycle things, especially paper. When I need to use the tissue paper, I’ll iron it on a low setting if I need to and if I have the time. Otherwise, it gets shoved into a gift bag, crinkles and all.
Well, the party was definitely a success, and everyone enjoyed the cupcakes and mini cake, especially little Agnes. I was able to really enjoy myself and the weather, thanks to everyone who helped that day. Jeff manned the grill, and Grandma made the sides. Everyone pitched in and helped clean up too, which is always so helpful. Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet, happy-go-lucky, baby girl who put smiles on all of our faces since the day she was born.
She’s all grown up now and has not only a BIG brother, but a LITTLE brother now too! I can’t wait to celebrate her 11th birthday next month! She’s already picked out a Hawaiian theme. So exciting!
As Always, Stay Cozy!
xxx ooo
Mandy
