What Ever Happened to Home Birthday Parties?

Over the years something has happened to the Kid's Birthday industry.

Gone are the days when gathering 10 kids in the backyard with a Banana slide and some birthday cake did the trick.

The latest birthday parties include some form of entertainment which usually means going to an indoor playground type place with pizza, lootbags, cake and having it all wrapped up in 2hrs flat. Not even enough time to open gifts!

Wasn't that the best part of your birthday party???

This year, to my amazement when I asked my 6 year old what she wanted to do for her birthday, she rejected the swimming party at the community center and the skating party at the local rink that I suggested. Instead she wanted a home party with her closest friends.

It was a little tight in our tiny basement but I managed to give her the best of both worlds. I hired a Hannah Montana look alike ordered some pizza and made her an awesome Hannah Montana Cake.



She watched me as I carefully decorated her cake, making it extra special for her. And I watched her as she ate every last crumb of cake on her plate, savoring every bite as she ate it proudly, knowing the care I put into making her special cake.

Next time you have a child's birthday party to plan, think about taking a little time and making something special for your little ones from your heart. It'll be memories they'll hold onto forever.

I'll bet Michelangelo never sculpted a cake.

Some of you may know I’ve been taking classes with Bonnie Gordon. Saturday I took another class "The Art of Sculpted Cakes" where I chose to sculpt a Nike running shoe.



I showed up for my class with a 9” by 3 1/2 “ square filled cake and a few ideas of what to make. I decided on a running shoe since my cake wasn’t quite big enough for a large purse and I thought a shoe would be a somewhat easy but challenging first project.

My class introduced me to some other great aspiring and practicing cake decorators. I met Carolyn who also has a blog It’s a sweet thing. She created a fabulous hamburger cake.


Some other cakes included a bulldog (I wasn’t quite that brave) a Chanel purse, a piggy bank and a high heel shoe.


After spending about 8 hours carving, covering, and decorating my shoe I was pretty happy with the result.

My next cake, the statue of David... kidding.

Cookie Cutter Creations

I’ve been sick since last Friday so I haven’t been able to post my most recent creations.

I wanted to share this with you before Halloween but regardless, cookies are great creations for any birthday, thanksgiving, Christmas or special occasion.

Our baked cookies ready to be decorated.

I owe half the credit to my 6 yr old daughter who together with me helped bake and decorate some Halloween/fall sugar cookies. What a great way to spend a little time with the kids and let them express their creativity.

I just love the cute faces kids make when they're busy creating.

It turned into a practice session for my flooding technique and I ended up decorating cookies till 1 am, but that’s besides the point.

Have a look at some of the fun we had and some of the creations we made.

The Green swirly spider was one of my favorites.

A Giveaway over at Verdgris Vie

I am hosting a very special Giveaway over at that other blog I obsess over, Verdigris Vie. It just wouldn't be right if I didn't share it with you guys. A Beautiful Handmade Sophie Dahy Silk floral arrangement. You get to pick your fave. (a $300.00 prize) Pop over to enter for a chance to win.
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Good Luck !