my daughter's 2nd birthday was a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic! even after all the eye-ball rolling from my husband, we managed to pull off an evening birthday.
the boys basketball schedule interfered with our plans, which is usually a 2 o'clockish birthday, so we just had a late party.
number 1, it's february: brrr. number 2, the sun goes down quickly. solution? fire!
we had a bonfire outside and everyone seemed to enjoy it. jackets & all. but me as a photographer? not so much.
but without rambling any further, i present the mermaid party!!!
i made a four layer, marbled cake--vanilla--and set up a gold sequined backdrop. i bought the cut out letters (shocking, i know) and made the tassel garland.
the boys wooden treasures were cute table decorations, along seashells my sister brought. and a mermaid barbie overlooked the decorations. we also made an underwater backdrop with green paper streamers. we added some hand-cut fishies & it looked so cute!
pinterest had such amazing mermaid ideas, but the one i loved the best was this tutorial for clam cookies. they were so delicious! & the pearls inside just made it all come together so well!
i also made starfish sugar cookies. i didn't know royal icing was such a pain to make even though Alison Faulkner's cookie party is so tempting to replicate. in the end, i used the already-made icing in cream cheese and loved how the texture came out on the stars.
to catch the end of daylight, we went outside and played in the yard. for the party Gary made a sandbox the week before for kids to play. all the kids enjoyed themselves.
i made a photobooth cut out for the party. i loved how great it turned out!
we went inside to eat & i didn't take any pictures. we had tacos with beans & rice. and suddenly, night was upon us even though it was still early evening. and it was time for the PIÑATA!
in previous parties (here, here & here) I've made my kids' piñatas....but not this year. i just couldn't.
after breaking the star, we chilled outside for a little while & enjoyed the fire. gary strung christmas lights around the firepit, it was super cozy.
we went inside to finish off the celebration: cake & presents! by this time though, elena was getting tired as her batteries were running out (disclaimer: my daughter is not a robot).
she didn't like the candles though, or maybe it was everyone with their phones taking pictures. she didn't blow out the candles like we had practiced! daddy had to come in with the assist.
i made a little smash-cupcake for her and she totally dug in! she loved it.
the cake's bottom layers ended up crumbling i guess...it was definintely not picture pretty, but it sure was delicious.
after the cake, we finished off with gifts. and that was that. somebody was turning into cranky pants & not sharing her gifts...
Dress and headband from Target. My Pinterest birthday party here.
