Keira turns 7 this weekend. We’ve known about this for some time since she has been giving us the daily countdown each morning for the last few months. I think I’m still in denial but I can see this girl is growing up on me. And fast. I’m sure I didn’t start slamming doors till I was at least 10 years of age. But she’s a good girl and even said to me, ‘mummy I don’t mind if you don’t get me a present this year. I really don’t’.
Birthdays mean parties and parties mean work. And I am here to tell you that I have a lot of work to do before her party this Saturday. 24 little people will be gathering together with Keira to celebrate AND thankfully not at our house.
I do love the home party and we had a great one last year (you can read about it here) but this year we’ve gone with an art party at her art school. And as I sit at my house which needs a really good clean and I have a lot of blog work due, I’m so grateful that I’ve outsourced the party this year. All I have to do is food and the cake. And we’ve picked the apple cake from the Women’s Weekly Bumper Book of Kid’s Birthday Cakes. Great book by the way with all of the classics and some new ones.
But I will stress about the party and make way too much food and hope the cake turns out right. Because for some reason I can bake a cake on any given day of the year but ask me to bake a cake for a birthday party and I am bound to make a mistake or have a disaster. For Keira’s 5th birthday I just could not get the dolly varden cake to bake in our old oven. 3 times. Yep I tried 3 times before I resorted to cupcakes. Last year I did the pink rainbow cake and it was a huge success and I’ve put a few hints here.
So please excuse me from blogging while I get down to business. I need to plan the menu, shop the big shopping list, bake and decorate the cake and get those lolly bags underway.
Best birthday tip? Biggest birthday cake disaster?
My best idea came from sheer disorganisation. I had made a big rainbow slab cake (CWA style nothing fancy) and a bowl of buttercream icing ready but ran out of time when people started arriving for my daughters (small) 8th birthday party. I got busy running the party and it got to cake time! I gave in, thinking I was a failure, put the cake, icing, and all the bowls of lollies down and told them to do it themselves. Next day got texts from all the mums on my fantastic ‘idea’! Her 9th is this weekend and she requested the same.
Oh I love that idea! yep once we did cupcake decorating and they loved it and didn’t want to stop! I know the kids will have no matter what they eat, it’s the pressure we put on ourselves!!!
thanks
Corrie:)
oh I can relate to the cake disaster thing. Have had a few cakes flop in the oven and been stressing the night before the party.
I try to keep my cake simple as I am not great with the decorating.
The year that one of my four wanted a dinosaur cake(!) I got my hubby to do it 😉
We have four children and only do a party about every second year from age five onwards and we keep it small and at home.
I think no matter the age that they need time to play in amongst games and activities.
Being a teacher I always overplan, but I feel less stressed if I do.
Goodluck, I am sure it will be a great success.
They will love the art focus I am sure.
You’re such a wonderful cook that I’m sure it will be fine. I’m not such a great cook, and while I love lots of crafty things, for some reason my cakes always look sloppy. I did have success with a rainbow cake – like your pink layer cake – for our younger daughter’s dedication celebration, but when it comes to birthday cakes that our older girl picks out of those wonderful women’s weekly books, I get her to ‘help’ me. She has fun, is proud to tell everyone that she made it, and I have an excuse when it’s a little dodgy!
I haven’t had any disasters yet, though I am only up to birthday 4 soon and my second daughters first so I really shouldn’t speak too soon. I like everything to be perfect for their parties and put a lot of effort into it all and then on the day just hope that everything falls into place. I love the rainbow cakes at the moment and might have to give one a go this year so I am off to check out your tips.
Remember three disasters with that tricky meringue icing. One was the ghost from the original Womens Weekly kids birthday cakes the other was the fairy castle. My friend had to amuse the children with long drawn out party games until I finally gave in and used good old butter cream. After several attempts managed to pull it off with her engagement cake many years later. Must get points for perseverance. Hope Keira and your family have a lovely day.
oh yes I have not had success with that icing and I know the one exactly! you can’t beat butter cream or my fave is a cream cheese one. So forgiving and I just keep adding icing sugar or a bit of milk to get the right consistency!
Corrie:)
I’ve had great success with this meringue buttercream from Martha Stewart http://www.marthastewart.com/898935/meringue-buttercream-frosting
It’s very easy, tastes delicious and is really light and fluffy.. the only thing is that it uses 12 eggwhites!! I do prefer it to plain old buttercream which I can find a little over sweet…. although that goes down very well with the kids.
Hello, hope it goes really well. So your oldest is just a wee bit younger than my youngest, the twins. They turned 7 on 9th May… no party this year at all as we’d just got back from Scotland, three of us. I must try the pink tall rainbow cake one day, it looks amazing. Happy Birthday to her. I’m off to talk at the AMBA NSW Seminar tomorrow, a treat for me. What’s better than a room full of multiple mums and dads?
The biggest problem we have had is my son got gastro on the day of this party….but this happened two years in a row. We are hoping for a better year this year. We have had to postpone the parties for the following week!! We did a Lego themed party with lots of Lego games my Hubby just made up and all the boys loved!!! I made a lego brick cake which was the easiest thing to make and the boys all took home a small box of lego for party favours no lollies in the car on the way home!! They loved the idea of going home to build it. Hoping the party goes well, looking forward to hearing all about it.
Woolworths online Corrie. Save yourself time and energy.
I wasn’t much of a birthday party mum. We usually took one special friend out to dinner. She had only three birthday parties. My sister had a good one though, nearing th end of the party, she looked about the messy back yard and announced the next game was the kid who picked up the most trash would get a prize. It was cleaned up beautifully in less than five minutes.
I do have a cure for door slamming, though, first time my Emily slammed her bedroom door, we took it off the hinges for 24 hours. It was two years before she slammed it again, and that time it came off for two days. She’s never slammed it again!
The cake you made last year looked so pretty and yummy. I can’t wait to see how the apple cake turns out. My favourite cakes to make for my kids are with the good old buttercream and lots of lollies to decorate it. It’s so much fun designing them and they look (and taste) so delicious. My siblings and I always pored over the women’s weekly cake book as kids but I only remember Mum ever making one of those cakes and I was the lucky recipient, with the piano cake for my 10th birthday. I will always remember the wonderful surprise and how special I felt when Mum brought it out.
I made the snail cake from the original women’s weekly birthday cake book for my first child’s first birthday as I always drooled over that one when I was a kid but figured no child would realistically ask for a snail cake!!! I used smarties to make the spiral line and put marshmallow flowers around the base. All my childhood dreams come true
Corrie I would be interested to know if you make the buttercream icing in your thermomix. I recently got one and tried buttercream icing last weekend but didn’t feel it was quite as melt in your mouth as doing it in the mix master. It was a lot quicker though.
Oh, and best of luck for the party. I’m sure it will turn out wonderfully and I look forward to reading about it next week!!!
I’ve given up on party bags. One less thing to stress about. (also as a parent of large family I dislike the fights at home when one kid goes to a party…. arrrgggh!! why cant siblings be grateful their sister got something they didn’t!!) We do however give a thank you gift – for a magic party it was popping candy, for a pamper party it was nailpolish, a snow party it was a snowglobe they made at the party etc.
I love the party ideas over at O Happy Day and she gives the advice that she puts lots of effort into two things (usually things like oversized piñatas. or a decorated wall or the cake or things that have a wow factor) then she keeps the rest of the party simple (ie get the food from elsewhere, simple games) I like that and attempt to follow it too (only downside is all the wonderful ideas out there I fear I wont get to do them all before my kids are grown and consider them daggy 😉
and then there is pinterest! I go crazy with party ideas but always run out of time!!!! the twins are just coming to Keira’s party for the food because it’s all about them at the moment and we wanted to make sure we didnt’ have any big dramas at the party:) it is hard!
Good luck! I have miss fives party tomorrow. Cake in oven now and not looking too good. Too big and not sure how long to do it for etc. I don’t like organising kids parties. Very stressful!
well you are ahead of me! I still need to shop for ingredients!!!!!!!! have a great time and hope it runs smoothly
have you put the recipe up for the cake? It looks delicious!!!
I loved looking at your photos from the party, I am in the throws of setting up a party supply business with beautiful party wares!! hopefully be launching mid spring
oh lovely! good luck, so great to run a business from home doing something you love!
corrie;)