I have been so excited for Doodle's first birthday party! I mean she has no idea what's going on, so I'll just go ahead and admit now that this party was completely because I wanted to throw a rainbow birthday party. She definitely enjoyed it, but really, I think she would have enjoyed a balloon and Cheerios party without out the fuss...but where's the fun in that?
I've been secretly pinning rainbow ideas since she was three months old, and everything came together this weekend. We had a wonderful gathering of family and friends and everything from the food to the toys were a burst of colorful rainbow happiness!
I started by making a banner with each picture of Doodle from each month and rainbow paper chain, which I then hung all over the house.
I used gum balls and put baby's breath in vases around the house as well (no water, just the flowers). I used a little tissue paper I had to help add a little something to the otherwise boring white table cloth. The tissue was from a Martha Stewart tissue poof-making kit.
The gift bags were white lunch-style bags that I already had. I cut them down, used a paper punch around the edge, and ran them through my printer for the "Thank You" labels. The bags were filled with rainbow candies, a ribbon wand, crayons, bubbles, play dough...you know all the usual colorful junk that kids love :).
I bought some mini water bottles and printed the labels out on my home printer. I used "brochure paper" for a glossy effect. The font is called Budmo Jiggler.
Paper straws are always a must. I'm obsessed with these. I found the straws and the bottles on Etsy and ordered the bottles with holes in the lids for straws. They were supposed to be for the kids, but I discovered that they held wine just as well.
The veggie tray is pretty self-explanatory; however, I will say that I was ridiculously excited to find purple olives at Whole Foods. I had no idea what I would use for blue or purple veggies. I meant to put out blue tortilla chips, but there wasn't room so I just let it go.
The adorable paper cups were also from Etsy and held servings of my famous Chex mix.
Even though, I really don't like Jello, these have to be one of the favorite things I made. They took forever, but they were so worth it. I ordered the cups from Amazon, but then I found them for cheaper in my local Party City - oh well. I just purchased 6 flavors of jello, made each color/layer according to the package directions, and let them set before adding the next layer.
Sprinkles in votives also added a colorful touch.
Balloons in a rainbow of colors were also well-received.
This picture doesn't do these marshmallows justice. The are HUGE! Like 3 inches by 2 inches. I dipped them in melted chocolate chips and then mini M&Ms.
Sugar cookies (this recipe sans lemon) rolled in sprinkles were also a big hit with the kids.
However, the best part was, of course, the cake.
I followed this recipe almost exactly (see tips below) and it turned out wonderful! I only had one pan so I had to bake 6 separate cakes, but it was definitely worth it.
The topper was make from paper straws and stickers I printed on my computer. Real simple stuff.
A couple tips:
1. Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray, cut a piece of parchment paper and put it in the bottom, and spray that piece.
2. Put the cake layers in the fridge for a while before icing, it makes them easier to work with.
3. You'll need a LOT of icing. I doubled this recipe and still didn't have enough for the outside; however, we also decided that it looked better un-frosted.
4. I got a lot of compliments on the cake and people wanted to know what made it so good. This is what makes it so good. Something called "Cake Enhancer." Don't know what it is, don't really know what it does, but it makes homemade cakes taste awesome. I assume it adds back in all the chemicals that boxed cake mix has that I'm trying to avoid by making a cake from scratch.
5. Definitely use gel food dye. Your colors will be just as vibrant.
And gum balls for more pizzazz.
So bright!
I made her a cake to ruin as well. I forgot to add the cake enhancer to this batch and I can tell you that this one was a little drier. For the candle, I glued sprinkles onto a store-bought candle. I can tell you from experience that hot glue works best for this. I got better sprinkle coverage when I used Modge Podge, but it made the colors on the sprinkles run and my first one turned into a brown mess.
To make her cake, I used the same recipe as above and used a small ice cream scoop and a jumbo cupcake tin. I had to cut the mini cakes in half horizontally, then we trimmed the edges using a cookie cutter.
She didn't quite take handfuls and smash the cake as I had hoped, but once we gave her a spoon, she went to town.
Happy birthday, Doodle!
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