Indian & elephant birthday party in the park!

As crazy as it is to believe, my baby turned one in May (sniff). I knew I wanted to honor him with a party, but what kind? I found the perfect answer in a joint first birthday party!

My gorgeous co-host Ani and her babes are Indian, so immediately I knew the theme. When she volunteered to make all of the delicious Indian food, leaving me to the sweets and decor, I found a marriage made in heaven!

 

I designed an invite, but ultimately ended up using Pingg online invitations. 

Awesomely, I could use my design! And we were off!

 

I chose the beautiful Kings Road Park, in West Hollywood,  again after having Big bro's Superhero Party here. It's magical.

                 

 The yummy guests of honor!

   

                  And the yummy fooooood. Seriously, people were drooling. Ani and her brother Alex, really knocked it out of the park (ha ha no pun intended...)

Because we were in a park, and not all of it was grass, I created a baby area for wee ones not yet walking. Of course, most of the mamas ended up here too...

 . I created the backdrop for the dessert table from a ton of streamers and gold fringe. I found the tutorial here.

I have to say, it was pretty rad (and easy!).

Rolled in sprinkles, and put onto stripey straws, these mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches from Trader Joes, become precious pops!   

        

 My favorite chocolate cake recipe

 Spray painted toy elephants gave a whimsical elegance.

   

Yes, you read that correctly... Cake batter Rice Krispie treats. Word.

Finch!

Needless to say, candy coated, sprinkled, jumbo marshmallow pops were a huge hit.

 Hanging shots of baby's first year

Pretty Ani and Flash's fellow birthday boy. 

Clearly obvious which ones here are the Indian wannabes...

I lost both smash cakes during transport to the park, but cupcakes did the job just fine!

 I got gigantic balloons for the high chairs, and made streamers for them from tissue poms, ribbon and fringe.

One of my favorite details. I cut the boy's names from this awesome glitter card stock, and hand sewed it onto bakers twine with poms. These got thrown away, and I literally cried...

 I filled clear balloons with confetti. Hung upside down, they looked sweet when the wind blew. All of the kids wanted one, but they had a HUGE disclaimer... 

They pop: confetti everywhere!

Elephant Bean Bag Toss

 Homemade bubbles and wands are a breeze, and turned out to be really effective!

Big Sisters!

Simple Thank You bags were filled with Animal Crackers and yogurt covered stars

It was a lovely party. And our babies are ONE! 

xo Melanie

Thanks so much to Karen Steyr for the fabulous photos!

Want me to do YOUR next party? Leave me a message!

The best chocolate cake you'll ever make. No joke.

 I LOVE cake.

Love it. Want to marry it. Would eat it every single day if I could. Chocolate cake to be specific, but really, any old cake will do. I am Miranda in Sex and the City when she throws away her cake to stop eating it, only to end up eating it out of the trash. Yes, it's that bad.

While at a friend's house one day, we were jonesing for cake, but there was nary a mix in sight. I found a recipe for a chocolate cake that we JUST had all of the ingredients for, and ended up with the best chocolate cake I'd ever made. It's not fancy, it's simple, and super moist. Since then, I've tweaked it a bit, and make it for most celebrations. After getting babies down at night, I've been known to sit down with the whole cake and a fork. Who needs a plate?

Friends have been asking for the recipe, so I thought I'd share!

Ingredients

2 cups white sugar

1  3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1   1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional) 

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk (I use unsweetened Rice milk)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour your favorite pan, or line your cupcake pans.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. You can also just mix by hand, but mix well... 
3. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. 20 to 25 for cupcakes.
5. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

I'm far too lazy for mixing dry ingredients in a separate bowl, so throw it all together in one, just add the boiling water LAST.

Now get ready, your friends are going to be asking YOU for the recipe! 

These also make the most amazing cake pops. Ever. 

Feel free to bring me a piece, it IS my favorite...

xo Melanie

It's a high five for Bird!

 

My first born, my baby bird, has just turned 5! WTH? 

This year, as Christmas decorating, crafts, and festivities came to a close, I turned my attention to the looming birthday. It seemed impossible to me, yet it really was so, and as I cannot convince him to STOP growing, we needed to have a party. I suggested a Superhero party where everyone could make their own capes to take home as their favor. One mention of crafts, and he was in! (he IS mine, after alll) I reserved an amazing park, and started dreaming. Here are some images.

Dessert table just waiting for the cake...

I had this "engineer print" done at Staples for under $4! Word!

The pennant banner, I made by cutting comic books (ordered from ebay) into triangles and sewing them together with a pre-folded blanket binding. Easy and one of a kind!

I wanted to avoid any of the commercial superheroes, opting for a generic, kind of old school "super" decor. The Missoni -like tablecloth fabric reminded me of the classic POW! BAM! artwork. Multi-colored lanterns, balloons, and a rainbow "5" pinata rounded out the scheme. I did want to make our own pinata, but we just ran out of time, so we had one delivered to our door by the kind people at Party City. (Learning to let go...)

Cape Making!

 

 

Veggie Sliders

     

                      I really was quite in love with my sprinkle cake. It was chocolate of course...

 

Have you made Marshmallow pops yet?? Soooo simple, but put on a stick and dipped in sprinkles, instant fancy party. I presented them poked into blocks of floral foam from the dollar store wrapped up in coordinating stripey wrapping paper!

 

I peeled the labels off of water bottles and popped on some chevron duct tape that I had in the craft closet . Finally a use for it!

I set up games out on the lawn for any kiddos who felt like playing. A 3 legged race and the egg and spoon are classics!

We set up a photo op with a cloud paper background and a tripod for parents to simply shoot and click. I photo-shopped them after!

 

The Thank you card...

And he's 5. Oy.

xo Melanie