Thursday, June 16, 2011

Bird's Birthday Party

Bird's 3rd birthday party

We threw a party for Bird's 3rd birthday this past Sunday. The photo above is the "after" - I love it :o) She had just gotten up from her nap and was a crankypants (as usual after nap) but happened to throw a yawn in there in between whiny cries and I managed to catch it. I think it's my favorite shot from the day because it's pretty much how we all felt - bone tired but surrounded by all this fun party stuff so still feeling a bit of a high from it all.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

I made a "vintage" birthday cake from a clipping in an old cookbook we had from my family. I had this cake as a kid too :o) This is in process, right before the buttercream frosting and the coconut. The cake recipe was a cross between a funfetti and strawberry cake. We used fabulous organic strawberries from our farm. So delicious.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

In order to entertain 12+ kids without exhausting ourselves (and maybe to limit the amount of screaming and squabbles?) we called on Happily Ever Laughter and they sent over Faerie Violet who was an absolute doll and VERY much captured the attention of the kids, and all of us (including Phylo who thought her dog puppet was REAL and became a ball of excitement sniffing and nipping at it until we dragged him away - one of my favorite moments of the party...). Violet put on a cute interactive magic show then made balloon animals & flowers, then spent the rest of the party painting faces and arms - she was uber talented. Yay for faeries!

Bird's 3rd birthday party

I sewed Bird a simple "3" shirt which she was so proud to wear :o)

Bird's 3rd birthday party

Griffy has been on a difficult sleep streak...he's sleeping right now which is a relief. Too much excitement + a little cold + moving past 3mths and changing habits = tough times for sleep. I'm trying to figure this one out so we can have less drama during the day.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

I had too much fun decorating the backyard. It was so so so cute. We're leaving up a few things from the party because they look so fun. I'm somewhat concerned about leaving the sofa outside but will worry about that later.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

Indulgence. Cute shot of Griffy.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

Faerie Violet turning one of our guests into a dragon.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

Bird's bunny, with a carrot of course.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

The bunny cake!

Bird's 3rd birthday party

Can I tell you how happy Bird was to have so many people sing her happy birthday? It's like her favorite song, haha, and loves to have me sing it to her. At random times.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

I discovered the fun of mylar balloons - especially when they come in giant number form. I picked them up a few days ahead of time so Bird could play with them in the house. In fact, we tied them to one of our umbrellas and they're still floating.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

I have a good stock of paper lanterns from an art installation I did with a friend a few years ago. Many of them I painted with watercolor because I couldn't find colors I liked. I tied a bunch together and hung them from our avocado tree (well, Jared did - he had to climb the tree to do it). They'll be living there for the summer.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

Please ignore the garish rug under the cute picnic table. This is the table we built from Anna White's site. Jared built it with Bird's help ;o) Saturday morning and I painted it Saturday afternoon. It's a really fast and rewarding project and it's SOOO functional. Three kids can fit on either side, and adults can squeeze into it too. So happy we pulled it off for the party.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

Another "after" shot I love :o)

Bird's 3rd birthday party

I parked myself next to Jared and Griffin on the sofa (Bird was happily playing with her new automoblox) and snapped pictures from that perspective. It was fun to just hang out together and sort of do nothing at all.

Bird's 3rd birthday party

Bird's 3rd birthday party

Grocery list making, laundry washing, dishwasher emptying, paper filing, and dog walking is calling. Have a lovely Thursday!

Hugs, Devon

ps - most of the party pics were taken by my super talented friend Klay - check out her site to see all the neat things she's been up to.

6 comments:

Klay said...

YEAH! Even though you guys are so tired the party was still so fun and the backyard was full of color and life. I'm so glad that we could be there for the afternoon - thanks for letting us linger a little longer. xoxo

Laura Zarrin said...

Love the decorations! My mom makes that cake every easter since way back! Love, love, love those paper lanterns. I need to get some for my sad backyard.

Lauren H. said...

So pretty & looks like so much fun! Love that "after" shot too! I actually like that rug under the table! Great cake! Rob had a fabulous time too & came home dirty...always a sign of good times!
Happy Birthday M.Bird!

PS. Sorry I missed the fun; my cough was working me :(

Pretty Fun said...

Hello, I stumbled upon your blog looking for that cake book that you used to make the rabbit cake. My mom had it when we were kids and made all of our birthday ckaes from it. Can you please tell me the name of it? I would really appreciate it. I am looking for it for sentimental reasons. Now that I have my own little one, I would like to make her cakes from the book. Thanks a bunch!

My Mid-Afternoon Daydream said...

Hi Pretty Fun!

Here's a copy of the book in new form, on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BAKERS-EASY-CUT-UP-PARTY-CAKES-HC-NEW-BOOK-/150558312255?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item230df9873f

And a vintage copy, on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CUT-UPS-1970-Bakers-Coconut-NOVELTY-CAKE-BOOK-Animals-SPORTS-Holidays-/200651460517?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item2eb7c24fa5

I didn't have a book, just a clipping from the book my mom used to have. It gave me instant nostalgia to see the bunny cake image so I had to make it :o) Just a note, some kids are really quite picky about coconut. Bird likes coconut and superbly enjoyed her cake but several kids opted out. Maybe because it's not something they eat every day and is just too different. Anyway, have fun baking cakes!

Pretty Fun said...

Thank you so much for those links! After a lot of searching I discovered that there were many ways that these patterns were sent out (through pamphlets or books.) I finally found the exact one that mom had. http://www.amazon.com/Bakers-Cut-Up-Cake-Party-Book/dp/B002IEXKG2/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316139134&sr=1-3

Again, thank you so much. I was so happy to find your post because it really helped narrow down my search. And your blog is a fun read!