Happy Birthday Taylor!!

Saturday, Taylor Turned 8!

So on Friday night we had a "late over" birthday party. We did all the things you would do at a sleep over party, but no one spent the night. :)

I always start planning a party thinking lets do a 'at home' party and make it so fun and even make it more economical. And then after countless hours of making, planning, decorating, and more baking... I think why didn't we have it somewhere else. :) No really I was glad that we did it here, it's what Taylor really wanted and it was fun. We have been watching all the baking shows that are on now, "Cake Boss," "Ace of Cakes, and the thousands of cupcakes shows and Taylor showed me this intricate fondant cake and said, "can we make one of these?" I laughed and said, "I think we'll do cupcakes, sweetie." So then I saw two friends make fondant cakes recently, both amazing and nothing armature like mine turned out to be... and I thought I'd give it a try.

She wanted Zebra Stripes and Polka-dots. The color turned out really vibrant. Kind of Dr. Suess-ey. My friend gave me her recipe. It's marshmallow fondant, so it actually tastes good, not like traditional fondant that's yucky. I'm excited to try it again... after I recover from the party and baptism next week. It's definitely a labor of love.

But Taylor woke up the morning of her party SOO EXCITED, she couldn't wait for her friends to come... at 6pm. So it made it all worth it. The things we do and the sleep we loose for our kids. :O)

The Decor... the food table

We had extra fondant and I made an extra little cake. So Taylor decorated it and did such a good job. It kept her busy waiting for the party to start.

We had cake coming out of our ears! The girls ate the cupcakes. Taylor ate her little cake. And we saved the big cake for the family.

The girls take home bags: I printed off the cover of the little box and taped it on so they looked personalized. They had a pencil, notepad, toe ring, little brushe with built in mirror, lipgloss and those elastic bracelets that come in different shapes.

Candy Cones: The girls loaded their cones with candy before we watched an episode or two of Zach and Cody... we didn't have time for an entire movie. Too many games to squeeze in and nails to paint.

I printed off little circles that I designed on photoshop elements and took two and taped them together with a toothpick for cupcake toppers.

The makeup tray... The girls did "Fruity Facials" that we made out of blueberries, and honey

The rest of the food table... We also did fruit fondue. It was yummy!

Smile!

I love games with Silly String... it's just so much fun. We did hair designs with the silly string.

The girls had fun

Fruity Facials :)

We also did nails, and played freeze dance. :)

Taylor loved her cake that SHE made so much, so wanted to blow out the candles from it.

Happy Birthday Taylor!

She has been so sweet, Thanking me for the party over and over again. It makes all the hours of prep worth it, knowing that she loved it and appreciated it. And I really do love throwing parties, I think it's so fun to decorate, plan and prepare. Brent keeps talking about his birthday party-to-be.

The next morning we went to Crackle Barrel for a late breakfast as a family and had a nice quiet Saturday as a family. Later that night we joined our friends at Chuckie Cheese to celebrate their little 2 year old's birthday. So Taylor got to keep on celebrating. We brought her cake to Chuckie Cheese to eat after our pizza. The kids had a ball.