This year it was Bryn's turn to have her first ever birthday party with friends...she was a little excited! She requested a cupcake-themed party, which excited me because cupcakes are fun and easy. My mom and I sewed aprons for all the cupcake chefs. My mom was a lifesaver. My sewing machine quit working (apparently sewing machines need to be serviced more than once every ten years...who knew!) the weekend before the party so I was biting my nails waiting to get my machine back and start sewing. It came back Tuesday night and Wednesday my mom came over and sewed aprons for a few hours. Seriously, without her help, I would've had some pretty late nights getting those things done. The aprons weren't difficult, but there were nine of them. I think they turned out very cute. Bryn helped pick out the fabric.
We had the party on our patio. After the guests arrived, we played a game of musical chairs. As each girl got "out" she received her apron.
I found the "Happy Birthday" banner and coordinating tablecloths, plates and napkins at Walmart for only 97 cents each. I detest shopping at that store but occasionally they are good for something.
After everyone got an apron, the girls made pizza. A simpler version of it. We used buttermilk biscuits...you know, the ones in the refrigerated section that come in a tube. The girls flattened them just using their fingers then dropped the biscuit into a muffin tin. Then they spooned some spaghetti sauce onto it, sprinkled some cheese and added pepperoni. I cut the pepperonis into fourths so they would fit on the biscuits. The girls thought it was fun and it was an easy snack to serve. We had the party right after school on Friday so, of course, they were hungry. I had juice boxes for them and they happily munched on their creations.
The next activity was decorating the boxes they would take their cupcakes home in. I bought the plain cardboard ones from JoAnns along with two pieces of scrapbook paper, one with birthday candles and one that had multiple lines of "Happy Birthday". I cut the candles and words out so the girls could glue them to their boxes for decoration. There were also markers to draw with and little foil pinwheels that I found on clearance for 25 cents.
Then it was time for the main event...decorating cupcakes! Bryn had a smile this big the whole time.
I baked 48 cupcakes so each girl could decorate and eat as many as she wanted and have enough to take home to her family. I used white cake mix and colored one batch purple and the other pink. There were four bags of frosting with tips to decorate with...pink, purple, blue and yellow. As well as, gummy bears, fruit loops, sprinkles, mini-marshmallows, M&Ms and coconut, which I colored blue. The girls made some pretty creative cupcakes!
Bryn opened her gifts then it was time for everyone to go home. The cupcakes with the boxes and the aprons were the party favors. I thought it was better than sending home lots of candy and cheap toys that break in a day. Not that there wasn't a lot of sugar in the cupcakes, lol.
********
Bryn's actual birthday was two weeks earlier. We celebrated as a family on her actual birthday. Grandma and Grandpa House came over for a birthday lunch of lulus (noodles). This year, Bryn told me I could make spaghetti sauce for whoever wanted some but she would be eating her noodles plain, like always.
This year Bryn is into Legos, listening and dancing to music and creating stuff out of paper then taping it to her bedroom walls. So she got a little bit of all of the above for her birthday. (Looks like someone forgot to brush the birthday girl's hair. Okay, I didn't forget. It was a Saturday. We don't do hair on Saturdays. It's the one day Mom doesn't care what everyone looks like. Dirty clothes are even permitted and I have no idea if anyone brushes their teeth on Saturdays. There, now you know one of my dirty little secrets.)
Bryn wanted a cupcake-shaped cake. So I made cupcakes and shaped them into one giant cupcake as best as I could. It looks a little like a bag of popcorn. But it's a cupcake. With a licorice candle on top and a Fruit-by-the-Foot flame on the candle.
Happy 7th Birthday! Brynners



































































