A cupcake party for a cupcake lass

Oh, I just loved making stuff for this party. I wish I had time for more, because I loved every minute of it.

Of course Payton had a birthday crown, and because her theme was cupcakes, I decided to make her a crown like her sister's, but instead of butterflies, did a row of cupcakes all around. I LOVE this crown. It is all Making Memories Garden Party, with a little bit of Doodlebug glitter cardstock thrown in. The jewels on the candles are from Kaiser Scrapbooking and were part of my April kit at Studio Calico. I'm telling you, that little package lasts a long time!

Lucky for me I got a photo of her smiling once or twice. There have been so many parties lately that now that it was finally her day, you didn't have to line out the drill for this little munchkin. She had the routine down pat. And she was super cute to boot:

For example... we sang Happy Birthday and my little chickpee blew out the candles on her own the millisecond the song was over. Not too soon, and not too late. It was SO cute. And she did a good job! AND I caught it all on film. AND the photos are in focus! SCORE!

Look! I even caught candle smoke!

Don't you just LOVE that cake shape? The pan is from Wilton, and I do believe it's the cutest darn thing on the planet. It's two pans, the ridged cupcake tin portion, and then a larger piece that sits on top for the cupcake. SO cute. I did have to make two sets of cake batter though, because I forgot to grease it first and I wasn't able to extract the first cake successfully.... so should you get one, don't forget to do that!

Heeeeheeee~! This teeny tiny picture is this amazing pan! It's the Wilton Giant Cupcake Pan. Check out that site for some cute decoration ideas. Ooh. And while googling my pan I also found this site, which I will have to visit again when I'm in a regular cupcake kind of mood!

I would have done something fancier with my cake, but it was so high that it touched the top of my cake stand lid, so I didn't want to frost it until it was almost time to eat it, and being the hostess of the party... well, you get sidetracked feeding people and having fun, so it was almost a last minute venture.

AND because I was at my MIL's house the day before, I never got around to making my own cake from scratch. And I SO wanted to. And Ree had me all set up with a carrot cake recipe too. But I ended up cheating and making Rainbow Sprinkle cake from Betty Crocker. Thank you Betty. And cream cheese frosting, a must. Thanks again Betty.

I also made some chicken chili for lunch for everybody. It was a cold day so it was perfect. And my dear friend, lol, the Pioneer Woman, hooked me up again with some quick and easy biscuits to serve with. Unfortunately, we have a bunch of picky friends, and finicky kids, so I didn't use the blue cheese. So basically it was biscuits smothered in butter. But geez. Who know that cutting biscuit bites would make all the difference? These suckers were GONE. Fast.

So.... our cupcake cake had a side of Umpqua Birthday Cake ice cream, something I had never tried before but figured would constitute a perfect fit for our festivities. And it was:

The birthday girl thought so, anyway. And does anyone else really matter as long as she is happy? No. I think not.

I was poking around online, looking for cupcake themed games and favors, and came across Pin the Candle on the Cupcake. Well, I was certainly not going to pay for that, so I decided to make my own. I used some cupcake embossed Love, Elsie paper, some Worldwin Cardstock, and some Making Memories paper, again with that delicious Garden Party line, for this game. I just used double sided tape for my candles. And the kids. Loved. IT. It really was quite the hit! It was all mounted on poster board. We've been playing it every day since. The kids really love being blindfolded.

Another thing I did was make a cupcake banner. I couldn't get a good photo of it to save my life, but I wanted to share it anyway. I made this thing in about 5 minutes. It really was quite simple, super cute, and perfect for our theme.


And, because I just can't stop, I continued the cupcake them with our party favors. Unfortunately, I didn't run across this site until just days before the party, so didn't have time to coerce someone into making these or trying them myself, but aren't these ADORABLE!?

They are made by this gal on a blog called Bakerella. I am going to be stalking this blog like mad for all of my foofy baking needs. I SO wish I had seen this sooner.

I ended up finding some chocolate cupcake lollipops on Ebay. I also picked up some party favor bags with cupcakes on them through Ebay too. And while searching for them I came across cupcake candles that Target made too. Too bad I missed that in the store! They are so cute!

It was cupcake mania!

NOW.... what do you get for a 2 year old girl who has a 4 year old bigger sister that isn't repititious? She did NOT need any sort of stuffed animal.

Hubby and I were actually AT Target shopping together... and we came across the kiddie gardening aisle. Have you seen it? Oh dear, it's the cutest aisle in the world and I could have bought everything in it ten times over. For me. Forget the kids. I want a butterfly rain slicker with matching boots and a lounge chair. And a water bottle. And a magnifying glass. And a bucket with a shovel. And a tunnel. LOVED it.

I let Steve pick it out, so instead of a flower tunnel we got the Chamelion. It was a perfect idea. The kids love romping around in it which means they are exercising and having fun, PLUS it folds up compactly, PLUS it can go outside. So I am happy.

We also got two magnifying glasses, a flower for Payton and the snake for Morgan. They love those too, so I am very happy with what we got her.

Also... because I know how you are enjoying this post right now, lol.... we got her some outfits for her potato heads, because it's one of the few toys she's into, and I also got her some bedding.

I am determined to make some shabby quilts for the girls' beds, so I got Payton a plain pink comforter for her bed. I figure I'll use it for stuffing and make a quilted duvet cover of sorts. And because I'm also NOT into themed bedding, rather than going for themed comforters, I figure they can have fun sheets. So we got her Hello Kitty.

One of the big hits at gift time was this donkey. Isn't she the cutest thing. EVER?! She's a bouncy toy, which will be great with my Chamelion tunnel, lol. I've got a regular gym now!

We will be visiting my Mom in Portland in June for the Rose Festival. Ever year it dumps rain on us so when my mom asked what to get PJ I suggested a rain jacket. She got her the cutest ladybug jacke with matching boots. I hope it rains now, just so she can wear it!

It was such a fun party! Now you must feel like you were actually there! lol