The Suburban Soapbox

I really wanted Landon’s first birthday to be special, fun and exciting. I scoured the internet (aka Pinterest) for unique ideas to help make the party really memorable. I LOVE Pinterest, I discovered the site in the late summer and have been frantically pinning things daily for months. I have so many pins saved on my boards I doubt I’ll be able to try everything in my lifetime.

But I digress….

Landon loves Chica from The Sunny Side Up Show on the Sprout channel, this little chicken is one of the only things that can get him to sit still longer than a nanosecond. So, in trying to make this party memorable and special for a child with the attention span of a flea, I decided to make it a Sunshine Barn theme party.

The plan: Make homemade birthday banners (aka buntings), make all the food, make the cake/cupcakes, buy a million balloons and make some balloon arches, have a hot cocoa bar, hot dog bar, “barn” type food, make cake pops for favors….see where I’m going with this. Darn Pinterest!

What I actually achieved: balloon wreath for front door, Chica Cake (this was the show stopper!), Elmo cupcakes, candy filled hurricanes, Rice Krispie Pops, hot dog bar and party favor buckets.

I have never really gone all out decorating a cake before. I found a Chica cake on a photographer’s website and decided to use that as inspiration. I also found a recipe on Pinterest for marshmallow fondant and thought I would give that a go. I really had low hopes for this cake and decided to have a back up plan….buy a sheet cake last minute at Wegman’s.

I made the marshmallow fondant 4 days ahead of time, the red frosting for the Elmo’s 3 days in advance and Chica was made two days ahead. The fondant was fairly easy but time consuming, it kept well in the ziploc containers until the day I needed it.

I used fondant for the sun, fence and blue background, a Wilton Sugar Sheet was used for the barn and Kashi shredded wheat was made into a “krispie” treat for the nest. I made Chica from Wilton gum paste, also a new adventure for me. The grass and white detailing were all frosting.

As you can tell, I’m VERY excited with how the cake turned out. I still can’t believe that I made this with my own two hands and managed to stay sane at the same time.

I think I was successful at creating a special memory for my little boy, even if it was really just a blur of a day.