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Monday, November 26, 2012

How To Take A Construction Birthday From Pinterest to Party.

If you are considering a construction-themed birthday party, I've got the pictures to prove you don't have to be Martha Stewart or a Tip Junkie junkie to pull it off.  I am not a baker, decorator, or arts and crafts maker, but I was able to cobble my meager skills together into a pretty decent construction party simulation.

I know a picture is worth a thousand words, but this is a blog for chrissakes so I'm going to provide some written commentary.


a.  The gift table before anyone arrived.  I bought yellow paper and used black stickers to form
     construction-esque words to stick on them.  This way, the the party colors would be fully
     integrated into the gift unwrapping experience.


b.  The construction tablescape included his cake (more to come on that below), some mini
     trucks, a plastic  hardhat, handcut sugar cookies, and cupcakes with mini construction signs
     from AnyGoodIdeas.  She was absolutely awesome.  I emailed her at the last second and
     asked if she could switch my purchases from barnyard to construction.  She saved the party!


c.  The sign I made for the front door.  It required math and a ruler.  Although my finance
     partners used to laugh when the marketing peeps tried to talk "numbers" my math SAT
     scores and this sign proves that I did, in fact, know what I was talking about.  Damn beanies.


d.  A broad shot of the table with the requisite Happy Birthday banner.  The hole in the ceiling
     brought the theme to life in an authentic manner.


e.  A close-up shot of the cupcakes which had boulders (aka Oreo truffles) peppered in.  

     Here's a tip I can't believe I can give:  if you don't feel like making frosting, get yourself some
     food coloring and cool whip. I just out-pinterested pinterest!


f.  A close-up shot of the cake.  This turned out MUCH better than I expected.  The crane is
   digging crushed Oreos and the dump truck is dumping Oreo truffles.  To make an Oreo truffle:



Dump an entire package of Oreos in the Cuisinart and blend.  Add a tub of cream cheese.  Form balls.  Dip in chocolate. Done and delicious.  Seriously.  Who am I?


g.  More handmade construction signs along the entryway.  These were the baby's favorite part
     of the weekend.  He hit them and laughed everytime he was carried under them.


I know you are all wondering about the inside of the cake.  I was so nervous about making it that I went through an entire box 'o wine before I found the courage to make the cuts.  Here I am right before the happy birthday song and dance, about to suggest we eat donuts instead of cake:



Here's what pinterest told me it would look like:



And here's what it looked like:


The angles weren't perfect, perhaps because of the wine, but the construction effect was successfully integrated into every cake touchpoint. Not bad for a desperate marketer on Mom sabbatical, right?  Anyone else think it might be time for Mom to get a j-o-b?

12 comments:

  1. Holy smack I am impressed with that cake. Bugger the angles it looks awesome. And I must say the theme thing in general is impressive. Not something that tends to be big in kiwi land but from all the blogs I read seems to be in the states...cool none-the-less.

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    1. You could start it up in New Zealand!! Your first theme...American birthday parties. Lovely.

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  2. Hey that cake looked great! It's funny how important these details are!!

    I'm sure he had an awesome time. Happy birthday!

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    1. I drove myself NUTS over a cake that he didn't care about and the guests kind of "oohed and ahhhed" over but really didn't care all that much about. Ahhhh...motherhood.

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  3. Wow, you did such an awesome job with his party. Everything looked great... and that cake, wow, it turned out really well as I am sure it was pretty tricky to get right. You are one awesome mama!! :)

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  4. That all come together so well! And the cake is really cute! At least you did pull off the cake--I ended up buying one b/c the practice cake I made for D's first birthday came out really ugly so I caved and went to a bakery.

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    1. There was a high likelihood I was going to need a bakery. This is the one time when hope has turned out to be the appropriate strategy.

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  5. Dude, you were WAY more organized than I think I'll be for Stella. Yikes. Color me impressed!

    Fun to see a pic of YOU! :)

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    Replies
    1. You can color yourself any color you want with enough food coloring, something I learned this weekend! And thank you - it was fun playing the role of completely desperate housewife.

      I may add more pics to this blogging thing. Not sure, but am seriously considering.

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  6. AWESOME job! I'm so impressed. the cake looks amazing, both the frosting/toppers and the inside itself - I can't believe the inside actually came out that well (that seems like one of those things that would be impossible to replicate in real life).

    and you are so pretty - I've never seen a pic of you! ok, that sounded creepy. but you're adorable :)

    heads up...that dog toy on the gift table...we have one of those. he will haunt your dreams after a few days. LET'S SING AND PLAY GAMES!!! RED HEART! I LOVE YOU!

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    Replies
    1. Well thank you, thank you, thank you! Totally not creepy, I take compliments anyplace I get them which is usually from blind older women at Target who think my son is a girl so this is HUGE.

      We put the dog in the tent that the little guy also received for his birthday (we could start a toy store and he's only 1) and he keeps speeding into it and pushing the red heart. It may love him, but I already hate it. Do you have the ride-on version of the same dog. It plays over 50 songs and sounds. I know them all.

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