Cute, eh? Charlie Brown, Lucy and Linus are handcrafted from donut (doughnut if you're proper) holes dipped in colored, warmed frosting. Their faces are drawn with a food marker by an insanely talented artist (ahem). Accessories (Lucy's hair, Charlie's stripe, Linus' blanket) were created from re-sculpted licorice and laffy taffy. Each one has a toothpick holding head to bottom and anchoring them to the cake. FTW!
In the spirit of my "Nothing New in 2011" resolution, I resolved to spend $0 on party decorations and gifts and to make the cake myself. A problem arose immediately, the first cake I baked & frosted = this...
Hello piece of shit garbage cake. I had attempted something WAY above my cake-ing abilities with warmed frosting. Eff me! This was 3 hours before we had to hit the road Friday night because the party was going to be at my parents' house in Phoenix the next morning. So I adjusted my game plan to "buy a cake as fast as you can at the grocery and decorate it yourself".
I spent the 2 hour drive to Phoenix dedicating myself to Pure Cake Stability... No sharp turn or slam on the brakes was going to undo my 8 hours of donut/cake decorating efforts!
But because the universe hates me, this happened at a stoplight about 1/2 mile from my parents' house...
Yes, Linus hung in there.
Luckily for me when one shows up at my mom's house yowling and bawling and running in circles carrying a cake travesty she pushes one out of the way, takes charge and fixes things, by heck! So the cake was salvaged but OMG. So next year I'm either going back to buying Otto's cake or I'll be serving birthday chocolate chip cookies.
Free party decorations, on the other hand, were a 100% success...
Leftover balloons from a craft project, decorated with cut-out craft paper 2s and stars and loose sequins. So festive!
"Happy Birthday Otto" sign hand-made from craft paper & string. I totally saved this for future birthdays. It's insanely cute. Cute City, USA!
This left so much budget for party food. We did croissants, bagels, sunbutter, organic jellies, cream cheese, a HUGE amazing fruit salad, organic greek yogurt, a veggie platter, and a selection of organic juices and natural sodas. Quel brunch extraordinaire!
Most importantly, Otto had a blast. He played with his cousin and our friends' little kids. He hammed it up for the crowd. He dance partied (of course he did) and was spoiled rotten with so many toys and gifts. Rob and I managed to use Kohl's cash & a Target gift card we'd received during the holidays in order to gift Otto at no out-of-pocket cost with an acoustic guitar (like father, like son, and hopefully some day like mama), Mr. Potato Head accessories, and a Mickey Mouse seek-and-find book.
Not that this day was all about the Nothing New challenge. Not at all. If I thought it would take away from the joy, or Otto's joy, I wouldn't have done it. But I knew it was a manageable goal and word to your mother, it was!
ps. My baby boy is 2. How did that happen?
xo,
Lindsey
