June 12 was Olivia's birthday, and on the 11th we had an adorable birthday brunch for her!
My parents came in for a couple of days prior so they could catch one of Sophia's t-ball games and so my mom could help me with all the cooking. It was so fun having my parents here! It was my dad's first "trip" (we live about 3 hours away) since his heart surgery and it was great to spend some quality time with them.
Anyway, back to the party. :)
Olivia contemplated what kind of party to have for MONTHS. Both my kids are obsessed with their birthday parties... like as soon as the party is over they're planning next year's! I like that though, birthdays are so fun and special and I love celebrating them!! Even if I don't like growing older, my birthday is my favorite "holiday," and I love celebrating everyone else's special "holiday" too!
So once she decided on a birthday brunch, we scoured pinterest for color schemes. I'm linking my tween birthday brunch board here so you can check out our inspiration!
My regrets for the day:
burning some of the sugar cookies
buying the DIY helium balloon tank-- we blew the balloons up the night before and by the morning, they were laying lifeless on the ground! It was terrible! Waste of money and time.
Not buying a bubble machine
Not using my actual camera to take photos of everything.... I was stressed and rushed trying to get everything done before the guests arrived at 10:30am. I learned my lesson though!
I think thats it, though. Everything else went really well and even though half of Olivia's guest list ended up being out of town (summer vacations in full swing in June!), the girls that made it sure made Olivia's day special!
My parents came in for a couple of days prior so they could catch one of Sophia's t-ball games and so my mom could help me with all the cooking. It was so fun having my parents here! It was my dad's first "trip" (we live about 3 hours away) since his heart surgery and it was great to spend some quality time with them.
Anyway, back to the party. :)
Olivia contemplated what kind of party to have for MONTHS. Both my kids are obsessed with their birthday parties... like as soon as the party is over they're planning next year's! I like that though, birthdays are so fun and special and I love celebrating them!! Even if I don't like growing older, my birthday is my favorite "holiday," and I love celebrating everyone else's special "holiday" too!
So once she decided on a birthday brunch, we scoured pinterest for color schemes. I'm linking my tween birthday brunch board here so you can check out our inspiration!
My regrets for the day:
burning some of the sugar cookies
buying the DIY helium balloon tank-- we blew the balloons up the night before and by the morning, they were laying lifeless on the ground! It was terrible! Waste of money and time.
Not buying a bubble machine
Not using my actual camera to take photos of everything.... I was stressed and rushed trying to get everything done before the guests arrived at 10:30am. I learned my lesson though!
I think thats it, though. Everything else went really well and even though half of Olivia's guest list ended up being out of town (summer vacations in full swing in June!), the girls that made it sure made Olivia's day special!
The color scheme Olivia decided on included sea-foam (teal was really as close as we could get to that color when it came to streamers), purple/lilac, and coral. Coral is not an easy color to chase down when you're looking for balloons and streamers. We found some but they were double and sometimes triple the price! SO, there wasn't a lot of coral.
We got our gold number letters and 36" purple balloons on amazon.
Brunch is so fun! My mom made her family-famous sausage balls! We had mini pancake stacks with syrup in little plastic punch cups, and a donut cake, a chocolate fountain with marshmallows and strawberries for dipping, sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting and strawberry slices on top, miniature cinnamon roll suckers, and raspberry sherbet punch. The girls drank their punch from champagne flutes and felt oh-so-fancy.
Actually, the theme of the party on the invitations was Brunch & Punch. We got the invitations at Gypsy Soul Art Studio on Etsy, and we loved them! The artist was very sweet and did everything exactly to my liking. She is highly recommended!
Adorable, right!?
For the cake, Olivia had been saying she wanted an ice cream cake for months. Summer birthdays always mean ice cream cakes, right!? Well, about a month before her party, I saw this video on Facebook of this crazy ice cream sandwich cake. I love making the cakes for my kids birthdays because I love to bake... I saw this as an opportunity to get creative and fun.
The only thing is, I forgot to take the wax paper off before I put it on the platter. And, by the time we cut the cake, which only took like 3 minutes from freezer to candles to table, it was already slick slick slick and melting! The girls loved it though.
I got the glittery numbers for the top of the cake at Hobby Lobby.
The cake was super simple to make. I actually bought way too many ice cream sandwiches. I bought 3 boxes and I only used about 1 and a third.
For the cake:
cool whip (2 tubs)
ice cream sandwiches
fudge topping
birthday cake oreos, crunched up
Start your cake with a bit of cool whip on your platter. Then, layer ice cream sandwiches, cool whip, hot fudge, and oreo crumbles over and over and over... until your cake is the right height for you. I wanted a super tall cake. Also, don't layer the sandwiches like Jenga blocks, or it will topple over and be way more crooked! I didn't taste any of this delicious looking cake... because I was WAY too full of my mom's sausage balls. They're so good!!
So, that was the party! It was a lot of fun for adults and children (good food always makes a good party!). Next year, Olivia thinks she would like a mad-hatter tea party. We will see how that idea morphs and changes over the coming months!
Have a great day!
xo
kandiPie
