8.20.2008

Rain and Dr. Seuss Cupcakes

Since Saturday, I've been wanting to share with you some photos from Nina's 2nd birthday party, but honestly, this is the first day I haven't felt completely exhausted by it!  Why, you ask?  Well, we had been planning to host the party in the backyard, complete with wading pools, a slip-and-slide, sprinklers, water balloons, squirt guns, and grilling out for the adults (24 of them) and kids (12 of them).  Guess what we woke up to on Saturday morning?  I bet you already know...50 degrees and rainy!  So it was on to Plan B.

My husband decided that we would have the party in the garage.  Classy, right?  We bought finger paints, lots of other little goodies for indoor play, and borrowed an inflatable bouncy house from our favorite neighbors.  It worked.  But it has taken me days to find all the lollipop sticky spots and leftover ground-up potato chips in my house, because, inevitably, despite our best attempts to keep the mess in the garage, you all know where everyone ended up.  The kitchen!  (Oh, and don't you love the above photo of all the dads just shoveling food in, hovering over the table as if it might try to escape?)

On to my good news: the cupcakes.  I found this amazing food coloring at Michaels, and it is so much better than the stuff they sell at the grocery store!  It comes in such a variety of colors and is easy to use.  (If you click on the link above you can see all the colors they offer.)  Check out my cupcakes below!

I thought the cupcakes looked like they could have been from a Dr. Seuss book or something.  Lots of fun colors!  And to make the swirls and dots in the icing I just used a plastic baggie with the corner snipped off and squeezed the icing through...no complicated pastry bags necessary! 

As for Nina, she never even knew that the party wasn't exactly in it's original form.  And once the cupcakes made their appearance, she was in heaven.  She even took a moment to share some of her green icing with daddy!  Who cares if she was in the garage?




29 comments:

Shannon said...

Cute cupcakes!! I will have to check out that icing! Looks great!

Melissa said...

Those cupcakes are adorable, if you can call cupcakes adorable.

I'd say you and your husband deserve a vacation after all of your hard work.

Are there any cupcakes left? You can put your feet up and relax and eat a cupcake or two.

Melissa

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

The cupcakes look great...they do remind you of something out of Dr. Suess!

Doesn't it just stink when you plan a party to be outside and it rains....we had a huge 4th of July bash to christen our new deck and it poured all day! My house was trashed, but we still had a blast!

Nina is so adorable....looks like she had a great time regardless of the rain!

Lisa

Lori said...

The cup cakes are amazing, and yes, I have used that icing! It makes the colors what they are supposed to be instead of red being pink. Happy birthday to Nina and what a great mommy she has for putting all that work into the party!

PS...we would love a little rain here in Ohio :)

Christy said...

Looks like fun! Those cupcakes are so cute!

Have a great day!
~Christy

Anonymous said...

Looks like a fabulous party. Yes, those cupcakes look delicious. YUMMY!

Darlene said...

Nina is just ADORABLE!!! Those cupcakes look great and perfect for the party! Looks like a lot of fun was had by all...who cares if it ended up in the garage and all over your house...oops!

Screaming Meme said...

I love the cupcakes! I posted a comment on my blog to your question! I'd love to see the bed.....

Empty Nest Full Life said...

Looks like lot of fun! Cute cupcakes, and adorable daughter.
Jackie

Victoria said...

Your mistreatment pillow was adorable!

I love the Dr Seuss cupcakes too. So cute!

My little one is 3 and the birthdays never fail to wear me out.

M,R,J1,J2 said...

Hi, I came over from half garlic/half gaelic. I know what you mean-LOL! We only hosted 2 birthday parties at home and then we decided it's time to take the fun someplace else. A place that caters to children's birthday parties,were the mess-making is a must and the employees look happy cleaning up (as long as I don't have to do it :-).
Greetings from Orlando, FL
Michaela

Stacy said...

I have been to a few great garage parties in my day. A party is a party no matter where!

I love the cupcakes! You rock!

~Stacy

Our Complete Family said...

Hi there! What a fun day you made it, despite the not so great weather! You cupcakes look great and are making me crave some sugar right about now! Happy day to you~ Leslie

sweetfunkyvintage said...

Those cupcakes look great! That icing color is so tremendous - and a tiny little bit goes a looooong way!
Love the Dads at the food table! tee hee!

Great job on the party modification Mom!

Missy

Lisa said...

Love the cupcakes! Yes, that was a very cold and rainy Saturday. It's nice that you could still have the party inside. It looks like everyone had a great time.

Kristy said...

Thanks. I really liked it too! I have pictured it but I also put a new wooden cabinet behind the toliet to hold all my junk. I'll have to clean it up and add it.

Lisa & Gerald said...

Oh so sweet!

Wendy said...

Cute cupcakes...I'm heading to Michael's!

Chris said...

Birthday parties are sooo much work, but they sure are worth it when you see how much fun your child is having, aren't they? This one is adorable. I love those cupcakes!

Jodee said...

Whooo hoooo for your Plan B! We hosted waterslide b-day parties this year, as well, and would have ended up in the garage had it rained!

Your cupcakes are adorable!

Carrie said...

First the pic of Nina and Daddy is priceless!

And the cupcakes are sooo fun! Looks like everything turned out great! :)

Jboo said...

What a great party! Your cupcakes are adorable!

Janet

Jo said...

Just too sweet! What we mommy's will do for the love of our children. The cupcakes look delightful!
Hope this finds you a little more rested.
Jo

Anonymous said...

Sorry you were rained out! Love the cupcakes! Oh and the bike behind their heads in the last I just love it!

Jen - Balancing Beauty and Bedlam said...

Too cute...no one will remember the rain, just the fun. Have had a blast browsing today...wow, have you done a lot with this blog in less than a month. Amazing!

Joy said...

The nice thing about things not turning out exactly the way you expected is that it usually makes for a better memory than if things were perfect.

I absolutely love your stairs with all of the photos. It's gorgeous!

Sweet Simplicity said...

Those cupcakes are adorable!I'm going to have to go to Michael's soon!

Alecia Watson Bahna said...

New reader here :) Love those cupcake colors! Which colors did you use to make the yours?

Buzzings of a Queen Bee! said...

Alecia:
To answer your question, the colors I used were all from Wilton's line: rose, lemon yellow, sky blue, leaf green and orange. Hope that helps, and thanks for visiting me!! :)
-Carrie