Birthday Party in the Jungle!

When my oldest was about to turn two, his favorite animal was a zebra. So, when it came time to celebrate his birthday, we chose a jungle theme and highlighted the zebra. This event was really fun to put together. Most of my inspiration came from the Jungle Animals theme from Amscan - available at Amazon.

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The cake pan that I used was Animal Crackers by Wilton. But, instead of keeping the ears round, I peaked them a little and decorated it like a zebra! I see that there are also monkey and elephant cake pans if you wanted to focus on that part of the theme. 

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Zebra Cake (If I can do this, you can, too!)

I  used some Fisher Price toys that we owned as part of the decorations since they fit right in! That's always the best type of decoration, free! Unfortunately, these are no longer available for (reasonable) purchase, but I find them frequently at garage sales or on Ebay. 

Image found here.

Looking for a present for the birthday boy or girl? Try this Zoo Friends Fresh Starts Animal Puzzle from Melissa and Doug. It's simple to put together and the pieces are sturdy making it perfect for a toddler or preschool age child. 

To remember the event, you can pick up this Amanda Blu Scrapbook.

Since I had a newborn at the time, I unfortunately didn't get the opportunity to take many photos of the event, but here are a few highlights: 

A boy and his birthday balloons. 

Pin the nose on the lion game!

What have been some of your favorite birthday themes?

First Birthday - Airplanes

When it comes to birthdays, I love to celebrate! My family is one of those types that likes to go all out for parties - or at least as far out as the budget will allow :). We were celebrating my son's first birthday last winter and I found a cute airplane theme called Fun at One by Creative Converting. Most of my supplies I bought from Amazon with a few supplements from the Dollar Tree. To really tie the theme together, I also bought a mini airplane cake mold and airplane candle holders to decorate the cake. 

Fun at One by Creative Converting (Amazon links below)

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Granted, I'm not a professional, but I was really pleased with the way that the cake turned out. (Funny story, the first time I made the cake, I forgot to use the airplane mold! So, after a midnight run to the grocery store to buy another cake mix, this cake became double layered.) 

 In my six years of amateur cake baking, I have found that the Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Cake Mix is really the best. It's very rich and moist and goes great with this butter-cream frosting recipe. 

I had wanted to find a way to get the older kids involved with some fun at the party, so I used the door banner (#6 above) to create our own "Pin the Star on the Airplane" game. However, the kids found it more fun to "pin" the stars on themselves! 

 Overall, the birthday boy had lots of fun on his special day, even if he refused to eat his cake! 

Chair decorating kit not pictured above, also found at Amazon.