While I totally dig a kid party, I’ve not got a lot of experience being at the helm of them.
I did throw a Cars 2-themed party a little while ago, but left it mostly in the hands of my party-savvy sister.
What I DO know is party food. Especially kid party food. But I am old school and I don’t make smiley faces out of things and elaborate cupcake animals, though that may come later.
No, I’m good at thinking its 1985 and basing the menu from that. For my 30th, the food was exactly the same as what was at my first birthday party, give or take a few things. I wanted to go as 80s as I could, even if most people were frightened of the red and green pickled onions. Now I just cast my mind back to whatever I ate at parties as a kid and figure “that’ll do”.
Now I, for one, loathe fairy bread. Someone else had to make this, I didn’t even think of it. I’m not into the idea of a sugar sandwich… probably because I’m not into sandwiches. bread… butter… sugar. I am shuddering.
The one thing I do need to pick up my game on is serving dishes. Given that this party had a very loose gingham theme, I filled cupcake liners with candy. Not because it was cute or different… but because I had run out of bowls.
1985 represent.
Barbecue shapes. In a colander shaped like a strawberry. That whole lack of bowls business.
Please note the three (THREE) plates of egg sandwiches. Half regular, half curry. Abby’s favourite … or so I told everyone. They were mostly for me.
They are her favourite though.
Honest.
HOW fabulous are the girls from Lovely Little Parties, who sent us these straws, the tablecloth and party bags when they heard I was having a gingham-themed party after being inspired by their website. SO kind of them.
The candy was a hit with my nephew, who put a lot of effort into making sure all the gingham cupcake wrappers had an even amount at all times…
But the funnest part of the day was when I was trying to make a red-and-white checkerboard cake with white frosting, so when you cut into it, it looked like gingham. And I baked two cakes and did various other things for the party, and the baby wouldn’t sleep and I was trying to keep her away from the oven, and I cut the cakes into strips and made the frosting, and had to make extra because there were two cakes, and I needed stuff to make the strips stick together and I piled them all on carefully, pasting between them with frosting, all the while with a baby hanging off my leg and putting god knows what in her mouth, then I trimmed the cake and kept assembling it and the baby kept crawling to the oven so I put her in her walker, put the last row of the cake on, along with the frosting on the top and sides, and watched that row repeatedly fall over and refuse to stick. And I was getting frosting everywhere and bits of red cake were bleeding into the white frosting and I wondered if I could save it but end up throwing the lot in the bin, and turn around to see this:
The baby unrolling all the paper towels ever made in the whole universe.
Oh and as a side note – if you want to have a whinge that putting my kid in a walker every now and then is bad for her, or bad for her hips or her development or whatever else you’d like to say, don’t worry because somebody already took the time to tell me on instagram and I took the time to tell them I don’t care. I highly doubt the 30 minutes she’s in it every week is doing anything except giving her better access to paper towels.
Anyway, we bought a cake and presented it to her and she dived straight in like nobody’s business. I was expecting her to slap it around a bit and possibly try to feed herself, but definitlely wasn’t expecting her to attack it mouth-first.
Yay for birthdays!
BabyMacBeth says
April 10, 2012 at 9:20 pmOh my! ADORABLE. The lot of it. Happy Birthday little lady x
Nikki Parkinson says
April 10, 2012 at 9:41 pmCutest baby in the world!
Anna says
April 10, 2012 at 10:51 pmLove the gingham theme! So cheerful, by the way… My daughter spent most of her time at her grandmas house in the same walker…. She's fine and her hips are not displaced or whatever. Bugger people and their soap boxes.
Bettina says
April 10, 2012 at 11:07 pmHaha love the walker comment! You tell them!
Bettina @ http://lovelylittleone.blogspot.com
Daisy, Roo and Two says
April 10, 2012 at 11:11 pmHappy birthday to your gorgeous little girl! What a gorgeous theme! The paper towel reminds me of the time my kids toilet papered my loungeroom…
theINSandOUTSofNUTRITION says
April 10, 2012 at 11:13 pmLooks like a lot of fun!!! Baby veggie definitely had the right idea 🙂 happy birthday!!!
Jennifer says
April 10, 2012 at 11:17 pmHappy to hear I wasn't the only one who threw out the birthday cake! I tried to make a pink ombre cake for my little girls 1st but I cut the layers wrong >.< All in the bin it went.
I bet Veggie Baby had fun and thats the main thing 🙂
Eva Iezzi says
April 10, 2012 at 11:19 pmAre you kidding me? Cheezels in a WOODEN BOWL? Now THAT'S authentic 80's party fare. Wooden serving bowls – the bowls of my childhood! I think they're from the same family as those cane paper plate holders at barbeques, right? And Nikki is right, cutest baby in the world!
Laney @ Crash Test Mummy says
April 10, 2012 at 11:24 pmNow that's a birthday party! I love how your cheezel bowl is the exact same bowl we used in the 80s! Mouth first, the only way to go Veggie Baby 🙂
Katie says
April 10, 2012 at 11:31 pmHuh! Apparently the jolly jumper that my son loved so much is in the Choice list of the 10 things you should never give your child access too (along with said walker and trampolines). Try telling him that when he was totally rocking out in it to guns'n'roses with the biggest grin on his face…and he lived to see another day. And has no mobility problems… poo to the haters
Bree @ Twinkle in the Eye says
April 10, 2012 at 11:34 pmHappy day!
Amy Rea says
April 10, 2012 at 11:40 pmI have the same 'wooden' salad bowl in my cupboard. Swiped it from my Mum when I moved out.
Love the gingham theme and love Veggie babies birthday cake eating method, she doesn't mess around, does she?!
Bipolarmadam says
April 10, 2012 at 11:42 pmI have a pic of Miss Charisma doing something similar on her first birthday. Looks like a great party. x
Amelia says
April 11, 2012 at 12:40 amAdorable!!
I'm also now craving curried egg sandwiches. Boiling eggs now… x
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:03 amHaha I seriously considered doing that last night when I wrote this!
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:04 amHow I wish my mum had let me go mental with my cakes!
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:04 amNope! Straight to business. I have three of these bowls, they are SO 80s! I have a feeling they will be making an appearance at every party…
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:04 amIt was so much fun 🙂
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:06 amMy mother in law tried to tell me that if you put a baby in a jolly jumper, they will forever walk on their toes instead of normally. My brain cannot comprehend somebody thinks this is fact. so poo.
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:06 amI'm bringing back the hipness of a wooden bowl. So retro!
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:07 amI'm sad I also don't have a pineapple-shaped one. I feel as though I will be complete when I find one.
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:07 amhaha she totally didn't care what cake she got and to be honest, neither did I 🙂
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:08 amHaha I'm firmly of the belief that unless a child is in immediate danger, people should keep quiet about what they consider to be “dangerous” for other people's children.
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:08 amYou know what? I'm sure most kids are fine in them! Well, except my sister who walked herself off a flight of stairs in one…
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:09 amDamn right! Tried to put the video on but it expired on April 7 🙁
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 1:09 amThank you darling. We did all right 🙂
Andrea Ferris says
April 11, 2012 at 2:27 amThat is an awesome photo of Abby getting stuck into the Birthday cake!!! Keep that one for her 21st 😀
I can't believe someone had the hide to get stuck into you about the walker. Some people have too much time on their hands!!!
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 3:56 amHaha i can't believe I had the time to tell them to go jump xx
Bess Georgette says
April 11, 2012 at 6:18 amHahaha! Oh my!
That 'head first' birthday cake photo will be gold for years to come! 😀
Neise Solomon says
April 11, 2012 at 8:10 amHa! Great post. As I was reading it I was thinking, I bet someone has a whine about the walker….so your pre-emptive to comments on the blog/response to instagram cracked me up big time! Love the picture of veggie baby tucking into her b'day cake with style. Hope you all had a gorgeous day x x x
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 8:42 amOh my gosh, it absolutely cracked us all up!
Veggie Mama says
April 11, 2012 at 8:44 amDrives me mental that I have to defend my choices! But I can usually tell when they're coming and I have NO patience for it, so I tell them not to bother 😉
Neise Solomon says
April 11, 2012 at 9:18 amSmart lady! x
Michelle - MumSpeak says
April 11, 2012 at 10:35 amMy daughter spent hours and hours in the jolly jumper groovin to sweet tunes. Loved it! And btw she is just fine.
Michelle - MumSpeak says
April 11, 2012 at 10:39 amLoved your post. Looks like you had a fantastic day. Whingers be damned.
Megan Blandford says
April 11, 2012 at 10:42 amI'm so going to try and eat my next birthday cake like that.
She's so gorgeous!
Denysewhelan says
April 11, 2012 at 12:45 pmHeaven on a stick is that pic of Veggie Baby setting stuck into her cake!! Oh you poor mama tho, all that work making her a checked cake …never mind! Hope the laughs eventually came when you saw her at the paper towels. What is not to love!!
I so get 80s themed parties…they were the cakes from out of the women's weekly birthday cake book. Some I made, others mum created for my kids. Sweet times. I love the picked onions too! And those brown salad bowls..let me see, I think I stil have some!
Love Denyse xx
Mamacook_blog says
April 11, 2012 at 7:27 pmI'm slightly scared by all of this… My parents gave me 100's and 1000's on bread as a 'treat' which I always hated!
Raynor says
April 12, 2012 at 3:34 amHave I told you that you're my hero? This is my kinda party! Cheezels! Holla! Love it all. ^_^ You're amazing. And your little Vegglette is the most adorbz bubba ever. But, you know this.
Cherie @ a baby called Max says
April 12, 2012 at 5:17 amHappy birthday Veggie Baby!
That last photo? Pure gold.
And that walker? That was my daily shower. And sometimes still is 🙂
Good luck to the person who wants to take my shower away from me. Seriously.
coco13 says
April 12, 2012 at 11:31 pmMy baby girl looooooooves her walker! chases the dogs around the house, very cute to watch. Happy Birthday Baby! now i want cake! 😉
Veggie Mama says
April 13, 2012 at 2:56 amDAMNED, I tell you!
Veggie Mama says
April 13, 2012 at 2:56 amThat kid is so darn cute 🙂
Veggie Mama says
April 13, 2012 at 2:57 amurg, it's awful. AWFUL!
Veggie Mama says
April 13, 2012 at 2:57 amMeanwhile, what else are you scared of? cheezels and M&Ms? really?!
Veggie Mama says
April 13, 2012 at 2:58 amYou're everything I would like to beeeeeeeeeee
Veggie Mama says
April 13, 2012 at 2:58 amHaha if it stops my kid touching a hot oven, I'm all over it. I've definitely done the shower thing too 🙂
Veggie Mama says
April 13, 2012 at 2:59 amoh my gosh, that's cute huh?! I love hearing the little footsteps running up the hallway 🙂
Veggie Mama says
April 13, 2012 at 2:59 amWho needs cutlery?!
Zoey @ Good Googs says
April 30, 2012 at 10:01 amBest baby and cake shot EVER.
Veggie Mama says
May 3, 2012 at 4:48 amDamn she's cute.