A Splish Splash Birthday Bash!

Two weeks ago we celebrated Little Miss Four-Year-Old in summer style with a Splish Splash Birthday Bash! And I'm realizing as I write this that I already have to say "two weeks ago." But better late than never, right?

We set up the kiddie pools in the backyard, told the other kiddos to bring their swimsuits, and sat back and watched everyone dump buckets of water on each others' heads splish, splash, and have a blast. The best part (aside from the beautiful weather which was kind enough to cooperate) was that we had both sets of grandparents and all aunts and uncles present for the birthday girl's big day since my family flew in to town for a visit. I also got the treat of seeing a friend from school for the first time in five years (why didn't we get a picture together, Brittney?! Next time). I'm just loving that our new home seems like the perfect crossroads for all sorts of reunions! But I digress...

I took equal advantage of Pinterest and my loving family's desire to help, and the end result wasn't half bad. Especially since it made the birthday girl light up with glee--which we all know is the only thing that really matters! But for you folks out there who are Pinterested (ha! get it? okay not funny...) here's the behind-the-scenes breakdown: 

FLIP-FLOP CAKE

I promised my kids (well technically, myself) that I would always make their cake of choice for their birthday. My mom did the same for us growing up, and I always appreciated all the love and hard work she put in to our own special cake, regardless of how outlandish the request might be. That said, I'm not half the baker my mom is, and when the lovely lady suddenly informed me that she didn't want the oh-so-simple beach ball cake she'd originally requested (I had such lovely visions of easily frosting and decorating just one perfect round cake) and instead wanted a flip-flop cake, I panicked a little. Okay, a lot. Thankfully, with this nice little tutorial from Betty Crocker Kitchens and some help from my wonderful mother, I survived. Of course, the first cake I baked fell apart in pieces as I tried to unmold it, and after baking a second very crumbly cake, it was clear we wouldn't succeed in achieving the lovely version that the Betty Crocker ladies produced with ease. Moral of the story: never underestimate the power of high altitude, and keep the expectations low until I have my own cooking show. All in all, though, not bad! (Thanks, Mom)!
   

FLIP-FLOP BANNER

The rest fared much better, thankfully! My favorite was the flip-flop birthday banner (much of the credit goes to my brother and sister for endless hours of cutting and assembly!). Though time-consuming, it was pretty easy to figure out. Supplies included some day-glo cardstock from Office Max, one pack of colored letter stickers from Michael's, scissors, and some ribbon. We made a template and cut out the background for each letter. Then we cut little slits in each, through which we fed scraps of card stock to make the sandal straps. Last was to stick on the letters, feed each flip-flop in order onto the ribbon, secure it with some tape wherever needed, and hang. Pretty easy!

FINGER FOOD 

Of course I didn't get a good close-up of any of the food before it was gone, but it wasn't hard to run with the theme when it came to the rest of the spread! Pizza was the main course, rounded out by the following: iced Nutter Butters as "flip-flops," Goldfish in a bucket with a shovel scoop as "fresh catch," sour gummy straw "pool noodles," blue Kool-Aide "ocean water," and homemade "dunkeroos" - graham sticks with blue-colored marshmallow cream cheese dip. For the labels I just used the same card stock and some scrapbooking stickers from Michael's. All in all, very simple and fun!

FAVORS

No good pictures of the favors, either, unfortunately, but they were simple as well. We used mini buckets from Target filled with Swedish Fish, bubbles, and a mini beach ball. We printed a tag for each one with a picture of a beach ball and flip-flops that said, "Thanks, we had a ball!" 

And indeed, we did! Now crossing my fingers that my son sticks with his request for a "Blue Balloon Party" when he turns three next month...because a balloon cake I know I can handle!