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Eleanor’s Second Birthday Party (Complete with Rainbow Cake)

We celebrated Eleanor’s birthday on Saturday. You’ve already seen the invitations, so you know I was going for a colorful kind of party. The Marimekko tablecloth and colorful gerbera daisies were a good start to the decorations.

The main attraction though? The rainbow cake. My mother-in-law helped me with it. We followed the Martha Stewart / Whisk Kid recipe; She made the cake layers and I made the frosting and assembled it.

That cake was a smashing success! Delicious and very pretty.

The paper mobiles above the table were made according to these instructions (I used card stock instead of vellum).

There were twenty balloons scattered everywhere, but somehow I missed photographing them. I got a giant gold “2″ balloon too (like these), but it blew away! Here are a few paper daisies hung in the window.

These polka-dotted paper straws were cute, but odd to drink out of.

You know that rainbow-colored, yarn-wrapped “Happy Birthday!” banner that I was going to make? Yeah, that didn’t happen. It was taking waaaay too long and I had to scrap it, so I used a “Happy Birthday” banner that we already had on hand instead.

And I filled my elephant teapot with more gerbera daisies.

Happy second birthday, my sweet little Eleanor.

Birthday Banner in Progress

I really got myself into something here. I had this great idea to make a rainbow-colored, yarn-wrapped “Happy Birthday!” banner. It’s going to be great, but I’ve been working for a few hours and I’ve only finished two and a half letters. Here’s a little peek:

I’m off to continue working.

Planning Eleanor’s Second Birthday Party

I designed the invitations this weekend. We’re just having our family over, so no need to include the address (I’m pretty sure they know how to find us).

I want to make a rainbow cake for her. Last year, I ordered a chocolate cake from the local bakery. It tasted fine, but it was kind of expensive for a plain cake and I didn’t like the way they frosted it (I decorated the top myself with a chocolate silhouette). I remember thinking that I should have just made the whole thing myself, so this year I’m going to give it a try.


photo by Nicole Hill Gerulat

I’m thinking balloons and polka dots, in lots of bright colors for the decorations. I’m sure the party will come together, but I hope I’m not being overly ambitious with the cake.

Happy Holidays

…from our expanding family.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your love and support this year and every year. Happy holidays!

Kid-Friendly Pink Christmas Tree

Our home is a bit of a mess right now since we’re going through the basement remodel, but we do at least have our pink Christmas tree up. Eleanor is a year and half old now and we weren’t sure how she would be with the tree, so we decorated it entirely with unbreakable ornaments. We’ve been reminding her to look but not touch, and she hasn’t touched them since the first day. She’s happy just pointing at the tree and exclaiming “birds!”.

I know a pink tree isn’t for everybody, and it’s pretty close to Christmas now, but I put together a design board to show you how I made our tree kid-friendly. Not all of the items on our tree are available because we’re using things we’ve had for years, but if you’re looking to do a pretty and unbreakable tree at some point, I hope you’ll find some ideas here. With our without pink.

  • Gold Pailettes Pick, Martha Stewart for Kmart (2009)
  • Pink & Red Pailettes Pick, Pier 1 (2007)
  • Clear Plastic Ornaments, Amazon
  • Silver Starburst Ornaments, available individually at Crate & Barrel stores
  • Barcana Wooden Tree Stand, Amazon
  • Feather Bird Clip Ornament, Pottery Barn
  • German Glitter Star Tree Topper, Pottery Barn
  • Pretty in Pink 6′ Christmas Tree, Treetopia

And if you want to see more of our pink tree (bedecked with lovely but delicate ornaments), be sure to check out our home decorated for Christmas last year.

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