There’s the birthday girl, approving of the party decorations before her guests arrived.
Eleanor requested a Play-Doh party this year. Brandon’s mom, a former preschool teacher, came through with some fantastic ideas for pulling it off. She whipped up homemade play dough in several colors, and also came up with the idea to create little chef’s hats for the kids to wear (which they did all wear at various points). Everyone had their own station to work at.
The Play-Doh birthday cake was Brandon’s genius idea. He asked a couple of local bakeries if they could pull it off, and most of them replied that they don’t do custom cakes (what?), but Reuter’s Bakery came through. It was pretty spectacular.
I told the kids that we needed their help to make the birthday cake (they hadn’t seen the real one yet), so they each made their own out of play dough. I gathered their creations, thanked them, and they went off to play in the living room while we cleaned off the dining room table. We called everyone back over after their places were set, we brought the real cake out, and everyone sang Happy Birthday.
Four-year-olds are awesome, because they’re still young enough to fall for a cute trick.
Brandon and I are glad that we had the party at home. It was fun to have Eleanor’s friends over, and later, family came by too. We made one long day of it!
(Hope you had a great birthday, kiddo.)
Kris T
May 14, 2013 at 1:29 pmwe LOVE Reuters Bakery! They did an amazing job on my son’s cake and not only was is beautiful, it was one of the best tasting cakes I’ve had in a while.
liz
May 14, 2013 at 1:32 pmDarling party! What a great idea! LOVE the cake! Also love the the party was at your house! I have some of the best memories of childhood parties at home… I hope that’s a trend that is coming back!
Making it Lovely
May 15, 2013 at 9:11 amI hope so, too! All of the other kids’ parties that we’ve been invited to have been held elsewhere though.
Kayla aka Kilo Bravo
May 14, 2013 at 1:34 pmLove this birthday party idea! And it’s nice to see you were brave enough to do it at home…love the gold animals too :-)
Ashlea Walter
May 14, 2013 at 1:43 pmSo great! What a wonderful idea and nicely executed. Wren will be four in less than two weeks too. Where did the time go?!
Mandy @ This Girl's Life
May 14, 2013 at 1:44 pmWhat a fun party! That cake is phenomenal!
Chloe @Ergo-Blog
May 14, 2013 at 1:47 pmThat is one amazing cake idea!! Aww the kids must have all felt like they really helped! So cute! Happy birthday to your lil girl! =)
wendy
May 14, 2013 at 1:57 pmWOW such a cute party! And that cake was amazing!!! Happy birthday Eleanor: )
Bliss-ologie
May 14, 2013 at 2:00 pmThat cake its amaze balls!!!
Sarah from a fine line
May 14, 2013 at 2:27 pmReally cute party idea (way to go elanor)! Very smart to give each kid a separate station (way to go mom). I’m in the midst of planning my almost three year old’s “southern-style bbq birthday picnic” and feeling the urge to go absolutely bananas. My husband keeps saying that she’ll never remember the purple stripey straws, but I just can’t help myself. Any advice on keeping a child’s birthday party reasonably prices but still really really adorable?
Making it Lovely
May 15, 2013 at 9:15 amMy parties are probably pretty formulaic, but it works for us. The dining room is central in our house, and it’s where most of the party happens, so that’s the room I concentrate on the most. The window gets banners and paper daisies, the built-in buffet holds gift bags, presents, and yes — stripey straws. The table is set, obviously, and that’s pretty much it. I might put some balloons around the house, and usually some flowers in the living room and kitchen. I keep it kind of simple.
Sarah from a fine line
May 14, 2013 at 2:28 pmSorry Eleanor for misspelling your name!
Making it Lovely
May 15, 2013 at 9:16 am(No worries. It happens!)
Megan
May 14, 2013 at 2:44 pmI love the idea of having them “make the cake”. This is actually something that I distinctly remember from my first grade class. We were each given an item to bring from home to make a mud cake – things like sticks, leaves, rocks, etc. What a surprise when our teacher brought out a real cake at the end of the day for us to eat.
Paula | www.seaislanddrive.com
May 14, 2013 at 3:00 pmThat cake is really fantastic! Great party idea!
Katrina
May 14, 2013 at 3:29 pmHer party is darling! Homemade play-doh is the best! My mom was a preschool teacher too for many years and recently gave me her recipe! Along with three batches of play-doh so much fun!
Making it Lovely
May 15, 2013 at 9:16 amWe gave the recipe out in each gift bag for the kids to make at home!
Christina W.
May 14, 2013 at 4:53 pmSuper cute party! I am dying for the dress she’s wearing, though. I would wear an adult version!
Jayne
May 15, 2013 at 6:04 amI agree–the dress Eleanor’s wearing is adorable and I would wear it! Very cute party and so nice to have it at home.
Making it Lovely
May 15, 2013 at 9:20 amIsn’t it cute? It’s a tunic that my mom gave her for Christmas.
Robin M
May 14, 2013 at 5:09 pmI can’t get over those plates with the striped rim! Where did you find them? Darling party idea too :-)
Making it Lovely
May 15, 2013 at 9:19 amThe plates were from Target, a couple of years ago.
Ash
May 14, 2013 at 5:36 pmHow lucky are your kiddos – totally robbing your play doh party! Have been following your blog since I was pregnant with my first baby – he’s going to be 4 in September – and we have a 2 year age gap between our two little ones as well so it’s so cool to check out how you do party’s (and life!) – your kids are going to have so many beautiful memories to look back on. Give yourself a pat on the back mom as sometimes we don’t – you’re doing a beautiful job.
Making it Lovely
May 15, 2013 at 9:19 amThank you.
Jami Murphy
May 14, 2013 at 7:17 pmMy Lydia just turned four also. She wore the same shirt as Eleanor at her home party – and- looks like we had similar decorations! Lydia’s birthday craft was animal focused so I had all those fun plastic animals wearing party hats too! Have to say, the play doh idea was genius. Maybe next time for us! I’ll have to check back and see if we match again next year ;) jami
Lauren
May 14, 2013 at 7:23 pmThat cake is amazing:) I love how you went with the play doh theme, certainly not easy to make into a party. But it turned out awesome:) I love birthdays!!!
jackie jade
May 14, 2013 at 8:34 pmlooks like an awesome party! and how doesn’t do custom cakes? isn’t that what bakeries do?
julia-lifeonchurchill
May 14, 2013 at 9:12 pmI love the play-dough idea! Happy Birthday to Eleanor!
Korin
May 14, 2013 at 11:54 pmSooo, where did Miss Eleanor get her sweet little 4 year old dress!?
Making it Lovely
May 15, 2013 at 9:21 amMy mom gave it to her for Christmas.
A. @ Hello Door Seven
May 15, 2013 at 12:48 amHappy birthday Eleanor!
oh, and I love the cake! :D
D
May 15, 2013 at 1:54 amLove Eleanor’s idea! Guess she’s got the creative gene :) And love that you could follow it through so creatively!
Happy Birthday, E!
maja @modchalet
May 15, 2013 at 2:37 amShe is so adorable! And so creative. Whenever I ask my boys for a birthday theme it is always the same… trains! I also really love that haircut :)
meenal@maison marigold
May 15, 2013 at 5:41 amWhat a lovely idea for the party and the cake! looks like your pretty girl had a awesome birthday..best wishes to her..xx meenal
Denise
May 15, 2013 at 7:13 amThe gold animals, are they diy?
Making it Lovely
May 15, 2013 at 9:27 amThe big giraffe with a party hat was sent over by The Land of Nod as an invitation to their store’s 10th anniversary party, and the swizzle sticks were from Gnome Sweet Gnome.
Jen @ RamblingRenovators
May 15, 2013 at 9:02 amWhat a cute and colourful party! And oh my gosh, that’s the biggest birthday cake! Eleanor must have been in heaven.
Christine
May 15, 2013 at 12:04 pmThat cake is bananas!! Amazing.
Erin
May 15, 2013 at 3:04 pmI don’t have kids, but now I want to rent one so that I can do a Playdough party with a cake like that. Absolutely amazing!
First House Spouse
May 16, 2013 at 1:33 pmThis is the most organized kid’s birthday party I’ve ever seen…and it looks fun! Skills – you’ve got them.
Olivia
May 16, 2013 at 5:33 pmOh fantastic! I’m glad you were able to use the drink stirrers from my Etsy shop! They look adorable!
Christy
May 16, 2013 at 11:35 pmHappy birthday to Elanor!
Brandon is a genius! What a fantastic cake. The bakery did a great job.
Stephanie
May 17, 2013 at 6:21 amBrilliant cake! They did such a good job! Looks like all the kids had fun, too.
Nicoletta
May 20, 2013 at 2:22 pmI like how you kept it simple! I think it’s easy to go overboard with games and such at a party but at this age keeping it simple is best. Love the theme! My son is turning 3 soon and keeps saying he wants a spiderman party (shutters) he doesn’t even watch spiderman! Hoping he changes his mind before August! lol
Erin @ The Great Indoors
May 20, 2013 at 5:36 pmWhat a lovely party idea, and fun memories for Miss E. And I love the cake trick- I’ll have to keep that one in mind!
Erin
Kristen
May 24, 2013 at 9:31 amThis is the perfect party. I have a daughter who just turned five and my two year-old boy is August’s age. I get a lot of inspiration from you! Are those big pink stars on the table the same ones that you decorate with a Christmas? I went on a quest last Christmas trying to find a star like that for my tree, all I found were ornaments:) Would you share where those are from?
Making it Lovely
May 24, 2013 at 9:32 amYes, they’re Christmas decorations! I picked them up at Target a few years back. The little spikes attach to the center, and then pop off to make it easier to store.
Julie
January 22, 2014 at 1:25 pmI came across this post as I am thinking of a play-doh party for my daughter’s third birthday in few months…I’m just wondering what you did for the party invitations.
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