photographic proof of partiness

the day began with every other thing going wrong. when i finally gave in, & stopped trying to make everything look just as i had imagined, things righted themselves. most never did turn out as i'd planned, but elfling & his guests had great fun. lesson learned. mostly. ;)

on to the photos! whilst i still have not mastered baking, it turns out i can make a mean frosting. i adapted this recipe, at the suggestion of my dearest friend (& master baker) spryte. she said to cut the sugar by half. i did, & heartily recommend you do as well. it was perfectly sweet that way. i piped it onto vanilla cupcakes (above) & spice cupcakes (below). after piping i just dipped them gently into sprinkles.

these spice cakes were gluten-free. originally i'd skimped on the frosting, not knowing if i would have enough for all 24 (there was more than enough. manlyman & i ate the remaining. with spoons.). in the end i was glad i had, because it made it easier to see which were the gluten-free. i did put them on their own tray, with a gf sign (flag on skewer), but forgot to take a photo of that to show you.

here are some shots of the food. i tried to stick with things you'd eat at parties when i was a kid. fruit, chips, & so on.

funny how the food matched the party's color scheme.

i have to admit that i am ooged by kids hands in my food, so kept the popcorn safe for adults by setting out decoy popcorn.

the decoys worked well, with a bonus! once emptied, the kids filled their bags with other snacks through the rest of the day. i shall definitely do this at future parties.

 

there wasn't enough time to make chex mix; a staple of every party when i was little; but i managed to toss pretzels & whales into a bucket. mock mix, if you will. a little mug from our picnic kit made the perfect scoop.

i loved the drink station. it was set up on a sturdy old bench, with a cooler to the side. oh! i found retro sodas at the grocery store! pepsi & 7-up made with the original recipes -  no corn syrup! i made a few pitchers of iced tea & had waters chilling, but when i saw those? well, how could i resist? they fit the theme. i digress.

the little wagon  kept the cups from getting blown over, & the pen from rolling off the bench. that red utensil caddy usually houses blank mushrooms & people turnings. you would have been horrified at the amount of dust it had accumulated. apparently the house elves don't clean my studio as well as they ought. digressing again - back to the cups. look at the stickers i made for each:

 

not to self - the item you want to feature should be in focus, not the background. we always put out a pen, with cups & bottles, for guests to write their names. to make things more fun, i created these stickers. i altered (in picasa) a hello my name is sticker to read hands off my drink. i like how they turned out.

here we have the photo booth corner. had i taken pictures of it before the kids set about mugging, the backdrop would not  appear as if i'd been drinking when i hung it. sigh.

a closer shot of the sign. do you recognize the bunting? those were from thehobbit's party last year. only a few guests asked why the newspaper was written in japanese :)

i had meant to have more props, (an empty frame, harry potter glasses, etc) but waited too long to gather things from about thebelfry. as it was, guests had arrived before i'd put these few items out. the mustaches were great fun to make, & a huge hit. i had them stuck in the holes of a parmesan jar. the jar kept them safe, & the dried lentils, which filled them, kept the jar safe.

that's the top hat thehobbit used to wear, pretty much daily. i miss his fancy ways. i found the straw hat at a thrift shop a few months ago. elfling loves to wear it around the house. both made for wonderful props, i must say.

my favorite of the mustachios. perhaps i should have inked the edges.

thehobbit took this photo of  his friend h. doesn't he look like a carnival rock star? oh. i forgot to ask the kids to frame the shots so only the sign & backdrop were in the shot. ah well.

my gorgeous manlyman. swoon.

even swoonier? the birthday boy himself.

i hoped you enjoyed the photos. thanks for the visit!
~peace.