The perfect party

My weekend was a bit of a let down after having to postpone a tea party that I have been planning with Birthday Girl and fabulous photographer, Sherry Heck due to rain that would just not go away. My little Graham knew that I was disappointed and was determined that the party should go on. While I was away at work Monday, he enlisted my husband's help and orchestrated a tea party of his own in honor of my birthday (a few days early). They baked & decorated a delicious cake (my favorite touch is the raw lemon slices of the outside), made yummy finger sandwiches, and brewed my best-loved tea. Graham invited some friends (Alice, Raggedy Ann, and Rosetta to name a few), set the table and added some lovely flowers from the garden to complete the look. When I arrived home he was so excited and proud of what he had created and I was blown away by the amount of thought and effort that he had put in (long attention span is not usually one of his strong points!).
I often wonder if he will remember the months-of-planning birthday parties that I have thrown for him, but I don't think they will ever be more perfect or more unforgetable than the sweet party he planned for me.

My (enormous) ruffle cake

I've admired Martha's ruffle cake forever and after seeing it pop up at parties around the blogesphere, I knew I had to try it. We hosted a birthday party for my mother-in-law this weekend so it was the perfect time to give it a shot. I found this video and being a very visual learner, it was extremely helpful. I doubled my cake recipe and made 3 1 1/2 9" layers. I started out with a doubled recipe of Swiss meringue buttercream and ran out with about 1/4 of the cake and the top unfrosted. A third batch (of not quite matching pink buttercream) did the trick.
This cake definitely gives you a big bang for your buck! The method is really simple and quick and the finished product is quite impressive. I decorated it directly on my cake stand which I think was a smart move. I can't imagine trying to transfer the cake once it was piped with pounds of frosting. If I made it again, I would definitely use a smaller tip (I used 121 petal tip) because the amount of frosting was ridiculous - adding about 3" in diameter to this already massive cake.

Be my valentine...

I know I'm a bit late and this photo is less than inspired, but I just had to share Graham's classroom valentines. After a few trips to the dollar spot at Target, I was able to accumulate the sixteen red mini mailboxes needed for all of his classmates. I made the envelope & heart sugar cookies (he added the sprinkles, I'll be vacuuming them up for months!) & designed the labels. Graham was very excited to deliver the "mail" to all of his friends!

Vote for Cakewalk!

I'm so excited that Graham's County Fair was picked as a finalist in My Insanity's 3rd Blogiversary Party Party. It would be greatly appreciated if you would pop over there and vote for my party. Many thanks to Sherry Heck for all of the magical pictures.

My (creative) to-do list

It's a little late for New Year's resolutions (maybe I should be working on procrastination...), but better late than never I guess. I woke up to bright sunny skies a couple of weeks ago and was inspired to make a list of creative goals for year. I'm not much of a list maker, so this in itself was a little bit of an accomplishment! I also figured sharing my goals would keep me more motivated to complete them.

So here are my creative resolutions for 2011:

Attempt the ruffle cake
Finish my 2 year+ arm chair upholstery project
Host a fancy tea party (scheduled for March)
Revamp my blog (must brainstorm & contact Lindsay)
Blog a least once a week (I'm on a roll!)
Host a cooking class for my mom's club (scheduled for February)
Spend more time making my garden beautiful(sweet peas, rannunculus & poppies planted)
Refinish a larger china cabinet to house my ever expanding cake stand collection (not allowed to start until the chair is complete!)
Have a dinner party and use the good silver & china
Perfect my vanilla cake & frosting recipes
Bake for a good cause (need to contact the Family House @ Children's Hospital)
Remake Martha's bubble wedding cake for my 10 year anniversary (hope I can remember how to make those sugar bubbles!)

What are your goals for the year?