Monday, February 21, 2011

A Sunflower Cake to Celebrate Six!

~ for my sunshine girl ~

My Littlest recently turned six. Moms always say how fast your babes grow up ~ how true it seems. It still feels like yesterday that my Solana Fae was looking up into my eyes for the first time and I was falling madly in love!

For this birthday she informed me she wanted a surprise party. I wasn't expecting that request but agreed to go for it ~ this could be fun! 
 Luna and I thought about it and decided to throw her an indoor garden party. Being in the depths of a cold and long winter, we thought brining spring to life inside might be just the thing for celebrating!

We started our preparations by growing lots of (wheat) grass in baskets...

A beautiful taste of spring to have all that fresh green life in the home! ~

On the day of the party we set out the baskets and filled them with flowers to create our indoor garden. The girls then arrived one by one and choose their hiding spots to jump out of.


There was so much excitement as we eagerly awaited the birthday girls arrival...

and succeeded in surprising her!
(please excuse the blurriness of the photo ~ I couldn't resist sharing)

We spent the afternoon sharing tea in the garden...


doing garden inspired crafts ~ creating flower fairies, painting and decoupaging flower pots and stringing flower necklaces.

We nibbled on flower fairy sandwiches and other delights.


For her cake I wanted to create something that shouted summer!
I decided to do a spin off of my sun cake.
With this cake though, we baked an extra chocolate round cake for the center. We iced it with chocolate icing and Luna patiently and meticulously did a spiral of chocolate chips on top. We also added an extra set of cake rays to fill it all out.
It seemed perfect for my girl whose name means sunshine!

Big sister (oh so proudly) and papa carried out the cake...


and our birthday girl made her wish.


When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six,
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.
A.A. Milne


Grateful for another turn around the sun with this girl.
Here's to fleeting toothless smiles, infectious giggles, mischievious sparkly eyes and the JOY that our children exude!

With love
~ Shanti ~

p.s. if you haven't already checked it out ~ my co-blogger Maureen is organizing a wonderful kiddie pen pal club!
Deadline for entries is February. 25th
Come on over join in!

18 comments:

  1. what a lovely birthday! I love the basket idea it would work perfect for my youngest 5th birthday in march we are doing rainbow garden fairies.

    where can i get wheat grass? do you line the baskets or just plant in a planter placed in the baskets?

    Happy Birthday!!!!

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  2. what a lovely birthday party! get's me just itching for springtime. I love the grass in baskets, I remember always doing that with my children when they were little. Maybe we'll do that today. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  3. Loved this!!! I LOVE BIRTH day parties.....this was a glorious description!!! Great!

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  4. What a beautiful splash of summer in mid-February. As a Feb girl myself, I would have loved a party like that. Perfection! Happy Birthday to your sweet girl!

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  5. What great ideas for a birthday party! And just perfect for this cold blustery time of year! Your little one looks so joyful, I love those sweet toothless smiles!

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  6. Such a sweet idea! Love the grass, what a fantastic touch. Solana is such a lucky girl to have you as a mom :)

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  7. What a beautiful cake! May I ask how you got the icing so smooth?

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  8. Shanti, I thought the grass looked wonderful on its own in the baskets. But the grass with the flowers? Swooning. And the tea cup and saucer! And the sunburst of a flower cake! And...well you are an incredible mama and hostess.

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  9. This is fabulous! I just finished making a post to celebrate my little one turning 3. She asked for a dinosaur birthday this year, but was sad we couldn't have an outdoor party. She didn't really grasp why we couldn't have her party in the grass and sun. Why on earth would the world not thaw and blossom for a day, it was her *birthday* after all! ;)

    Thank you for the inspiration to make that dream come true in a year to come, I'm excited already :P What a gorgeous celebration, you're little person looks aglow with joy. <3

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  10. What a fun birthday with a burst of summer!

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  11. Sunny Solana...what a perfect birthday theme for that girl...so fully of warmth and beauty. I am so very grateful that our girls could be there to share her special day! I see the surprise was a huge success! Just look at that face! :)

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  12. Butterfly wishes... growing wheat grass is oh so easy. First soak your hard wheat kernels in water for 12-24 hrs. Line your baskets with plastic (shopping bags work great) and fill with about 2 inches of soil. Sprinkle on your seeds ~ they can be touching just not on top of each other. Then sprinkle just enough soil on top to cover them. Leave in a darkish place until they sprout and then put them in a sunny window to grow and "green up"! Hope that helps. Enjoy your growing!

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  13. Vigilceo... Thank you! ~ getting the icing smooth was a bit of trial and error (and ahh... this is making me crazy!) but eventually I discovered that if you ice a thin layer on top of the cake first (for this cake I did it piece by piece for the rays) and then warm your leftover icing just until it can poured on (but still thick) ~ you can pour it on carefully to give you a smooth even appearance. Hope that helps!

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  14. Absolutely delightful - all of it! Did you get her a copy of Now we are six? I bought one for my big girl when she turned six, just couldn't resist it!

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  15. Wonderful! I absolutely love it!

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