Toy Story Birthday

The Toy Story 3 party finally came and went today and it was such a great time!  The candy buffet set up went really smoothly and Abby and I were invited to attend this super fun and colorful celebration for Evah, the sweetest little birthday girl.  Check out the pics below for all the cheery details.  Enjoy!

The backyard spread.

The birthday girl love, love, loves Jesse from Toy Story, so these sugar cookies are my "tip of the hat" to her.

The aliens have landed and they brought their rocket ship! These space alien cupcakes are a total riot and I couldn't be more pleased with how they turned out.

Butter cream icing

The hostess requested these Mr Potato Head cake pops by Bakerella, which I recreated here. Tons of work, but  a great payoff.

  

Potato Head detail.

The wildly talented Theresa Willerford from Lollypops and Slingshots, who referred me for this party (thankyouverymuch!), created this fabulous cake for the birthday girl.  How great is Andy's bed surrounded by all of his childhood friends?  I mean I could lay my head on that fluffy pillow right now.   So cute! 

Cake detail.

I individually packaged these gummi green army men and created this display to give them maximum impact on the table.

These Buzz Lightyear lollipops originally came with Toy Story themed Valentines and make perfect mini cupcake toppers. Two treats in one - what a lucky find!

Rainbow gum balls fill containers and bring tons of color and a happy childhood vibe to the table.

Another special request from the hostess, Hamm (aka Evil Dr. Porkchop) cake pops.

Rainbow swirl pops get a big dose of Jesse.

I surprised the hostess with these Mr. Pricklepants cupcakes, which she was super enthusiastic about.  Abby's Peter Pan hat gets some minor (temporary) alterations to stand in as a centerpiece for this cupcake display.

Detail

Sugar cookie badges.

To go goody bags

Abby tries a Mini Buzz Cake.

Evah, the birthday girl (left), was such a little sweetheart, and she and Abby got along from the jump.

Toy Story activity books

Paint your own piggy bank station

Oh, yeah.  And did I mention the ponies?!  Abs and Evah loved Dolly the Donkey and Blue the white pony (?). The handlers were great and gave them ride after ride.  Such a great party!  

Love Dolly's Jesse hat!

This smile says it all.

Cake Lessons

My neighbor Stacy and I decided we would take the plunge and sign ourselves up for cake decorating lessons at our local Michael's Craft Store.  At around $25 for 4 classes, it's a total steal.  (The gear and buckets of frosting and baked goods, however, quickly add up!)  I can't recommend the class enough to get some basic skills under your belt.  I personally have been picking up frosting tips  (the metal kind, not the friendly advice sort) for a while, but never had any idea how to use them or what they could do.  Now I at least have a starting point on the basics.  Next course: gum paste and fondant flowers.  Check out the final results of 4 classes.

Clean slate for roses

End results

 Detail

Watch out, Vons - here I come!

Preview: Toy Story Birthday

So I'm working on a new party with a really fab and fun theme: Toy Story 3.  Soooo many ideas and visuals to draw from!  I remembered that Powell's Candy Store had these gummi green army men and ran in to get some for the candy buffet.  How perfect are they?  Wasn't sure initially how I was going to use them, I just knew that I wanted needed them.

Since they're gummi candies and therefore pretty floppy, I wanted to find a way to display them that gave maximum impact.  So I bagged 'em and tagged 'em individually like toys off the shelf and will make a display board to hang them from for the party.  Love how these turned out!

Amaze-balls, no?

Hand cut sign for above the candy buffet.

Jesse swirl pops in Abby's old boots

Detail

Buzz figure

Getting closer to the party date, so I'm practicing decorating cupcakes.  We're having Mr. Pricklepants and the little green aliens, which took a little longer and a few more attempts to get just right, but I think we're there:

Mr Pricklepants hats

Mr Pricklepants trial run

 Mr Potato Head Pops!

Hamm pops!

 Jesse's hat sugar cookies

Love the whipstitch details.

detail

Woody's badge sugar cookies

UPDATE: finalized version of alien and Mr. Pricklepants cupcakes