Hardware Baby turns Sweet 16

Our sweet lil' baby Kate, Hardware Baby, Bouchy,  Katie Magoo, Princess Kate turned Sweet 16 this September.  So proud of our girl.  She gives us so many things to be thankful for and blesses us daily with her gentleness and kindness.

While we couldn't arrange for everything that she desired for her birthday (friends from BC are hard to arrange),  she did get to ride her horse and we surprised her with a great birthday cake if I do say so myself!

 Now the above photo can use some explanation ~ Kate had no idea why she had 30 envelopes to open.  I have asked a few family and friends to write a little note or advice "To my 16 year self" for Kate.  She had wonderful responses.

 There were some hilarious ones from our BC neighbors, advice to travel and explore the world.  Advice to stop saving up for those sensible shoes and buy that Poodle skirt instead.  Advice to save some of her favorite clothes from this age for 20 years from now.
Advice on picking a life partner, advice to relax and to trust her parents and those who loved her.

Finally her own cuddly house coat ~ now Mei can have her's back!

 She has her cards and letters posted all over her wall in her room ~ thank you to everyone who sent a little note.

Always a horse lover, another horse blanket

 I had originally planned to order a cake from a dear friend who has a great cake decorating business in Oak Lake MB ( "Candace's Creations" on Facebook).  Sadly, her father in law died suddenly and we decided that I would just make a cake and Kate was happy with that.  Little did she know that in the last minute, Candace pulled off this GLUTEN FREE, Dairy Free Hobbit House cake in no time flat!  What a wonderful surprise for Kate and all the little cousins that got to OHHH and AHHHH over it!

 We didn't want to cut into it, it was so adorable... but... well....little mouths didn't mind digging in and eating the pathway and butterflies, etc.

Birthday Party Games and Fun

Mei's 10th Birthday Party theme was "Crazy Weirdo Dress Up" and "Fancy Dress Up Dinner"

Pin the Fin on the Beluga

 Some participants were lead astray in the games ~ all for the amusement of the rest

 The great apple on a spoon race

 This friend won the prize for the wackiest outfit!

 

The Sparkler Surprise!

 After their Fancy Dress Up Pizza dinner, they decided to run around the garden park for a bit

The last photo makes me think of how quickly the years fly past us...all my children have entered the "double digits" now.  How sweet that first phase of parenthood was and how sweet is this promise of the next ones to come!

Mei's Birthday Party Part 2 ~ Decorating and a Fondant Cake

The best part about parties is doing the decorating.  Inviting a friend over to help you makes it even better.

 Thrift Note: Michael's craft store in Manitoba often has big bins outside marked $0.50...we found everything we needed for decorating with a theme from invitations to party favors there.

 Slipped this photo in of the birthday girl getting her breakfast in bed...and yes, her night shirt was hinting to the same!

 She insisted on a store bought cake mix, so her cake would be very tiny.  Not a bad thing, then you don't have to eat leftover cake for days on end.  I added some raspberry jam in between the 2 layers to help it stick together and to give it a bit more flavor.

 Made up a simple butter cream frosting to apply all over the cake before the fondant.  I used this recipe and you can easily half or double the recipe Butter Cream Frosting Recipe

 We had never made a fondant icing before and our cake baking friend was not available.  Another friend told us about Marshmallow fondant.  Sounded pretty good, so we used this Marshmallow Fondant Recipe

 The only thing we did a little mess up on was the amount of marshmallows.  The grams/oz are not the same, so in Canada, we need about 1 1/2 bags of mini marshmallows.  It was obvious when we started to mix it ~ it was still crumbly.  I simply warmed up more marshmallows and added them in.  Great results and it rolls out so nicely.  I sprayed a little oil on the table and that was it!

 Used our pizza cutter to trim the fondant around the bottom, then used our fingertips to shape the rest.

We thought it looked like a little hat

Our first Marshmallow Fondant Icing Cake