Party Ideas: Zoe's 2nd Babushka Birthday Party

Little Zoe turned two in style with a Babushka party (using the Babushka printable party pack). Her Mum Tamara pulled together a gorgeous spread, and the most incredible Babushka Doll cake! Tamara shares her tips for Zoe's special day:

Birthday: Zoe's 2nd Birthday Party

Organised by: Zoe's Mum, Tamara
Location: Willoughby, NSW
Theme: Babushka Doll

Invitation: Printable Babushka Doll invitation by Joyess Designs for Modern Printables

Cake: Made by Zoe's Mum, Tamara. I was running really short of time so opted for the SuperMoist chocolate packet cake from Betty Crocker. I used an extra-large rectangular cake tin and two packets to ensure the cake was big enough. Chocolate Ganache icing from my local cake decorating shop Cake Decorating Solutions went on top, followed by the royal icing. I used pink, red and white icing to make the body and face and then used a small ‘icing pen’ for the white spots and the eyes and mouth. It was a lot easier than I thought!

Party Food: Made by Tamara and her family and friends. Parfait (meringue, whipped cream, fresh fruit, jelly and chocolate flakes). Chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting and a freckle on top (thanks Katrina!). Strawberry and raspberry jellies in small plastic cups. Mixed fruit (grapes, melon, strawberries, peaches) in small plastic cups. Muesli cups with layers of muesli, yoghurt and strawberries. Gingerbread men, honey jumbles and fairybread. The adults were served muesli cups (layers of muesli, yoghurt and strawberries) and bacon and egg rolls.

Decorations: Babushka Party Pack by Joyess Designs for Modern Printables. The pack includes invitation, thank you cards, bunting, tented placecards, gift tags and round toppers. The kids and I really enjoyed making the bunting and garland. Hole punching and sticking are so much fun! I also bought some pink and white lanterns from the two dollar shop which were hung up outside.

Tips:

1. I made far too many fruit cups and jellies. The kids’ favourites were the cupcakes and the fairybread!
2. Try to organise family or friends to come over early to help with the final setup. A lot of the food was only able to be prepared that morning, so it was great to have help. They arrived 30 mins before the party (and I was still in my PJs)!
3. I had bought a gorgeous new dress for Zoe to wear at her party, but of course she wasn’t interested in wearing that one and wanted to choose her own!  I was quite happy to let her pick – as long as she had a good time! Her brother also chose his outfit – superman of course!

Something Special: We organised a fairy to come to the party as a special treat. Zoe just loves fairies! Our fairy entertained the kids for about an hour with fairy dust, fairy wishes, a puppet owl, dancing games and face painting. The older kids (3-8 year olds) were totally enthralled. Some of the younger kids were a little scared and hung back at the start, but most joined fairyland before too long!

Thank you so much Tamara for all your tips from Zoe's birthday - a gorgeous party for her special day.

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin