First birthday fever

I promised myself I would not go overboard for Baby Cheaperthan's first birthday. I firmly believe that it is crazy to pour a ton of time, money and energy into a party for a kid who will remember exactly none of it. My plan was to invite our closest family to brunch at McNally Robinson. But then I thought, "It's a special occasion, we should invite the aunts and uncles and cousins." And then I thought, "We should invite our playdate friends who've made this such a great year." And then I thought, "I'll do a come-and-go cupcake party, how hard can that be?" And then I had a guest list of fifty, and I was officially infected with First Birthday Fever.

One sign that you have First Birthday Fever: you are tempted to do everything by hand. For one insane moment I did consider hand-making invitations. Luckily I thought better of it, and went instead to Kodak Gallery to order custom photo cards. Very cute, and if you pick them up at a local retailer (in my case, Best Buy) then you don't have to pay shipping.

I was also tempted to make a piñata shaped like a cupcake. Especially when I saw samples at All Things Cupcake online. But again reason prevailed, and the piñata idea was abandoned.

Good thing too. Turned out I needed some spare time for making actual cupcakes. Originally I was going to order them, but they're kinda pricey when you're ordering enough for fifty hungry guests. At Sweet Impressions on Tache and at the Cupcake Corner on Stradbook, custom cupcakes are $3 each. High Tea Bakery (a personal favorite) sells them for $2 each, or $23/dozen.

Once I decided I was going to make the cupcakes, all I had to do was learn how. Luckily I had my friend Sarah's Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, and a YouTube tutorial on how to ice a cupcake at my fingertips. Let me tell you, Helen Shroyer is my hero. At 1:30 a.m., I iced my last cupcake. I was covered in food coloring and my hands were aching but I was pretty pleased with the result (the display stand on loan from MAWA is a helpful touch).



Let me tell you, if you are going to ice cupcakes until the wee hours, it does help if you have a team of people taking care of other small party details like, say, food and party wear. Luckily a few people had my back. Grannie, Lola and Auntie E. set up a buffet feast and Auntie R. contributed the cutest cupcake dress in the world (a Small Potatoes creation). Most importantly of course Baby Cheaperthan had a great day (with no nap-deprived meltdowns, yay!). I know she won't remember it, but I definitely will. Thank goodness we have a year to relax until Birthday #2.