Happy 11th Birthday Daisia!

So we've come to the end of July... and boy, was it a super busy month! It's no surprise since the summer months usually have me throwing parties, taking summer trips, and celebrating all the fun things the season offers. I couldn't let this month go by without sharing one of the most special parties I've hosted recently.

But let me first introduce you to Leah and Daisia. Leah is someone I met through my dear friend, Megan. Leah is a tutor who has been tutoring a 10 year old girl named Daisia for awhile now. From the time they share together, Leah learned how Daisia loves to cook and bake, enjoying the sights, smells and sounds of being in the kitchen. Daisia's birthday was coming up and both Megan and Leah asked if I could help make her birthday a little special. Because I love birthdays, I was thrilled! How could I say no to planning and hosting a birthday party for a little girl who is comfortable in the kitchen?!

After getting some details about Daisia's likes and dislikes, it was easy to plan her party. Pink and purple are her favorite colors and she loves Justin Bieber. Cupcakes are what she enjoys making in the kitchen and is a big fan of burgers. Oh, and she loves ice cream! Things couldn't have been more perfect timing for her party since was just in time for National Ice Cream Day, which was on July 21st.

For Daisia's party, we decked out the kitchen with pink and purple while playing Justin Bieber in the background. The menu included veggie crudites with ranch dressing {Daisia could drink ranch dressing if given the choice lol} to start. For lunch, she and her friends helped make beef sliders which we enjoyed with a slew of burger toppings and chips. And once all the savory stuff was out of the way, the fun part began...

I had Daisia and her friends make cupcakes. These weren't the usual cupcakes but rather, tie dyed cupcakes incorporating her favorite colors - pink and purple. We made a standard white cake batter, divided it among a few bowls and colored some of the batter pink and purple. After lining muffin pans, the girls filled them with the different colored batters and we baked them up...

When the cupcakes were done and cooled, we transferred them into glass jelly jars. The girls then had free reign to decorate their cupcakes in a jar with assorted frostings and sprinkles. The frostings were also white, pink and purple with flavors like cotton candy and raspberry. The sprinkles were pink and purple as well, naturally. The favors themselves were a hit because the cupcakes were contained and didn't pose as a big mess for anyone. The parents appreciated that aspect and how the glass jars could be used again to hold pens, pencils or whatever they wanted since each came with a lid. Having labels on the cupcake jars also help keep track of cupcakes. All in all, a great idea for an edible party project and favor!

While the kids were happily decorating their cupcake favors, I worked on Daisia's birthday cake. This was a monster of a cake! Three layers of white cake that I dyed pink and purple to match, vanilla buttercream frosting and a fresh mixed berry filling in between the layers made this cake special. Some of the girls helped me layer and frost the cake too. And what's a birthday cake without ice cream?!

  

Thanks to my friends of Ben & Jerry's and Wayfair, they provided the ice cream for Daisia's party since it was National Ice Cream Day after all! We had six varieties of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, all of which was well received by everyone and paired well with Daisia's birthday cake. Overall it was a wonderful event full of smiles, laughs and hugs. I feel blessed to have been a part of Daisia's special day...