My Gracie Bear turns 3 tomorrow!
July “fird” as she says :)
It’s her golden birthday which is kind of a bummer since she doesn’t get that concept. But then again I didn’t know about golden birthdays till after mine either and I survived.
This year’s birthday festivities have been SO MUCH FUN. Grace has been to a handful of birthday parties in the past year and has watched kid after kid get presents, eat cake, and enjoy being the guest of honor.
So, when she realized that this was HER party, she was so excited!
The night before the party, I stayed up late hanging crepe paper around the dining room, kitchen, bathroom and her bedroom doorway. When she woke up the next morning and came out of her room I picked her up to wish her a happy “party day” and she saw the paper, grabbed my face and squealed, “Thank you so much for all these things, mommy!”
It was probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
She wandered around the house “oohing” and “aaahing” over all the decorations.
Best $3 I’ve spent. HANDS DOWN.
We went to church, had bagels with Andy’s family and then headed home to finish setting up for the party.
I wanted to keep it low-key this year so we really just set up some tables, hung a banner and some balloons and picked up a bunch of chicken, potatoes and coleslaw from Chicken Shack.
The most effort I put in was making homemade strawberry cupcakes with strawberry royal buttercream frosting. Annie’s Eats recipe in case you’re curious :)
My little princess requested pink cupcakes with pink frosting and pink sugar, so I had to deliver!
The frosting on these bad boys is so smooth and silky and tastes like strawberry ice cream. For real.
I’m always bummed at how the pattern on the cupcake “wrappers” disappears when you bake the batter inside, so I set each cupcake into another wrapper to try to show the princess pattern, but it ended up looking a little goofy. Oh well…
Because I didn’t want to stress out or go overboard I didn’t even take pictures of all of the decor elements which is bumming me out a little, but I got a few shots of the party action and my sweet sister was sure to capture Grace opening her gifts. Here’s a little peek at the festivities (sorry for the poor picture quality)
The spread
Avery, TeeTee and Kevin :)
Avery, Aunt Jennifer and Daddy
His Royal Highness Uncle David with Mimi
A selfie with Avery….I can’t resist dressing for the theme :)
Inside chairs outside because we’re klassy like that! (sorry Mom and Andy…it’s the only shot I have of the outdoor setup)
I love Grace’s face in this one…watching her boy cousins make the most of her playscape :)
This one of my brother and Avery melts my heart.
Her face in this one SLAYS me.
Make a wish!
Ready to dig in :)
Overall it was a great day with family coming together to celebrate our sweet little princess. She had a ball playing with her cousins and she was so sweet about each of the gifts that she received. Giving hugs and saying thank you to everyone made me so proud :)
I’m brainstorming what we’ll do tomorrow on her actual birthday and think we’ll keep it simple like pancakes for breakfast, maybe a trip to the zoo (weather permitting) and whatever she wants for dinner which will probably be a PB&J.
I’m so very thankful that I get to be her mom. God’s goodness is evident every time I look into her sweet blue eyes :)
Also? Three going on THIRTEEN!
So adorable….Love the pictures that you did get and love that it is low key! .. And again LOVE LOVE LOVE your outfit and necklace!! You always are the cutest little Mom I have every seen!
And you are the most encouraging person I think I know! I love you, girl :)
Happy happy birthday, grace!!! I am totally with you on being bummed about those stupid cupcake liners getting ruined. I have so many and finally started using them in my cupcake tower to hold individual servings of candy. So how did you hold yourself back this year with the party? Just curious. I need some tips:)
Grace had an awesome birthday but kept asking for her friends to come to her party :( Next year I think we’ll venture into “friend party territory” Lol. I held back by just deciding to do immediate families and call it a day. I got put through the ringer by one of my aunts, but you can’t make everyone happy so I guess you’ve just got to do what you can manage!
It looks like the birthday was a great time and those cupcakes look really great. Princess parties are always fun :)
Happy Birthday Gracie!!
The cupcakes look divine…I actually noticed the extra wrap before you said anything and thought it was a great display idea. I have to ask…what sized frosting tip did you use? I think my star tip is too tiny & I want frosting for cupcakes I’m making to look like yours.
Thank you Jennifer :) I used the Wilton 1M tip http://www.wilton.com/technique/1M-Swirl I used a small tip for ages until I wised up to the fact that all the cupcakes I loved had a bigger swirl and thus a bigger tip. I hope yours turn out just the way you want them to with this tip!
I loved this. Those cupcakes are adorable and you did a wonderful job with it all. Bella had a Cinderella party for her 3rd and it was so much fun – something about girl birthdays. :)