Pinwheel {party}

 My sweet little girl was turning 6, so I wanted to make the day very special for her.  Her birthday also falls on my wedding anniversary AND just a few days after Father's Day.  Yep, we are busy, busy in the month of June. Oh, and I was still having showings on our house during that time, so life was kind of crazy, but I made it through it. :)  

I had done most of the decorating a month in advance--a little here & there, since I knew it was all going to hit at once.  I decided we would just do a family party, since I didn't have it in me to have a big friends party, next year though. :)  I showed my daughter some pinwheel pictures, and she loved them, so I decided that was going to be the theme of her party. 

Here's the breakdown of the decor at the party--

I fell in love with the crepe paper backdrop from Kristyn over at Lil' Luna, so I did that, but in pink.

I made 10 pinwheels, using this pinwheel tutorial.

The adorable (and free!) birthday printable is found here 

And here is how to make the rosette cake 

 (funny story about that to follow)

 I made a '6' shirt for the birthday girl--I actually used Velcro on the back of the number, so I could change out the appliques for different occasions.  

The banner was made last year.

I also made a '4' for my other daughter who has a birthday this month, with the same chevron fabric.

I wrapped tulle around the glass jars & frame for a whimsical effect

The cake is a really awesome story.

I was **trying** to think ahead & prepare the cake the day before.  The plan was to have chocolate cake on top, mousse in the middle & strawberry cake on bottom.

I spent all afternoon baking the cakes & making the mousse.

I was kind of running out of time, so I decided to assemble the cakes.

Stacked them in the correct order, then frosted the entire cake.

I was busy cleaning up, when my 4-year old yells, 'mom, the cake is falling apart!'.

My heart dropped, I was so upset over the whole thing  The mousse was literally oozing out, making the cake totally fall apart.  I had to laugh, or I was going to cry.

I had to think fast, so I grabbed the top layer & stuck it on a plate.  The bottom mess went right in the trash.

I frosted the top of the cake & stuck it in the fridge.

Here is where I went wrong--the cakes were not fully cooled AND the mousse was not completely set up.

Lesson learned. :)

I was able to save the cake though, at least the top of it, and it turned out to be a great centerpiece for the party. :)

And even though the cake didn't turn out exactly as I had planned, it didn't matter a single bit to this little girl, who couldn't have been happier with how her pinwheel party turned out.

 Oh, and the chocolate cake was pretty tasty after all. :)