Make your own birthday cakes!

I LOVE birthday parties! Anyone one who knows me, knows that I go all out at birthdays! It has been a blessing we have been on a budget all these years. It has forced me to be creative. Thus, I have a lot of thrifty ideas when it comes to parties. I will share some of them with you from time to time. Here is one:

If possible, make your own birthday cake! This year, for my youngest child's first birthday, I made the lamb cake shown. It was SO easy! I found the idea at the Family Fun website. This site has become my "go to" place for cake ideas. They are not too complicated and they have step by step instructions.

So, what if you don't know how to bake, don't like to bake, or don't have time to bake? I have a solution for that, too! Buy the cakes already baked! One year, I decided to make a barn cake in 3-D. I bought about 8 (loaf-pan sized) pound cakes on sale for around $2 each, stacked them with icing between the cakes, cut the tops to look like the roof of a barn and iced the outside red. With a few more finishing touches with different colors of icing, and some plastic barnyard animals... I had a $50 cake for less than $25! (FYI: pound cakes work great for 3D cakes because they are so dense. They hold together very well.)

Another option is to have the grocery store bake the cakes and put icing on them... but not decorate them. They usually charge around $10-$15 for a half a sheet cake depending on where you go. Then, all you need is a zip-lock baggie and some decorating tips for the icing. Practice squeezing the baggie to get the pressure right, then you are ready to work on your cake. If you need inspiration, look up any birthday theme on the internet... there are tons of pictures to encourage you. It is amazing what you can do with a little imagination!

Another idea is to buy a 3D cake pan. For my son's Thomas the Tank Engine party, I found a cake pan that bakes a three-dimensional train. I found this one at Amazon. I changed the colors to look like Thomas. It is a little more involved than the others I have talked about... but very much worth the extra effort. This cake pan set costs $12.95 plus shipping. You might be able to find one cheaper on EBay.

You will be so glad you made the birthday cake for your little one. They will remember the cake you made (even if it is not perfect) much longer than one you bought at the store!