For those of you who were reading along last summer, you might remember the dozens of posts about Daphne’s 1st birthday party preparations. I designed the invitation, made the birthday banner and high chair tutu, had a custom birthday hat made, tried out way too many recipes for cake, icing and fondant in the quest to make the perfect tiered birthday cake. We even made a tiered smash cake. Instead of a theme, I just concentrated on a color scheme- orange and various shades of pink. And you know what, instead of being able to enjoy Daph’s party I was totally frakking exhausted. Of course, the strawberry margaritas I served at the party didn’t help.

This year I’m taking a completely different route. Part of me still wants to plan this over the top party and make everything from scratch. I’d love to do an Alice in Wonderland tea party theme with a topsy-turvy cake and all kinds of fun, colorful decorations. Or maybe a Candyland theme, complete with an Amy Atlas style candy bar. And those would be fun themes, maybe when she’s older. But for now… I’m planning an ELMO party.

Yep. Elmo. I admit to being a little bit of a snob when it comes to character themes and clothing. It’s not my style. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind it on other people. I would never think, “Oh my goodness, look at that tacky little kid in a Dora shirt.” I don’t care what other people wear or what party themes they choose. I’m just weird. But when I see how much Daphne adores Elmo, I throw out my prejudices and say, “Ok. If Elmo makes you happy, then we are going to have the best Elmo party ever!! Woohoo!!!” Then I try and seek out a way to merge my quirky style, with Elmo. That. Is. Hard.

So far, my plan is to keep it simple. Basic plates/cups (solid colors or polka dots), lots of balloons, pizza from Fuzzy’s (last year we made appetizers and dinner on top of all the party stuff), and the coolest Elmo cake ever (I hope). We have the Wilton mini-bear pan, which we will use to make a 3-D Elmo that will sit on a fondant covered round cake. I still need to work on a birthday invitation so I’ll have time to get them printed and mailed. And that’s it. Unless I can talk my husband into learning how to tie balloon animal Elmos. Hahahaha! That would never happen.