My little girl just turned 3 last Friday, and I was remembering the cute birthday cake I made for her when she turned 1. Ha Ha. Haven’t been good at making cute birthday cakes this year…so I’ll just have to share the ones I’ve made in the past! Maybe next year I will be up to the challenge again of doing something creative!

This cake is made with 2 round cakes (for the head and belly) and 7 cupcakes (for the paws, nose, and ears). I also used yellow gumdrops for the paws, black gumdrops for the eyes, and black frosting gel for the nose and mouth. I used pink frosting for the belly and ears, yellow frosting for the rest of it, and then I dyed coconut yellow and put it on top. I couldn’t find the exact instructions…But hopefully you get the idea. It was pretty easy…though not as easy as just making cupcakes. (which is what I did this year!) ha ha.

My little brother just turned 8 a few weeks ago! (Can you believe I have  a brother 18 years younger than myself=) Anyhow, this year I didn’t get to make him a cool cake, but it reminded me of 2 years ago when I made this Fire Breathing Dragon for him. I thought I would share it with all of you, because it is pretty cool if I do say so myself!

Just follow this link to learn How to make your own Fire Breathing Dragon.

Remember the yo-yo garland? The colorful felt circles sewn together perfect for decorating for birthdays? This felt crown is also perfect for birthdays, playing dress-ups, or for giving any kid (or adult for that matter) the royal treatment.

For a tutorial on how to make one of these felt crowns, go HERE or make your own version (like mine) by using reverse applique. To get the layered look, I sewed 3 pieces of felt together (making sure to get the elastic band at the back attached at the sides) in a crown shape. I then sewed my larger diamond shape (on all three layers) and cut out the purple felt to reveal the red. I then sewed the smaller diamond shape (on the remaining two layers) and cut out the red, revealing the cream. Need clarification or have questions? Leave a comment and I’ll do my best to resolve any confusion.

My cousin made one of these cute birthday calendars for my grandmother, and I thought it was so adorable that I asked her for a copy so I could make one of my own! The calendar is just drawn on an 11×17 piece of paper,you can buy a single piece of paper this size at a copy store like Kinko’s, but you could also use any size of paper that you wanted. (A good way to go is to make sure that your paper will fit nicely inside the frame that you want) If you are really good at free hand drawing this would be a GREAT project for you. If not, I might suggest finding something square that you could trace for the month boxes, and then printing off the month names using a cute font from your computer and then putting it behind the paper and tracing them. I don’t actually know where the original artwork for this calendar came from—but most of the drawings are fairly simple. Here are some close-ups of the art so  you can get some ideas:

After you are done, you simply write the name and date for each birthday inside the box for the corresponding month. It is a really simple idea—but super cute, and you can use it year after year and NEVER miss a birthday!