artsy fartsy,  Family Matters,  Niece-com-poops,  party party,  the sticks

SuperChic’s Super Pink Barbie Birthday Party

birthday girl

This past weekend my niece SuperChic turned seven. In true SuperChic fashion she chose a pink Barbie-themed birthday party. I think visiting Barbie’s mansion this past March made a real impression on her. Or she’s just a typical pink-loving girly-foo-foo sort of girl. Which she is.

However my sister-in-law and I are not really typical pink-loving girly-foo-foo sorts so we planned a pink and black vintage-Barbie-inspired party instead. It was a lot of fun. I have to say even I caught the pink fever (again).

Which goofball in pink is my daughter?

table for four

My mom sewed her famous flags in pink and black polka-dots (I wish I had a better photo of them) to match the black polka-dot table cloth she already had. There was finger food and pink drinks in fancy plastic flutes that CC found at the last minute. Pink fun-fur (and one blue) boas for everyone and Red-Vines for sippy straws. The divas in the house gave it their seal of approval.

making kissy faces

sipping on a Barbietini

Just kidding Bethany. You are not a diva.

S cookies

CC made pink S cookies (SuperChic’s real name starts with S) and Bethany baked some impromptu chocolate cupcakes so I could have my Barbie cake toppers stuck in their frosted skirts.

Barbie cupcakes

Let me just take a moment to share something about Bethany. I know I’ve mentioned before that all it takes to get her to bake something is to casually mention that you’ve been hankering for this or that sweet. Well, we’ve taken this game to the next level. It’s taken on Dinner Impossible proportions. Now all I have to do is challenge her to any baking task and she’s off banging cookie sheets before I can say, “I was just kidding!”

Seriously, this girl cannot be stopped. So here was this weekend’s feat: I challenged Bethany to bake something in my mother’s teeny-tiny mobile home kitchen. This is no easy task. First imagine the kitchen: It is small. Maybe three feet across and six feet long with a door on one end and one of those impossibly low and stupid dining counters on the other. There is not one speck of counter space. If you want to mix, cut or work on anything you must do it over the sink, the stove or the trash can.

Next imagine an oven that is half the size of a normal oven. It’s about two steps up from an Easy-Bake oven with an inconsistent thermostat to boot. Then imagine that small oven stuffed with about five cookie sheets that are just stored there because there is nowhere else to keep them. That right there is enough to deter me from baking.

Anyway, before I completely hijack my niece’s birthday post with ramblings about my mom’s Mickey-Mouse sized kitchen I would like to present to you this:

I dared Bethany to bake in my mom's tiny mobile home kitchen

It is a vanilla cake. Made from scratch. I like to call it “Trailer Park Cake” even though my mom does not really live in a trailer park. She just lives in a small mobile home on a cul-de-sac on the somewhat nicer side of the sticks. It’s not a bad place, and the neighbors are nice. One of them loaned us baking powder for this cake, in fact.

Anyway, the cake was delicious.

trailerpark cake

Perfectly moist, not too sweet with a light glaze on top. Bethany is going to be the end of me and my healthy diet. Phooey! But really? How can I not challenge her like this? This nuance in her personality just boggles and amazes me to no end. Next up I’m going to see if she can make brownies over a campfire.

Barbie inspired cupcake toppers

Back to the birthday party. The reason Bethany baked some chocolate cupcakes is because I had my heart set on using these little vintage-inspired Barbie-doll cupcake toppers. As Bethany is to baking, I am to crafting and graphic design. (Though I’m not claiming to be as masterful as Bethany, just as dedicated.)

I think I thought this cupcake-topper idea up long before the Barbie party was even in planning stages and I may have slightly manipulated the whole event around my vision of little paper Barbie bodices stuck into cupcake skirts. So when the party preparation got underway and it looked like the cupcakes were going to fall by the wayside due to time and budget constraints, you can imagine that I was a little crestfallen. And that is why my dear friend Bethany came to the rescue.

make a wish!

Anyway! Contrary to popular belief, this party is not about me. No small children were harmed during my obsession with a party theme being carried out to the smallest detail! This party was about SuperChic turning seven smashingly. I think she had a blast.

the three divas

Everybody pile on Uncle Shawn!

We all did

18 Comments

  • bethany actually

    Okay, first of all, your mom’s oven is the same size as my current oven. Second, did you think I needed miles of counter space and a Kitchen-Aid mixer to be a good baker? You did, didn’t you? Admit it! ;-)

    As we discussed as I was baking that cake, we each have our own happy place. Yours is sitting outside on the patio, covered in glue and paint and glitter from supervising some craft the kids are doing, cutting cardboard for some crazy project you are dreaming up. My happy place is being in the kitchen, making delicious food. We are each totally comfortable in our own happy place.

  • bethany actually

    Not to imply that I don’t like crafting, because I do! And I happen to know you make a mean stir-fry, and banana bread, and plenty of other dishes. It’s just that neither of us is quite as happy in each other’s happy place as we are in our own.

    And with that, I am going to bed. Srsly.

  • mamalang

    What a great time. I wish I had friends like you here…I, too, am a little obsessed with party planning. Alas, we have no one that truly appreciates it.

    And YUm.

  • Jennifer

    So sorry that we weren’t able to attend. For all your health, I’m glad we didn’t though. Some sort of bug is wandering amongst us. While it’s not horrible, it’s still annoying. My girls would have loved all the party goodies and they would have had fun crushing your brother in the pile up shot, LOL.

  • Aunt Keren

    It really looks like fun. I’m glad our dear SuperChic was happy. Aunt Becky and Barbie celebrated their 50th this year…pink and black also. What better way to make a little girl feel special than to have a blast of a party just for her to enjoy with her friends and family.

  • cc

    You forgot to mention that I was going to make chocolate cupcakes from a boxed mix. ( I just made Bethany shudder again, I know it.)

    SuperChic had a great time, I’m glad she likes “small” parties.

  • Brooke

    That is a super cute picture of your brother and sis-in-law with all the kids at the end of the post. The party looks very glam and it wouldn’t appear that the kids were upset by your theme-obsession!

  • BeachMama

    Another fabulous party. And I love the pink! I have to keep a running tab of all your fabulous ideas for when Apple really understands birthday parties. My turn will come, if only her birthday wasn’t so close to the first day of school and Labour Day.

  • tracy

    i once dated a guy whose mother baked me a pie (apple, i think) OVER A CAMP FIRE! i think she was just showing off.

  • Ana

    That is one of the coolest girls parties EVER! I love it, I love it that it looks so fabulous yet so inviting un-intimidating and really homey! your girls make a great Duet!

  • gingermog

    Your mothers kitchen sounds like the average size of the kitchen in a London flat. There is actually a book published in the 60′ s on how to cook in a bed sitter. All the recipes based on using a baby belling hot plate/toaster that was standard issue for years in studio flats , some of the recipes are quite fancy ! Super Chic’s party looked like lots of fun. Sometimes its a great to have an excuse to get a little frou frou and pull out the ink feather boas now and again.

  • pinky

    I know I’ve been reading your blog for a long time because how on earth did SuperChic turn seven years old? That’s three less than a decade! I swear she was just a toddler ten minutes ago.

  • Kuky

    Looks like a fun party. When I was little I wasn’t a girly-foo-foo sort of girl either. I don’t remember even owning a Barbie doll. But Isabelle is all into Barbie and princesses. I bet Isabelle would love a Barbie party at some future time.

    Oh and Bethany and cooking. Wow. I cooked in a friend’s small kitchen before. She doesn’t cook so didn’t have things I’m so used to using like measuring cups, measuring spoons, a chef’s knife, and a decent sized cutting board. It was a challenge.