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Saturday, February 21, 2015

Birthday's on a budget...milestone birthday


My husband hit a nice round milestone age this birthday. So I just had to celebrate him!
Usually, he is quite happy with dinner out on his birthday
and some angel food cake with chocolate frosting
his mom makes every year.
Something similar to this...
                                         

We did take him out for dinner on his day, but I didn't want this year to pass too quietly.
So I planned to small gathering with good food and good people I knew he would enjoy.

His birthday falls a few days after Christmas which always means the birthday budget is extra tight.
To help ease the financial pinch I will gift shop for him right along with Christmas gift shopping.
That way at the end of the month I don't have to worry about what to buy and how to pay.
Planning ahead helps to keep the Christmas budget in check too.
This year he made it easy on me and brought home what he wanted for his gifts.
All the more reason I wanted to do something special for him.

The first thing we did was figure out our food. He is not very adventurous with food but he does
enjoy good BBQ flavors. So we built a menu around BBQ pulled pork, BBQ chicken, BBQ meatballs.
My mother-in-law and I each decided what we wanted to bring.
Then I requested a side dish be brought from family and friends that were able to attend the party.
I have no hesitation in asking for help with food at parties with the exception of my daughters
birthday and that is usually because I have theme foods in mind.

Food is expensive and will eat up a small budget real quick. So asking for help is smart.
Most people I know are more than willing to bring something to share.
Give them enough notice and when they ask, give them something specific to bring.
Also requesting help with food at your event opens up for them to ask for help
later at their events. It it is a blessing for all involved when everyone is willing to help feed a crowd.
Going potluck style at your parties also shares the burden of making sure you have enough food.
Almost always you will end up with a table overflowing with food. No one will leave hungry!

The next item I tackled was cake pops. I first made these last May. You can read about how I learned to make these here. This happen to be my third time and I was much more prepared and enjoyed this process so much more. Maybe it was who I was making them for! I did find out that for chocolate covered pops, just use the chocolate almond bark in a double boiler. It was a very smooth texture and the process was so much easier than what I used in the past. Next time I will skip the expensive white chocolate baking pieces and see if I get the same results using white almond bark as I did with the chocolate bark. These lovelies are chocolate and lemon cake! Yum!


To top the cake pops off I created these cake toppers.
I used a vintage looking font and printed them on kraft colored paper.
I printed half that read Happy 40th and the other half read Vintage 1974.
I cut them using a 2 inch circle punch.
To add to the dressed look I inked black stamp ink around each circle.
Next I cut 2.25 inch circles from black cardstock.
To complete these I used flat toothpicks, adhesive tape and a hot glue gun.
I first add tape to the top kraft colored layer then at the bottom end of the black circle
I add a bit a hot glue. I like to use hot glue because it dries very fast.
Tacky glue would also work well.
As soon as I put down some hot glue I place the wide end of the flat toothpick over the glue
rolling it so it is covered on both sides of the pick.
Working quickly I make sure the pick is centered, then add the top circle making sure it is centered
as I lay it down. I then firmly press both layers together to complete the bond.
You may want to make a few extras in case you have an oops or two.
I like to always add a back layer of cardstock to my toppers because it adds to the overall look of the topper as well as hiding the pick.
Since the cake pops have a harder outer shell I first used a small paring knife to make a slight hole through the chocolate. Then I was able to insert the picks. If you do not do this step with cake pops you may end up breaking your picks.
The last thing I wanted to have for Dear Hubby is a banner to celebrate his milestone.
I found a pocket template here on Pinterest to use as my pattern. I use foam tape between the bottom panels and the top panels. I cut letters from my Cricut machine and strung with ribbon. It looked great over the cake table!




It was a very nice evening. And as always the cake pops were devoured!
Thank you again to my mother-in-law, family and friends for celebrating with us.
We love hanging out with you!


Toppers and banners are available in my Etsy shop
Thank you for stopping by!

Blessings!
Melissa,
the Singing Honey Bee


Linking up at: 
Huckleberry Love
The Modest Mom
Moms the Word



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