Star Wars Birthday Party

I really didn't intend to take so long to post this. Hopefully you're still interested. Maybe.

When I posted pictures of that epic failure of a cake last week my husband saw it on my blog and said it looked like a giant marshmallow. Hmmm. Instead of trying to turn it into Jabba the Hut (which I thought about) or tossing it into the pond (which I did) I should have just sprayed some yellow and brown food coloring on that bad boy, pretended it was always supposed to be an awesome roasted marshmallow cake and called it a day.

Luckily tragedy was avoided by creating a cake of epic proportions capable of distracting from questions like, 'what happened to that r2d2 cake you were going to make?'.

I found the greatest (and easiest) recipe for a chocolate cake. Ever. Which you can find right here. It's moist, super chocolately and absolutely ridiculous which I believe is inarguably the way to go with birthday cake. Plus, you need simple ingredients - everything is pictured above - and no one will know you used a mix. Trust me. And try not to eat the batter. It will be hard. Just keep telling yourself there are raw eggs in there. Maybe that'll work for you.

I also learned a really neat trick while baking this cake. I was using a 10" round, 3" deep cake pan which "requires" a heating core. I hate those things. Don't you? Anyway, I didn't want to use one. Partly because I'm stubborn and partly because I didn't want a gigantic hole in the center of my cake. I needed to put a larger dowel in the center of the cake to attach r2's head to, well I didn't actually get that far, but keep in mind this is all happening while I'm still delusional enough to think I can pull off this amazing cake. Anyway, the large hole down the center paired with that dowel down the center would've been a bit like toilet paper rolling around on a toilet paper holder. And no comments on how it actually turned out looking like a large roll of toilet paper either. I'm trying to tell you about a trick I learned.

Anyway, it turns out, all you have to do is insert one of those rose nails (the metal ones) in the bottom of your pan. It conducts the heat without leaving a gapping hole. How about that! I played it safe and baked the cake per the mix directions referring to the bunt pan cooking times then lowered my temp to 325° and finished baking in 5 - 10 min incriments. Checking it each time.

Find cool pics of Star Wars images and make up clever names for Star Wars inspired drinks. Create in photoshop making about 8" to 8.5" wide but be careful not to extend your images all the way to the top or bottom unless you've left a small border around it because it will get slightly cut off during printing. I did two labels per page. Have them printed on 12 point paper - glossy card stock. I had mine printed at Office Max for around $5. Remove soda labels and apply your labels with a spray adhesive. Anything else and they will fall off. Not cool.

Make your own invites. Find high res (by searching Google images) Star Wars backgrounds and add text. It's that simple. Remember, when having it printed make sure to size it like 4.75 x 6.75 or something like that so that none of your coolness gets cut off during printing. Save it as a .pdf and take it to your printers. Again, I used the 12 point or glossy card stock. Don't know how to prep for printing? Save it as a .jpeg image and let the folks at your printer's do the rest.

Make your own Thank You notes. They're cuter and more personal. Create a blank document in photoshop (or similar program). I wanted a 4 x 6 note so my measurements were something like 3.75 x 5.75. If you change the largest number and keep a check in the constraint proportions box, it will automatically change both number and that's the safest way to go. I added my photo on top of another red square so it would have a nice border and added text. I put his name in the bottom corner but left some space on the left for him to write his friend's name. If your child is like mine and doesn't like to write more than he has to but you're like me and you're bound and determined that he will, this is a good compromise. I didn't make him write an entire note but I did want him to write something. This way we were both happy. These I just took down to Wal-Mart and printed them myself from the self-serve printer. They were ready in 8 mins and cost me about two bucks.

We rented a waterslide so naturally I thought they should also have some pool noodles to beat each other silly with.

I made some "lightsaber" pool noodles using Chrome duct tape, black duct tape and red duct tape. An easy trick to cut duct tape into shapes, especially circles, is to put it on wax paper (the shiny side) and then make the cut. BUT make sure you put the tape on the wax paper and immediately make the cut otherwise the tape will be permanently stuck to the paper which completely defeats the purpose.

I cut pool noodles in half so one noodle equals two lightsabers. I wrapped the bottoms of the noodles in Chrome, cut black strips for the handle and cut circles for the button.

I can't lie and say I'm not disappointed that some of the things (ok, the cake!) didn't turn out exactly as I planned but something tells me that he couldn't possible have cared any less. And that's the point, really, isn't it.

It was a good party. Vader agrees.

Here are some free printables for you. If you want to use them, click on the pic to open it up then download. If you'd like more info on how I used them see my previous post, Confessions of a Chronic DIYer.

Enjoy & May the Force Be With You,



Linking up ......

Confessions of a Chronic DIYer

It's okay to ask for help.

It's okay to let someone else do it.

It's okay to buy it from someone instead of making it.

You can't do it all.


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I try to take this advice. I really do. Sometimes. But, let's face it, most of the time I just completely ignore it. And the problem is I get rewarded often enough that it encourages me to keep doing it.

For example, I saw similar chocolate lollipops selling on Etsy for $25 per dozen. Twenty five dollars! That's like $2 each. Craziness. So I found some similar used molds on ebay and made my own. They were yummy, too. Success!

Then there's the printables...I've never done a printable. Ever. But I did figure out how to make banners with Photoshop a few years back when I saw what everyone who knew how to make them was going to charge me if I didn't. That all came flying back when I realized if I wanted a personalized Star Wars invite I was going to have to pay $14.00 for it....for a digital file. I just couldn't do it. Now I know the person on the other end of that $14 took the time to design it so I'm not saying it isn't worth it. But, still. I figured if I could make a banner, making a printable wouldn't be a big stretch. The guys at Office Max were quite helpful in this area, too.

And the drink labels....

The Food...

The boys' shirts...

And then there was the cake....

VIA

I wanted to make this cake. Now. I'm not crazy enough to think my cake would turn out this good. I mean, I'm not delusional. I know I'm not the Cake Boss. But I honestly believed I could make something that looked enough like R2D2 that my soon-to-be 8 year old would be impressed on his birthday.

I bought all this stuff. I fretted over the fondant because: a) I haven't worked with it enough, b) I had never put it on a cake this size before and c) that junk's expensive!

Things started out really well....

The one thing I didn't think through was the fact that I do not have one of those amazing machines that rolls out large sheets of fondant for you so I was forced to roll out a 30" diameter circle by hand. And it was when I picked up that giant fondant circle that I knew I was in trouble.

It weighed like a million pounds. I knew what would happen next and sure enough.....

Needless to say, I would've had to go with more of a Jaba the Hut look for this cake than R2D2 and we could spend the rest of the day talking about what I might've done wrong (namely, bit off more than I could chew) but, really, what good would that do?

I promptly threw this cake in the pond and signed myself up for the Fondant and Gum Paste class down at the Hobby Lobby.

The good news is, the party was a success even if the R2D2 cake wasn't. Star Wars Party post coming soon complete with recipes, free printables and lots of fun ideas for your little Jedi!

The FabFour - Reveal

By the way, this is my new best friend.

It makes the "finishing" part of Finishing Paste not so permanent!

The Fab Four {Mistake Files}

The Kilz Primer

I used this because everyone else does. It was my first experience with it. The coverage was good, which is the point. I was annoyed with the sandpaper-y finish. It says shake 60 seconds prior to using and during use. Everyone else says shaking it for 2 - 3 minutes prior to using and during use. I did this. Still got the sandpaper-y finish.

Would I have used something else instead?

I would definitely be willing to try something else but I would also be willing to give this a try again. I know from working with gesso on my art projects that a sandpaper like finish isn't necessarily a bad thing. It gives the surface some 'tooth' and makes whatever you put over it adhere better. Sanding might be inevitable but getting good coverage could also be worth it. I'd like to try this again and see if I can prevent the sandpaper effect.

Minwax Finishing Paste: Special Dark

It is called "Finishing" paste for a reason. Once you use it, you are finished, so don't changer your mind!

Here's the deal: I wanted to use this, first, to protect the chairs' finish once they were done. I also wanted to use the Special Dark (for darker woods) instead of Natural (for lighter woods) because I thought it would enhance my distressing AND protect my furniture at the same time.

I didn't want to use a polyurethane on my white chairs because it would yellow over time. A polycrylic will not yellow but the the polycrylic I had on hand is a gloss finish, which I did not want on my chairs.

I could have used a stain or a glaze to enhance the distressing I did with sandpaper but I didn't want it to darken the white paint too much. Unfortunately, that's what happened anyway.

What I've Learned

I thought that the wax paste would go over the paint lightly enough to tone done the bright white of the paint and enhance the exposed wood (from my sandpaper distressing) without getting too dark. I wanted "distressed" not "antiqued".

I've learned, from doing all six chairs at once, instead of doing just one and seeing how it turned out before doing the rest, the following:

- Test on something, anything other than your important piece when using a new product for the first time! If you don't have anything similar to test on, do one piece at a time. That way, if you change your mind or screw up, you only have one thing to fix. Not six.

What I Did Wrong

- I did not test the new product before using it in full force.

- I used too much. I thought that, it being a WAX, if got a little too heavy here and there it would wipe off in the buffing stage later. DOES NOT HAPPEN! It hardens and stays just like you put it on. And if you have any rough areas on your paint job, that's where it will accumulate. Which would have been fine if I had just wiped off the excess BEFORE it dried.

How I Tried To Fix It:

I tried sanding in the areas where it got too heavy. It helped. A little. But mostly it just pushed the wax deeper into the finish which left me a beautiful, like butter, silky finish. And that would have been great if I had wiped off the excess before it dried and left overly darkened spots.

Would I Use It Again?

Absolutely. I already have. The second time I knew what I was doing though. If I had to do it over again, I probably would not have used it on the chairs. I think, the Special Dark color, gives it more of an antique finish than I was going for. Maybe the Natural color would have worked better here because I really loved my new white paint I just wanted the distressing to stand out and for them not to look 'too new'.

Wondering how they turned out? I'll show you tomorrow!