Kids' birthday parties. It's a love/hate thing, no? 

On the one hand, you're celebrating the birth anniversary of your kid. It's exciting and special.

On the other hand, it's 15 kids in your house at one time and staying up until 3am making a birthday cake replica of a Ninja Turtle.

I've mentioned before I think parties have gotten a little out of hand, the need to go bigger and better every year a pressure that none of us needs. Pin the tail on the donkey and a $5 sponge cake from the supermarket SHOULD be enough, right? I think sometimes we should all absolutely do that. Let ourselves off the hook and keep it simple. Chances are our kids will still be thrilled because they're easily impressed. For now.

But after hosting a range of different birthday celebrations over the years since having kids, my most favourite piece of advice to parents is this: OUTSOURCE. If you have the means to pay other people to do some of the work for you, DO IT. Don't feel you have to Betty Crocker the whole shebang if that's not your scene. It's all about doing what works for you, within your budget.

This year, Zig wanted his party at a play centre – in fact, the same play centre as last year. Easy. I know it's a huge hit with his friends, the food is all sorted as are the lolly bags, there's a huge space for the kids to run and play, and the kids can smoosh cake into the floor and I don't care because it's not my floor! No set-up, no clean up – when the party is done, I walk out that door and I don't look behind me.   

So that just leaves a cake. THE cake. Every year, Zig will tell me what he wants his cake to be and every year, he will change his mind about 3000 times – usually in the 48 hours preceding his birthday. It's a little stressful. I have been awake at midnight, the kitchen covered in a fine mist of icing sugar as I curse Donna Hay to the heavens for pretending this shit is easy. Making invitations I quite enjoy, but cake creations are not my strong point. Case in point, the cake I made for the day of Zig's birthday (not the same day as his party):

Nailed it

The worst part, as you may have noticed, is that this was a dual birthday cake for a friend's daughter as well. My feeling is that Amelia's mum will make her own cake next time. 

So you can see why for Zig's party this year, I decided to hand over the cake-making reins to the professionals. Ferguson Plarre said to me, they said, "Angie, don't make a birthday cake this year. Let us make it for you. Let us make a 2 tier castle cake that will blow minds, young and old. And then let us add an edible cake topper that, when viewed through our free app, brings the cake to life with 3D animation."

I said to Ferguson Plarre, I said, "Okay!"

Behold, THE CAKE.

Just whipped it up last night

Now behold, CAKE ALIVE!

 I asked Ziggy if he loved his cake. He told me, "Yeah. But do you know what my favourite bit was?" I said, "No, what was it?". He said, "When the wizard came alive. That was cool."

Yeah, it was cool. It was very cool. And I got a full 10 hours sleep the night before. This is winning.

My only tip is that if you have a tablet, I would use this to view the animation (via the app) because my iPhone screen was a smidge small, especially when trying to show all the kids at the party. 

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Angie, that cake is cool but how much did it cost? I bet it cost a bomb." And the answer is yes, this particular cake did cost some serious coin – $250 in fact – but there are smaller cakes which still feature the Cakes Alive! technology and they come in a range of designs. You can check them out here. Ferguson Plarre has 66 stores across Victoria. Find the closest one to you here.

 

WIN A CAKES ALIVE! CASTLE BIRTHDAY CAKE

Want to sort out an epic cake for your kid's next birthday? One of my lovely readers will win a voucher for a Castle Cake just like Ziggy's valued at $250. The randomly chosen winner will have a choice of cake flavours, animations and inscription, and the voucher will be valid for 12 months. If your kid's birthday is in November and you win? You have a whole year to enjoy knowing you DON'T have to make a birthday cake in the shape of R2D2. Yes!  

To enter, simply leave a comment below telling me about either your ultimate cake triumph or disaster.

Terms and Conditions

•  The prize is 1 x Castle Cake valued at $250.00
• Open to residents of Victoria, Australia only.
• The winner is required to pick up the Castle Cake from a Ferguson Plarre store.
• The winner will be provided with a voucher, valid for 12 months from date of winner announcement
• The winner can choose their cake flavour, animation and inscription
• Winner must download the free Cakes Alive! app in order to view the animations on their cake
• Entrants must leave a comment below (not on Facebook) and be contactable via email. One entry per person.
• Entries close: Friday 19th December 2014 at noon AEDT.
• Winners will be chosen by random.org, notified by email and announced on this blog post.
• The prize will be distributed by Ferguson Plarre.
• Prizes are not redeemable for cash.
• Prizes are not transferable.
• The Promoter is not responsible for prizes once they have been dispatched to the winner but please shoot me an email if you do not receive your prize within two weeks so I can investigate for you!  

 Promoter: The Little Mumma, PO Box 159, Montmorency, Victoria, 3094 

 

 Best of luck!

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Congratulations Ariel Rich! You are the winner. Please check your emails.

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