Helen Jane is pretty.
Genevieve chose her, under the direction of my mother-in-law, as a birthday present. Genevieve chose her name because she's deeply interested in Helen Keller just now. For a week before Helen Jane was officially adopted on her birthday, Genevieve talked non-stop dolly and names and happy plans.
Genevieve is very happy with her doll. Almost everyone who meets Helen Jane for the first time asks if she's an American Girl doll. She's not. Apparently there is a whole world here, much bigger than my sister's doll Molly, that I'm clueless about.
The funny part of Genevieve's birthday are the cupcakes. I made 22 chocolate cupcakes to take to school. I thought Pinterest might help me transport them with ease. Yes: I made a grid of masking tape on my biggest pan that also has a lid (my policy is to only buy bakeware with lids).
It worked well, but as I described the whole episode to Rebecca, she informed me that she has dedicated cupcake carriers! So, next birthday, I will borrow the special boxes.
The real part is the cupcakes and napkins themselves themselves. I filled the cupcake papers too full like a novice and the cupcakes rose up and overflowed into a big mess. I cut them out of the mess while Genevieve watched dubiously. They looked better with a simple buttercream and the sky-blue crystal sprinkles that Genevieve had chosen.
For her at-home birthday, I used the same cupcakes and frosted them with peanut butter icing (from homemade peanut butter - not totally smooth, but delicious) which I attempted to make pink with red food coloring. It was salmon colored.
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| a leftover iced cupcake on the glass cake plate |
And those dumb napkins. The morning before we carried the cupcakes to school, I realized I had no paper napkins to send with the cupcakes. We stopped at the nearest drugstore on the way to school and I shelled out $7 for birthday paper napkins. I was not pleased, but hey, it was poor planning on my part. So my plan is to find birthday fabric, cut it into napkins with a pinking shears, and have a class set of cloth napkins to offer with our cupcakes or to anyone else who wants to borrow them (free laundering by me!).
8 comments:
I made birthday napkins about 15 years ago and they are a tradition at our house even though the kids are all grown now. It took me 2-3 years to find the fabric but it was worth the hunt. The internet may yield fabric much more easily then my hunt in local stores.
Love the birthday napkin idea! We have a birthday banner and woe to me if I hang it late! The kids would love birthday napkins - and hey! let's go all out and make a few placemats, too! - for the special day.
Your daughter looks so pleased with her special doll. Just darling.
Girls and their dolls. Always such a special relationship.
Love the cloth birthday napkin idea. My frugal nature would cringe at $7 for napkins too. I'm the uncool mom that would have probably bought a cheap roll of paper towels instead!
Stopping by from PHFR :) I love the birthday napkin idea. I'm definitely going to copycat you on that.
What a good idea for napkins. I'd be with lisa in the paper towel aisle and my kids would be rolling their eyes ...
I remember being entranced by the story of Helen Keller, too, trying to put myself in her shoes and being in awe of how she lived.
Belated Happy Birthday to Genevieve!
Happy Belated birthday to Genevie.
What a beautiful doll.. She is beautiful, and she got a very pretty name, and was named after the most wonderful role model..
Great idea on the cupcakes.. Sounds yummy too..
EEEH...$7 for paper napkins, that is so sad. Sorry.. Those kind of things happen to me all the time..
I loved the War Shoes post...
And the thyme, homey post.
And the dumb napkins! Heehee!
Love to you!
Oh, G looks so very pleased with her new doll. How fun. I can remember asking for a particular doll for at least two years in a row and when I finally got her, oh, was I a happy little girl.
Good idea on the napkins. The only themed ones I have are Christmas. But, they have been known to make an appearance at birthday parties or summer picnics....maybe I should make some new napkins.
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