Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A Cute Ninja Golden Birthday

Shortcake is 13 today! 13 on 11/13/13! It's her Golden Birthday!

For the past year, she has been writing a book with her cousin, Hatchick. Hatchick creates some zany comics starring Sneaky Ninja Dude and his infamous sidekick, Crazy Cat, for the family to enjoy. These characters inspired this book they have been working on writing. So, when Shortcake was thinking about what kind of special theme she wanted for her Golden Birthday, she came up with the idea of a Ninja Birthday… but cute ninjas, not scary ninjas.

~decorations~
I made a banner using these adorable digital images from DorkyPrints on Etsy and the free font Japonesa Shadow.  I also colored and hung thirteen ninjas along with some cheap paper lanterns (with electric tea lights) from the ceiling and chandelier. Then we used a lot of colorful, curly ribbon… everywhere!
I love curly ribbon!

The morning started with Cinnamon Ninja Throwing Stars that I made from crescent rolls, brown sugar and cinnamon. Easy peasy and so cute! My boys made a stop motion "film" of the birthday girl catching one in her mouth.

I also set out a bowl of homemade fortune cookies with silly "fortunes" inside. 


used this recipe and should have read the helpful comments that said to add 2 Tbl. of water to thin out the batter. They would have been better that way, I'm sure, but my kids thought they tasted good and they loved the funny fortunes! They just weren't as crisp as I would have liked. Might have to make some more tomorrow just to see if I can perfect them. The Professor also helped me make some pretty paper throwing stars using these fairly easy to understand instructions which we then scattered around the table for decoration.
Her very special surprise was this tiny little family of ninjas, each one representing one of us. They were also made by a very talented lady on etsy. Can you figure out who each one is supposed to be? I'm sure you can. Cupcake was quite entranced with them!









~activity~
I love having teenagers! I guess I better love it because we have THREE in the house right now! All Shortcake wanted to do for her birthday was go shopping for a new journal (that girl goes through journals like nobody's business) and get some coffee. Whoo hoo! That's my idea of a perfect day right there… if you swap out "journal" for any other kind of book at all.
I posted this picture on Instagram and it wasn't until I got home that I realized that the book in between the two bird covers has a quote by the exceptionally witty but-oh-so-not-really-appropriate-for-a-13th-birthday-picture Dorothy Parker… Guns aren't lawful. Nooses give. Gas smells awful. You might as well live. Lovely. Mom fail!

~cake~
The cake requires a little bit of explanation. My girls have fallen in love with the wonderfully fluffy, soft felt pillows made by Miss Telah Marie (again, on Etsy). Her designs inspired Shortcake's American Ninja shirt this past summer. Well, what she wanted most for her birthday was for Miss Telah to make her a pillow that was a design Shortcake drew of one of her ninja characters from her book. This character's name is Hisohiso and she had very definite ideas about what he should look like. Shortcake drew up her design with color specifications and Miss Telah made it happen. Shortcake didn't see the pillow until today, but I saw it as soon as it arrived. When she asked for a coffee cake as her birthday dessert (with Caramel Frosting… very undecorateable) I came up with the idea of turning her design of the pillow Hisohiso into a cookie Hisohiso and that is who you see here:
Caramel Frosting… not pretty to look at but oh. so. tasty!
My Shortcake is such a creative girl! I have no doubt that one day these characters of hers will come to life on the pages of a book that I can go shopping for... with my coffee in hand!

22 comments:

  1. This is so cute and creative!! I love it! Shortcake will have to come visit us in Japan some day and see the "real" ninjas. ;) Happy Birthday to Shortcake!!

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  2. I love it. I've been looking forward to this post today. Everything is adorable. (And I didn't even notice the quote in the IG photo - lol!) Can't wait to wish her a happy birthday in person.

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  3. (Oh my! She makes Dr. Who pillows!)

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  4. You are an inspiration, so many loving touches that keep with your daughter's loves, interests, and personality!

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    1. Thank you. We have always enjoyed celebrating their birthdays with them in a special way. We don't get too many of them, you know, before they are off and gone into the world.

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  5. Happy birthday Shortcake!! I love the party theme!

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  6. What a fun day! Happy birthday, Shortcake! (by the way, that just might be my favorite picture of Cupcake; so adorable!)

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    1. And I didn't even notice until I saw the picture that her shirt matches the streamers!

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  7. Happy Birthday, Shortcake! Your mom sure knows how to do a birthday right proper, no matter what the age or theme! You are so blessed!

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    1. Thank you Kimberlee! We are blessed with this darling girl in our lives. She's been reading your daughter's blog and thinks they might be kindred spirits! :)

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  8. Your birthday parties are so creative. Happy Happy Birthday Shortcake! Would love to have that frosting recipe!

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  9. Happy Birthday, Shortcake! What a fun party!

    I was noticing that Cupcakes shirt matches the streamers (and the rest of the decorations) too! I was also noticing how much she looks like your mom in that picture! Cupcake is such a cutie!!

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    1. Sean even said, "I'm colorblind, so I might be wrong, but does her shirt match the party?"

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  10. So much fun! Happy 13th birthday to your dear, lovely daughter!

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  11. I've been following your blog for a while now, and just love it. My kids are thankful for the coloring pages I find here as well. I have to know - how did you get the crescent rolls into stars? Is it two together and then folded up or did you cut one in half and then do that? My son has asked for a ninja themed party for his birthday in a couple of weeks, so I think those stars would be perfect. Those other little ninjas are super cute too - where did you find them? Thanks for all the beautiful work that you do! I hope the birthday celebration was as wonderful as it looks!!!

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    1. Jennifer,
      The ninja figurines were a custom order made by Lilley. She lives in England though and they took a long time to get here. If you look at my most recent post, you'll see that I painted a set of wooden ones for Cupcake to play with. That might be an option for you for your son's birthday. They were really simple to paint.

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  12. Fun fun FUN. We've never been into ninjas around here but I think after I show my kids this post...

    Everything is just darling, especially that beautiful girl at the very end. Have a blessed & creative 13th year, Shortcake! I know you will. ♥

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    1. This is really our first foray into "ninja territory" except for a brief LEGO Ninjago fascination when The Professor was younger. But I must admit, if you Google "cute ninjas", you can find a lot of really adorable ninja stuff out there. Cute ninjas won me over!

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  13. Can you tell I am catching up on my blog reading?? lol

    This is so GREAT! Oh my goodness. You and Jessica need to start a party planning business. You would rake in the dough! I wish I was half so creative as you guys!

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