Birthday Adventures and Furniture Nostalgia

People are getting older around here.  And this fledgling girl gets so excited to be a year older... this year was one of transitions.  Gone are the crib and the toddler toys, and a new, old big-girl bed and some bigger kid toys have arrived.

Make a wish

There was a chocolate cake with chocolate mint ganache... we don't fool around with bland cakes.  They are so seldom baked around here that I like to make the fun ones for birthdays.  This recipe was from the Baked cookbook, of the namesake bakery in Redhook, Brooklyn.

Birthday friends

I had a chance to experiment with fondant molding too.  The peanut very specifically and consistently requested that her cake be adorned with a bunny, a turtle and a squirrel.  So thanks to a little surfing around pinterest for fondant animal inspiration, I came up with these.  They worked quite well, even if the bunny did try to lay down just before the candles were lit.

In progress

And the big gift this year was the big bed.  Her sister got the same on this birthday, and she was very excited to have a big bed of her own.  I am the fortunate new owner of this charming twin bed from the furniture left behind in my grandparents home.  I have the fondest memories of spending nights there as a little girl.  Noni loved yellow, and this was the cheerful bedstead in the smallest bedroom upstairs.  In the summer you were guaranteed to sleep on crispy clean cotton sheets, probably with a floral pattern.  And in the winter it would undoubtedly be flannel... that upstairs was chilly, which made the bed that much more cosy.  

I am so excited to have the opportunity to put this bed to good use in our own home and update it a little for our girl.  Lots of love then and now around this well used piece of furniture. 

Sanding and sunshine

Ready for a new coat of paint

Not too subtle to go with her cheery new quilt

Earlier this year I made a log cabin quilt for this anticipated birthday.  Most all the fabric for this project was remnant material from garment projects or other pieces here and there.  And the log cabin pattern is so easy to put together.  I'm not much of a quilter... but I really wanted her to have a quilt of her own.

Log cabin debut

It was a good birthday.  There was plenty of family, laughter, sugar and love.  She got lots of attention and spent the day at full tilt, until the car ride home when she promptly passed out.  Oh, to be three again.