Lainey's 12th b-day

Lainey celebrated her 12th birthday a MONTH ago...and I am just getting around to posting pictures! She invited 10 friends over for dinner and cake decorating!

 the dinner...tacos...was easy. making 12 mini cakes and homemade icing...not so much. i used a four inch cake pan and a boxed cake mix for the cakes. don't ask me WHY I didn't just buy icing and dump it into icing bags...because I still can't figure out the answer to that. after making 2 batches each of white, pink, and blue icing, i decided then and there that i would never be able to eat it again. i also have a whole new respect for cake decorators because how you can ice an entire cake without getting cake crumbs IN the icing...is a mystery to me. 
 i made a birthday banner out of burlap and fabric, used my new sewing skills(woot! woot!) to make a tablecloth in our "colors" (pink, red, and teal), ordered some super cute pink and white straws for our mason jars, and lainey made all of the paper flowers out of tissue paper. the dollar tree came to my rescue and for $2 each, i made THE CUTEST mini cake plates out of a candlestick and a pillar candle holder. the chevron tags i found  on the internet and just printed them on card stock! 

 anyway...we had the sweetest girls here. i am proud of the friends lainey has chosen to hang with this year...i'm sure partly because every.single.day. last summer i drilled into her head....THE FRIENDS YOU CHOOSE CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOU! apparently she listened. for now anyway.....

 and if i ever had any sliver of doubt that lainey loved the spotlight...i don't anymore. she was in her element. queen for the day. all eyes on me. this is my moment. ha! 

 we turned our deck into a "teen hangout" for the night...complete with redneck twinkle lights(which equals christmas lights), floor cushions, a couch, and a drop cloth rug that i stenciled...and you DO NOT want to know how much time went into that! let's just say...i grossly underestimated the amount of min hours days it would take. but all in the name of fun...right? :) 

 after the eating and decorating were complete, the deck floor turned into a dance floor...and those girls went to town...complete with a guest appearance by hutton, who not only decided to break dance for the crowd, but who also ended the night with an older girlfriend. :)

 all in all, it was a success...especially when i ask lainey what her favorite part was...and she says...everything. it doesn't get much better than that. and thank you to my sweet parents who came down and helped me most of the day friday...and made sure i didn't freak out! 

now for some pictures....to prove i didn't just make all of this up! ha!

the end.