Ava's Rockin' 2nd Birthday

For my daughter’s second birthday, I decided to challenge myself and do something I've only read and learned about from various bloggers: a stylish dessert table. From what I've seen from my co-bloggers, a dessert table can greatly enhance the presentation, customization, and personalization of a party – something that I want for Ava's birthday. But as her interests have increased in the past few months, the first real task was to decide on a theme. A character from one of the Nick Jr. shows she enjoys - Dora, Yo Gabba Gabba, The Fresh Beat Band, Backyardigans, etc. - seemed like the way to go. I eventually decided to use the common factor that Ava loves from all these shows: the singing and dancing. Add to that Ava's growing penchant for musical instruments (fiddling with her Dad's guitars, beating her toy drums while her Dad strums, playing pretend-piano) and I've got myself the inspiration for her birthday theme.

I decided to break away from the usual “girl color” - pink - and chose to go instead with green and orange as Ava's birthday colors. I picked a houndstooth pattern and a poodle emblem as subtle party representations of rock and roll, pop music, singing and dancing. These prints are used throughout the invitations, banner, cupcake toppers, cupcakes-in-a-jar, cones, dessert signs, water bottles, and vinyl record display. 

For the desserts, I opted to have a table that’s a mixture of American, French, and Filipino, while at the same time, a blend of familiar and less common goodies. The cake was the centerpiece, with candies and cupcakes on both sides of it. French Macarons, Cheeseballs, Turon, and Halo-Halo really added some magnificent color to Ava's dessert table while pushing the yum! factor up several notches. Turon is a popular Filipino snack made of banana and jackfruit rolled in a spring roll wrapper and then deep-fried. Halo-halo (literally, “mixed” fruit dessert), another popular Filipino dessert, was quite a hit in the summer heat. There are variations of how this is made, but here is a recipe found on the Food Network.

Thanks to all those who made this day extra special:

Super delicious macarons are from Paris in A Cup

Cupcakes-in-a-jar were baked with love by Charissa’s Cakes, idea and recipe can be found on the TomKat Studio blog

Cake and cupcakes are from Deco Facil

You might also want to know…

Birthday girl’s hair accessories are from Lizzie, Izzie & James

Party favors are from Oriental Trading Company

Linked to Bird's Party Blog:
http://www.blog.birdsparty.com/2011/10/link-party-link-up-your-party-and.html