Piggy Party

Piggies for all!

For RH's first birthday, things were more laid back than at any of the girls' parties to date.

First of all, it's a first birthday. She won't remember or care.

Second of all, I am EXHAUSTED from the million other things I'm doing.

So I didn't plan anything, theme-wise.

The piggy has a curly little tail

But one day, DD and SI and I were talking birthdays. They were telling me all about what they wanted for their birthday party, when I reminded them that it was a LONG way away, and the next birthday party would be for RH.

"What kind of birthday is SHE having?" they asked me.

"I don't know! What kind of party SHOULD she have?"

And without hesitation, DD answered, "A piggy party!"

"A piggy party?"

"Yeah! With a piggy cake! And lots of little piggies!"

Well, done, and done.

I made a piggy cake, and 1.5 dozen little piggies. Er, cupcakes.

Noses and ears

And let me tell you, they were awesome. I started with a recipe for a novelty hedgehog cake, and instead of covering it in chocolate buttercream and sticking in chocolate shards for spikes, I covered it in a special frosting I've discovered. It looks almost exactly like fondant, but it doesn't act like fondant. It's still soft and easy to cut/chew once it's made and on the cake.

This is the basic recipe I used, but I'll warn you, I needed a full two cups of additional powdered sugar!

It's delicious. And NOT fondant- there's a reason they suggested using it for cupcakes, it did NOT hold together as I tried to move the flattened frosting onto the cake. However, it sculpted together well on the cake.

So then I had this extra frosting that looked like fondant, and I had a frosted cake, and I was concerned because it was a really small cake and we were expecting about 20 people. So I did what anybody would do when they don't think they'll have enough cake. I whipped up some cupcakes. (Yes, from a box.) I used the leftover fondant frosting to make the noses and ears, whipped up another batch of pink regular buttercream frosting, and added some sugar eyes I'd picked up from the store on a whim.

(To make a nose, cut out a tiny circle- about the size of a penny. Use food coloring to draw two little lines for nostrils. BAM! Piggy snout!)

(The ears are just triangles.)

Emergency backup piggy

I think the emergency backup cupcakes might even have been cuter than the big piggy!

This was lucky, because the fondant style frosting? Didn't do well in larger 3D shapes.

As it turned out (and is totally typical for parties around here) half of the RSVPs didn't show, meaning... well.. the cupcakes were totally unnecessary. But adorable. And there's nothing wrong with having some piggy cupcakes in your freezer!

I did one last thing to make it a piggy party. I made bacon wrapped dates (and not bacon wrapped dates).

Pretty much everybody left happy.

As for the rest of the party?

The kids rocked out with Uncle Robot while I manned the grill

After some dinner and singing, DD and SI helped RH blow out her candle

She accepted her boar's head graciously

She demolished it with gusto

She hung out some more with friends and family

She opened her presents with patience and determination

And she thoroughly enjoyed all her gifts.

Happy birthday, little one! You are the light of my life.