Having a Flip Flop Birthday Party!

Howdy Y'all! So, the party has come and gone and now I'm sitting down to share all the little diddies that brought it to fruition.

Typically, I'd take more detail with showing the invitations but see'in' as I've been so stretched for time, I took a pic of each part of the invites all together. FYI, I did edit the locations within the invitation. Not because I don't trust y'all but just because it IS cyber space.

So this was to be a "Pedicure Party" where Lil'Gal got to choose a limited few of her closest friends/family to join her for a real pedicure for each at the salon where myself and Sweet D go. [They are nice, clean and very reasonably priced....]

Using a beach sand paper, I covered the front of a blank white prefabricated card.

Then, I borrowed my SIL's flip flop die which cuts both a flip flop and a foot to go in it.  Using glitter glue, I 'painted' the toe nails on the feet and assembled and adhered to the prefabricated cards, as if the flip flops and feet were in the sand.  [FYI, I always outline the die cuts (flip flops, etc.) with a marker to make the edges "POP" off the background.]  I adhered them with styrofoam sticker adhesives because it lifts the flip flop off the page giving it a 3 dimensional appearance. :-)

I came up with the language for the inside of the invite and printed on vellum paper.  Then, with a ribbon punch, I punched and tied ribbons to the inside of the card to hold the vellum with information to it.

Whala, finis!

After invitation it is PARTY FAVOR time!  I decided to make the gals each their own pair of ribbon tied flip flops.  This was a really simple and inexpensive project; though, a little time consuming (work on it while watching a good TV show).  My only mistake was not actually inquiring about the girls shoe sizes because the two eight year olds feet were two big for the sets I made. :-(  I promised them, and my niece, I'd make them all a pair in a larger size.

As you can see, I have LOTTSA' ribbon.  This is only about half of my supply.  Next to paper on sale, ribbon is my second addiction.  Never at full price though. ;-)  I did pick up a few extra rolls as I knew I'd go through a few patterns quickly with seven pairs of flip flops to make.

I'd previously purchased flip flops on sale.  And, then I simply cut and tied color coordinating ribbons with different textures and patterns to the straps of the flip flops.

NEXT?  PROJECT FLIP FLOP CAKE.

"Mama, I want one chocolate and one vanilla."  Okay, can do.

Now, I'm pretty sure 99.9% that they [some manufacturer] make a flip flop cake pan. But, I didn't think I needed to hunt one down and I spared myself the additional expenditure.  I'm thinking now, that it might be nice to have an actual flip flop shaped cake pan, because it is really hard to get a smooth, cleanly iced surface on a cut part of cake.  Frozen or not....

Using two boxes of cake mix, I filled a larger/deeper 9x13 pan with the double batch of cake batter and baked at the specified temp for close to an hour.  It takes longer for a cake to cook this way but it is easier to work with -- rather than baking two thinner cakes and then stacking with frosting and then having to cut them into the Flip-Flop shape.

I repeated this once for chocolate and once for vanilla.  Then, I wrapped the cakes in saran wrap and froze them until the next day.  While the cakes were baking I made up three batches of butter cream icing.

The next day I drew my template and cut the flip flop shape from the rectangular cakes.

[I forgot to take a picture after I cut the cakes; and these have already been frosted over a crumb layer.  But you get the idea of what I did.]

Going with Lil'Gal's color scheme, I frosted the cakes in hot pink icing.  She wanted the sides to be solid lime green, but with the flip flops being so close together, there was just no way I could do that evenly.  So, instead, I outlined the edges by adorning them in a flower tipped pattern -- in, of course -- lime green.

STRAPS: I should have just used twizzlers.  But all I could find were red, so I thought I'd use fruit roll ups instead (but they don't make'em like they used to).  I also didn't find it fathomable to pay almost $2.00 for two - four yellow twizzlers out of a large pack of mixed colors (when I did finally come across some).

Last minute, finding I'd screwed myself made a bad judgment call, I decided to cut the straps from some transparency film I had on hand.  Then, using lollipop sticks (also luckily on hand from another project) I supported the straps and then iced them in the same flower pattern.

Add some sugar candy flowers around the edges and a faux flower to the top of the strap and PERFECION!

Not bad, huh?

Lil'Gal was thrilled!  And, that is what is is all about, right?

Of course, I'll admit, I was a little thrilled too!

;-)

THE DAY OF.....

Yesterday morning the weather was a field flooder.  Though, some places got an inch, some got four, some got a trickle.  But for where we are and from where WonderMom and another Mom were coming from it was awful and pretty much undriveable.

We all thought we were going to be late and the whole pedicure thing was going to fall apart, but we ended up making it just a few minutes short of on time.  And, that included waiting on the weather, on WonderMom (she road with me since she is further out from 'the Big'ol City' than I) and we had to pick up Mrs. Congenial's daughter on the way.

There's my (not so little anymore) Gal now, getting special treatment... ;-)

OOOOOooooh, AAAAAhhhhh, so pretty!  The little -- well not so little anymore -- Gals all loved getting pampered.

We had to cut down on the guest list to do this but it was worth it; something special with close friends.

LAST:  Return home for pizza, presents and...

FLIP FLOPS!

Candle Time!

CAKE TIME!

Happy 7th Birthday Lil'Gal!  XOXOXOXOXOs

Having a Flip Flop Birthday Party!