Shirley's party advice part 4 - Better at party planning than Pippa Middleton

[BlatherskiteOfTheLivingDead]

New thread :) Everyone welcome.

Lol horsemeat of course like she'd enjoy anything i prepared!

What can you try next DW? Is she susceptible to promises of bribes from (say) the Easter Beagle Bunny?

Im in the middle of ebaying four years worth of child junk so it's fishfingers tonight. Lazy!!

But if she liked meatballs i may try homemade burgers. Or sloppy joes. Although sloppiness may be a step too far.

You'll have to let me know what does and doesn't sell well - might motivate me to get my backside in gear and clear some of our accumulated junk.

My DC will be having meatballs tonight, for similar reasons (laziness) - bought from farm shop because fusspot DH is away.

Have just booked sledging for DS's 6th birthday party. I toyed with pinching the LEGO Star Wars party but decided that DS knows very little about star wars so all the hard work themeing it would probably pass him and his friends by. I'm saving it for next year.

So, they're doing the activity (45 mins sledging) the food (pizza, chips, ice cream and fruit) and the party bags (plastic tat by the sounds of it but it's part of the package) but I still reckon I can pimp it a bit

• I need a cake definitely. Something I can easily transport to the venue and hand over to our "party planner" when I get there without having to worry too much that it's going to fall over and go splat on him/her.
• Maybe some extra bits for the party bag - I've already bought the LEGO party pack so have a LEGO birthday man to go in. Was considering some gloves I found on ebay for 99p a pair too?? The party is costing me quite a bit though so I can't go too mad.
• Invites - I have the LEGO ones which I should use really. Will it matter that it's not actually a LEGO party?? The party pack also came with LEGO Thank You cards. Sensible head says use them, party-mad head is complaining that they don't "go".

something like this has possibilities for the cake?

I would be so tempted to do sledging invitations and ebay the Lego ones...

DS has already asked for the cake to be him sledging so I think that's what he has in mind too. Am a bit worried about just creating a huge lump covered in frosting though!

I've had a look for sledging invites but I can't find any nice ones...

Oooh, I might have found my link though!

DS wants him sledging on a hill as his cake but I'm not sure my modelling skills are up to making a DS that doesn't look plain weird. What about if I made some of these and put little lego men on them sledging down the hill?

DS has eleventy-hundred minifigures - including a couple of snowboarders and maybe a ski-er!! - and there are 10 birthday figures in that party pack when I only need 7 so i could easily make a selection of fitting characters. I could even buy a few lego trees to decorate it too maybe?

That way the invites sort of tie in as do the birthday figure packs I've got to add to the party bags....?

I've gone through DS's 'spares' and found 2 snowboarders and an Eskimo. I think this might work :)

Lego sledges would tie things in nicely. I share your concern about lump-shaped cakes, though - which is why I liked the number shaped idea - plus sledgers and friends.

He's going to be 6 too which might lend itself nicely to a hill :)

I've gone through his minifigure collection and found another eskimo, another snowboarder and an ice skater. Not sure where the ice skater would go (frozen lake in the hole of the 6?) but I can definitely use the snowboarders. He's also got 2 sorts of skateboarder which I think would look suitably snowboarder-ish if they borrowed a board which would give me 3 different characters rather than 3 identical boarders.

I'm sure DS has the bits to make that sledge too although I have found someone selling one on ebay if not.

I wonder if there is a lego snowman?

If you are going to do a frozen lake then one of the eskimos could be fishing through a hole?

There must be a Lego snowman, surely (we have a Playmobil one, and at least one snowboarder, but they would no doubt get into a fight with the Lego tribe)?

Yes, I've found one but he's a fiver. DS didn't like the cheaper ones :(

Have 'watched' him for now.

So, how do-able do you think a hill shaped 6 would be? Top of the number at the top of the hill then curling down to meet the bottom of itself IYSWIM. Would look like a curved slope from the side and a 6 from above. Candle/s at the very top and then figures ski-ing/boarding/sledging down and an ice lake in the middle with someone skating and an eskimo or 2 ice fishing? I could get some lego pine trees to go on too.

How on earth do I make a lake!! I think Ace of Cakes did it with melted Glacier Mint type sweets poured and left to set. Foil underneath to give it depth maybe?

And yes, I don't want playmobile/lego gang wars on my cake thankyou

It'd be like land of the giants with those lanky buggers too.

Just remembered that this cake needs to get to the snowdome and be taken away by a party planner. Am I going too far?

lanky buggers. Blooming cheek.

Pond could be done with piping gel, and as long as you secure your short arse Lego people with royal icing then it should be very transportable.

Are lego people's hands big enough to hold candles?

They'd definitely be able to hold candle holders I think! Plenty of people on ebay sell either lego brick or lego figure shaped candles too which would cut out the middle lego man

I need to be able to make a hole for my eskimos to fish in which is why I was thinking glacier mints. I could use a straw to set a hole in it then.

Being only 5'1" myself, I feel for the vertically challenged lego men

I was thinking of a lego torch parade of skiers.

Glacier mints would be cool if you can do it - and could be made well in advance and plonked onto the cake really easily.

Hmmm, maybe each character could hold a candle? Might make them more prone to falling over though

Was good to see you today DW. Your girls are so cute.

Have ordered sunflower spread and almond milk ready to test whether a dairy free cake for niece's 1st birthday will work by just subbing ingredients. One of the ladies at DD's baking club suggested that frosting made with Trex and icing sugar was quite nice. It sounds gross but would be 'safe' at least. Colours should be safe right? I'm considering a Very Hungry Caterpillar using a ring mould to make the shape....

So of your meeting up.

Did I showed you my VH Caterpillar?

Trex and icing sugar icing might need a bit of vanilla extract or something else to give it some flavour but otherwise ok. Colours would have to say if they contained allergens, wouldn't they?

You did. I'm trying not to remember how good it was otherwise I won't even try.

I think all foodstuff have to mention allergens now don't they? It's only milk and soy I have to avoid, I can't see it being likely that they're in food gel but you never know!

I was only going to say that after studying lots of pictures, I ended up doing 2 loaf cakes rather than a ring mould.

Really? I was thinking a ring mould would mean I could bake 1 cake and then cut and reassemble to make a 'wriggle'. Plus it would be semi circular already. Why are loaf cakes better?

Um..now you are asking hard questions. I know I soarted out thinking ring mould and it wasn't just because I couldn't find mine that I changed my mind. I think it was looking at the book - he's not actually very round, when you look closely, and also wanting him to be very stable and transportable as we had to take him down to London. I carved the top (well, bottom) of the loaves to give a sort of arch shape to him. I think wanting to make sure there was enough cake to go round came into it as well.

here he is for reference anyway