When I was a kid, birthday cakes had simple adornments: Some frosting, candles, and maybe the guest of honour’s name handwritten in red food dye. But times have changed. Nowadays, it seems that no child’s party is complete without a sugar-filled masterpiece in the form of a shimmery unicorn head or a Lightning McQueen race car.
While the trend may be good for Instagram pics, it’s bad news for parents’ budgets.
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/10/what-you-dont-need-at-your-kids-birthday-party/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2014/10/KidsOutside-410×231.jpg” title=”What You Don’t Need At Your Kid’s Birthday Party” excerpt=”Birthday parties. children daydream about them, while their parents often dread them. Before social media, parents had nothing to compare their kids’ parties to, aside from a cursory glance at friends’ events during drop-off and pick-up-time. Not to get all nostalgic, but some of my favourite birthdays were at the local McDonald’s.”]
You know what makes for excellent birthday cake decor? Random little toys that your kid already has. Case in point: This creation by a mum named Beth Linzell. She picked up a chocolate cake from the store, and then raided her three-year-old’s room for trinkets to place on top of it. She found tractors and Paw Patrol coins, and added some chocolate chips and a sparkler candle.
“Kid thought it was the best thing ever to exist,” the mum wrote on Facebook.
My colleague Beth told me she did something similar when her kid requested a cake with a very specific scene involving characters from Cars. “We just ordered a blank cake and arranged toys on top,” she says.
Any easy-to-wipe toys would work — dinos, LEGO minifigures, plastic fairy dolls, teacups, trains. Get creative. Make a whole diorama if you feel compelled. Just remove them before serving and rinse them off before slyly placing them back into your kid’s toy chest.
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