Best in Show cakes

Darling birthday cake ideas from the queen herself, Martha Stewart. See a Poodle, Owl, Bear, and Fish.

Spring into Party Season

Springtime Easter Chick Piñata

I can't get enough of sunshine, so at the first peek of spring try to take the party outdoors. For our family Easter celebration, the kids enjoyed this chick-inspired piñata while we dined on strawberry shortcake al fresco.

To make piñata, papier mache over a large balloon leaving a 3-4" open space at the top for filling. To reinforce the piñata for hanging, wrap a sturdy cord around the balloon after 1-2 layers of papier mache have dried -- sort of like you're wrapping a package. The cord will cross at the top opening of the piñata. Then add another 1-2 layers of papier mache, encasing the cord inside the layers. When the layers dry, you'll have a more sturdy way of hanging the filled piñata that supports the full structure.

When fully dry, glue yellow crepe paper around the circumference of the balloon, overlapping layers to give a tiered effect. You can fringe the crepe paper for an even fluffier look.

Cut eyes, beak and wings from construction paper. Add some fringed yellow construction paper around the top opening to create cute "tufts" of feathers and hide the hanging cord. A colorful ribbon tied and hot glued to the side gives an extra custom look. Fill with candy, and let the kids swing away!

Pet Store Party

When people ask if we have pets, my typical response is "yes, two boys." They're wild enough. But truth be told, they're dying for a pet. My answer: regular trips to the pet store. And we have so much fun you'd think it was, you guessed it -- a party!

INVITATIONS

Choose a favorite animal to be the star of your party (examples here on the wild and mild side). You might consider asking guests to bring a can or bag of pet food in lieu of a birthday gift (more on this momentarily).

ACTIVITY

Take a trip to the local pet store or animal shelter. If you've got more than 4-5 kids in the party, call ahead to ensure you'll be welcome. While most kids can entertain themselves the whole time just by peeking in the cages, looking for the lizards hidden behind plastic tree leaves, and making up wacky conversations with the parrots, you could come prepared with a few games of your own. Try an age-appropriate scavenger hunt (can you find the Yellow Canary? a 20-lb bag of Alpo? a furry purple kitty toy?). Learn where the animals originally came from. Or see what animal best matches each guest in the group.

A thoughtful twist is to turn the birthday gift booty over to the animals. Guests might be invited to bring a can of food, a dog toy, etc. in lieu of a child's gift. The group can then present the gifts to an animal shelter (or to the pet store who will often donate them in turn).

THANK YOU'S

Take each guest's picture with their favorite animal and send it home in a customized thank you card. If he/she gave a gift to an animal, you might include a "pawprint" of thanks from it too.

Safari Party: Lion Invitation

I've got two little wild things at my house -- this party theme was perfect for both of them.

Invitations

The king of the jungle roars out the party details when you open his mouth wide.

Party Favors

I went a little wild myself on this one. Each child got a plastic safari hat (available at party supply stores like Zurcher's for about $1), a t-shirt stenciled with the same lion as on the invite (found cheap t-shirts at an overstock store and at that point in my mothering life had boundless energy to do stuff like stenciling...), and a pair of "binoculars" fashioned out of empty toilet paper tubes (or when you run out of them, paper towel tubes cut in half). The binoculars came in handy during the Lion Hunt game.

Food

This party was for 4- and 5-year olds, so safari gourmet it was not. But the titles on the menu raised little eyebrows. "Giant Fried Butterfly Wings" were potato chips. "Boiled Snakes" were hot dogs. And apple and banana slices became "Orangutan Hors D'oeuvres."

For the birthday cake, we made a basic 8" round cake, frosted it orange, and cut out tiger stripes from fruit leather. Nilla wafers were the big cat's muzzle. Pretty easy for a homemade cake, and the kids loved it.