Pink Safari Party

There was just way too much cuteness going on at this party...all the pink and ruffles...and the birthday girl running around in a pink tutu. This theme was perfect for my little girl's 1st birthday party, but I also think it would be adorable for a baby shower. 

For her party, we set up a food table against the wall so people could help themselves. I made the birthday banner out of card stock and ribbon, and we hung pom-poms from the ceiling using fishing line and thumb tacks. The pom-poms took awhile to put together, but thankfully my aunt helped me out. I loved the way they turned out - very girly! 

We purchased matching invitations, thank-you cards, table cloth, plates, napkins, and cups. We used cute little stuffed safari animals as table decorations. I especially like the pink giraffe!

 Ok, on to the food...

The center piece was this cake/cupcake tower. The cake is a 6-inch, 3 layer chocolate cake with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream. This was my first time making swiss meringue buttercream. I was a little intimidated at first, but my frosting came together beautifully and tasted delicious. It was buttery and creamy, but stiff enough to hold up the ruffles. The cake was topped with an adorable banner made out of card stock, ribbon, and lollipop sticks. 

The cupcakes were strawberry cupcakes topped with strawberry frosting (all made from scratch with fresh strawberries). The liners were these ruffled baking cups. 

For snacks, my mom made delicious tortilla pinwheel roll-ups, fruit salad in small yellow polka-dot cups, colorful swirled sugar cookies (thanks sis!), and zebra marshmallow pops (thanks auntie!). 

To make the marshmallow pops, dip the tops of the marshmallows in melted pink candy melts. Then drizzle on melted chocolate in a zebra pattern. Place on a lollipop stick and you are done! These were a huge hit with the kids!

The rest of the snacks included animal crackers in pink polka dot cups, chips, and taco bean dip. My sister's husband is a fantastic chef and he was kind enough to set up a fajita bar on another table.

I think it turned out super cute, and the birthday girl had a great time! :)

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