Gluten Free Healthy Smash Cake for Baby's First Birthday!

Happy First Birthday Little Dude!!!  Thanks to Love and Life Photography for the photo and to Giggle Poo for the Anchor's Aweigh I'm 1 Today Smash Cake Bib.  It is important to me to have my baby start off healthy and I wasn't ready yet to give him the sugar filled frosting and cake yet, so I searched for some healthier alternatives.  I came across a pin on pinterest for a Healthy Smash Cake by Our Havenhill.  It looked great except I also needed it to be gluten free, so I needed to make a few changes:

Ingredients:

• 5 ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup natural no sugar added applesauce
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups Gluten Free Baking Mix
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Frosting:

• 1 cup (8 ounces) cream cheese
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) no sugar added apple juice concentrate
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

 Some people who are gluten free already have their own baking mix, however I used Arrowhead Mills All Purpose Baking Mix.  I bought it at my local grocery store. I highly suggest a baking mix over just a gluten free flour, since the gluten in regular flour is what helps hold the cake together, your gluten free flour needs a little help (like xanthan gum). 

The other major change was the original recipe said to put this in two 8" or 9" pans, however I am not sure if the batter consistency was different due to the gluten free flour, but I barely had enough to cover the bottom of one 8' pan.  I just made it all in one pan and used a circle cookie cutter to cut out two circles and placed them on top of each other.  My husband (who is not gluten free)  even loved this!  It would make a wonderful banana bread recipe as well.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mash the bananas in a medium bowl.
2. In a separate large bowl, mix the baking mix, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg together.
3. Add the mashed bananas, applesauce, and vanilla to the flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated.
4. Spray one 8″round pans with non-stick cooking spray or coat with butter and flour.
5. Spread the batter into the bottom of the pan.
6. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.
7. Cool the cakes, then use overturned smaller bowl to cut out small cake rounds.

For the frosting (if not using first birthday cupcake frosting):

1. Soften the cream cheese.
2. Whisk the cream cheese with the apple juice concentrate and vanilla extract until creamy.
3. (Best if frosted freshly since there may be browning due to lack of preservatives.)

Friday Feature: Fun and Baubles

Our feature this week is Katharyn of "Fun and Baubles". In addition to a new wonderful shop to explore, we also have our first giveaway on this blog! Stay tuned for details at the end of the post.

Tell us about yourself.
I am a single mother of one precious girl. I’m currently studying for a PhD in biology. In addition to jewelry-making, I love singing, dancing, reading, and embroidery. Oddly enough, I find cleaning relaxing. I enjoy being able to make order out of chaos.

Tell us about your shop. What do you sell?
My shop is a reflection of my interests. Vintage jewelry sits beside pieces I’ve made. I know many ladies who don’t have pierced ears, so there is a section of clip earrings just for them. I love poking through second hand stores, so I have a fair collection of vintage items for the home. I’ve recently acquired a large collection of amazing vintage illustrations, which will be going up shortly. I’m also starting to let go of some of my vintage books. I have a section with embroidery kits and other supplies, and a section with items proportioned especially for children

When did you start creating? Why?
My great-grandma taught me to sew before I started Kindergarten, and my interest in embroidery blossomed out of that early beginning. My sister interested me in beading in my teens. It appeals to my love of beauty and craftsmanship. I’ve been shopping vintage ever since I was a teen. It made my money go further, and there were so many more styles available! Plus, the quality of vintage items is usually much better than modern.

How do you balance your business with your family?
I work very hard at not checking my shop while I am with my daughter. I can’t craft with her yet, although she loves looking through my beads. My sources for vintage items are the same places she and I shop for ourselves, and she LOVES shopping, so the main struggle there is not going too often!

What has been the most difficult aspect of being a Mommy with a Small Business?
The most difficult aspect has definitely been time management. I could spend unlimited time on the business, but nothing is worth more than the time I spend with my child. It is also a struggle to remember that I have to sleep so I can be functional! :)

What has been the most rewarding?
This business is like the ultimate game. It combines all the lemonade stands and craft shows I did as a child with the social structures of online gaming and the challenge of figuring out the “rules” of the system under study. The profitability of my shop is the score-card that lets me check my deductions.

Do you have any tips for other moms with a small/home business?
Think carefully about the plusses and minuses before you start. What do you hope to gain from the business? Is it a hobby, or does it need to turn a profit the first year? What volume of sales would you need in order to meet your desired net profit, and are you physically capable of handling that volume? Once you’ve decided you really do want to do this, go for it! Organize things as conveniently as possible in your home. Network. And don’t feel like you have to exclude your children. Chances are, they’ll be curious and interested. Talk to them about what you are doing. Explain your goals and processes, and try to find ways they can be involved, if they want to be.

Do you have a coupon for us?
Absolutely! Find me on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/FunandBaubles 
 Use coupon code “MommiesRock” for 15% off your purchase!

And now for the giveaway!  
Katharyn is offering a $10 gift-card to her store. To enter, leave a comment below and tell her your favorite item from her shop. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and will receive the card plus instructions through email. The giveaway runs today through May 3rd, at 12:00 p.m.

Good luck and thanks, Katharyn!

Mommy's My Wonder Woman Baby Outfit Giveway!!!

Enter to Win this adorable Mommy's My Wonder Woman Baby Outfit Giveaway!!! The Mommy's My Wonder Woman Onesie and Wonder Woman Baby Leg Warmers are by two of our Mommy's Small Business team members Giggle Poo and the adorably cute Wonder Woman Bow is brought to you by ABC- All Because of Claire

Available in these sizes:

3-6 Months
6-12 Months
12-18 Months
18-24 Months

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Feature: Tenpenny Gray

Our featured shop this week is Tenpenny Gray.

Tell us about yourselves.
We are two sisters from the frozen state of Minnesota. I’m Erica. I'm a married, stay-at-home mom of two young school-aged kids: a girl and a boy, and also a lazy orange cat. Beth, my younger sister, isn't a mom herself, but she does enjoy being an aunt to my kids and her other nieces and nephews.  Besides our Etsy shop, she also works as a freelance video editor.

Tell us about your shop. What do you sell?
Our Etsy shop, Tenpenny Gray, opened for business at the end of 2012, so we’ve only been around for a few months. A common theme for most of our items is vintage--either an actual vintage item or something we've crafted using vintage materials. We both love using vintage materials or repurposing any used items to give them a new life. Since we are a relatively new business, we will keep expanding our products that we have for sale. More jewelry is one thing that I know we have our eye on creating.

How did you come up with the name Tenpenny Gray?
We definitely spent a lot of time debating about a name for our shop! Both Beth and I agreed we wanted a shop name that was more general or abstract, and not tied to a specific type of item we would be selling, so that we could offer a wide variety of items in our shop. We actually, believe it or not, had a list of random words that we just really liked for some reason or liked the way they sounded. We may or may not have read the dictionary for inspiration! Tenpenny seemed to fit in with the vintage style we like, so we tried pairing it with different words until we came up with Tenpenny Gray. To us, it just felt and sounded right, and we think our perhaps somewhat crazy naming process led us to the perfect name for our shop.

When did you start creating? Why?
Both Beth and I have enjoyed doing a variety of different crafts since we were kids. I've always loved interior design, and Beth was always into drawing and painting. We're both avid scrapbookers as well. We grew up being dragged to antique shops and garage sales, so I think it really gave us a love of all things vintage and inspired us to open Tenpenny Gray. As a stay-at-home mom, I was looking for a way to have a business that I could do from home, too.

How do you balance your business with your family?
It is difficult to fit in everything that needs to be done in a given day between my family needs and business needs. Something often has to give - and for me, it is often the housework! I do try to fit in most of my business-related work while the kids are at school. A typical morning for me would be working on listing new things into our shop, putting the finishing touches on handmade items, and trying to squeeze in some cleaning or vacuuming before my youngest comes home from morning kindergarten. I try to be present with my kids when they are home and save the business work for when they are away or sleeping. But it is hard! Next year my youngest will be in school all day, so I’m anticipating a longer time-window to get business stuff taken care of.

How do you handle doing business WITH family?
That can be tricky, but luckily we get along well and are close. We often have very similar thoughts - we joke that we share a brain - so regarding business decisions, we usually are on the same track. We each have certain aspects of the Etsy business that we handle ourselves, along with each of us making items to be sold in the shop. It can be kind of hard to get away from it all though, when you are doing business with family. We do often find ourselves talking Tenpenny Gray business at family birthday party get-togethers!

What has been the most difficult aspect of being a Mommy with a Small Business?
For me, the most difficult aspect has definitely been the time. As any mom knows, there is never enough time in the day. The more time that I spend on my business, means the less time I spend doing the grocery shopping, the laundry, the cleaning. But that stuff still has to get done, so then it takes away quality time from my kids - because we are having to go grocery shopping together instead of playing a game together. Time management is key and something I am still working on.

What has been the most rewarding?
The most rewarding has been seeing our Etsy shop open and having business cards printed up and officially becoming a business. Getting that first sale was also really exciting! For us, it's also fun to take an old, used item and transform it into a lovely decoration for someone's home.

Do you have any tips for other moms with a small/home business?
While you of course want to grow and improve your business, try not to get too caught up in comparing yourself to other business owners. We moms do love to compare ourselves to other moms in all areas it seems. But that shop owner with lots of sales or all the creative products, may be at a different stage in her life where she can devote more time to nurturing her business than you can right now. When you are deep in the trenches of mothering and trying to run a small business too, you really can only do so much. It’s ok to build your business slowly. Know that you, too, will have different seasons in your life and you will get to a point where you have more time to devote to your business, but you can’t ever get those years back with your kids.

Do you have a coupon for us?
Take 15% off your purchase with coupon code: FRIDAYFEATURE15

If you'd like to see more, you can find Erica and Beth at the following sites:

www.etsy.com/shop/tenpennygray
www.facebook.com/tenpennygray

Thank you, ladies!

One Goal at a Time

Expanding a small business takes a lot of work and time, as you may know if you have a business of your own. Unfortunately I can’t offer any short cuts, but I can say working smarter and focusing on one goal at a time makes things happen, and, well, keeps me sane!

We continually look to expand awareness of our business, Bellissima Jewelers, so much so that our ideas often overwhelm us into standing still. So, we regroup, discuss and then focus on one thing. “Today” we decided to focus our efforts on selling to boutiques. Our goal, however, isn’t as much about generating revenue as it is about generating awareness.

So, where did we start with our one goal? Where everyone would probably start, Google and stores I see every day. I began about three months ago researching local boutiques to see what their guidelines are for considering a new vendor. Generally, they review products and if they like it, they offer it and take 50% of the sale of the product. Doesn’t seem fair when we do all the work, but and this is a big but, they have clientele that helps us spread awareness. And, if awareness if our goal, as it is, it’s a great place for us to start.

How did I contact them? I have filled out many, many contact forms on various sites throughout New Jersey with my “intro” information with links to every place I sell and promote. Having forgotten the basic tenements of marketing – WIIFM (What’s In It For Me), the original email was about Bellissima Jewelers, and not about what Bellissima can do for them! So, round two was different. I read their story, their philosophy and generated an email that detailed how our businesses’ align and the benefits to them for selling our jewelry.

Our first response came last week. I was just so happy to get a response. They have four boutiques and we are set to present our selections to them next week! I realize the dollars will be minimal per piece, but that wasn’t our goal, remember. We need awareness and this new relationship (hopefully) is a great way to start.

Too many goals split resources, thoughts and actions increasing the time it takes to attain a goal. So, set one goal with desired outcomes, and work to make those outcomes come true.

This post is brought to you by Bellissima Jewelers.

Friday Feature: Design Bug Studio

This weeks featured mommy with a "small" business is Becky of Design Bug Studio. Enjoy!

Tell us about yourself. 
I am a mom to a just turned 5 year old girl and almost 2 1/2 year old boy who keep me very busy. I used to be an elementary teacher, but after I had my daughter my school was closed and I took that as a sign that I should stay home with my daughter. 5 years later I'm still home with my children and am so happy I am able to share this time with them!

Tell us about your shop. What do you sell? 
I sell customized birthday invitations, baby announcements and holiday cards.

When did you start creating? Why? 
My first invitation was for my daughter's first birthday. I looked forward to creating an invitation for her every year. After her 4th birthday I realized that once a year was simply not enough for me. I wanted to make more invitations. So I decided to start designing invitations and cards for others. It took me a few months to build up the courage to actually open my etsy shop. It was the best decision I ever made and I only wish I had done it sooner. I chose my shop name because I felt like I was bit by the "design bug." I love what I do!


How do you balance your business with your family? 
It was really difficult to balance my shop and family at first. It still remains a challenge at times, but I think I have figured out what works best for me. I try to answer emails throughout the day, but the bulk of my work happens after the kids are in bed. Occasionally, I can sneak an order in here and there during the day, but if my kids need me I stop and make sure I am there for them.

What has been the most difficult aspect of being a Mommy with a Small Business? 
The hardest part has been trying to establish work hours. It's not a typical 9-5 job. With both kids at home, I can only do so much during the day. And once they are in bed, there are only so many hours in the evening I can work without sacrificing sleep. There are always a million things I want to do with my business, but I realize that I will have to do what I can, when I can!





What has been the most rewarding? 
I love that my daughter gets excited for me when I have an order. She is my biggest cheerleader in this endeavor!

Do you have any tips for other moms with a small/home business? 
If you are thinking about starting a business, do it! You'll be happy you did. If you're just starting out, give things time to work themselves out. It takes a lot of work, but it is worth it!


Beautiful work! If you have a special event coming up, you can find Becky's invitations and cards at the following sites:

Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/DesignBugStudio?ref=si_shop
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mydesignbug
Pinterest: pinterest.com/designbugstudio/

Thanks for joining us today!

Toddler Quiet Book

I've seen several Quiet Book or Busy Book ideas on Pinterest lately, so I decided I would make one for my little Gooba.  I borrowed many of these ideas from other sites and combined some ideas from different websites together to come up with something new.  Here is the link to my Pinterest page, which includes a link to all of the sites I borrowed from.

Below is what I came up with for Gooba's book.  I apologize for the sloppiness of some of the pages, I was rushing to get it done before we went on a trip.  Sloppy or not my little Gooba just loves her book and plays with it every day!  I hope you enjoy it as much as she does!

Above is the first page, the artist palate.  The paint is velcro and she can move them all around the palate.  There also is a paintbrush on the bottom where she can pretend to paint other pages of the book or other things around the house.

Page 2 and 3 are our Katie doll dress up.  The first page is a plastic zipper bag where she can keep the clothes and the second page is the doll that she can just stick the clothes the on.  I just freehanded the clothes, doll, and letters.  The dolls arms came a little funny, but I wasn't willing to pay the extra money for a new Cricut cartridge.

The next two pages are some of her favorites.  I made a barn with doors that open and a little straw pocket inside the doors.  Then I made four finger puppets, a chicken, a pig, a horse, and a cow.  The second page is just a hillside for her to have as a background for her finger puppets.

The next page is a ballerina slipper.  When she gets a little better at tying Gooba will be able to tie the slipper at the top.  Right now tying is still Mommy's job.

The next page is the mailbox page.  I took a photo of it with the letters out of the mailbox and then one with the letters in the mailbox.  Gooba has an intense fascination with the mail, so she enjoys handing out the letters to everyone and then collecting them to put them back in the mailbox.  I just sewed a button on to attach the flag, but later I thought it would be cool to have put a brad there instead so it could move.  Maybe next time.

The next two pages are also a pretty big hit with Gooba as well.  The page on the left includes weaving the pie, a fork and spoon to pretend to eat the pie, and velcro salt and pepper shakers.  She loves the salt and pepper shakers.  Underneath the weaving on the pie I put a bunch of strawberry stickers.  I need to glue them down, because Gooba likes to peel them off.

The page on the right are her button flowers.  Both sets of petals on each flower can be removed from each button and interchanged whichever way she wants.

The next two pages are probably her favorite.  Sadly, these were probably my two most rushed pages.  I wish I would have spent a little more time making them nicer for her, but regardless she loves them anyways.  The page on the left is the oven which closes with purse snaps and has a tray with three pockets to hold the center of the  cupcakes.  The oven door is a piece of laminating plastic I had left over.  The page on the right is the bowl which is a big pocket that can store everything, and contains two eggs, butter, sugar, and flour. I also made cupcake wrappers and icing tops.  All of them are pockets so the cupcake center (inside the oven in the picture) can be tucked into each piece.

The next two pages are her bead counters.  Pretty self explanatory I think.

Finally the last page is a shape matching page. Underneath each colored shape is a white version.  They hook together with velcro.  She is also a big fan of this page!

Well there it is!  I hope you enjoyed Gooba's Quiet Book!  Again, I graciously borrowed some of these ideas from various places around the internet.  Please visit my Pinterest Quiet Book page to find the links to the different sites I used.

This post is brought to you by Gooba Gear and The Gooba Diaries

Friday Feature: 13 O'Clock Designs

This week's feature is Sonia of 13 O'Clock Designs.

Tell us about yourself.
My name is Sonia Horowitz, I live in Newville PA with my soul mate and husband Adam, our beautiful 2 year old baby boy Liam, and our two rescued dogs. Along with being a mommy and a designer I am also a belly dancer and instructor as well as a Zumba instructor.

Tell us about your shop. What do you sell?
My shop contains a wide assortment of one of a kind and custom hand made jewelry and dance apparel (mostly belly dance). While most of my in stock pieces appeal most heavily to other dancers, I enjoy the challenge of doing custom and specialty work to fit almost any style.

How did you come up with your shop name?
13 O'clock is a concept that stems from the idea that we as a society tend to be constantly fighting so hard for a future of success and prosperity that we have somewhat lost the ability to really feed our dreams and fantasies. How often have you said something along the lines of, "I'll buy the nice jeans when I lose the extra weight," or "We'll start a family when we have more money," or "I'll take that art class when I have more time." We always seem to be waiting for just the right time to indulge our desires, and sadly that time may never come. We may never reach our 13 o'clock.
13 O'clock is about living in the now. No regrets, no expectations, just following your heart.

When did you start creating? Why?
I have been creative my entire life, but had never really thought of doing design work or crafting as an outlet. Actually, my mix of imagination and curiosity often got me in trouble as I was growing up! During my time living in Alaska I took an American Tribal Style belly dance class and I was hooked into the belly dance world! I began by making my own costuming pieces and as I had had no previous experience with crafting or sewing my journey has been mostly a guess and check sort of evolution. I dabbled in costuming and jewelry and had an Etsy shop but wasn't really sure about making a real go of it until this past year. I decided to stop fighting the universe and just go in the direction my heart was really pulling me.

How do you balance your business with your family?
I have never had good balance in any sense of the term. Balancing responsibilities and controlling stress are really never ending battles.The most important thing to remember is that you, yes you Mom are not superhuman. We all feel as if we failed sometimes so I like to go over my checklist in my head before I fall asleep: Are my dogs safe? Is my son happy? Am I sleeping next to my husband? Do we have a warm place to sleep? Ok then, I accomplished the most important things for the day.

What has been the most difficult aspect of being a Mommy with a Small Business?
Starting any small business comes with this bizarre mix of adrenaline, anxiety, and guilt. It's scary to truly be held accountable for your own mistakes, but unbelievably rewarding to reap the benefits of your own successes. If you are also a parent then the stakes become that much higher.

What has been the most rewarding?
There have been so many rewards stemming from this venture! It is really liberating to be doing exactly what I want to do when I wake up: take care my family, design, and create. My husband has been such a huge champion of my work, he is always the one to pick me back up when I let a setback get to me. I owe my development as a mother, artist, and business owner to his encouragement mixed with my bull headed determination. Teamwork like this is the sort of thing that really draws us together. I feel that despite the inevitable bad days and frustrations we have been able to draw even closer together as a result of having the freedom to work together toward both of our goals.

Do you have any tips for other moms with a small/home business?
While sensitivity as a mother is absolutely essential, too much sensitivity as a business owner or artist will not help you. Emotion, artistry, and business are all extremely important but also need to have certain amounts of separation or it becomes very difficult not to take things personally in the business world. Belief in your self and your work, and a rock steady emotional support system are absolutely vital to the health of your business.

What wonderful advice! We hope you've enjoyed and were inspired by this feature. If you would like to keep up with Sonia and her creations, you can find her at the following sites:

Sonia Horowitz
www.etsy.com/shop/13oclockdesigns
www.13oclockdesigns.com/
www.facebook.com/13oclockdesigns
custommade.com/by/13oclockdesigns
pinterest.com/13oclockdesigns/

Thank you for joining us!

Rainbow Birthday Party

When my daughter asked for an easy bake oven for Christmas, she started watching baking tutorials on youtube.  That's when she saw and fell in love with the 6 layer rainbow cake.  She immediately told me that's the cake she wanted for her birthday.  So of course I decided to do a rainbow party theme for her 5th birthday.  Her birthday is in March and since my daughter told me about this before Christmas, I had way too much time to think about this!  But in the end it was a perfect theme for a dreary March day in upstate NY and both my daughter and I loved every minute of it.

The first thing I did was create her rainbow invitation, available in my etsy shop.  The invitation is a great way to let your guests in on the theme.  The guests were asked to wear their favorite color of the rainbow.  It was fun to see so many colorful kids at the party!  I knew I wanted to get a rainbow dress for my daughter to wear and I found a beautiful, handmade rainbow twirl dress by Bewitching Stitching.  Dresses like this make me wish I could sew! My daughter loved wearing it and she received so many compliments at the party.

For the decorations, I decided to stick with the tried and true balloons and streamers.  The great thing about a rainbow party is that it is all about color.  For a small price, you get a really big impact.  I used the streamers on our dining room wall behind the sideboard where I knew I'd have her cake.  I also hung streamers from our fireplace mantle in the living room to add color in there as well.  On top of the mantle I put the favor bags (in rainbow colors) which served as another colorful decoration.  And my absolute favorite decoration was the rainbow balloon arch.  I simply blew up 4 balloons of each color and tied them together being sure to leave a long strand at the end.  Then I hung each set of 4 balloons by taping the string to the wall, adjusting as needed to get the arch shape.  I also tied 6 balloons (one of each color) together and tied them to our lamp post out front.  It was a nice way for guests to spot our house and again make a dreary March day a little brighter.

I ended up making the 6 layer rainbow cake that my daughter saw online.  While researching the rainbow cake, I kept finding cake recipes made from scratch.  I'm more of a boxed cake kind of baker and figured that should work just as well as any other recipe.  And it did. I bought 3 boxes of white cake mix (2 cakes per box) and 3 cans of white frosting.  I simply followed the directions on the box, divided the batter in half, added wilton gel food coloring to the batter and baked 2 at a time in 9-inch round pans.  It couldn't have been easier.  Want to know how to get your cakes to fall right out of the pan?  I found an awesome recipe that beats any spray.  Simply mix together 1/2 cup crisco, 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup vegetable oil and coat your pan with this using a pastry brush.  You won't need all of this, so put it in a container and store for later use.  I put mine in an empty frosting container.  Seriously, you'll never have a cake stick to your pan again!  I frosted it with the white frosting and topped it with the cutest cake topper ever.  It was custom made by Sonia over at Tiny Blossoms.  My daughter even helped customize it by picking out the dress color, hairstyle and other details.  It was the perfect addition to add a bit of color to the outside of the cake and a beautiful keepsake for my daughter after the party.

In addition to the cake, my daughter and I made rainbow colored Fruity Pebbles treats.  They're basically rice crispy treats, but with fruity pebbles instead.  Way too sweet for my tastes, but the kids loved them.  I also put out rainbow colored goldfish and a rainbow fruit platter.  The fruit platter was a hit with the kids and it made me feel good that they weren't just getting junk food.  Plus it looked so pretty!

For the favors, I found some adorable mini crayon rolls in a rainbow fabric by My Sunshine Designs.  I bought some journals in the dollar section at Target to go with them.  I also made rainbow barrettes inspired by this tutorial.  I used a different style barrette and hot glued the cloud instead of sewing it on.  They turned out so cute and I made 10 of them for $6 with materials left for more!  For the favor bags, I designed some tags in photoshop, cut them out with my circle punch and glued them on the front.  If you don't have a circle punch, you can keep them square and just cut out with scissors.  Click here for a free download of the tags!

We also did a couple of crafts when the guests first arrived.  I bought rainbow colored beads and the kids made necklaces and bracelets.  I also had paper plates cut in half to color a rainbow.  Super easy and fun for the kids.  Then we played a few games: rainbow beanbag toss, pin the cloud on the rainbow and the clear favorite, Rainbow Punch (tutorial found here).  I didn't get pictures of the games as I was too busy running them and forgot to take them before hand.  Oh well.

It was a great party and I'm so glad my daughter found that rainbow cake.  I know I'll never forget her 5th birthday party and hope that it's a happy memory for her too.