The Magic School Bus Birthday Party

After Mickey Mouse theme for two years in a row, many characters took his fancy this past year. I was almost sure it was going to be Clifford; then Daniel Tiger came a close second, but finally, "The Magic School Bus", it was.

My son was turning six and this was the easiest and the most fun birthday party that I had organized for him till date.  Simply because I did not over think anything. I let my son do it all. He chose the guests all by himself. My only request to him was that he call only his close friends to keep the party size manageable so that his younger brother would not feel overwhelmed.

The Setting

We had the party in the open courtyard of our condominium and I moved most of the furniture so there would be lots of room for the children to run around. I deliberately did not organize any activities for the kids, I just put out a few games on the table. I wanted this party to be more like a glorified play date rather than a regular birthday party. I wanted food to be there for everybody to help themselves whenever they wanted. I wanted the kids to interact and play with each other or occupy themselves however they wanted.  I wanted us adults to just hang out and have a relaxing time.

The Food

Food was simple and not a single item was homemade - unlike any other party I have organized before: Pizza, drinks, fruit, salad, candy and ice cream cake.

The Theme

Handmade Invitations

Decorations

Handmade Banner

Yellow and Blue Balloons

School Bus Tent

This tripled as an in-theme decoration, a play thing and a photo prop.

https://www.amazon.com/Giga-Tent-First-School-GigaTent/dp/B01GGEZ7ZQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1467789127&sr=8-2&keywords=Giga-Tent-First-School-Play

Globe and Flowers

My son loves flowers - he chose this colorful bunch. We thought his globe as a decoration went perfectly well with the theme.

Party Favors

My son gave a handmade bus ticket and the party favor as soon as he received each of his guests. I taped name tags on the favors so that there would be no mix up.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SWBM78/ref=s9_hps_bw_g21_i7

 

Cake

We got an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins for which my son chose the design from a catalog. Then we made it in-theme simply by printing out his favorite characters from The Magic School Bus, cut and glued them on skewer sticks and stuck them on the cake. I made a fondant school bus, custom made to my son's wishes.

Final Touch

My son remembered the throne from Pump It Up and wanted a special chair just for him. Impromptu, we customized a chair by drawing on a white t-shirt of his dad's with markers and dressing the chair cushion in it. Voila!

My son thoroughly enjoyed his party and every one of his guests made his day. All of us had an enjoyable time.

This time, the thank you notes went by email and SMS, since we sometimes forget to deliver handwritten notes in time.

My 2-year-old Son's Pocoyo Theme Birthday Cake

This was not even on my bucket list.  But two years ago, a friend of mine showed me some impressive cakes including this:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4795527502377&set=pcb.742452699176708&type=3&theater

I love to learn and I love to learn things that I love. I had taken a cake decorating class way back in 2008. I was keen on baking cakes and decorating, but the simple task of cleaning up the decorating tips, for some reason - though it is not a surprise that such a reason should exist for somebody with obsessive compulsive inclinations like me - daunted and overwhelmed me!

But these cakes were made of fondant and seemed like I may not have to clean decorating tips after all. My interest was piqued. I liked the challenge. So it immediately went on my list. This was in 2014.

I researched. I was not keen on going for classes, because time was sparse; I had had my second son only a few months ago. But thanks to the internet and the multitude of resources, I did not even have to step out of the house to equip and prepare myself.

For me everything starts with a mental process, before the physical realization of it.

The picture on Facebook posted by Manashi Deshpande of her "Under the Sea" Cake and Cupcakes was both the inspiration and the goal, or at least the like of it.

I am immensely grateful to Craftsy and the instructors who put up their comprehensive lessons for free.

I discovered Basic Fondant Techniques with Elisa Strauss, a free mini-class on Craftsy - http://www.craftsy.com/lecture/free-mini-fondant-techniques/2618.html. My then 4-year old son would insist on watching this instead of his current favorite cartoon series. We cuddled up next to each other and together we devoured the class videos.

Fabulous Party Cakes and Cupcakes by Carol Deacon that I checked out from the library lay on the table beside my couch - for 12 weeks - the maximum time I could borrow the book at a stretch. I thumbed through it once, but its presence there filled me with a warm feeling of anticipation. My son even picked out the cakes he wanted me to make from this book. But his interest moved on. So did time. But the seed was sown.

This year, I decided I would bake a Pocoyo theme birthday cake for my second son's 2nd year birthday. Without further thought, I headed to Michael's and went ahead and bought the supplies.

Wilton Decorator Preferred Fondant - White, Primary Multipack and Natural Multipack
Wilton 40-pc Alphabet Number Cutout
Cake tins and a bunch of cookie cutters,

I went and borrowed the same book from the library. Just looking at it felt like puzzle pieces were falling in place.

These two videos for Pocoyo Fondant Cake helped immensely.  Thank you, Tartafantasia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h_U2LzwkhE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oJeQFdi0Qk

One night, I made the characters in fondant. The night before my son's birthday, I baked the cake and made the frosting and put it all together.

From start to finish, the process flowed like peace.

Chocolate Cake : http://foodess.com/recipes/moist-chocolate-cake/
Chocolate Frosting : http://foodess.com/recipes/fluffy-chocolate-frosting/

Pocoyo

Elly

Pato

Loula

Sleepy Bird

Pocoyo Theme 2nd Year Birthday Cake

It made my day when my 2-year old squealed in delight, patted, showed-off and called out the names all the characters. I loved watching my sons pick apart ears, letters and heart and pop them into their mouths. I loved watching them poke the cake, swipe the frosting that oozed out and lick it off their pointer fingers. All this, way before we got ready to cut the cake.

And as a lagniappe, a cake in his favorite heart shape with his favorite Magic School Bus topper made with fondant for the loving, lovable big brother, Krish. He rolled out and cut out the hearts from fondant and decorated the cake himself.

Heart Shaped Magic School Bus Theme Cake

Go for your dreams! Derive joy, give joy.