The Wild Things Are...

at Creative Parties and Showers! My Where the Wild Things Are party is being featured there today! Be sure to check out the amazing parties featured on the site. Thanks so much for the feature, Shannon...I can't wait to show it off to Max when he is older!

Where the Wild Things Are Party

The wild things were at my house for my son Max's first birthday! I love parties, especially when there is a theme involved. I threw lots of parties for my third graders when I was a teacher. However, I'm not quite used to entertaining adults (see my note to self)! But wait, wasn't the party for my son? Okay, we all know first birthdays are more for the parents. Max and his little friends had a great time too though!

The guest of honor was dressed in this adorable Max costume from the book!

Here is the cupcake tower I created for the party. Click on the pic to get a close-up of the cupcakes. (There is more info on my inspiration and recipes on my cupcake tower post.) My mom made the cake/cupcake toppers of Max from the book with my Max's face on it. I bought the Where the Wild Things Are cupcake topper rings from ebay. The kids at the party took home the rings as party favors.

Here's my Max with his monster toy that I ordered from Amazon. I'm still waiting on a Max bobblehead that I ordered-they sent me a Maxwell Smart instead! We used the big floor puzzle that has a picture from the book to entertain the kiddies for a little bit.

I created Max's boat out of butcher paper, mimicking the one in the book that Max uses to sail to "where the wild things are".

I love the new banner pieces you can buy...I picked the colors and letters I wanted and added pictures of the monsters from the book to complete the banner.

I used a crown cookie cutter for these "king of the wild things" cookies. They were delicious! I used my mom's sugar cookie recipe...I'll bake some more soon and post the recipe-you've got to try it!

Here's the awesome table cloth my mom made. I scanned the pictures from the book and she ironed them on using photo transfer paper.

Daddy read the book to all the kids at the party. They were riveted! Below is another pic of my little king of the wild things. My mom made the adorable costume because I had to have him dressed up as Max from the book! I added the wolf tail and made his crown. I bought a crown at a party store, cut the top into points like the book, and added the wolf fur to the crown. He also had a royal scepter rattle to complete the look.


Note to self: Next time I throw a party 1) bake a little the night before (hopefully it won't be Easter next time!) 2) be ready when your guests are instructed to arrive (yes, I was still frosting cookies and filling the punch bowl as they were arriving) 3) don't let your husband fill up the pitcher (he left it filling up on the fridge water dispenser and it spilled all over the floor...yes, the guests were there to witness it) 4) clean up ALL of the dog feces from your yard (even though my hubby picked up the feces from the main part of the yard and it was out of the way, it was still a faux paw, as you could see some at the side and I'm sure it wasn't very appetizing!)

Where the Wild Things Are Cupcake Tower

Here's a pic of the (shortened) cupcake tower I made for Max's first birthday party. My inspiration came from blue cupcake's cupcake tower that was inspired by the book. Check out her cupcake towers, they are amazing!

http://bluecupcakebyjulie.blogspot.com/2009/03/cupcake-towers.html

Making the Cake:
The "king of the wild things" cake I created was a little difficult, but it was fun to make. I used a 6x4 inch cake pan to bake a chocolate cake mix (didn't have time on Max's day to bake from scratch!). I lost track of baking time as usual (I promise to have more clear recipes in the future!), but I used the toothpick test to make sure it was done. When the toothpick came out clean, I took it out of the oven. I know this cake can be improved upon, but I used graham crackers to make the top of the crown. I took a square piece and cut it gently with a knife diagonally. Then I flipped it to make the crown pieces.




The graham crackers I used were really flaky and broke easily, but I managed to get enough pieces to make the cake work. I frosted the cake first (forgetting to dye the frosting gold-oops!) and put a lot of frosting on top and around the top. I frosted around the entire graham cracker piece with a small butter knife and stuck it on the cake. I continued until the crown was complete. I added frosting where needed and tried to smooth it out. Finally, I added dusting crystals, but it didn't cover the whole thing like I wanted. The frosting wasn't smooth enough and it was hard to add to the side of the cake. I would frost and dust the cake first next time. It would be hard to dust the frosting on the crackers before you stuck them on because you have to touch it and it will get messy. Ideas, anyone? I also really wanted to add "they made him king of the wild things" to the cake somehow, but didn't quite get to it.

Monster Cupcakes: These monster cupcakes were inspired by the ones on blue cupcake's cupcake tower. Since I haven't used fondant (yet!) I decided to create my own version using cashews, lemonheads (with the eyes drawn on with edible markers), and slivered almonds. Aren't the paper cups cute? I got them at a fabulous cooking store, Orson Gygi.

To decorate with frosting, I used tip #12 round and piped it up. (Is that the right term? I'm still learning, here!) After the party, I got around to creating the monster that has hair in the book (see below). I used tip #233 multi-opening. Isn't he funny? Obviously, I need to practice using that tip some more. And now for the recipe...

Old Fashioned Applesauce Spice Cupcakes - adapted from a Duncan Hines (r) Cakebox Recipe

1 package spice cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cups applesauce

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cupcake pan by adding paper liners (or greasing). Combine cake mix, eggs, applesauce, and oil in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Pour into cupcake liners, 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting - adapted from my mom's vanilla buttercream frosting recipe http://www.potsandpins.com/blog/2008/03/sugar-cookies-f.html

1/2 cup butter, softened (do not substitute)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
powdered sugar (approximately 4 to 5 cups)

Cream butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add vanilla, milk, salt, and cinnamon. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and blend, adding more powdered sugar to get the consistency you want. (To pipe the frosting, you'll want at least 4 cups total. You want it thick.)

After you taste it, you may want to add more cinnamon and blend again.

Max cupcakes: To decorate this cupcake, I used tip #22 star, and the cupcake toppers my mom made.
To make this cupcake, I used a lemon cake mix, but I did make the frosting from scratch. If you love lemon, you will LOVE this frosting!

Lemon Buttercream Frosting - adapted from my mom's vanilla buttercream frosting recipe http://www.potsandpins.com/blog/2008/03/sugar-cookies-f.html

1/2 cup butter, softened (do not substitute)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest from 1 lemon
powdered sugar (approximately 4 to 5 cups)

Cream butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add vanilla, milk, salt, and lemon zest. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and blend, adding more powdered sugar to get the consistency you want. (To pipe the frosting, you'll want at least 4 cups total. Just keep adding a cup at a time until it is thick enough.)