Can You Say Big Red Fun? An Elmo Birthday Party is Great!

When my youngest son was a little guy, he had a special friend. His name is Elmo. Now, for those of you who don't know who Elmo is, he is a furry red character from Sesame Street with chubby cheeks and an ear to ear grin...not unlike my son!

So, when my son's 3rd Birthday grew nearer, his brother came up with the idea of an Elmo party. We could have a simple party, he informed me, and the decorations could be all red. Not a bad idea, I decided and we began to plan.

The cake was baked and decorated by "good ol' Mom". A simple sheet cake was all that was needed. After baking the cake in a disposable pan, I mixed the frosting. Making half tan (with the addition of natural colored vanilla, it was the perfect shade) and half light blue we were ready to begin decorating. This cake should resemble a shoreline and sand, when finished, so the exact dimensions are approximate at best. Drawing a wavy line diagonal from the bottom left to the top right I began to frost the cake. Using blue frosting on the top half, create "waves" by adding little swirls and curls in the frosting.

You can also top this with a slight sprinkling of blue colored sugar but we found it to look great without the additional sugar. Frost the bottom half with the tan frosting. Let this dry a bit and then add a slight dusting of brown sugar to simulate sand. Now place Elmo or Sesame Street figures on the cake, being sure to wash them well before placing them on the frosting. We found a figure of Elmo on a Jet ski and another Sesame Street character on a dune buggy.

With the addition of HAPPY BIRTHDAY and the appropriate number of candles you are set! As the #3 candle was priced at app. $1.00 and the characters at $2.00 each, the total out of pocket cost (not including the cake mix and frosting) was about $5.00 for the decorations....quite a bit less than you would pay for a bakery cake and just as cute!

Decorations were simple with red crepe paper streamers, red balloons, a couple mylar Elmo balloons, and matching tablecloth, napkins and paper plates...all with Elmo's smiling face upon them! My oldest even figured out that if he fashioned large white eyes from typing paper and carefully scotch taped them on the top of the balloons, adding a black smiling mouth...the balloons would resemble once again, ELMO! No matter how many Elmo faces we created, the Birthday boy was thrilled! Elmo is his favorite friend (next to his brother) and this was perfect for him!

Party favors were made by my oldest son for the adults in the family (I bought the ones for the kids! :-) ) We purchased clay flower pots approximately 3" tall and hand painted Elmo's face on them using craft paint. After letting them dry completely, I sprayed them with a sealant. After the sealant dried, we placed foil in the bottom of the pot, with a thin layer of sand on top of the foil.

Carefully melting paraffin and red crayons for color (this is where adult supervision is needed), we held small birthday candles in the bottom of the pot for the wick and slowly poured melted candle wax on top. After this cooled and hardened, I hand lettered the date and HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the rim of the pot with a sharpie marker. We were done!

Not much else went into this party....for kids this young I have always felt, the simpler the better. They are overwhelmed enough as it is, with the mere thought of being the center of attention, no extras are really needed.

Needless to say, the party was a hit. The Birthday boy was so excited over the sight of all the wrapped presents, that he didn't know which to open first! But open them he did and I'm pleased to say, he was delighted with them all! I should mention though, that one of his gifts was a talking Elmo doll. So in his eyes, his day was perfect! First decorations and a cake ALL with Elmo's face upon them and finally another furry red friend who actually talks to him! A perfect Birthday!

So, if you too have an Elmo lover in your house, whatever their age might be, consider using some of our ideas. They are simple, inexpensive and they fill the bill quite nicely for a kid who would just love to live in "Elmo's World!" Until next time....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!