Frugal kids birthday cake, party food and decorations?

Avocado

My baby daughter is about to turn one, I'm reluctant to spend anything I don't truly need to on her birthday party because she wont really understand it and money is tight.

I'm only having a party at all because my baby-crazy family will be mortified if I deny them the chance to take photo's of it.

How am I going to do this cake on the cheap, but so it still looks the part for the camera? (And can still be eaten- no fake cake haha!)

Anyone have any cheap-but-passable party food suggestions too?

What about decorations?

esmf73

Could just do a sponge cake (extra value!) with 1 candle, some sandwiches and if you think it necessary soup. Along with tea / coffee.

RAS

A sponge cake needs 3 eggs and the same weight of flour, sugar and marg (go for the cheapest hard one). Use the rest of the marg to make "butter" icing. You could make a "1" out of chocolate (even a Kitkat would do).

Decorations - possible those crepe paper streamers that are used at Christmas?

Soubrette

If it's a family party, could each family member bring a plate of something and you do the cake?

Amber_Babies

I'd go with a basic jam sponge. Cover in butter icing & decorate with chocolate buttons (big bag from aldi. I wouldnt go too overboard on the food. When mine were 1 I did a big spread but nobody bothered eating anything ( I was cross after all the effort & cost!!!). Sandwiches & a few picky bits, sausages or sausage rolls & some crisps maybe?

Pink.

Hi Avocado,

This thread may help with the cake:

Birthday Cake for One Year Old

I'm assuming from your post that there will be mainly adults at the party so these threads have lots of moneysaving buffet ideas that should help:

Ideas for really cheap easy Buffet food please!!

Buffet Ideas

Help ! Planning small buffet birthday party for 17, NEVER done anything like this ? !

budget buffet help!!

help ideas for party food

Christening Buffet ideas?

I'm not really into decorations for parties but what about some balloons (babies usually love ballons, although some hate them so it will depend on your little one) and making or buying a couple of banners.

These threads from the Special Occasions board may give you some ideas:

Looking For Ideas Please For Sons 1st Birthday

1st Birthday Cake

1st Birthday Approaching Fast- Need Ideas for Anything and Everything Please!!!

My Little Boys 1st Birthday

1st birthday party - In the night garden

Sorry for all the links but hopefully they'll give you some ideas. Once you've had more input from the Old Stylers I'll move your thread over to the Special Occasions board to see if you can get more advice.

Pink

valk_scot

I remember my cake challenged SIL getting 24 wrapped Cadbury Mini Rolles, standing them in a circle on a plate and wrapping them round the edge into a giant cake shape with a broad ribbon, then sticking a long candle into the middle. That was for her son's first birthday. It looked pretty good actually and was very popular with the kids at the party.

I did the Chocolate Hedgehog for my own kids' first birthdays. Big chocolate sponge cut in half to make two semicircles, stood on their edges and stuck together with icing to give a sort of hedgehog shape (trim one end down) covered with chocolate buttercream or bought chocolate fudge frosting and lots of chocolate buttons pushed into the icing edgeways to make the spines. My small kids loved it (the mess they made with eating a piece made a great photo-opportunity!) and in fact my DS actually asked for a hedgehog for his most recent birthday, his fifteenth!

Tamster150

I normally make a jam sponge, then melt cheapie bar chocolate (sainsburys is really good & only about 35p a bar) for the topping & decorate with smarties. Sometimes I seperate the colours & do a pattern around the edge & then the number inside, or I just go totally random. Fabricland have cheap wide ribbon to put round teh cake to give it a more professional look. I have also used writing icing that you can buy in supermarkets.

and with the buffet - keep it simple a few sarnies, crisps, biscuits, grapes, fairy cakes, sausages, DONE

frugalfrancesca

Hi hun, a tip thats a little off topic but may help, get to b n m bargains or home bargains, I got invations a banner, balloons and a table cloth which totalled just over a pound!! I got noddy instead of age one, and I found it to be in good enough condition that I used it this year and will be using it in may aswell. (apart from the balloons obviously!) x

Avocado

Miniroll cake is pure genius, I will have to remember that for another time. A simple sponge cake done up as a hedgehog with Aldi buttons will thrill them no end I'm sure. I thought of orange squash and jelly and ice cream (cheap but ultra traditional) but will be reading the threads linked to for cheap savouries too. I'm sure the aunties will never notice if the crisps are Tesco Value.

Soubrette I'm not so keen on mentioning it, lest they think of me as a charity case. They've all been spoilling her so much already (not just in presents but in time too). They'd get out of hand if they got the idea I needed help, and I don't really, but being cheap makes sense.

Cheap balloons and banners I can re-use sounds like a winner, especially if I go to the pound shop for them.

Thank you everyone. I've got a lot of thread reading to do.

LolaLemon

For my sons first, I git a block of cheese and cut into holdable chunks for little hands, halved and quartered grapes, strawberries, mango and bananas, sliced cucumber into thick sticks.
I done some cocktail sausages n some sandwiches. Put them all on little paper plates, looked loads, but wasn't really. Oh also some cheap fairy cakes from big t. Iced them myself with icing sugar n water n little food colouring.
I made a carrot cake for the birthday cake, just put it in a round tin instead of the long one, put some cream in the middle and on top.
Had plenty of diluting juice/water for kids and tea for adults.
I didn't do decorations just a few balloons n his toys.