Did I mention that this cake and its layers of white chocolate, lightly-sweetened whipped cream and fresh strawberries were positively to-die-for? The simple secret to making a half-cake: bake 2- 9″ layers then split in half crosswise. Stack, layering whipped cream and strawberries between the layers. (Told ya it was simple.) Chanel made the most adorable cake topper garland, using 2 striped straws and a tiny felt bunting stamped with “P-H-O-E-B-E.”
Phoebe’s definitely at the age where everything finds its way to her mouth, including her half-birthday cards.
I recycled the yarn pom flowers from this shoot to make festive pom pom bouquets, which I think are even more charming than the real thing for this type of soirée. Get the DIY details here.
And I even fastened some of the poms into a mini garland for Phoebe’s highchair.
Kid-friendly place settings! We cut kraft paper into rectangular placemats, then used neon pink tape to add a border on each side. Disposable bambu plates get dressed up with decorative washi tape cut to spell “1/2.”
We cut tons of homemade confetti from sheets of pink and orange tissue paper, then folded it up and stuffed it into balloons before filling with helium. Cute, right? This is an easy party trick I have a feeling I’m going to be pulling out again and again…
Phoebe with her adoring grandmothers (my mom on the left, Adam’s on the right)… we’re so lucky to have both sets of parents in town, and I’m incredibly thankful that Phoebe gets to spend tons of quality time with them as she grows up.
Do any of you guys celebrate half-birthdays? I don’t know if I’ll go beyond this first one, but it sure was fun…and I’m always up for finding an extra excuse to party! And here’s the recipe for that cake…
White Chocolate Berry Cake
- 4 ounces white chocolate
- ¼ cup water
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 4 cups fresh strawberries
for the whipped cream:
- 1 quart heavy whipping cream
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ?Melt chocolate and water. Mix until smooth. Sift together flour, soda and salt. Set aside.
- ?In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in chocolate. Add alternately buttermilk and flour mixture, beating well after each addition.
- Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and gently fold into batter.
- Line the bottom of three 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes and remove cakes from pans.
- For the whipped cream frosting, beat all ingredients until stiff.
- Layer cake all over with frosting and fresh berries. Top it off with the leftover fresh berries and white chocolate shavings.
*recipe from bread winners cafe
**photos by camille
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This is the cutest. I am overwhelmed with all of these gorgeous details!!!
What a darling idea! I love the table decor and i can’t believe your little cutie pie is already 6 months old! What a sweet family you have.
Thanks ladies… y’all are so sweet. We are having a blast with her!!
Absolutely precious! I need to have a half (6 month) birthday for my little man. Such a cute idea! It’s so true, I can’t believe how fast the months are flying by!
My favorite are the clear balloons with the confeti inside! Super cute!
Thanks Ruchis – it was so cute and easy, I can’t believe I’ve never done it before! And since we made the confetti ourselves, it’s so simple to customize for any party theme and color palette.
The shot of her tiny feet on the table is adorable.
I love the idea of filling the balloons with confetti – I just could never figure out how to stretch the openings single-handedly!
How has it already been 6 months?! Happy Half Birthday Phoebe!
Everything turned out so sweetly! That little girl is just the best 🙂
Happy 1/2 Birthday, Phoebe! She has an awesome name, if I do say so myself… :o)
I love those confetti balloons!
Absolutely adorable! I love your color scheme! We, too, always celebrated 1/2 birthdays for our(December) born daughter until she was 5. It’s easy to see that every day is special in your house!
Oh my goodness, Phoebe is so precious! I am dying to be your daughter now too 🙂
By the way, the pom pom high chair…to die for. Your style shines through everything you do. Love it. One of my favorite brands for a reason!
xoxo
Happy half to Phoebe! I’d never heard of celebrating a half bday before. Such a cute idea and I love that you did half a cake. Everything looks perfect. And what stylish grandmas Phoebe has.
🙂
mikky
http://www.todaloos.com
These photos are adorable and I absolutely loved the confetti in balloons idea. Would it work without hellium?
How fun! I love any reason to celebrate and a half birthday is as good an excuse as any 😉
xo,
Ashley
What an adorable 1/2 birthday party! These photos are so sweet and I love her big blue eyes! God bless her today and always! XOXO
By the way…that cake looks amazing! Any cake with whip cream and strawberries is on the top of my list! Yumm!
Your daughter is beautiful! LOVE the confetti in the balloons. I am going to use that for my baby girl’s first b-day next month.
Great color combo too!
cheers!
Quinn
http://www.etsy.com/shop/potluckstore
I’m feeling a little dumb over here, but it’s the first time I hear of celebrating a half birthday and face-palm-ing myself. Such a genius idea. I always look for reasons to celebrate and it would be lovely to do this when I have children one day. Thank you for the idea, for sharing your beautiful DIY celebration and give Phoebe a kiss with the kindest wishes in. May her life be a continuous celebration!
Happy half birthday to the sweetest little love ever! Loved your pics with your grandmas !!
What a cute idea! Love the pom poms on the high chair
that is one CUTE family!
Love the idea 1/2 birthday supper fun and cute! This weekend I’m hosting Parisian style DIY birthday brunch. I made a black and white pom-pom garland and black and white mini bunting for the sweet table. I have also found the cutest Parisian paper cute outs all black and white.
We did do a half birthday for Antonio. It was back in Halloween, so we carved him a baby pumpkin then let him smash into a small cake
This party is too cute – and I love that people still celebrate half birthdays. Love the confetti balloons!
Happy 1/2 birthday to little Phoebe!!!! 6-12 months was one of my favorite ages.
Lovely party! congratulations 😀
So much cuteness going on! Love that little girl!
Actually , yes I still celebrate my daughter’s 1/2 b-day, and she’s turning 20 this year. It falls right before Christmas and we use it as an excuse to throw a Christmas cookie party. After she went off to college, I thought it would end but the girls begged me to dust off the cookie cutters this past Xmas… so maybe one day soon my daughter will take over??
Enjoy!
Awwww this was so cute. Pheobe is a doll baby.
This is such a Beautiful party! I always love the idea of putting tissue paper inside of balloons, so so pretty! Your lil girl is so precious!!!!
Oh my goodness, how sweet! I love the idea of a half birthday and completely agree with the sentiment about the days being long and the years being short. It feels like my now 2-year-old was just born. I’m not sure it will ever sink in that I’m the mom of a little boy now. 😉
That half-cake does look to die for! Your confetti balloons are super cute! I used to keep track of my half birthday when I was a kid, but always forget it now-a-days.
?emma
http://www.itsemmaelise.com
I shared your recipe/pic on my blog, and linked back to you:
http://itsemmaelise.com/post/80982397222/a-half-cake-for-a-half-birthday
Thanks again for sharing!
This is so adorable! I’m expecting a baby girl in March and I’ve already started pinning 1st birthday ideas…now I’m going to start a 1/2 birthday board. You’re daughter is precious and this party looks fantastic:)
Hi Camille, my daughter is ready for a high chair. Where did you get this one? Thanks, Kate