Let Them Eat Cake!

My favorite part of parties is the cake.  I spend most of a birthday bash waiting and waiting and waiting to sing "Happy Birthday" so the guest of honor can blow out the candles and cut into the baked goodness.  But who wants to spend a ton of money on something that people devour in no time?  Here are some great ways you can wow your guests without breaking the bank.

Being the self-proclaimed cake connoisseur that I am, finding the perfect one was obviously important element while I was planning Gabrielle and Alaina's first birthday.  It had to look good but more importantly, it had to taste GREAT.  I found both in this cute confection.

It was banana cake with strawberry filling and tasted delicious.  And as a sugar junkie, I loved that all of the decorations on it were edible.  That's right - they're all cookies!  This is such an easy and inexpensive way to customize a cake you make at home or buy at the market.  All you need is some dough (don't feel bad about buying pre-made - no one will know), a few lollipop sticks, some icing (if you want to get fancy, visit the fabulous Sweetopia for some great tutorials) and some cookie cutters.  This 101 piece set from Wilton has everything from butterflies and flowers to dinosaurs and sports equipment and will only run you $15.

Pop a few cookies into a plain cake and you can completely transform it into something personalized and unique just like this.

Another great way serve a sweet treat that's not super pricey is to go for cupcakes instead of a whole cake.  After seeing the fantastic cupcake towers on one of my favorite blogs, The Tomkat Studio, I had to have one at Gabrielle & Alaina's party too. 

And it was so simple - and cheap - to do.  I bought this 4-tier Wilton dessert stand, which runs $20 and can be used over and over again for lots of different occasions.

I found four colors of ribbon in different widths that coordinated with the colors of the rest of the party decorations and used double stick tape to adhere them to the edges of the tiers.

I bought the cupcakes from the grocery store and added the sprinkles on top as well as a variety of cupcake toppers.

The picks with Gabrielle and Alaina's faces in clown hats and crowns (with real pom poms and rhinestones!) were my favorites. 

All in all, the cupcake tower cost me about $50.  Considering it fed 25 people and I'll use the tower again this year, I'd say that was some bang for my buck.

Another great and easy way to decorate cakes or cupcakes is with fondant.  I know nothing about making it but thanks to the Cakes and Kids, you can buy it instead, and it will even match your theme!  Look at how this fondant ladybug takes a pink frosted confection from simple to super sweet.

 Planning a monkey party?  How cute will these little faces look atop some cupcakes?

Throwing a barnyard bash?  Go for some pigs and cows.

You could decorate a great garden party cake with these darling daisies.

All of the fondant decorations are completely edible and if you don't see the perfect design for your party, Cakes and Kids will customize something to fit your needs.

Last but not least, there's a new trend hitting the sweet treat world these days - cupcake wrappers.  Yup, they're just as simple as they sound.

But with these fun paper coverings, like the ones seen here from A Little Lollipop Tree, even the plainest cupcake looks posh!

So there you have a few ways to do dessert on a dime at your next party.  Be sure to check out the giveaways and discount listed below to score some of the great things you saw here from Cakes and Kids and A Little Lollipop Tree and if you had some great cakes, cupcakes or other fun treats at your little one's birthday bash, we want to see!  Post a comment below and if we feature your party here on AFOMFT, you'll be entered to win a $50 gift card.  Let's see those goodies!

Images: AFOMFT, Ariana Falerni Photography, Cakes and Kids & A Little Lollipop Tree