my mermaid's 4th birthday!

birthdays are always a special occassion, but for our daughter Stella, they are even more so. She and her twin sister Mya started out as preemies, born 14 weeks early. They were extremely ill, even more so than most babies that early, and were given very little hope of survival. After 6 months of fighting, Mya passed away. Stella made it home after a long rode, and is in perfect health today, with zero long term complications, other than being small for her age.

Her party was at the hotel daddy works at, and of course she asked for an under water theme. She is obsessed with mermaids, and in particular, the Disney movie Aquamarine. She insisted on a pink cake (strawberry), with aqua frosting, covered in orange starfish. Pretty specific, eh?? My hand was in serious pain, and cramped like crazy after piping on all those starfish, but watching her gaze in satisfaction at her cake was well worth it! I think more practice is in order before I try a cake more elaborate than this, but it was fun all the same!

I just had to give her something mama made for her birthday, but in all honesty, after the Dutch costume insanity, I was a bit worn out, so I opted for a totally simple dress stitched up from some Amy Butler fabric that I love (of course, in aqua). I had so much going on this week, that I had only 45 minutes or so to whip it up on the day of her birthday, so the gathers aren't as perfect as I'd like, time maybe to get a ruffler??