I can’t believe it.  My baby is one year old!

I wanted to celebrate Charlie’s birthday but didn’t want to overwhelm him so my husband and I decided to keep the celebration to family only.  Here’s Charlie eating a cookie pop.  I baked sugar cookies on lollipop sticks and decorated them with green icing and the number “one”.  The second design I created was made to look like a swirled lollipop.  I displayed them on a lollipop dessert stand.

I also made lemon meringue cupcakes and mini chocolate chip banana muffins.  I displayed those on cake stands that I made in blue and green to match the party colors.

I found this super cute idea for a DIY dessert stand on Hostess with the Mostess’ daily blog.  I love how they came out and I can’t wait for an excuse to make them again!  To add to the festivities, I hung these cute paper lanterns that I bought at Party City.

Now for the cake.  I wanted to make a cake that was whimsical and cute, but not too babyish.  This is what I came up with.

The cake was a 2 tiered tapered design, decorated in white, silver and blue.  I tried out a new design element for this cake.  I always experiment on my family; isn’t that what they are for?  I have never made tapered tiers before, but they came out great!  For the bottom tier I baked 3 cakes: 8 inch, 7 inch and 6 inch.  The top tier is also three layers: 7 inch, 6 inch and 5 inch.  I layered, iced and covered in fondant as usual.  It worked out fabulously.  Charlie was mesmerized by the sparkling candles.

I know he is only one year old but I couldn’t stop at just one candle so I put in twelve; one for each month.  Happy first birthday baby.  Mommy and Daddy love you!