It is that time of the year again, my sweet little girl's birthday! I wanted to share last year's birthday party with you.

Every mom says it but seriously, I can't believe she will be five! Madilyn is such a joy to parent. She is full of personality and spunk and it is never a dull moment with her. Because of my husband's work schedule I get a lot of one on one time with Madi and I can honestly say I love every bit of time we spend together. Madi is a girl who knows what she wants and always has, I love that about her. When Madilyn wants something it goes like this..."Mom can I have some water with three ice cubes in my Justin Beiber cup please?" Mom, I want a new bathing suit. I would like it to be blue with polka dots and green sharks." I think you get the idea. She is very specific with everything. In January when I start planning her birthday parties we brainstorm and like everything else she tells me EXACTLY what she wants and does not hold back. She is my most challenging client every single year but I love the way she forces me to think outside the box and make it work so it is a day that celebrates her life and she fully enjoys.

Last year her requests were the following for her fourth birthday. "I want school bus, police car, fireman, Dora, gymnastics, cupcakes and candy and I want to make the cupcakes." See what I am working with here people?! The color palette she chose is not anything I want to even talk about because it was impossible and exactly what you might expect from a three and a half year old. So I went with the making cupcake idea and the bake shop party was born. I chose a soft pastel color palette of mint green, pink and blue mostly because I love those colors and I didn't want it to be super girly because that's not Madi's style.

My amazing husband built me a bake shop stand and painted it pink and white. It was perfect for the party and better than I envisioned. For her birthday, he also built her a replica Pottery Barn Kids bed from scratch and that is where his love of building began. I made the chef hats and had the kids start the party by putting alphabet stickers on their hats. Each chair had a white apron and a little rolling pin for the kids to dress the part. I used sprinkles and cupcake liners in apothecary jars as centerpieces and frosting in piping bags to encourage the kids to get involved. I ordered plain vanilla cupcakes and sugar cookies and had the kids decorate one to eat. The kid's all did great and there were no messes on my floors! There were other treats for everyone to fill pink bakery boxes up with treats to-go.