plans.

Willow will be 4 in two weeks and a bit. 4 is an age where they really have an opinion on what they want, isn't it? I asked Willow a while ago what what sort of birthday cake she wanted, and she said she wanted a rainbow banana cake. Easy. That's, like, banana bread with colourful icing, right? I can do that. She's also changed it to being a cake with a transformer on top, no mum, a fairy. A fairy on top. With rainbow sides. 
I have no idea how to ice rainbow sides on a cake. That sounds like effort. I'm not very skilled at baking or icing.

Happily, four is also an age with a really short attention span, and I know whatever cake I make Willow- as long as it's fabulous enough- will probably meet with her approval. I don't want to go too far into Disney Fairy territory, because most of Willow's friend's are boys, and I don't want to alienate them, or reinforce the idea that certain themes are feminine or masculine.

So, the ideas:
- A woodland theme. Because fairies and elves and Willow likes foxes. Also, I got these toadstool candles from Lark on sale on boxing day, with the vague idea of using them as birthday candles. However, odd numbers tend to look more aesthetically pleasing than even, so I might save these for when she turns 5. Maybe. I was visualizing a cake something like this- chocolate, with chocolate icing, and desiccated coconut dyed green sprinkled on top, and a scattering of plastic toys. Easy.
- Sprinkles, in keeping with the rainbow theme, like this or this. Both are very charming. However, I have noticed the colour on sprinkles can bleed after a while, which is unfortunate.
- Rainbow in smarties/skittles whatever. Like this, or this. Willow likes decorating, so this seems like something she could really enjoy.

Willow's having her party at the local zoo. They don't charge for venue hire, and I've asked everyone to pay entry in lieu of a gift. Finger's crossed that our cake turns out ok, we don't end up with too much food or not enough, we have enough cool water to go around and cups, that the day lives up to Willow's expectations but isn't over the top, the weather is lovely and.... the wolves don't eat the children.