Hudson's 1st Birthday Party Part 3...Rainbow Cake and tissue paper lanterns

 Rainbow Cake

For my boys' birthdays, I always do a rainbow cake! I first saw the idea on omnomicon.com. I remember thinking it was worth a shot, but I was pretty sure it would not come out like the picture. Well, guess what...it does!! It is so easy to make and it ALWAYS impresses the guests. It looks so much harder to make than it is. 

Aren't the colors so fun?

Supplies:

Directions:

Divide cake mix into 6 different bowls. Dump 2/3 of the cake batter into the first bowl, and then dump decreasingly smaller amounts into each bowl thereafter.  So the first bowl is going to have the most and the last bowl is going to have the least amount. Make sense?  Then, mix in the gel food colors into each bowl, one for each color.

Next, you're going to dump the cake mix (already mixed according to package directions) into the pan, starting with the bowl that has the MOST.  If you don't, the last color will overwhelm all of the rest. Pour directly into the center of the pan.  Pour the next bowl directly on top of the first circle, and so on. The cake mix will naturally spread out as you pour right on top of each other.

I also did cupcakes the same way.

The finished product. (Picture courtesy of Omnnomicon)

So cute, right? 

Tissue Paper Lanterns

I first saw the tutorial for the tissue paper lanterns here on Martha Stewart.com. (Good ol' Martha comes through again!"

Look at the napkin holders...LOVE!

Just stack 8 pieces of tissue paper together and make 1-1/2 inch accordian folds.  (Like a fan)

Tie in the middle with a twisty tie or wire. You can trim the ends into rounded or pointy shapes if desired (The red one is not cut, the blue one, I cut pointy ends)

Then separate the layers, pulling away from the center, one at a time until you have a nice round circle.

The finished product! Of course its even cuter with Hudson in the picture! :-)