Ry's 1st Birthday and Cake DIY

So Ry's first birthday was this past June. We had it on the beach of course and it was a total beach theme. I really wanted to put my own touches on the party with lots of DIY's so I made the cake and her smash cake myself (with the help of my sister). It actually turned out to be really cute and I got LOTS of compliments on it so I figured I would share...

I used box cake. Yep that's right. Just plain ole white cake. 2 layers. I shaved off the top to make the cake flat. I then iced the whole cake with pre made blue icing (seeing a pattern here). I crushed up teddy grahams to make it look like sand. I used fruit roll ups and peach rings (you could also use gummy life savers) for the teddy grahams to sit on. Added some umbrellas (you could also add fake trees). Now the hardest part was actually the kit kats. Even with icing, it was hard to get them to stay on and we kept running out so we had to go to the store 3 different times for more! To make the kit kats stay on I just tied a string around the cake and added a lifesaver, made it look a little nautical. I made the cake the night before, put it in the fridge and it was perfect for the day of the party.

I also wanted to make Ry a smash cake. Why buy something fancy when its going to be destroyed in 0.5 seconds? Again I just used white box cake and pre made icing. She thoroughly enjoyed it and was on a sugar high for about a week. The candle came from party city. Not "beachy", but so darn cute.

TIP*** Put the cake on wax paper then set it on highchair. Makes for a way easier clean up!

Some other things we did:
-snacks in sand buckets (goldfish and pretzels)
-we attempted these watermelon rice krispies but they didn't turn out too well...
-we had a pink, aqua, and orange color theme
-decorated the table with fake paper fish
-had beach games and brought Ry's kiddie pool
-and grilled out some burgers and hot dogs
-we also stayed overnight at a hotel on the beach. made it 10000000 times easier so we could use the fridge, and Ry could nap and change and what not

Overall I'm happy with how everything turned out. I think everyone had a great time but honestly, I was glad when it was over. Next year, a trip to Disney may be the way to go.