There's no place like home-MADE! In the July issue of Metroparent Magazine, I wrote an article about the do's and dont's of children's birthday parties. We just celebrated the big 4 for my daughter and 12 little girls for an "old-fashioned" backyard birthday party turned out just perfect. Instead of a theme with all the matching party supplies and commercial slant, we opted to focus on her current three favorite things... princesses, toys and her beloved Dorothy Ruby Slippers (from Target). I had toys splattered around the backyard-everything from gigantic bubble makers, hula hoops, hopsotch, princess dress up clothes and of course the sandbox. I filled that with playsand (always make sure to get playsand rather than any other for safety reasons). I added new "green" (made of recycled milk jugs) sandbox toys. I like these because they are much more sturdy than the other less expensive plastic versions. We played classic games like sack racing and the egg/spoon game that her friend Becky gave her and of course a pinata filled with candy. Although, our pinata was nothing more than a brown Pick "N Save bag decorated and tied with yarn to a tree. I find other pinatas never seem to break with kids in the under 4 crowd! My son ran the lemonade stand during lunch and kids munched on corn dogs, carrots, pickles and watermelon. The finale was my Ruby Slippers cake. So many people asked me how to make it so I thought I'd share the love. It was super easy. You need: 2 pound cakes, yellow frosting, red cake glitter and 2 red hairbows. That's it.. Slice off about 2 inches that you will use for a heel and cut the rest in the shape of a shoe. Stack the shaped shoe on the heel and frost the whole thing with yellow frosting. Then pipe red glitter from a Ziploc all around. (Secret-- use a little wax paper to cover while glittering if you do not want the whole shoe red). Make the second one. Add the bows and voila..a home-made cake. The smile on my Mia's face was enough to make me feel like I was a good mom for the day. Who cares what the cake tastes like, with kids, they want it to look good and you want them to smile, ooh and aah. It's the time and love you put into making any birthday special so have fun planning your next one.