Name: Israel (aka Izzy), 3
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

For Izzy's third birthday party, it was a no-brainer to do a Fireman party. I surprised him on the morning of his birthday with a new fireman uniform (with his name and photo on the badge), and each of his guests got a firefighter hat for the party.

Because Izzy's birthday falls in the dead of winter, we had to come up with enough to keep everyone busy inside the house. I cleared out all the fire-related storybooks from the public library for a storytime, we played "fire bowling" (with the bowling pins made to look like flames), and the kids colored their own goodie-bags to look like houses and then pasted on colored "flames." To take some of the pressure off of me, I recruited a favorite babysitter to help with activities for the kids while I prepped the food.

I used minimal decorations for the party (simple red tablecloths, for example), but had a lot of fun with the desserts. My sister in-law made the amazing sugar cookies and I made simple cupcakes decorated with paper flames. The most popular dessert was the plate of s'mores that I made by microwaving mini graham cracker and marshmallow sandwiches, then dipping them in chocolate. I got the idea for making the pretzel "matches" from Pinterest.

I viewed a bunch of pictures of firetruck cakes online to figure out how I wanted to make the cake. This was my first time using fondant and the only thing I regret is dying it red myself, rather than purchasing pre-colored fondant. It took FOREVER and my hands were pink for days.

My favorite part of the party was Izzy's little sister dressed as--in Izzy's words--a "fire doggy." Every firehouse needs a dalmation, right?

Thanks Liz! Readers, find Liz on her blog The Walking Green.

(Images: Adam C Nelson)

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