Every birthday for the girls starts the same way. The table gets laid and the garlands go up the night before, so the birthday girl comes down to candles, pancakes and far too much sugar.
They're getting older, and each year I wonder if this will be the year they're too cool for it all, but nobody's asked me to stop yet. This month we had a thirteenth birthday, so here's how we did it, and a few tricks I've picked up along the way.
Laying the table the night before
The magic is in coming downstairs to it already done. Once almost everyone's in bed (in more recent years I'm now joined by whichever child's birthday it isn't), the tablecloth goes on (a piece of fabric from Fine Little Day, bought years ago), the table gets laid, candles are set out ready to light, and the garlands go up.
We use many of the same pieces every year, pulled from the cupboard and mixed together. If you want more on putting a table together, I've written about it in Simple Ways to Decorate: The Table and How to Mix Materials at the Table.
Pancakes, always
Pancakes are a non-negotiable when it comes to the girls' birthdays. Lemon & sugar or chocolate spread with raspberries on the table, a stack keeping warm, and two pans on the go.
New to the setup this year was our Stainless Steel Jug. It was a total win. I made the batter the night before, poured it into the jug and kept it in the fridge until we needed it in the morning.
For the batter, I use the BBC Food pancake recipe.
The favourites that come out every year
Our Fine Little Day and House of Rym pieces come out for every birthday. They're treasures we've stocked in the shop over the years, and they've become part of the tradition as much as the pancakes have.
The Wooden Starburst Trivets layer under the bowls of lemon and sugar. If you missed it, I wrote about the story behind the Starburst Trivet.
There's always an Änglaspel
There's always an Änglaspel on the table, because quite simply they're magic. Light the candles underneath and the warm air sets the little figures spinning, chiming as they go round.
We have a few designs in the shop, including the Starling Änglaspel, Moon & Stars and Oak.
The wobbly candle trick
This year I completely forgot about planning anything for the top of the cake. So I (briefly) warmed some of our Beeswax Celebration Candles with a hairdryer and bent them into wobbly shapes.
Beeswax softens quickly, so a short blast is all you need. For a totally last-minute idea, they were a big hit, with a slightly spooky, Halloween feel. They're easy to store, so they'll come out again for a future celebration. That's our way: mixing and matching the things we've gathered and made over the years, so each celebration feels familiar but has a new twist.
The cake itself was my lemon drizzle. I double the loaf recipe to make a layered cake, but this time I wish I'd tripled it. There wasn't quite enough mix for three sponges, and two came out slightly too thick. Lesson learned for next year.
For more easy ideas, see Simple Ways to Decorate: Cakes.
A final trick: a good stash of garlands
My last birthday trick is a good stash of garlands. We use them for every kind of celebration, mixed and matched, on the walls and on the table. Super easy, and very effective.
Here they are at the shop last Christmas:
The ones up this year were the Dots String Garland and Kotte Star & Dots Garland. You'll find the rest in our garland collection, and more ideas in Simple Ways to Decorate: Garlands.
Before they're off into the world
I know there'll be a year when they'd rather sleep in than come down to candles and pancakes. Until then, I'm holding onto it.
Alice x