Happy 16th Birthday, Kirsten!

It was a sweet 16 birthday celebration in our house yesterday ... Our youngest, Kirsten, finally reached her long awaited age! ("But, I don't really feel any different!") Funny how that happens at every age.

We had a family pizza party along with good friends of ours. Kirsten shares a birthday with the oldest in their family, Denman, who turned 92! We lit the cake once (without the banner) for him, sang and then added the banner, pink candles and sang again. Wish the lighting had been a bit better for picture, but, she's a happy gal and we are very proud of the beautiful young woman she is becoming!

I had so much decorating the cake... isn't this banner darling? The cake was pretty yummy, also,  considering it was my first homemade gluten-free cake.  The decorating was one of my Pinterest finds.... Each day in 2013 I'm posting one thing I tried and liked from Pinterest! Follow along on my journey by clicking the Pinterest button on the sidebar.

And of course - her card! Hearts a Flutter again, but thought it was perfect for a Sweet 16.

Added later: I've had quite a few emails asking about the cake and the banner so here's a bit more info.
The idea for the cake came from a great blog called 
I am Baker.

The banner was created by wrapping ribbon around bamboo skewers - easily purchased in your local grocery store. I secured the ribbon with a Glue Dot at the top and at the bottom. I also left a bit of skewer showing between each wrap of the ribbon.... just liked it better that way. Here's a picture of it in progress.