Halfy Birthday -- Behind the Scenes

Yesterday, I shared pictures of Tyler's half birthday.  Today, I want to talk about what went into making the photos.

1) Jason came up with the idea of doing a half cake photoshoot to celebrate Tyler's 6 monthiversary (yes, I'm making up words left and right today).

2) I purchased a cake mix and frosting ingredients, as well as party plates, hats, balloons, and paper lanterns.

3) I made a cake.  First of all, though I thoroughly lubed the pans, the cake held on for dear life and broke apart when I tried to remove it from the pan.  Secondly, I made homemade frosting, using the correct ingredients but not in a particular ratio.  Mistake.  I ended up with gloopier-than-ideal icing, though I didn't realize that until I was already in the process of icing the cakes.

4) I assembled the cake.  I tried to level the cake rounds to make them nice and even.  I do not possess the skills to eyeball-level anything.  Then, I began icing the cake.  I've never made a layer cake before.  Long story short, the cake ended up looking like this, no lie.

I finally showed Jason the cake, after making him promise he wouldn't take a picture of it to capture the moment.  He came in the kitchen, broke down in laughter and said, "That's the ugliest cake I've ever seen."  It didn't even hurt my feelings because I had already decided that it was hideous.

5) We bought a cake from the grocery store.  Why didn't I do this in the first place?  Oh yeah, because cake mix is $1.50 and store-bought cake is $7.  And I'm a cheapskate.  I somehow managed to cut the cake in half without messing up the icing.  It's time to break out the camera.

6) Jason set up the shot while I played with Tyler in another room.  During Tyler's nap, I began to decorate, only to realize that Jason was doing such a close shot that my balloons, prop gift bags, etc. were unnecessary.  Oh well.

7) Picture time.  Tyler is fed, napped, changed, and in a good mood.  But the kid won't smile.  I think there was too much going on around him.  Jason and I made every crazy noise and face we could to get him to smile.  I swear, someone should have been videoing us.  We were making fools out of ourselves.

Did the results make up for all the effort?

You tell me. :)