Train Birthday – Learning With My Boys

T is very excited about trains now days, so he got a Thomas the Tank Engine party. I had a lot of fun preparing for this party. It ended up being a lot of work, but turned out super cute! I found blue, green, yellow and red balloons that said “Happy 2nd Birthday”. I set up the party outside which wasn’t super smart since we are having a record high summer (over 100 degrees many days already.)

I made little engines for the kids to wear and drive around a track. The track is just card board strips taped together with black electrical tape. The signs are made on card board taped to a yard stick and stuck in a milk jug with rocks in the bottom for the weight. There is a balloon archway to the left of this photo that they could drive their trains under. I made Thomas, Percy, and James from card board boxes. I used a juice jug for the front round part of the engines, the top part of an egg carton for the front bumper area, and a paper towel tube for the smoke stack. I used spray paint to color them and colored electrical tape for the stripes, numbers and other decor. I printed off faces for the front of the engines and used small black paper plates for the tires. I placed white balloons coming out of the smoke stack too. They kids had fun with them.

For his cake I made the face the day before from gray colored marshmallow fondant. I got out one of his tiny trains and tried my best to pinch and poke the fondant until it looked just right. Then I baked two 9×11 cakes and cut them into the pieces that I needed to build a train. I held them together with butter cream frosting. Then I covered the cake with more butter cream frosting before I rolled out my blue fondant and covered the cake. I just looked at the toy train and added the right colors where they needed to be. I used pull-n-peel licorice for the red striping and Oreo’s for the smoke stack and wheels. I used butter cream for the wheels too. I know Thomas is the #1 train but T is turning two so I made Thomas the #2 train this time. He loved his cake! I did too!

Marshmallow Fondant Recepie

Ingredients:

16 oz. Mini Marshmallows
3 TBSP water
2 lbs Powdered Sugar (4 cups)
Crisco

Directions:

Grease a large glass bowl with Crisco.
Pour in the marshmallows and water; then microwave at 30- second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted.
Reserve about 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar. Place the red of the powdered sugar in a large bowl of a standing mixer.
Grease the paddle attachment with Crisco and pour in the melted marshmallows on top of the powdered sugar.
Beat until a dough form; there will be a lot of loose bits and sugar in the bottom of the bowl.
Grease a clean work surface with Crisco and dump out the fondant and all the loose bits. Grease your hands liberally with Crisco and knead the mixture together, just like kneading bread, for about 5 minutes until smooth.
Grease hands again as needed. As the fondant becomes smoother, use the reserved powdered sugar to coat the surface to keep it from sticking.
Once smooth, you can divide and color the fondant. While working with one piece, cover the remaining fondant with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.
When you have your colors finished coat the fondant in a light layer or Crisco; wrap in plastic wrap and place in a large baggie for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
Store at room temperature for several months. To us it, dust the surface and rolling pin with powdered sugar and roll out to 1/8 of an inch.

I used my Cricut and made a train banner that ran along the front of the food table. Each train car had a letter that said “Happy Birthday T”.

I set out the dinner and dessert food to look like they were being carried by a train. I made train tracks with electrical tape on a green table cloth for the rail road. I set the cake engine as the front of the dessert foods, and I put the dessert foods in bread loaf pans. I had animal crackers, berries, shortcake, and cool whip. I made a watermelon engine for the front of the dinner foods. I had baked beans, chips, mac-n-cheese, and fruit salad the food in bread loaf pans again. We grilled burgers and hot dogs.