3rd Birthday Train

I always go "theme extreme" with parties, and this train party was no exception! Everyone LOVED the long train cake that curved down the whole table.

• Best Dressed

  My son wore his Thomas Halloween costume

• Desserts

  Long, winding train of cupcakes

• Activities / Games

  Playing on ride-on toys and other activities outside and on our porch

• Budget

  $75

• Party Favors

  Train engine sipper cup, train engineer hat, train-shaped whistle, train-shaped sucker

• Best Moment

  Everyone's reaction to the cake

• What People Ate

  My son's favorites - egg salad sandwiches, cheese and crackers, fruit

• What People Drank

  We had a few drinks to choose from, but each child also got a train-shaped sipper cup to drink from (so it didn't really matter what was in it, they loved it)!

• Most Touching Moment

  Seeing how happy my son was with his very own Thomas cupcake

• Funniest Moment

  All the kids wanted the train cars with the most mini M&M's

• Forever baking...

  I had one pan that makes 9 train cars. I wanted both yellow cake and chocolate cake, so I made 4 batches of cupcakes. It took FOREVER because after they bake, they have to rest in the pan before dumping them out, so it basically doubled the baking time for EACH batch. Decorating them didn't take too long, about 3-4 hours. I used 4 frosting colors and mini M&M's. I put each one on a square graham cracker so I wouldn't have to touch them after they were decorated (and the crackers acted like a track for the train). But by the time the party started, the crackers absorbed moisture from the cakes and got soggy. So I would recommend doing something similar, but maybe chocolate-covered graham crackers or something to act as a moisture barrier.