Pinwheels

At the beginning of February I left Em overnight for the first time (for 3 nights, in fact), and flew to Arizona with my dear high school friends, to visit our friend who resides in the Phoenix area. But that's another story. 

The first day there we visited a cute boutique called Smeeks, where I bought a pinwheel. A small, green pinwheel, that I immediately imbued with all sorts of meaning. A souvenir from this significant trip, a reminder to be carefree, to make time for female friendships and beautiful things. A symbol of simple joy and creativity. I know--who guessed a $2 dollar pinwheel could say so much? (Maybe reconnecting with my high school self was making me overly sentimental).

There's just something whimsical and blithe about pinwheels. So when, on the night before Em's first birthday, I realized hadn't decided how to decorate her cake, pinwheels seemed like a sweet and easy choice.

I followed this tutorial, which suggests using chopsticks, but bamboo skewers worked wonderfully. My pinwheels weren't functional, unless you count beauty as a function, which I might. Double-sided paper would've been fun, but since my goal was not to stress out about Em's party, I just used the scraps and some buttons I had on hand.

Em didn't exactly dig into the cake as anticipated. She regarded it warily and eventually had a colossal meltdown...

...so maybe the pinwheels didn't work their cheerful charm on her. But we had fun all the same, and the pinwheels are in a mason jar in Em's room, perhaps reminding her of that scarring night her parents tried to make her eat cake without a fork.

I can't end a post on pinwheels without linking to one of my favorite sites for free printables. (Take special note of the #4 printable. It's gorgeous!)