I always want to personalize cakes for my kid's birthdays but don't have time to bake a cake from scratch and decorate it - like those cakes you see if all of the magazines you've collected over the years.
I am passing along a great tips that I got from a truly creative friend on how you can personalize a cake without baking it from scratch.
Pick up a plain cake from a bakery ... here I've used a Costco sheet cake. My son wanted a construction theme, so I made messy, construction site, complete with toys me could actually use after the cake was gone. This works with anything you can find small toys. So far, I have made a Thomas the Train track, a magical horse farm with those small horses that have sparkly wings, a race track with matchbox cars and candy tracks and a veterinary with dogs and cats. All pretty quick and easy and doesn't require tons of art skills..

You've got a birthday in the middle of January - and you want something different and are up for a real challenge for parental patience. Rent a suite (one that has a living area/and kitchen that is separate from the bedroom) in a hotel that has a swimming pool and have a slumber party complete with pizza and then head down to the pool. Also, since it is a suite, it will have a kitchen/living room you can play games, do crafts as you would at home. You'd be surprised at how cost efficient in the winter it is and the best part ... you don't have to clean up.