First make the cake. A couple days a head of time is great - as it gives you more time to divide up the task of baking and decorating - but it's also easier to decorate a frozen cake.
You can use whatever cake you wish obviously, and if you have a kick-butt white cake recipe you love, use it! And if a boxed mix from the store is more you style - that's totally cook, but realize that those are not sturdy, and are quite 'squishy' soft and airy. If you are just doing the cupcakes or doing a simple 9X13 sheet cake that's fine but if you are doing layers, you might want to try something more sturdy and easy to work with. This is my favorite - and although we normally don't eat sugar and we do not use store bought cake mixes due to the preservatives and chemicals - this is one time I don't mind since I've not found a better homemade white cake I like JUST as much as this one.
White Cake
2 boxes white cake mix
2 c flour
2 c white sugar
1 1/2 t salt
2 2/3 c water
1/4 c canola oil
2 t vanilla
2 t almond extract
16 oz. sour cream
8 large egg whites, room temperature
Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat just to blend. Add the water, oil, vanilla, almond extract, sour cream and egg whites and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into 2-4 greased and floured pans (shape of your choice, 2 9X13 or 4 smaller round, etc.), filling each pan about half full. Bake at 325° F oven until cake tests done in the center. Cool, remove from pans and freeze for future use or use immediately. Decorate as you wish.
QUICK AND EASY....
I bought random items without a real plan in mind but made it up as I walked around the stores.
I bought real fabric ribbon.
2 styles - one ruffle mint and one glitter blue
hot glue sticks to glue the glitter ribbon down the center of the ruffled mint ribbon
Number candles "2" and "1"
Edible blue sugar crystals - the big size that look like sparkly big glitter
A couple sheets of glitter looking sparkly paper
Solid decorator scrapbook paper to coordinate
Wire - sturdy enough to stick into a cake (can use skinny bamboo sticks, long lolly pop sticks, etc.)
Pearlized chocolate candies
1 box white fondant
I grabbed a couple cookie cutters from the cupboard and drew around the inside for some random shapes on all the scrapbook papers and then cut them out. I cut the wire pieces into all different random sizes and then washed them and let them dry.
I then hot glued a dab of glue on the back of the shapes while I hot glued the ribbons together.
The first layer of cake was iced and covered with edible blue sprinkles. The second, smaller layer iced with a thin layer and covered in a thin layer of white fondant I had added a few drops of blue food color to 'tie dye' it. This was trimmed and placed on top of the edible sugar glitter cake. I attached the ribbon with icing and wrapped it around the cake and cut to size. I added an icing layer around the bottom and placed the pearlized candies all the way around.
Topped with the "2" and "1" and then pressed the wires into the cake to finish.
I had a package of pearlized iridescent cupcake paper wrappers in the cupboard I had picked up on clearance a couple years ago and tucked away for 'some day' that matched perfectly! So the cupcakes were popped into the wraps, a swirl of icing applied and a quick sprinkle of pearl chocolate candies and I was DONE! The table cover and the glittery garland were just picked up at Walmart for about $1 each.
