Gift Ideas for an 18 year old
My daughter turned 18 the other day. To be honest, the idea of her being an “adult” both terrifies and excites me. I can’t get over that my baby is old enough to vote, buy lottery tickets and make her own decisions, etc. I see her making plans for someday moving out, and it brings me to tears. I know it’s such an exciting time in her life and I’m happy to see what a fabulous person has grown into, and I know she will do great things, but she is still my “baby” and always will be. I guess the best way to sum it up is that it’s bittersweet. Hold on… I need to get a tissue 🙁
Well, anyway, let’s get on with how this relates to Pinterest. I love Pinterest for so many reasons, and one big one lately is that my daughter is on it too. I love all the funny stuff she pins, and more importantly, she has a board for “products she loves”. This board has made my life much easier when it comes to buying presents for her. Because for all her amazing qualities, she is kind of a pain in the tush to buy gifts for. So to help with gift selection, besides the obligatory gifts of clothes and Barnes and Nobles gift cards, I just perused her board for a few ideas…
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Drinklip via Pinterest
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Super Hero Socks
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Whatever Clock
Without Pinterest, how would I have ever known that my 18 year old wanted super hero socks? When she opened those presents, she was delighted. The real kind of delighted, not the “gee, thanks, I always wanted a poster of a kitten in a flower pot” kind of pretend delight. It was fabulous!
To celebrate her birthday, we had a small family party on Sunday. Of course, I used Pinterest to find new recipes and ideas to make it special. Since she likes penguins, especially fat ones, I thought these would be an adorable addition to the table.
Olive Penguins via Once Upon a Plate – no longer clickable
Holy crud, aren’t they the cutest?! Oh, by the way, before I post our version I should point out that about three hours before the party, we lost power due to a brush fire on the next street. We had no power until about a half hour after people started showing up. And when we lose power, we lose water too because we have a well, not city/county water. Ugh – so no showers, or cleaning up! So, in the middle of that mess, I forgot to take “good pictures” of my creations, sorry! Heck, if my little sister hadn’t asked me if I took pics of everything, I wouldn’t have even had this one to share. Crud!
Olive Penquins
As my daughter also has a thing for dinosaurs, especially stegosauruses, I also made an attempt to make this dinosaur cake.
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Dinosaur cake inspiration via Pinterest
Unfortunately, the pin I had re-pinned so long ago, wasn’t linked back to it’s original poster, so I couldn’t find out how to make the cake. I figured it couldn’t be that hard, so I tried to figure out how to do it on my own. Mind you, I have no cake decorating background or skills… I must warn you that you should not be drinking anything when you take a look at the next picture, as you make spit it out when you burst into laughter. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
dinosaur birthday cake fail
- Just remember that I made this little guy in the dark. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
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dinosaur birthday cake fail – just in case you needed to laugh a little more
Have you finished snickering and shaking your head in disbelief that I was brave enough to share that lovely creature?? 🙂
Moving on… We also made this lemonade.
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Watermelon Lemonade via pinterest
Oh my, it was amazing! I didn’t get a picture of our version, as it went way too fast. I’ve already picked up a bunch of lemons and limes to make more, it was that delicious.
We made these…
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Rainbow fruit skewers via pinterest
And I had every intention of making this, but without a working oven I couldn’t, so guess what I will be making tonight for dinner?
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Taco wreath via pinterest
And I have made this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake recipe twice this week, once for her actual birthday, and once for the party, and there wasn’t one piece left when we were done. A-MAZ-ING!!
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake via Pinterest
I wish I had more pictures of how our versions of these pins turned out, but I was just focused on making the best of the no-electricity situation as I could and taking pictures didn’t even register as a priority. Next time, I promise to take pics first.
As I’ve said before, I love Pinterest. It’s definitely made our get togethers a little more “special” and a lot more personalized. Can’t wait for this weekend – it’s Easter at my sister’s house, and I know just the pins to try out!
Hope you have a great day – thanks for stopping by!
Eliesa
creatively{delicious} says
This is an AWESOME post! I love seeing so many things on Pinterest that actually were bought or done 😉 My 4 year old immediately guessed that it was a dinosaur cake, so we think you did an excellent job on it! Thank you so much for sharing your experience, and how you handled it without electricity is commendable 😉
Have a delicious day –
The Dunnings 😉
A Pinterest Addict says
Thank you! Please tell your 4 year old that it means the world to me that you guys liked it 🙂 When I showed my husband, he promptly announced that it was a dinosaur taking a siesta! LOL! It was yummy, and my daughter loved it, so it’s all good, right?!
Brandy says
The cake made me cry from all the LOLZ! Cute
A Pinterest Addict says
It is pretty bad, huh? I just found another pin that explained that there is a ball-shaped cake pan that would have been very helpful in this case. Next time, it will be fabulous!
Brandy says
No, not bad, It was cute! I make ugly cakes, sure they taste great, but they are ugly! I dont think I have the guts to make a dino cake!
Tonya says
I was sitting in my bed next to my sleeping husband while reading this post. I started silently laughing so hard that the entire bed was shaking vilently. Lol. I quickly unplugged my laptop and came out to my living room where I burst into very loud laughter. My son had to come see what was wrong with me. I was crying and laughing so hard that it must have been hard to tell if I was upset or really just laughing that hard. I’m sure a large part of my reaction is due to the time of day and lack of sleep, but this post was absolutely hillarious!!! I love, love, love it!
Her Daughter says
I loved every perfectly sleeping dinosaur and fat penguin creation you made that day! Thank you so much for being such a fantabulously amazing mom who does all this awesome stuff just for me! I love you!
A Pinterest Addict says
Awww… You’re going me make me cry. Love you more.
Julie says
Eliesa
Do you know what. I know this post is over 2 yrs old now. But I was trolling the Internet looking for dinosaur cakes for my friends daughter who also is 18 yrs old, who too loves dinosaurs, like yours did when she was 18.
I just happened upon the cake you made by pure chance. At first, I thought aah has a little girl or boy been making a dinosaur cake and their mother put it on the Internet?
But, when I opened up the link, I was taken through to your story about your love for your daughter and the bittersweet moment of her turning 18. You talked about the love that you have for her, for her love of dinosaurs, for her genuine love of the socks you bought her (I know exactly what you mean when you talk about the real thankyou and fake wow moment) and your shared love of Pinterest and your worrying about getting her true gifts that you hoped she would truly like.
Your story then led onto you making party drinks, treats and the cake from ideas from Pinterest and your horror when the electricity failed, when the ice Penguins began melting, the cocktails being drank before you remembered to take photographs and then your funny comments about sitting down before looking at the next picture which was the cake. At this stage, I was in hysterics with tears running down my face and your tales of the catastrophic events from the power cut etc. You were Soooo funny.
This then reminded me of my 21st birthday, well before the digital card era. my mother was clicking away on her camera, taking pictures of everyone and everything all day and night at my party. The following morning she discovered that she hadn’t put a film in the camera and that she had no pictures of my 21st at all, of course she tried to blame my poor dad.
Yes, I was disappointed but we laughed about it and she was teased a little about it, but she never forgave herself everything so serious. Now and again my sons wind her up about it, or they remind her about the time when she insisted that the new TV wouldn’t work. It ended up being that she didn’t put the batteries into the remote control.
She’s 77 this year and I’m 53, but she still tries and manages to work a laptop, kindle, the remote control and camera etc. and she always checks she’s got film in camera & batteries in the remote before she goes anywhere or before she rings me to come over to look at things all technological (which is a lot, I hasten to add) but she tries lol.
But, I just wanted to say what a lovely heartwarming story that you shared, potentially to anyone in the world, but the loveliest thing is, is that you’ve admitted that even though you’re not perfect at things such as cake making, you will try your hand at any and everything to make your daughter happy and to me you are the most perfect mom and your daughter is so lucky to have you.
I say well done, you’ve done a great job, you’re doing a great job and i applaud you for the confidence you have. I wish I was more like you myself as a parent ie more laid back and I hope that there are more people out there, like you, who at least can say they tried rather than those who won’t for fear of feeling a failure or fear that they feel that they look a failure. What you did here was amazing. Thankyou for sharing your wonderful story.
Julie
A Pinterest Addict says
This made my day. Today is my daughter’s 21st birthday, so time seems to be just flying by! Thank you for your kind words, and the time you took to say them.
A Pinterest Addict says
Julie – I wanted to tell you before that I loved this reply. I’ve read it a few more times since I first got it, twice when I felt like I was really getting this parenting thing wrong. It reminds me that I am doing the best I can, and it makes me give myself a break. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. I can’t tell you what it means to me. Hugs to you 🙂
Julie says
Another bittersweet moment then??? Well, I send her all the very best in good wishes for her 21st from a cold and windy Durham in the UK. I just hope it’s a lovely sunny day out there in the states for your daughter.
Yes, time will now fly by. My husband & I have two sons 25 & 26 and it doesn’t seem two mins since their 21st. My boys are still at home. But I’m enjoying it whilst I can too, because I know they’ll find love, get married, leave home etc. I’m dreading and looking forward to it too. As you say a bittersweet moment. Good luck to your family for your future lives. Look forward to seeing the wedding cake
Leanne says
That was the BEST Dino cake ever!!! I loved it and couldn’t stop laughing (reminded me of ME)!!!
A Pinterest Addict says
I loved that cake! Makes me laugh still. 😆