Hello everyone! I could totally use your thoughts and ideas for decorating a cake for my girlfriend. We are throwing her a surprise baby shower but he is not a baby he is 13 years old.  I am somewhat at a loss. She was granted guardianship because the parents are drug addicts and I think one of them is in jail or something. I look forward to hearing your ideas. Thank you

What's he interested in?  It might be fun to do a theme cake with tiers.  Maybe his favorite sports team on the bottom and his favorite video game on the top.  Not to stereotype that he would only like sports and video games...just taking a guess.  Can't wait to see it!

My first thought was his favorite sport, as well.

My first thought was his favorite sport, as well.

How about a family tree, with his new face on the tree?

I think the family tree idea is great.  You don't say how big you will make this cake.  I don't know if it would work but maybe some kind of 'timeline' cake.....I've done a couple of them.......with pictures of him and then end it w/his new 'mom'....maybe you can get a pic of the 2 of them together.   What I did was make a loaf cake 4"(wide)x16"(or as long as you need)x4"(high) - actually I did one 72" long! by baking 2 sheet cakes ea 12x16x2, cut each one in 1/2 long ways & stack the halves on to of each other, butting the 2 loaves together end to end.  The photos were wrapped in plastic wrap & a toothpick glued on the back so I could stick them in the top of the cake to stand up.   There might be a pic of one of them in my album......can't remember right now:)

I read over the initial post several times before responding. 

The 13year old is already family so I wouldn't add him to a family tree.  And because the cause of the guardianship is drug addiction, this means one of the parents is the friend's sister or brother.  That's happiness in the guardianship part with a big side order of sadness and possibly anger. 

I think it's great that friends want to have a celebration but I'm all about keeping it light.  Like a giant book with the title "How to play Minecraft (or Madden Football18)" or a clothes hamper with all the clothes OUT of the hamper on the floor!  You don't say if your friend has other children but if she does,  something that would include all the children in an activity. Or intertwined hearts for each member of the family.

Good luck and have fun!

Theresa

The shower is for my friend. A group of us close knit friends are going to the lake house for a long weekend and thought it would be a nice idea to surprise her with a shower because I'm sure she could use some Necessities to take care of him. She has grown children and a couple of grandchildren so it's been a while since she had a teen. I was thinking of some ideas around congratulations you have a teenager. Idk. 

The cake isn't for the child it's for my friend.

He likes leggos

Then maybe and fun and decadent cake.  Like a drip cake loaded with macrons maybe a naked cake with beautiful fruit.