Let’s face it — when it came to hosting a birthday party, our moms had it easy. Organize a game of musical chairs, whip up a Betty Crocker cake, and stuff plastic party favor bags with bubble gum and stickers. If we were lucky, we’d get a pinata. These days we all know that the simplicity of kids birthdays has been chucked out the window, replaced with extravagance and grandeur we could only imagine as kids. So in an effort to inspire your next birthday party (or perhaps, even bemoan the fact that you have to throw a next birthday party), we’ve come up with some of the coolest birthday cakes out there.

Dr. Seuss Cake

If this mom isn’t the talk of the town, then she should be after creating this impressive Dr. Seuss cake that conjures up memories of all of our fav stories such as “Green Eggs and Ham” and “The Cat in the Hat.” Let’s just file this cake under: amazing and inspiring, but we’d have to be crazy to attempt to make a cake like this.

Astronaut Cake

This mom certainly outdid herself (and all of the other store-bought cake inclined mamas) this year with a a moon cake hanging from the ceiling. That’s right, the astronaut-themed party not only included NASA-themed invitations and shirts for each kid, but a home-made suspended cake and cookie rocket-ships to boot.

Superhero Cake

Your kid is going through her superhero phase wearing her cape 24/7 so why not play Martha Stewart for the day and create a superhero-themed birthday cake. Thanks to fondant and a bit of food coloring, this one can be tailored to whatever superhero fits her fancy — Spider-Man, Batman, or Wonder Woman.

Cars Cake

If your kid can’t get enough of everything “Cars” then he’ll love Lightning McQueen hoisted up on this birthday cake. While the circular base of the cake can be any flavor (and can be made in a standard round tin), the trick to making the car is molding it from rice crispy treats. Vroom-vroom!

Pirate Ship Cake

Arrrrrrrrrr (sorry, we couldn’t resist) you ready for an awesome pirate-themed cake? The cool thing about this cake is that despite it’s fancy look, it’s quite easy to make. You can use a regular-sized baking pan, and chocolate frosting, while the candles are affixed to chocolate-covered marshmallows on the site of the ship. If your kids are as pirate-crazy as ours, we bet you have a bunch of pirate memorabilia and figurines around the house that you can easily place on the cake. Ahoy matey!

Sesame Street Cupcakes 

While not a traditional cake (after all, none of these cakes are all that traditional), we can’t help loving the funny colorful faces of our favorite “Sesame Street” characters. Our favorite might have to be Cookie Monster — check out the cookie stuck in his mouth!

Dinosaur Cake

Something tells us Joey had a great ninth birthday party thanks to this sweet dinosaur cake. If you look closely, these cake-making parents used candy corn for the spikes, chocolate chips for the toe nails, cinnamon red hot candies for the eyes, and toasted coconut for the prehistoric grass.

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” Cake

We all read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” as a kid and likely, it’s on your on kiddos’ book shelf as we speak. This cake is inspired by the book and the colors and fun details will get everyone at your party reminiscing about the cherished childhood read.

Hello Kitty Cake

Hello Kitty takes center stage on this cake. While the kids will dig into the perfect pink frosting and daisies, we have a feeling the parents (or at least the baking mama who labored over the cake) is reaching for that champagne glass instead.

Thomas the Train Cake

All aboard! With a train track, river, railroad crossing signs, and multiple trains, we can’t even imagine how we’d ever go about making this cake. It’s really almost too pretty to eat!

Last But Not Least…

After so many birthday cakes that make us feel totally inadequate when it comes to our own kids birthday cakes, we couldn’t resist sharing this photo of one cake disaster.

– Erin Lem