Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray 2 9-inch round cake pans and 2 6-inch round cake pans with baking spray and set aside.

Add the two cake mixes with the water, butter (melt butter in the microwave and let cool on the counter for about 10 minutes before adding to batter), and eggs.

Mix with a hand mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds until moistened. Mix on high speed for two minutes.

Spread 2 3/4 cups batter in each 9-inch round pan. Spread 1 3/4 cups batter in each 6-inch round pan. Bake 9-inch pans for 24 to 29 minutes and 6-inch pans for 22 to 27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then flip them out of the pan and let cool completely on a wired rack before frosting.

(You will repeat the next steps for the two different cake sizes) Carefully cut off any doming on the cakes so there is a flat surface.

Place the first cake bottom side down onto your serving platter. Top with a thin layer of white frosting.

Place the second layer on top of the first, bottom side up, so it is nice and flat. Add an extremely thin layer of frosting over the entire cake using a flexible spatula—place in the fridge for at least 10 minutes to set.

Repeat with the other cake layers.

Taking one jar of the vanilla frosting, place 1/2 of the frosting in a bowl and the other 1/2 in another bowl.

Add food coloring to the first bowl until you reach your desired shade. To the second bowl, add about half less of the same food coloring so there is one darker and one lighter.

Using the darker color, frost the bottom 1/3 of the cake with an off-set spatula or flexible spatula.

With the medium shade, frost the middle third of the cake.

Add the plain vanilla frosting to the top 1/3 of the cake and a thicker layer on top. Don’t worry if it looks messy at this point; so did mine!

Using an off-set or flexible spatula, you are going to smooth down the sides and blend the colors. Have a clean bowl nearby to scrap off any excess frosting.

Starting at the bottom, apply light pressure enough to smooth the frosting and go around the entire bottom of the cake. Once you go around the whole cake, move the spatula up the side just above the smooth spot and go around the cake again until you have done the entire cake. Your ombre frosting is done!

Repeat with the second cake.

I also put the “1″ as decoration on the top in place of a candle. I just drew out a stencil of the number how I wanted it to look. Gently pressed it to the top of the cake and filled in the stencil with sprinkles.