here's another fun food project from colleen. they're called "zingy peppermints" from let's cook! a book for kids who love to cook! it's no surprise that colleen's favorite section is desserts, or "wicked treats" as they call it in this book. these were easy to make and a big hit--because they're mostly made of powdered sugar, maybe?!
:) lexi
until today, my two girls have mostly been spending the summer days around the house, with me or friends, and going to swim team practice every day. now they're at a day camp for a couple of weeks with friends from school and then it's off to away camp right before school starts. they love to do cooking and food related projects, especially desserts, so i thought i'd share one of the recent favorites--candy clay animals. candy clay is kind of like fondant, but much tastier than the ready made stuff i buy. we found the recipe and directions in the book dazzling desserts by american girl. the idea is to use it for making embellishments for cakes and cupcakes, but we just made the cute things with it for our initial "candy clay play." they each made a chick and followed up with their own second animal...
aren't they sweet?! this is definitely a recipe i will be using again.
:) lexi
david and his dad both requested dirt dessert for father's day this year, so the girls and i delivered. david helped, too--he likes to lick the bowl! i lost the metal bucket that i usually use for this in the move, and my flowerpot glasses are still in storage, but i think it came out nicely in this bowl. like in the glasses, you can see the pretty layers. the recipe makes quite a bit, so we were able to make a mini "terrarium" for david's dad to save for later...
it's so cute! and it looks so real! actually not only do the crushed oreos look like dirt, they kinda feel like it too--but they sure don't taste like it! yum!!
:) lexi
these may look like ice cream, but are they? today was birthday snack day for colleen and she wanted to do something fun, so we decided to make these sweet ice cream cone cupcakes. we baked the cupcakes in the cones and topped them with a swirl of butter cream icing to mimic soft serve for a tasty twist. to get nice fat swirls, i used a large ziploc bag and simply cut off a corner to squeeze the icing on. sprinkles and a gobstopper "cherry" are the perfect finishing touch. we fooled a couple of people on our way in the door!
one mini school day left...
:) lexi
i'm sorry i haven't been around much--the busy-ness continues! but i think i see the light at the end of the tunnel now. here's a cake i made last friday. i can't believe it's taken me so long to get the pics off of my camera. anyway, it's another actual ball cake. remember the golf ball last year? and i guess the bowling ball sort of qualifies--it's really only half a ball, but it is rounded rather than round and flat. this one's a little squatty because i forgot how i added the extra round layer between the bowl layers, but it was also a small party and they really didn't even need this much cake. i happened to do the invite too...
i've shared this one before, but i wanted to show it again with the cake. it's a take on an actual game ticket. i've done it in different color combos, as well as for football, too. it's definitely one of my favorite boy invites!
believe it or not, i'll actually be back tomorrow for sure. and my stamping readers will definitely want to tune in!!
:) lexi
today was colleen's first communion. as with most other special milestones, the occasion called for an invitation and cake. i showed her two options for the invite and she fell in love with the bible in church mice from the saltbox studio...
it took us a while to design the perfect background paper and finalize the color scheme, but it finally came together! as we were working on it, she asked if i could make the cake match the bible stamp...
so of course, i had to deliver! it was pretty easy too--a 9 x 13 cake cut in half and stacked. after icing the three "paper" sides with white buttercream, i used a texture triangle to add lines for the pages. the look of a cover was easy with a little extra line of icing around the top edges and the base. rolled fondant made the perfect cross detail, as well as the ribbon marker. colleen was thrilled with the outcome!
i also printed my blue diamond design on text weight paper so that i could wrap her cross pendant to match the invite...
and onto labels to make favors for our guests--i found these great dove sweet tarts at party city and they were a big hit! the new a muse anniversary set was also perfect for adding a green frame around the bible to mimic what i'd already done on the invitation. have you placed an order to recieve your free set yet? and speaking of a muse's anniversary, don't forget that there are chances to win lots of different a muse stuff on the a muse news blog every other day during the celebration--in fact, i hosted today's contest! so if you haven't already, be sure to head over there and tell me what your first a muse stamp was...
thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi
the busy-ness of the end of school is quickly building--and it's not even may yet! today i have a recent invitation. the request was for a mermaid themed party, based on the the show h2o if possible, but still keeping it young. i was stumped at first, but then it finally came together, and birthday girl and mom both loved it! i was also asked to make the cake...
this is the third time i've done this family fun mermaid cake, and while it's not the easiest, i love the outcome! it's so big, the trick is to take it in pieces and assemble it at the very end. and i always hit a point where i think it's not going to turn out right, but now that i know it, i can work around it. happy mermaid birthday emma!
:) lexi
i had to switch gears today from stamping to cakes--yum! two friends were sharing a bowling birthday party, so a ball and pins were the obvious choice. it was such a fun grouping and not too difficult. i created the ball by baking the cake in an aluminum mixing bowl; the pins, each from a 9 x 13 cake, cut in half, stacked in two layers & shaped. i wish i had been able to round out the tops more, but it was kind of a puzzle cutting the two layers and piecing them together because the width of the pin is actually more than half the width of the cake--hard to explain, too. i'm so critical of my work--always picking things apart!--but the kids (and parents) loved it!
since mignon's known these two guys pretty much since birth--one of them literally, born the day after her in the same hospital!--we were headed to the party with the cake. we spent too much time at the toy store and i almost ran out of time to make cards, but luckily lots of supplies are at my fingertips as soon as i sit at my desk and two gift cards were quickly born! hip, hip, hooray...
happy birthday!
:) lexi
p.s. for my stamping readers, newly hatched is available now on the a muse website!! i still have lots of ideas for those babies, so as soon as i can get stamping, i'll be posting...
i thought today was the perfect day to share this pair of bunny cakes that i made for a pair of twins a few days ago. i know someone makes a bunny pan, but i don''t own one, so i used four 7" round cakes for the face (two layers each) and a 9" x 13" cake cut into strips and rounded off for the ears (one layer each). then i got creative with the features--m & m eyes, shaped taffy nose and mouth, and pretzel whiskers. i hope the twins liked them as much as i do.
happy easter!
:) lexi
or are they?? it's that special day of the year again when a foolish meal is expected at my house, so of course i had to deliver! remember last year? this year, i decided to make one old favorite, the colorful cupcakes--aka meatloaf and mashed potatoes in disguise! and for the main course, i added sushi rolls. the girls love the real thing, so it was fun to do the rice crispy treat-gummy worm-fruit by the foot version, complete with taffy ginger and icing wasabi. they love all of that too! i couldn't find green fruit by the foot, so my nori had to be two-toned specialty nori. and to wash it all down, lemonade. well, lemon jello, actually! gotta go all the way and they weren't expecting it, so that was the most fun of all! of course, on this day, with this meal, you eat "dessert" first.
happy april foolin'!
:) lexi
i finally had a chance to edit the pics from mignon's birthday party last weekend--she had a car wash and it was such a fun party! as always, it all starts with the perfect invitation. we started with a car wash name, mignon's splash-n-dash, and created a logo, and then the invitation just took off from there. it was a bit of a middle of the night project for me (surprise, surprise!), but it all came together! don't you think every car wash needs a dirty limo to clean?!
so that became the cake too! although it turned out looking more like a hummer than a limo in the end. i even gave it "dirty" windows with messages and doodles in every one! it's a little rough, but it is my first car. my two favorite parts are the tail lights & license plate, and the sun roofs. completely 3d cakes are always a little more challenging for me, but it was fun and it all gets cut up and eaten anyway!
one of my last minute ideas was to have t-shirts for the employees! it had been really hot the week before the party, but was supposed to be cooler that day, so i thought it would be good to have the t's for during their breaks. wilton t-shirt transfers for inkjet printers made this so easy and the girls looked really cute in them!
along with the car wash, we had a lemonade & cookie stand. the first girls at the party helped create the signs to place at the front of the house, in front of the lemonade stand, and by the driveway where the actual washing took place. we also had plenty of refreshments for the girls, too--whenever there were no cars, they were either having water fights complete with water balloons, or camped out around the snacks! i found the little plastic buckets at the dollar store and used them all around the party and for the party favors...
a few little car wash supplies along with some things just for fun. the christmas tree air fresheners were probably the biggest hit in the bucket! when all was said and done, mignon raised $150 and decided on the local SPCA as her charity. if you have the right space for a party like this, i highly recommend it. and it really doesn't matter how much money you make. it's more about the effort and embracing the idea of giving back, and i think turning 10 was a great time to do that in this way. plus, it really was an absolute blast--good ol' wet & messy fun!
'nite!
:) lexi
lucky ewe! i could not get the idea of a green saltbox sheep out of my head, so i just had to put ink to paper. of course he needed a little shamrock, too, which was easy peasy with a mini heart--one of my favorite little tricks! i wasn't sure about sentiment, but finally came up with "lucky ewe" after spying the "thank ewe" in the sheep set. so i wrote "lucky" and stamped "ewe" from that. quick, simple & cute--but most importantly, i stamped for fun!! and because you can never have too much green on st. patrick's day...
by special request, i created the girls' favorite green meal again. a little green food coloring goes a long way! i still have so much to share, but also so much to do. i'm getting there, though and should be back to normal soon...
happy st. patrick's day!
:) lexi
as promised yesterday, here is big sister's cake. she went for a christmas themed birthday and had used a snoopy printable page for her invitation, so i made the cake look like the tree on that. the garland was supposed to be popcorn, but i realized too late that i didn't have any. luckily i had the marshmallows and they looked just as cute! big gumdrops were perfect for the ornaments and sliced, they were just right for the lights, too. the cake was a hit, but everyone's favorite touch was the gift wrapped board!
the girls were going to this party, too, so i needed another bag tag. and of course, it had to match the whole theme!
not surprisingly, after i finished the cake (very late at night), the elves and reindeer got into the leftovers! better them than me...
:) lexi
i'm still on that crazy ride of christmas orders, but there is an end in sight and at least i'm feeling better! the day before i got sick, i baked two cakes for a friend who was throwing her two girls' birthday parties on the same day. i also did the invitation for the first party--isn't it heaven to be turning seven? the first part of the phrase was the mom's idea and i immediately thought of my cloud paper and cupcakes--a perfect match!
i also recreated my blue skies cake to go with, adding a few fondant cupcakes to float with the clouds. and since my girls were attending the party, i created a bag tag too...
i love it when things fall into place easily! i'll be back tomorrow with big sister's cake...
:) lexi
today i have an invitation i created a couple of weeks ago for one of mignon's friends. they're all turning ten this year--boy does time fly! anyway, the request was for a mexican fiesta and to try to include a tiered cake graphic that i could turn into an actual cake for the party. the invitation was a quick turn around project, so i drew a simple two dimensional "cake" with bright, funky colors and patterns, topped with a sombrero, also by request. then, friday and saturday, i created the 3d, sugar and butter version...
i tried to copy the invite as closely as possible, so it would be recognizable, but with the added flair of angling the tiers. the patterns are created with fondant icing, so that the lines would be crisp. the hardest part was the zig zag lines, but i really wanted a different pattern on each tier--i did make sure to think the basics through when creating the drawing! we didn't find a small sombrero, so i got a small straw hat from the doll aisle at michael's and did my best to mimic my drawing. we added the maracas to help angle it, securing it to the cake with the happy birthday flag--the skewer goes right through the brim. this was the first cake i've created quite like it, but i think it came out okay. as always, i learned a little for the next time--mainly, i need to be able to create when i don't have a hundred things going on the same day!
i also created a quick sticker for the piñata bags--can't have a mexican fiesta without a piñata, right?! i used elements from the invite to tie it together like the hat and the font along with the pattern from the bottom layer of the cake to create the bands of color.
and since that worked so well, i used the same design to create a gift tag for mignon's gift to the birthday girl. i picked up a carload of girls from the party and my noisy car was definitely proof of a fun fiesta!
:) lexi
one day, i heard about these bakugan thingies that are all the rage with little boys, but didn't really pay much attention. then, randomly, the next day, one of my best friends asked me to help her make a bakugan cake. baku-what?! being the girly mom of girly girls, i had no clue what or why they are. so after a look online and lots of explanations and descriptions, we developed a plan--two 9 x 13 cakes for the "magnetic card" and two large cupcake tops each for the "balls" plus lots of icing! here's a close up of the balls. they are not specific bakugan characters--just the magic of doodling with icing!
it was definitely a joint effort--how did we do?
:) lexi
boo! to you...
with treats galore!
mignon wanted to be salt & pepper with a friend, so here's what i came up with--they were so cute!
eye-popping tomato soup (from marthastewart.com) for my book club crowd!
crescent mummy dogs (from pillsbury.com) for the girlies...
with a side of green noodles!
eyeball cupcakes for a school party...
and last, but most definitely not least--candy monster cupcakes based on these awesome ones. not suprisingly the original inspiration came from martha stewart kids. sooo much fun for the girlies and their friends, this was a great activity for kids. and of course for mummy, too!
happy halloween!
:) lexi
today, we did another fun activity the girls like to do every halloween--a spooky take on the gingerbread house! there are so many possibilities with all the cool seasonal candies out there. anyway, we don't always get to it, and we ran out of time last year, so it was a must do this year!
these two sweet mansions are my girls. i wish i'd remembered to take a picture of the decorating in progress. we ended up with three other neighborhood girls creating with us and we made quite a mess of candy and wrappers. the more the merrier, right? or spookier in this case! in addition to candy, the houses are constructed with graham crackers and royal icing. i prefer to use chocolate graham crackers for these, but the store i went to didn't have them, so we added the oreo crisps for a bit of a darker shade--they made great shingles and windows. some other good ideas we've used in the past are square pretzels, stick pretzels, chocolate necco wafers, skull suckers, etc. there really so many possibilities--i always have fun wandering up and down the candy and snack aisles looking for new building accessories. the candy corn pumpkins are always top on my list and this year, i love the peeps ghosts and jack o'lanterns. we just may have to make some peeps s'mores with the extras!
'night!
:) lexi
here's a quick cake i made for a cake walk today. i wanted something not too big or too difficult, but that would be seasonal and fun. and this totally fit the bill! i baked the cake in an aluminum mixing bowl to get a rounded half pumpkin shape, iced it in orange, and added the stem and features in fondant. super easy--and it was picked by the first winner!!
thanks for stopping by...
:) lexi
today, we made another kind of cake, maryland crab cakes. mignon has usa day tomorrow--each student researched a different state and, for part of the project, had to make a food from the state to bring to the presentation. she has maryland, so my aunt who lives there sent us senator barb's favorite crab cake recipe, and her daughter who goes to loyola here came to help us. we got them all shaped and ready to broil tomorrow morning, but of course, we had to do a test run tonight...
yum! we had fun cooking together and julia said they were just right. i hope the batch in the morning goes as well!
'night!
:) lexi
eta: here's a pic of the finished early morning maryland crab "cupcakes"--they were a hit!!!
