today's cake was for a set of twins' first birthday. the daisy was for the guests and each twin got her own leaf--just the right size for little hands to dig right into! the leaves and cake are iced in buttercream, with the daisy petals and center in fondant. this is one of those cakes that immediately went into my personal faves.
yum!
:) lexi
i'm getting ready for eating around town today and just wanted to post one more turkey day treat. my kids like to make these after dinner and gobble them right up! two oreos (stuff side only), candy corn, and a malted milk ball--a great way to use up some of that left over candy from halloween...
happy turkey day!
:) lexi
happy birthday van!
:) lexi
another weekend, another cake! when i do one, several always seem to follow and then i get a break for a while. this one was for a t-shirt party at a silk screen shop, so of course the cake needed to be an edible t-shirt. i think the eleven year olds enjoyed making their shirts and eating one too!
mignon was going to this party, so i just had to create a quickie gift tag to fit the theme. coincidentally, her "gift of the year" is a t-shirt from another screenprinting shop in town, so the tag was a perfect match to the gift, too!
:) lexi
last spring, i created a bowling ball and two pins for two boys. while it came out great, my pins weren't rounded off enough at the top because of how i had to cut and place the cake. so i was excited to be able to do just a pin and fine tune the shape. i'm really happy with how it turned out and i heard the girls loved both the look *and* the taste!
yum! yum!
:) lexi
another day, another cake! yesterday, i showed the stack of books, today i have an open book. this was for a "bedtime stories" baby shower, and the idea for the cake came from an image the hosts used on the favors, the colors from the invitation and favors. this is a book you can really dive into!!
:) lexi
i wish my hand had been a little steadier on placing the letters! and the camera always highlights every little flaw that you don't necessarily notice in person. i'll never make a cake show!!
the real books were perfect party decorations...
along with a welcome sign for the door!
perfect for turning four!!
:) lexi
cakes have been one of the things keeping me busy lately. here's a pink princess one from this past weekend for a little girl turning four. she saw the cake in a book or magazine and fell in love. and i was happy to bring it to life for her. every little girl needs at least one pink princess cake in her life!
:) lexi
if you like to talk to tomatoes, if a squash can make you smile, if you like to waltz with potatoes up and down the grocery aisle, have i got a cake for you! a veggie tales cake--another fun one...
yum!
:) lexi
it's all about halloween these days! my 8yo was "vip" at school this week and decided on monster cupcakes for her special snack to match the season. so the girls and i got creative with candy and icing! i love looking at candy in different ways and putting the silly-scary faces together, trying to make each one unique. we're actually making them again tonight for a cake walk tomorrow!
yum!
:) lexi
i'm determined to get back to more regular posting, but it's been so busy around here that i'll probably still be coming and going for a while! this is a cake i made last weekend for a movie and ice cream party. the friend who ordered it and i were stuck coming up with an idea--it had to be mostly white icing per the birthday boy's request--but then when we were picking up popcorn leftovers at our girls' vollyball game, it hit us--popcorn!! i used real popcorn mixed with melted marshmallows to give that extra real detail and i really love how it turned out. once again, i hope i get a chance to make it for someone else!
enjoy!
:) lexi
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
