confetti

welcome baby elephant

even in the midst of moving, i was baking!  my dad's wife was throwing a shower for her daughter-in-law and asked me to do the cake.  the baby is a boy and the decorations for the shower were noah's ark, so we came up with an elephant carrying a sign with the name they'd picked out.  it had to be somewhat easy since i was creating in a kitchen that was being taken apart around me.  i made the ear 3-d using one layer of the cut-out between the legs, rounding the edges a bit.  the feet and eye details are mini marshmallows cut in half and pressed into place and the eye color is a candy pearl i found in my cake candy stash--if i hadn't been packing the pantry at the time, i may not have been inspired to use it!  the stove in my new house hasn't been used in a while and has a weird beeping malfunction, but it should be worked out soon.  i'm most excited about the subzero fridge and being able to fit my cakes in it more easily than before!!

thanks for checking in during my busy move...
:) lexi

love, marriage, baby carriage!

one of the things that's been keeping me busy was throwing a baby shower this past weekend for my sister-in-law with a few of her friends.  i was in charge of invitations, location, and cake--my favorite party jobs!  not knowing what the baby is, we chose yellow and green as our colors based on the baby's room and decided on a baby carriage for the invitation, which then led to the age-old phrase about love and marriage.  this was a fun invite to put together and everyone got a kick out of it!  here are a few other party pics...

the invitation also inspired me to create a standing baby buggy cake for the first time.  it was a little ambitious and it almost fell apart at the last minute, but in the end i was able to fix it and brainstorm about what to do if i ever want to attempt it again.  one of my favorite details is the wire handle.  even though the cake wasn't perfect, it was still cute and luckily, it tasted just right!

one of my favorite little touches for the party was using cloth diapers for napkins.  i saw this at a shower i attended way back when i was pregnant and had it filed away in my head ever since, so i was excited to be able to do it myself.  i found a few different patterned ribbons in the party colors and tied them around the wrapped silverware--very cute and a fun surprise for the guests!

i found these cute color coordinated bottles and binkies at target and used them in a few places around the party, including the door and with some flower arrangements that i forgot to photograph.  i also put a binky on a long piece of the pretty yellow ribbon for the honoree to wear--another fun and unique touch rather than the typical corsage or button.

this is a card i printed to record the gifts.  i thought it would be nice to have it on a piece that coordinated with the invite, so she can put them in an album together if she wants to.  i also created a set of thank you notes using the same colors.  since there are sheep on the nursery bedding, i used them on the card--plus sheep just make me think baby, especially this one by the saltbox studio!

speaking of gifts, here's my quick wrapping job.  since i had cut the phrase off of an extra invitation for the cake, i had a leftover buggy scrap--perfect for a gift card!  i also used the last little bit of ribbon from my party ribbon.  it wasn't long enough to tie, so i wrapped it, secured it with monoadhesive, and added a few jewels for added interest, kind of like a buckle.  i know i say it a lot--but i love quick and cute!!

and last, but definitely not least, every party should end with a favor.  one of the other hosts made these adorable onesie cookies.  they're all yellow, but each one has a cute different pattern in white--buttons, scallops, stripes, etc.  aren't they perfect?!  it was fun to throw a grown up party again!

thanks for stopping by...
:) lexi

monkey see, monkey do!

the never-ending birthday continues with the promised monkey party pics!  i will definitely have something else tomorrow with the upcoming saltbox studio mini-release!  at least there's more than just cake & sugar here, starting with the invitation--and it's stamped, too!!  the monkey is from a retired stampin' up! set called it's a party and the oval is a muse.  i colored in the monkey with a cream prismacolor marker and added yellow stickles to the balls and glitter pen to the x's for a little added sparkle.  in keeping with tradition from last year (ha! ha!), i had to create a second new date invite, but at least it wasn't because she got sick--just a scheduling conflict with another classmate's party...

this one was a little less involved, but during the busy last week of school, i wanted to be sure that people had it in writing.  i changed the shape of the card and the phrase slightly, highlighting the word "different" with the same cream prismacolor marker to call attention to it.

i stuck these on the kids when they arrived--i had similar ones with our address as seals on the original invitation envelopes.  it was a great way to say hello and get the party started!  (the banana stamp is from another old su! set, monkey business.)

rather than re-invent the wheel, i purchased the martha stewart birthday kit from michaels.  with coupons, it was worth it.  these monkey heads are the fill-in-the-blank invites included with the kit, but since i wanted to print and stamp my own, i stuck them back to back and strung them on coordinating ribbon to make a garland for the doorway--even more perfect that way!

the monkey party turned out to be a great theme.  both the seven year olds and the nine year old sisters had a blast.  i had two crafts--making sock monkey heads and bottlecap necklaces--and two games--barrel of monkeys and a monkey tree game from a friend.  i also put out all of our monkey books and we played a few group games, too--monkey, monkey, where's my banana? and hot banana!  monkeys from the girls' stuffed animal collection were another perfect decoration.  the sock monkey activity came from the american girl book i mentioned the other day and was a huge hit.  you can see a close up of them with the real sock monkeys on this post--they're made of the red-heeled socks, beans and rubberbands.  i punched the monkeys from the bag tags in the ms kit to create the bottle caps for the necklaces--another way to use the fun elements in the kit in a different way.

here's a shot of the party table--i have another close up of the cake below!  the napkins, forks, and cups are all from the ms kit, along with smaller cake plates.  you can see more of the monkey heads hanging from the chandelier.  and bananas were another necessary decoration, both real and candy ones!!  the little runt bananas i threw out as confetti disappeared quickly!

one of the lunch options was monkey dogs--too funny huh?!  i had real ones for those who didn't care for peanut butter & bananas!  and one little friend at the party taught me about banana boats, which was basically pulling off one strip of the banana skin, adding peanut butter and eating it all up with a spoon like a baked potato--another great idea!  the "monkey mix" includes banana chips and chocolate chips, too.  and how about the cake...

the idea is also from martha stewart.  before the kit at michaels, there was an article in ms kids that featured the party idea.  it was that picture that caught colleen's attention when she was looking through my idea books for the perfect party.  you can also see it here--i just made a basic cake and mine's a little shorter and wider, but it still came out pretty good!  i also just realized that i forgot to take a picture of the kitchen island--it had a few chocolate covered bananas and marshmallows on a smaller green cake plate, using the cupcake toppers from the ms kit and some coconut bowls of candy--brown and yellow m&m's and malted milk balls.  the kids started arriving from school while i was taking pictures and colleen wasn't here first, so i got a little sidetracked!

finally, here are the favors.  the bags came from the kit and i added the same stamped image from the invite along with a name label, so mix ups were less likely.  we found lots of monkey fun--stickers, hair clips, banana lip balm, banana candies, runts, and mini barrels of monkeys.

it was a really fun party and, with a few minor changes, i can totally see this party theme for a variety of ages!  yes, i'm bananas...

:) lexi

a turquoise birthday

i totally intended to share the monkey party pics today, but i completely forgot to photograph the invite, so you get the turquoise family dinner first!  the centerpiece, the turquoise cupcakes and candies, of course!  i didn't have a turquoise tablecloth, but i did have some placemats that worked perfectly, especially when we added confetti that colleen punched from the banner scraps...

speaking of the banner--it was another way to quickly add colleen's favorite color to her birthday dinner.  i made one a few years ago when she requested a pink dinner, but one of these days i'm going to have to do one with a name or more details like the ones on other stamping blogs--elena recently did a really cute one.

another touch was blue drinks for the kids and cousins.  and of course, colleen had to wear her color too...

as soon as she saw the turquoise grass skirt at party city, she had to have it and insisted that the coconuts were a logical and necessary match.  she is my little performer!  and like big sister a couple of months ago, she had birthday wishes for breakfast and lunch too...
 
i love birthdays!!
:) lexi

a rockin' girl birthday

this year, my little friend cece wanted a hannah party.  and while her mom got most of the party stuff from a party store, they wanted an invitation and cake by lexi.  playing with fonts is a fun way to mimic the look of the logo and get the feel for something like this while still having a printed, personalized invitation.  we talked about trying a guitar shaped cake, but then we decided to put a guitar on the cake instead, using the images and colors of the invite...

to transfer those elements to the cake, i printed them larger and cut them out to use as templates to cut the shapes in fondant icing.  i used two star cutters for the stars and saved the extras to use on the board.  i love how it came out!

cd mixes of a few of cece's favorite hannah songs were the perfect party favor, especially with a label to match the invitation.

and the large version of the guitar for the cake cut-outs was so cool i printed extra on text weight paper and used it for wrapping paper and a gift card--a very last minute idea!

here's colleen posing for another party favor/activity that michele found--a photo with hannah herself!  it was a big hit and cece had a great time!

rock on!
:) lexi

snips-n-snails & lots of blue

here is another invitation and cake pairing from this past weekend--a baby shower for an expected boy.  i had created a similar ensemble last year for my husband's cousin who was expecting a girl, so it was fun to create it all again in blue.  the cake was also inspired by the one i created for that girl shower, only this time, instead of putting a baby buggy on it, i created it in the shape of one!

i used two round cakes--a 10 inch and a 9 inch--and 4 large muffins for the wheels.  the details are cut from fondant icing.  this was a first for me and i'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

the mommy-to-be liked the invitation so much, she called me for some matching thank you notes...

i had also created these in pink before, so now i have both to show.  they'd make a cute set of twins, too!

thanks for stopping by...
:) lexi

putt putt fun...

and another hole in one!  right after i created the golf ball cake a couple of weeks ago, someone asked about a golf invite for a putt putt party.  she had the main phrase, i reworked the art work from an older project and came up with the regrets--and we had a cute, quick invitation.  of course i had to show her the cake, too... 

it was so much fun to make again, although the dimples took longer because of the 100% humidity saturday morning!  this time i figured out how to make it more rounded on the sides and i added the birthday boy's name and age in place of the typical logo.  i hear it was a hit!

:) lexi

sugar shock!

i've been in a baking frenzy over the last 24 hours.  the cupcakes above were for colleen's poetry party this morning--the poems were cute, the cupcakes, a hit, even though they got a little smooshed on the way!  then i rushed home to finish prepping to help throw the dog show party again this afternoon, including the cake and extra paws...

i was so glad david was in the mood to cook his pot roast for dinner.  it tasted yummy, but more importantly it smelled yummy and canceled out the lingering sugar, which really was going to my head!

:) lexi

here's the scoop!

another weekend, another birthday invite and cake to match!  a couple of weeks ago, i had several cut-out invitations and this was one of them.  i was so excited to get to make the cake, too...

it's a two box, two layer cake--created with one 9 x 13 cake for the cone and 4 small round layers for the two scoops.  to form the cone, i cut the rectangle on the diagonal, stacked the two pieces and trimmed them straight at the top.  the scoops are actually baked in a set of 4 personal pizza pans from william sonoma--they're just a little bit bigger than the wilton 6" pans and turned out to be the perfect size.  i did trim each stack at the bottom to make them more of a scoop shape.  a little extra icing at the seams and controlled messy strokes made them look just a little more like ice cream.  the cherry is a ball of fondant icing with a fondant stem.  the words are cut out of fondant as well.  it was really fun to make and yet another one i hope i get a chance to create again!

:) lexi

hole in one!

 

i just had to quickly share the cake i made yesterday--a golf ball cake!  i can't believe i still haven't posted mignon's because that one was so much fun, too, but i haven't had time to sort through the pictures yet--maybe this weekend.  anyway, when i was asked to create this, i had a basic idea of what i wanted to do, and like i often do when i'm creating something for the first time, i googled golf ball cake images to see if my plan was on par (yes, i'm a little loopy today!).  i has happy to see that the first one that came up supported what i was thinking, though i didn't have a half ball pan.  so, i used a metal mixing bowl to bake my two halves.  i've used it before for an oversized cupcake cake and it works, but i may have to look into the half ball pans if i ever do it again.  the dimples were the most fun--i used a clean bouncy ball and kept rubbing it in a bit of powdered sugar on my palm before pressing it in.  it was also helpful to put the cake back in the fridge a couple of times during the process so that the buttercream icing stayed cold and firm.  i added a bit of easter grass under cellophane around the edges of the cake board for a fun grassy touch as well as a little support around the base of the cake since it wasn't flat on the bottom.  cakes are a nice, sweet diversion when i'm otherwise drowning in paper...

:) lexi

skate on over...

 

the last few weeks have been crazy busy for me.  in addition to preparing for the april release of the saltbox studio, i have had tons of orders to crank out--stationery, invitations, cakes--including an invitation and cake for my own mignon!  i still have to sort through her pictures and set up a "theme party" post, but i had these ready to go.  they were from last friday, the day before mignon's party.  in fact, one of the girls shares the same birthday as mignon, which fell during spring break this year.  i designed this invitation last year for a "great sk-8" ~ an 8 year old party, but since this was for a different group of girls, it was perfect to add a second girl and change the phrase.  skating parties make me think of jr. high and groovy patterns!  i was also asked to make the cakes...

a pair of skates--two girls, two cakes, perfect for a roller skating party for two!  i used one two layer 8 inch cake for each one and the wheels are cupcakes with fondant icing circles pressed into the icing on top.  these were a first for me and if i ever do them again i think i'll tweak the toe a little, but i was so excited about them that i wanted to throw a skate party myself! 

and last, but not least, i also created a set of matching stationery for thank yous.  it was all wheel-y fun to create!  stay tuned for mignon's mini arcade coming soon...

:) lexi

p.s.  beth posted a new contest on the saltbox sampler blog--for my stamping readers, it's another chance to win a stamp set from the april release, only this time you get to choose!!!

fresh foolish food!

 
we had a family dinner party to go to tonight since some friends are here for their spring break, and i really wanted to bring a few of the foolish fun dishes to share.  the girls got excited about it too, so we fit it in after school.  i chose two of the easier, no melting options...

 
meatloaf with peas and carrots--okay, so if you didn't follow the links in the last post, it's really a cocoa rice crispy treat loaf with cut up fruit roll ups for the bits of color and texture with peas and carrots candy from the easter bunny!!

and a side of homestyle fries with ketchup--pillsbury breadstick dough cut into smaller, thinner strips, rolled in sugar and baked as directed, with strawberry jelly stirred smooth for dipping!!

so did anyone else get foolish with food?
:) lexi

ETA:  i keep walking by this in the kitchen and thinking i left food out to spoil--too funny!

food fit for fools!

 
i thought i'd share one of my girlies' favorite meals.  sorry about the picture--it's from several years ago, before staging my pictures for the blog!  anyway, at a quick glance, you might see meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and peas, juice and cupcakes for dessert.  but things are not always as they seem--you really need look a little closer and click here for more foolish fun with food!!

happy prank day!
:) lexi

a yellow birthday...

mignon turned 9 today, so the sugar fest continued!  we're on spring break and most of her friends are out of town, so we had to postpone her girly friend party.  but she had a few wishes for her special day, beginning with me waking her up and putting the birthday cake hat on her head, followed by cinnamon rolls and candle wishing for breakfast...

bk drive thru for lunch, and more wishin'...

and a family dinner party--grilled steak, pasta & corn by request--with yellow cupcakes and yellow everything...

we even picked through all the easter candy--yellow m&m's and yellow and orange jelly beans with the cupcakes above and a nest of yellow robin's eggs below...

the good thing about putting easter candy out is that it's a little less to have around here tempting me!  and of course, we had yellow girls...

the mess below their feet is the remnants of a yellow silly string fight on the front yard--always a hit!

like i mentioned, it's spring break, so i might be a bit random this week, but i really wanna stamp!  other than the quick birthday card today, my quick stamping last weekend and peeps projects are all i've had time for lately!

:) lexi

hippity, hoppity!

 

here's one of the many things i've been up to this week.  they came out so cute, i wish they were for us, but i'm sure the pre-k class they were headed to enjoyed them!  and luckily there were a few extras to keep around and a little extra dough for mini butterflies by special request from colleen.  all three of these designs were pretty easy.  i especially love the eggs, because even sticking with two colors, it's easy to make them interesting with pattern--polka dots, stripes, zig zags, etc.  not only are these cookies little works of art, but they're yummy, too--butter cut outs with almond flavored royal icing.  sometimes my dough bubbles in the oven and i usually try to press them out just before they're finished baking, but we got a kick out of this one and had to leave it alone...

back to work!
:) lexi

a little more green...

 

the girlies wanted a green meal, so a green meal they got!  green eggs and ham, green peas, and toast painted with a lucky green clover.  and to wash it all down?  green milk of course.  doesn't it look yummy!!

:) lexi

p.s.  just in case you were wondering... to paint toast, add a few drops of food coloring to a little milk, paint with a paintbrush, and toast.  (we have several food-dedicated paintbrushes and we use a toaster oven.)  the colors intensify when toasted and still show through after buttering, too.  it's another one of those tricks from my preschool teaching days that's fun to do with my own kids!

don't miss out!

are you signed up for the saltbox studio peek of the week?  if not, here's a peek at what you're missing!  i like to print mine on glossy brochure paper to look back through when i need a little inspiration.  to sign up send a quick email from the link on the saltbox studio home page.  normally, they will go out over the weekend, but i was preoccupied with another one of these among other things...

 

this is the third time making this very cute (and heavy!) cake--the second time for the same customer.  now, the hardest part is writing the names since they're new each time!

thanks for stopping by--and don't forget to sign up for the saltbox studio peek of the week, so you don't miss out on another cool card or project!

:) lexi

best in show!

 

i'm so excited to share the details of the party i've been working on for the last week.  the idea was to have a dog party, but we wanted to give it the creative twist of being a dog show, so the "ARKC Best in Show" was born and off i went.  i didn't have confidence in drawing a dog silhouette, so i found one online and got permission to use it.  many thanks to steve at steve's uniques--if you're a dog lover, you might want to check out his etched glasses!  because of time, i kept the invitation pretty simple.  but, once i settled on a look and logo, it was easy to pull everything else together with coordinating signs and stickers.  here's what we did...

welcome to the ARKC best in show--let's party!

first stop, adopt your doggie sight-unseen, give it a name, and pick a collar.  then...

decorate a kennel/carrier--simple white gable boxes!

 
groom your doggie and pick up a leash.  (side note:  midnight inspiration + an id lanyard & scissors = the perfect little leash!)

every pup needs food!  i love these little favors from birthday express--they're actually cookies and candy.

how about a game of pin the ribbon on the show poodle?

   
and you gotta have some doggy cake!  this cake idea is from family fun--a great source for fabulous kiddy cakes.

every dog at the ARKC is a best in show dog!  (i also used blank versions of these for the pin the ribbon game, adding the girls' names to them so they would know which one was theirs.)

and we just had to have a doggie bag o' bone biscuits!

the activities at this party were the main goodies, so as the guests left, i awarded their dog randomly with a best in show ribbon on their carrier and gave them a little doggie bag.  i don't know about everyone else, but my girls came home and played puppy for the rest of the day!

happy birthday adair!
:) lexi

long time, no cake!

 

first of all, where does the time go?  i can't believe it's wednesday already.  i feel like i'm just getting over the weekend!  it was almost busier than the holidays--getting my house ready for a showing, a birthday dinner, three birthday parties, yikes!  which brings me to the cake.  i was asked to do a quickie cake for one of the parties--no theme, just a very small surprise party for a 9 year old.  here's a better view of the side.  since there was no theme, i went for fun colors.

i haven't done one in a while--i actually scraped off the words three times before i got it right--so dangerous!  at one point, i wanted to throw it out, but in the end i liked it enough.  this was only saturday morning and i was already exhausted with no rest in sight, so that affected my attitude.  somehow i made it through the weekend and now my house is very neat and christmas is put away, so i guess it was all worth it--even if monday and tuesday were a blur!

happy hump day!
:) lexi

pottery to paint--and eat!

 
 

here's another invitation/cake pairing i created recently.  my customer needed a quick turnaround invite, so i recreated this one from a few years ago.  i didn't have time to get the number of paintbrushes needed, so i drew one on the computer and printed it with the words before stamping the mug and paint splats.  this also works better when sending this design through the mail.   

when it came time to figure out a cake, i thought it would be fun to actually paint the pottery!  unfortunately, i kept having icing malfunctions and had to scrape off green icing after the bag broke not once, but twice while writing!  which made me run out of time to do flowers and decorations with the "paint" icing like i'd pictured in my head.  in the end, i like how it turned out with the splats like on the invitation and the birthday girl, along with her mom and friends, loved it--the "paint" palette was the biggest hit!

speaking of cakes, my cake for the cake walk turned out great, but i forgot to take a picture.  it was the fourth time i created the spa girl, so it wasn't really necessary, i guess.  colleen tried so hard to win it, but by the time she finally landed on the right number, it was gone, so she happily picked a store bought black & gold saints one, which we ate today.  we turned out to be quite lucky that night, also winning a cute purple ipod shuffle in the bag raffle!  and then yesterday, a prize turned up in the mail from one of the paper crafts world card making day sweepstakes--i had no idea!  i'm starting to feel as lucky as my blog buddy julie--she wins a lot!

thanks for stopping by...
:) lexi