confetti by lexi

skate doodles

although i didn't bake anything new this weekend, i still have several cakes to share, so here we are rolling into another week of sweet art pieces!  this one was for an eleven year old girl's skating party, but i'm sure you could tell that.  she wanted me to include a traditional skate, turquoise blue plus other bright colors, and fun details.  i immediately remembered a doodle cake i'd done before and thought doodling around a fondant skate would be just the fun look she wanted.  hearts, stars, and swirlies - all things girly!

:) lexi

flashback friday :: cake carving 101

yay!  i blogged for a whole week!!  since it's been all about cake this week (with a few more still to come!), i thought i'd flash back to "how to bake a margarita" to revisit my cake shaping process.  if you click on through, you'll see a few more pictures and a description of how i turn three 9 x 13 cakes into the margarita.  enjoy & happy weekend!

:) lexi

original post: october 18, 2007

frozen with salt!

today, i have another cake created for a pre-wedding party.  i guess fiesta would be more to the point!  this is the fourth time i've created this margarita cake and there are always a few moments while doing the crumb coat when i think it's heading for disaster, but then it all works out in the end.  my favorite details are the clear sugar sprinkles for the salted rim and the fondant lime - it's always the little touches that make the biggest impact!

:) lexi

tasty tiffany blue

a cake covered in iconic tiffany blue buttercream with a sweet white fondant bow was the request for a recent bridal shower.  not surprisingly, the hostess' gift to the bride was in a matching box - one to open, one to eat!  how perfect is that?  so perfect, in fact, that i'm doing it again in a few weeks for an engagement party!

it was also perfect for a luncheon for a group of women called the tiffany circle.  now, technically the tiffany & co. logo fits just under the bow in the center of the box, but for the luncheon we found a more visible spot in order to celebrate the group.  what's not to love about a pretty blue box?!

:) lexi

party-on-purple!

what better cake for a mani-pedi party than a bottle of nail polish in the birthday girl's favorite color?  it gives nibbling on your nails a whole new meaning!  i really hope i get to create this one again in a different color - red, pink, aqua, neon green - the possibilities are endless!!

:) lexi

hello cake!

work has been keeping me away from the blog lately - creating, baking, even a little decorating around my house.  as soon as school started back up, people started throwing more parties and needing invitations and cakes.  i've actually been spending a lot of time in the kitchen with cake order on top of cake order, which keeps me away from the computer a little more than other things.  my goal this week is to share as many of those sweet treats as i can, starting with hello kitty times two...

two little girls were having a hello kitty themed gymnastics party and wanted hello kitty cakes with a little star power!  one went for a traditional hello kitty, while the other opted for pink and purple.  i carved the hello kitty faces out of 2 layer 8 inch round cakes and iced them with homemade buttercream.  the embellishments are all candy - jelly beans for the eyes and noses, cut and stripped twizzlers for the whiskers, and gumdrops, rolled out in sugar for the stars and bows.  i heard they were a hit!

:) lexi

congratulations cake

while we're on the subject of graduation, here's a cake i made for another december graduate.  the request was for something to coordinate with the school logo, in school colors, of course.  the logo itself is circular, so a two layer round cake was perfect and simple--it's nice to take a break from the sculpted cakes from time to time!  fondant, cut using a printed cardtock template of the logo, is the best way to get nice crisp lines and a little edible shimmer dust adds just the right bit of sparkle.  every graduate needs a little cake!

:) lexi

more fun with peeps

i hope you had a nice easter!  before i leave it all behind 'til next year, i wanted to share another peeps treat that we created over the weekend for the family kids.  i saw it on the today show friday morning and thought it was the perfect new idea to try.  the cut cup creates a cracked egg for the peep to pop out of--so cute!  we packed it like a little egg basket, adding a bit of edible easter grass for another fun touch, not to mention something else to eat.  to me, the grass tastes a little like lightweight flavored styrofoam, but it was a novelty that everyone loved!  i call them peeps pops.  i managed to save one to photograph today, because i forgot to yesterday, but they looked so cute all piled up in the basket, too.

:) lexi

a blue ribbon birthday

the end of last week turned into cake-week, with two days in a row making cakes.  my kitchen was a mess of sugar, butter, and best of all cake scraps!  this one was created to look like the invitation for the party, pictured above--twin vs. twin in a field day face off!

the ribbon was fairly easy to construct, although a little tricky to ice in a few places, like where the blue ribbon meets at the circle and the ribbon cuts at the bottom.  a great plus to the cake is that it's easy to do both yellow and chocolate cake, because the top is a two layer round cake, and the bottom is cut from two square layers.  options are good--a slice of each for me, please!

in addition to the cake, i also created cup stickers and iron-on tshirt transfers.  i love those details that pull it all together!!

:) lexi

another castle cake

i'd intended to share a few more photographs today in keeping with the theme that took over the week.  but i was busy creating in the kitchen and ran out of time to sort through pics, so you get cake!  the request was for a small centerpiece creation for a reception following a school production of beauty and the beast.  i've done this basic cube castle several times--pink, most recently--and it was the perfect starting point.  this time, i added the stone bricks to coordinate with the set design and i love the new look.  even better, i heard it was a hit!

:) lexi

flashback friday :: first communion

yay!  i made it through to the end of week and flashback friday!  today i'm flashing back to my girls' first communions.  judging from my stats again, it seems that many readers are looking for first communion ideas--invitations, cakes, decorations.  we only invited family and god parents, but i still wanted invitations and a matching cake!  this bible cake was made to match the stamp we used for my younger daughter's invite.  for my older daughter, two years earlier, i made a cross in the clouds cake, inspired by a rainbow cake we saw in a magazine which, in turn, inspired the invitation.  i love details even when it is just for family!

happy communion planning!
:) lexi

original posts:  may 3, 2009 and may 6, 2007

glee!

i have so much fun with my girls' birthday parties every year, but this year's glee theme for my now 12 year old was so timely and perfect for her group of girls that it was even more fun than ever!  i used a graphic i found online for the invitation, photoshopping the birthday girl right into the middle of it.  i opted for simple wording, using a font that matches the glee logo, letting the pictures take center stage.

before you even get to the cute invite, i like setting the tone on the envelope with fun details to generate a little excitement.  it was the perfect place to add a slushee, spilling out of the cup, of course!  and since we took several gleek shots of mignon trying to get the perfect one above, i created a personalized sticker with a different image to seal it all shut.

decorations included a sign outside greeting the party girls to william mckinley high school, as well as various posters hung around the party space.  i even found a map of mckinley high that i posted in a few places, highlighting the classrooms and characters around school.  these were both helpful when they were taking a glee trivia test, which was the first of several activities...

the glee trivia (how gleeky are you?!) was a freebie found online--i simply changed the header to include the birthday girl's picture in order to match my other printables.  luckily it comes with an answer key!  another great online find was glee bingo--delivered right to my email inbox, and super easy to print and play.  the bingo markers? cheerios, of course!  we played one round until we had several winners to give little prizes to.  the fan favorite was a slushee facial "game" which involved throwing water slushees (water + snowball ice) into each other's faces, while they tried to protect their clothing behind a big box.  the main event was a sing off, using the glee karaoke revolution for wii.

anyone interested in singing in the karaoke sing off signed up at the beginning of the party.  i love that they signed up as their characters, especially when the first rachel asked for a gold star to mimic the real rachel!

munchies and treats consisted of do-it-yourself slushees (for drinking only!), including personalized "big quench" cups and red twizzler straws, tator tots from the mckinley high cafeteria (mercedes demanded them!), and fruit for a little balance.  it was also pizza day in the cafeteria.

for dessert and song, we had the L hand cake from monday's post and big quench cupcakes.  i wish i could take credit for the cupcakes, but they were another online find--google is invaluable when planning almost any themed party!  the directions included a freebie label, but i decided to create my own, similar but with the addition of a personalized birthday logo!

and finally, at the end of the night the girls were given a few glee-ful treats to take home in a cup with another gleeky sticker--nerds & pop rocks (both very fitting!), hand signs pencil toppers, and a trophy from regionals, along with a couple of official glee accessories from claire's.  the prizes for the games were glee key chains, also from claire's, plus a few extra glee bands. 

i followed it all up the next day with one last keepsake--a collage of all the gleeks at the party, made to match the invite!  it was so much fun, i want to do it all over again!!

gleek-fully yours,
:) lexi

vroom! vroom!

i'm still organizing the glee party pics, so i thought i'd share another cake from last week.  gotta keep the posts rolling!  the request: lightning mcqueen.  i hope that's obvious.  lightning decided to change his number and sponsor decal in honor of the birthday boy--special birthday party accessories!  my husband spotted the perfect tire solution for me on the snack aisle.  can you tell what they are?  if you guessed ding dongs, you got it!  parts of it were a little tricky, like the fin, trying to create the right shape, and of course getting a good shade of red (that's always an issue with red), but i think i got as close as you can with cake and icing.  the birthday boy loved it and the parents ate it up, i heard, which is what matters the most!

'til tomorrow...
:) lexi

gleek party peak!

hello!  i'm still here--since before christmas, i've jumped from one big busy project to the next, and lost my will and time to post, but i've been trying to get back for a while now.  finally, here i am!  i had a particularly and glee-fully(!) crafty weekend, throwing a glee themed birthday party for my now 12 year old, so i thought i'd share a quick peak at the little cake--just one of the two desserts of the night.  even though the other was the main one, i couldn't resist making the glee L hand!  the party was a blast--but i think i'll jump back in slowly and share more tomorrow...

stay tuned!
:) lexi

shop 'til you drop!

the challenge: an invitation for a mall scavenger hunt party for two girls turning 10.  some requests:  pink & black, something involving a camera and money.  the result:  another top personal favorite!

as i do with many invitations, i started with a logo.  actually, two in this case--a primary "shop" logo on the bag and a secondary one on the camera.  the bag was packed and ready with a camera, money, and even a receipt.  the main party information was on the screen on the back of the camera, with additional information and fun touches on the store receipt.  information aside, the personalized money was the highlight of the whole ensemble!

while the shopping pieces and parts really make it wow, the camera could actually be a great invitation on its own.  with the birthday girls' names and age on the front, and the party info on the back, everything is all on one piece.  i'm thinking neighborhood scavenger hunt or some other photography themed party in its next life!

the birthday "store" logo also came in handy when it came time for cake.  they wanted something easy to serve in the mall, in a coordinating pink and black.  chocolate cupcakes with pink buttercream were the perfect choice!  i topped half of them with cookies & cream hard candies, to pull in a little black and white, and the other half with logos that i punched out and attached with toothpicks.  totally yummy & nicely matched!

:) lexi

flashback friday :: gobble! gobble!

it's another friday in november, and time to revisit yet another fun and timely thanksgiving idea.  i've made these little turkey treats as a teacher with my students and as a parent with my girls' classes over the years, as well as with family on thanksgiving day.  like so many of my flashback friday features, i originally posted them on thanksgiving day, but this year i'm giving you more lead time--a whole week and half to copy away!  a couple of oreos + a whopper + candy corn = the sweetest turkeys around!  gobble, gobble!!

:) lexi

original post:  november 26, 2009

2010 twins

a great way to personalize a birthday party is to make tshirts for the guests.  they'd be great favors, but it's especially fun to have the kids put them on when they arrive if the party is in a public place like a bowling alley.  these were designed for twin boys turning 10 last weekend, using classic bowling colors to match their party supplies and a name they gave themselves.  i also created a coordinating cake...

since they're twins, my two pin and ball design was perfect since each could have a cake with his own name.  the ball (baked in a bowl!) is chocolate cake, the pins, yellow.  something for everyone--a 10 twin split!

:) lexi

a princess lives here!

this is the cake i mentioned last week when halloween posting took over.  i always love to work on princess things, so i was really excited to receive the request.  i've actually created two versions of this castle when my girls each turned three, very early on in my cake decorating.  it was fun to perfect the design now that i have more skills under my belt.  from the ice cream cone towers to the fondant flowers, it's all in the details!

:) lexi

flapjack o' lanterns

we traded our usual saturday morning rainbow pancakes for festive black and orange today.  a cookie cutter served as a pancake mold, and a few strategically placed chocolate chips turned simple circles into crazy jacks!

eat at your own risk!
:) lexi

yummy mummies

what better way to kick off the week before halloween than with mummy cupcakes? every year, the girls and i make something for a cake walk around this time.  we've made monster cakes and a jack o' lantern cake, among others.  this year i wanted something similarly cute, but also super easy since i'd already baked a cake that morning--stay tuned for that one after halloween!  anyway, all you need is white icing and a flat piping tip for these, so the easy goal was definitely met.  i had planned on using chocolate chips for the eyes, but found some candy covered chip sprinkles in my decorating stash, so we went with colorful eyes.  they were one of the first items picked again, so i think we met the cute goal, too!

:) lexi