Candy Corn Cake

This cake was for my next to oldest granddaughter who had a birthday in October.  Her only request was a candy cake.  Here is what I came up with.

I made my homemade dark chocolate cake, frosted it with a fudge frosting, then used Twix' for the sides.  I love those things!!  You will see a lot of this kind of cake on the Internet, using various kinds of candy.  A good idea for a quick cake.

I think she was pleased!  Hope you had a Happy Birthday, Nicole!!

Another Curious George Birthday Cake

I have two three year old granddaughters, and they both had to have Curious George cakes for their birthday parties this year!  I posted about the first here.

 This one was for Kami, who is a little more than three months younger than Sydney.

 

Kami's mommy was a little more complicated than her big sis.  I also had to make coordinating cake pops and decorated cookies!

But Kami was one happy little girl, so it was all worth it! 



 

 





Baby Juliet's Ivory Rosette Shower Cake

 This cake was for my youngest granddaughter's baby shower.

We had a vintage theme going on with the decorations and I thought this look would fit.

I love how it turned out and how easy it was to decorate!  Just have to love those roses!!

I used my favorite dark chocolate cake recipe and buttercream frosting using real butter and whipping cream. 

Fall Leaf Cookies

Nothing like Fall Leaves to welcome the new season and say good-bye to summer!

I made these cookies last week for my mother-in-law.  Her birthday was Sunday.  I shipped them out mid-morning Thursday and they were delivered Saturday morning, 1500 miles away!  Not one broken cookie, she said!

Just gotta love Priority Mail!!  

I used a dark brown/chocolate glaze for the piping, then painted it with gold luster dust after it dried. I see a lot more of these in my future!!

Curious George Birthday Cake

Sydney and Kami, my two three and almost three year old granddaughters, are HUGE Curious George fans. So Sydney, who turned three yesterday, ordered a "monkey" cake.

Earlier this summer, I came across this blog post and filed it in the back of my mind to try someday.  I decided this was that day!  I followed her instructions exactly and it worked!!  Not perfect, but a great first try.  I'm sure I'll be making Kami a "monkey" cake in a couple of months, so I'll get another chance to make it perfect.

First, here is the backup George, or Plan B, if the first one didn't work out!  This shows a bit of the process.

And here's Plan A, just before going in the freezer.

Things I learned:
1) Make sure the frosting is thick enough and filled in tight.  Notice the belly and face.  It improved some after it sat for a while, but I don't think it would have done that had I really packed the frosting in there.
2) When filling the design, it is important to cover the outline as well, or else there is nothing supporting that line and it will break off when you invert it and put it on the cake.
3) Don't worry if it's not perfect!  Once it's on the cake, it will look great!
4) I used a buttercream made with real butter.  It softened very quickly when I took it out of the freezer.  I'm wondering if a buttercream made without butter would work better??? I'll have to try that sometime.

Overall, I love the way it turned out and it was big hit with the three year olds!

 

Happy Birthday, Sydney & Emily!!

Silver Wedding Anniversary Cake

My sister and brother-in-law (who is also my husband's first cousin; cousins married sisters!) celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary this past weekend.  Here is the cake I made for the occasion!

I had planned to use the topper from their wedding cake, but it looked like it was twenty-five years old so I opted for the topper from my daughter's wedding cake instead.  It matched better anyway.

I used a frosting with real butter, so that's the reason it's not pure white.  Decided to go for taste over looks, I guess!  The cake flavors were Dark Chocolate, White and Red Velvet.

Congrats on 25 Years, Becca & Terry!!

Tool Set Cookies For Father's Day

 I made these for all the fathers in our family and church for Father's Day!  

The church we formerly attended always gave all the dad's a small tool every Father's Day, so I decided to go for the edible version!

Of course, it goes without saying that I made enough for all the grand kids as well!

Grand Baby #10!!

Meet the newest addition to our family:  Juliet Adelle!!  Isn't she a doll?

This is one proud grandma here!!

Mother's Day Cookies

Here are some quick and easy cookies I made for Mother's Day this year.

I first saw cookies decorated in this way here.  Mine don't look quite the same, probably because she used an air brush (which I don't have) and I used Wilton ColorMist.

After looking at her cookies compared to mine, I think I need to invest in an airbrush system!!

But the looks didn't deter from the taste!!  I made enough for all the moms in our family and even had enough left for the kids and men.

Pinterest Project: Homemade Ice Cream In A Bag

I saw this first on Pinterest, but, apparently, I didn't pin it!  But I did bookmark the blog where it originated.  I babysat four of my granddaughters last evening while their parents went to a banquet, so we tried it and it worked great!!  

This evening, another couple grand kids were over, so we did it again and I got pics of the process.  They loved "making" their own ice cream!

Here's the recipe as found here:

Homemade Ice Cream In A Bag

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 cup half and half

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup salt (The bigger the granules, the better. Kosher or rock salt works best, but table salt is fine.)

• Ice cubes (enough to fill each gallon-size bag about half full)

• 1 pint-size ziplock bag

• 1 gallon-size ziplock bag

Combine the sugar, half and half and vanilla in a pint sized bag and seal it tightly.  Place the salt and ice in the gallon sized bag, then place the sealed bag with the half and half mixture inside.  Seal the larger bag.  Shake the bags until the mixture hardens, about 5 minutes.  You can tell by feeling when it's done.  Take the smaller bag out and quickly rinse with cold water to remove the salt water, then spoon or squeeze into a bowl or eat right out of the bag.  

Enjoy!!

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Artist's Palette Cake

Here's a simple cake for you!  My daughter-in-law had a Canvas Party for my son's 30th birthday party.  He's loves to paint and it was a good way to get stocked up on supplies.

This is the cake I came up with for the occasion.  With very little time to work with, I decided on a sheet cake with the actual supply items as the decorations on the cake.

Happy 30th Birthday, Nate!!

More Spring Flower Decorated Cookies

 Here are some more girlie flower cookies I made recently.  What can I say; I have nine granddaughters!!

For these, I poured the glaze over the cookie and let it dry, then I piped flowers with different colors, right on top of each other.  They were perfect for the occasion!

A New Addition To The Family!!

Here's the latest addition to our family!!  Scarlett Kelly was born on March 10, weighing 9 lbs. 3 oz.  Quite a shock after the last one weighed 5 lbs. 6 oz.!!  But isn't she a little doll?

Big brother, Peyton and big sis, Emily,  think she's a keeper!!

Congratulations, Bobby, Kelly, Emily & Peyton!!

Spring Flower Decorated Cookies

Here are some decorated flower cookies I made recently.  I used a wet-on-wet technique on these, which simply means I did the color on a filled cookie that was still wet.  They remind me of tie-dye.

Anyway, they were fun and easy and perfect for little girls!!

Pinterest Project: Letter Art

I made one of these letters for each family on my Christmas shopping list this past Christmas.  So that means I made a B, several T's and a couple of M's.

Somehow, I only have pics of the M!  I originally saw these on Pinterest and wanted to give them a try.

Here's how I made mine:

I picked up the letters on sale at Hobby Lobby.  I think I may have got one of them at Joann's.  I used a tacky glue to draw the design, then let it completely dry.

Next, I spray painted it silver.  

Then I used black shoe polish as a glaze.  I tried using a regular paint glaze that I had, but it wasn't dark enough and I didn't like how it was turning out.  I went over it several times with the shoe polish to get the coverage I wanted, letting it dry in between coats.  

It would probably be a good idea to apply and coat of lacquer when the shoe polish was completely dry, but I didn't do that.

That's it!  An extremely easy project!

Red Rose Wedding Cake

I know I said never again . . . but here's a wedding cake I made for a friend this past weekend.

For this cake, the bride requested Red Velvet cake with a cream cheese filling and White cake with a Strawberry filling.  No chocolate!!  I know!!  

I was a bit apprehensive going into the decorating, but it's what she wanted, she loved it and that's what matters!!  It does look pretty stunning!!

I figured out on this cake, I would probably do more wedding cakes if I just didn't have to deliver them!  That's where my stress come in.  When delivering this cake to the church, the road was closed for a control burn.  I mean, I could see the church about an eighth of a mile away, but they wouldn't let us through.  So we had to go the long way around up a STEEP and extremely BUMPY road!!  I about had a stroke!!

But I survived and all's well that ends well.

Congratulations, Bethany & Brad!!

January's First Birthday Party!

My youngest granddaughter, January turned one in . . . . you guessed it!! January!!

Here are a few pics of the little doll and her party table.

Her young cousins can't quite say her name, so she goes by Berry, Jerry and Janwary!!

I can't believe you're already a year old, January!!  Happy Birthday!

Tinkerbell Birthday Cake

I made this cake for a Tinkerbell themed birthday party.

Only, in this pic, Tinkerbell is missing!!  She was added after the cake was delivered.  So you'll just have to imagine a Tinkerbell figurine sitting up in the flower somewhere!

For this cake, I used whipped topping from Sam's Club with fondant addons.  I picked up the big flower on top at Michael's.

Hope you you had a wonderful birthday party, Nadia!!

More Words To Live By!

My daughter-in-law sent this to me.  It was so sweet I just had to post it!

I Am A Mother

I did a search and found the author:  Ameliosgirl.

More Words To Live By!

I saw this today on facebook and thought it was worth sharing.

Homemaking is surely in reality the most important work in the world.  What do ships, railways, mines, cars, government, etc., exist for except that people may be fed, warmed and safe in their homes? . . .  The homemaker's job is one for which all other's exist.
C. S. Lewis