Update On The Smiley Face Cookies Post

I talked to my son a couple of days ago, and his package with the cookies arrived in Vanuatu. Actually, it arrived two days after he and his wife had left for a two week stint to another island, so it was two days short of four weeks when they got back and actually opened the package. He said the cookies were still sealed up and fresh.

So I opened my cookies, the ones I had vacuum sealed and saved to open when they opened their package. They were okay, but would have been much better had they arrived before their trip! But when you're that far from home and familiar tastes, just about anything tastes good, they assured me.

The vacuum sealing made them a bit flat, so I'm going to try something else with the next cookies I send.

Piano Cake

Here's a Piano/Music themed cake I made for a friend's graduation last weekend.

The cake itself was chocolate with my dulce de leche filling in one layer and my chocolate hazelnut filling in the other. It was then covered with almond flavored buttercream, then fondant. All the decorations are fondant except the ribbon curlies on the top and the ribbon around the bottom.

For the notes and music symbols, I printed them off the Internet, cut them out and covered them with clear contact paper. I then used them as patterns to cut the shapes out of fondant.

The music ribbon was from Wal Mart! Just happened to see it when I was buying groceries and thought it would come in handy someday!!

Congratulations, John!!

Smiley Face Cookies

When we lived in CA, my children always looked forward to going to their grandma and grandpa's house about three hours away. They especially loved it when they discovered that grandma had Smith's cookies waiting! They were just a decorated sugar cookie with a smiley face.



Last August, when Nate & Jen were getting married, grandma and grandpa arrived with at least three dozen Smith's cookies. I guess my now-grown children are still kids at heart, because they were way too excited about those cookies!!

Now that Nate & Jen are living in Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, I try to send something special from home in every package I send - something they can't get where they live. So, in the last package, I included about two dozen of my decorated cookies. They aren't Smith's, but since the only Smith's bakery I know of is located in southern CA, it's the best I could do! I made regular and chocolate, and put a smiley face on each one.



Since it takes so ridiculously long to get a package to Santo (usually about three weeks), I used a friend's food sealer and vacuum sealed the cookies. Don't know yet how that will work out, but I did keep about half a dozen here to open when they get their package. I figure Nate will lie and tell me they're fine whether they are or not, so this way I'll know!!

I'll let you know how it turns out. It will also help me decide if I want a food sealer of my own or not.

Princess Birthday Cake

I made this cake a couple weeks back for a little princess who was turning one! The cake was almost as big as the birthday girl!!

I used whipped frosting from Sam's on this cake, along with fondant add-ons. The crown is also fondant. The feathers, of course, aren't edible, but they sure make a frilly cake!!

Hope you had a happy birthday, Madelynn!!

Baby Shower Cake

Here's a pink and purple shower cake I did a few weeks back. The shower was actually on the first day of spring when we got about ten inches of snow!!

I had purchased the baby carriage ribbon a couple years back thinking I would use it someday. Well, this was the first cake where I could use some of it!

Here's a close-up of the ribbon.

This two tier cake served approximately thirty-five. It was a ten inch and six inch chocolate cake with chocolate-hazelnut filling. I used whipped frosting from Sam's.

Congratulations, Heidi! We can't wait to see little Mikayla!

First Day of Spring!

This is what the first day of spring looked like here!

Not exactly how I envisioned it, but I sure enjoyed the snow ice cream!!

I can't wait for this to melt so I can start working on my flower beds and garden.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

I posted this picture on my cake blog.

Then I just had to post it here.

It's not a great picture - probably too dark to be very good if it were made into a print.

But I love it!!

It's probably going to be one of those "grandma" pictures I'll treasure most.

We were celebrating my oldest son, Bobby's, thirtieth birthday.

Natalie, the one with the plastic cast on her hand, was born on his twenty-third birthday.

Happy Birthday, Bobby & Natalie!!

Lakers Cake

Our oldest son turned thirty last week! So, of course, we had to have a party. Since he's a BIG Lakers fan, my daughter-in-law decided to go with an appropriate cake!! But we had to make it work with a Marble Cake that was my grandmother's recipe, which is his favorite cake. Since this particular cake is made in an angel food cake pan, it kind of dictated the size of the layers, unless we wanted to put it in the middle and have enough cake to feed a hundred people!!



So the cake looks a little top heavy!! Oh, well, no one seemed to mind. This was actually my first time to use a sports ball cake pan. But I have a grandson now, so I'm sure there will be more of them in the future!




I cut the "Lakers" out of fondant. I printed it off in the size I needed, laid the paper on the rolled out fondant, then with a pencil I traced each letter, applying just enough pressure to indent the fondant. Then I removed the paper and cut out the letters with a small knife.

The girls sure had fun helping their dad and uncle blow out the candles! Especially since they were the kind that keep lighting again!!



Happy Birthday, Bobby!!

Heart Wedding Cake

Last weekend I did this wedding cake for a couple from church. It is a four tier square cake frosted with buttercream with fondant addons.

The top 6" tier was white with a dulce de leche filling. The next tier, 8", was strawberry with a basic strawberry filling. The next was 10", chocolate with a chocolate hazelnut mousse filling. And the bottom 12" tier was white again, with the same filling as the top tier.

I made the monogram out of fondant then painted it silver. It was actually a lot easier to do than I thought it would be!!



A lot of the time, if my customer thinks they might run short on cake, I'll make a sheet cake since it costs less than adding another layer to the wedding cake. This 12" x 18" sheet cake was divided into individual pieces by a shell border. Each piece had a paper heart on it. It was frosted with a whipped icing from Sam's. The shell border was buttercream.



Congratulations, Kayla and Tyler!!

Paper Dress Cupcake Toppers

Here's a cake I made for my seven year old granddaughter, Natalie.



I just made a small cake since she requested Cookie Monsters for her party instead of cake & ice cream.

I first saw these on Tomkat Studio's blog, and she found them on Composing Hallelujahs, who has a great tutorial on how to make them.

They're easy to make and really dress up cupcakes for a girlie party!!

I made enough so that every little girl could take one home with them.

Happy Birthday, Natalie!!!