Monster High

I recently had a birthday party for my beautiful 7 year old.

She wanted a Monster High theme.  So, off to create I went.

I was going to make a fondant overlay of Draculaura, but that didn't turn out quite so well.  My fondant was old, and when I tried to put in color and roll it out all the fondant did was get crumbly.

So, I ended up just doing skullette on the cake.  The cake was all buttercream.  I smoothed out my icing, and then sprayed it pink with my air brush.  After that, I traced skullete on the top.  I smoothed out skullette using a viva papertowel.

I will add more pictures as soon as I download them from the camera.

Baby Girl Turns 5

Hello Everybody!

I am excited as punch to show you Baby Girl's Birthday party. I worked hard on this party, and I had some help, too. Shaun and Mom thanks for putting up with me this weekend while I was preparing for the party.

First off, just look at that big girl, isn't she just the prettiest 5 year old you ever did see? I certainly think so.

Now onto the other lovely in the picture, the piece de resistance, the cake.

This took me a couple of days to work on. I started out by doing a batch of marshmallow fondant using this recipe over at Wilton. This was my first time at doing fondant, and I know I didn't do it exactly right. I think it needed more powdered sugar, and I probably used more shortening then it called for. It still turned out ok for my first attempt. I also made this Buttercream icing recipe from Wilton. I then made two 9-inch cakes from a box mix...Shhhhh, don't tell anyone! I put the cakes in foil and put them in the freezer overnight. I put the fondant and the buttercream in the fridger overnight.

I got the idea for the tower from one of the cake shows on Dish Network. I think it was Extreme Wedding Cakes or something like that. Sorry, I really don't remember which show it was. I do know it wasn't Cake Boss or Ace of Cakes. Anyway, on the show they made a batch of rice krispies and moded them in the form of a tower using a pvc pipe and non-stick spray. They then pushed the tower out the other end. For mine, I started to put it in a pvc pipe, and then I decide I would just form it with my hands. Just a note, put your rice krispies in the fridge for a couple of hours to let them set up a little bit. This makes them easier to form into whatever shape you are making. I formed my tower around a dowel rod so I could stand it on the cake. Another bit of information, one dowel rod alone will not hold the tower, it is really heavy and will sink into your cake and eventually fall over...wouldn't know this from experience. I recommend forming it around at least two rods if possible or even digging out a little bit of the cake where you would like it to sit. Don't really know if that would work, but it's worth a try. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know. I also formed a cone shaped roof to attach to the main tower part. Once you have your tower formed, stick it in the fridge so it will harden and set more. Now, onto the fun of decorating your cake.

The next day I took my fondant and buttercream out of the fridge and I let them come to room temperature. I then took my cakes out of the freezer. I put a little bit of buttercream on my cake stand and placed the first layer on the stand. I then put a layer of buttercream on top of the first layer. I placed the second layer of cake on top. This is where mom came into the picture. While I was working with my fondant, she iced the rest of the cake in the buttercream.

I colored my fondant pink by taking a toothpick and sticking it in the food gel, and then poking it into the fondant. I did this several times to get the pink color that I was wanting. Once, you have put the food coloring in just knead your fondant until it becomes the shade of color you want. I used Wilton food coloring. I rolled the fondant out, and then placed it onto the cake. Mine cracked on one side, and it took me several tries to roll it out and lift it up without breaking. If anyone has any pointers on this step, please let me know.

For tower, I colored it a gray color using a little bit of black food coloring. I then put a thin layer of icing on my tower. I then placed the tower on the fondant and just rolled it up...much easier to put the fondant on the tower than it was the cake. For the roof, my husband dyed the fondant a purple color, and he cut individual shingles out and placed them on the roof one at a time.

We placed both the cake and tower back in the fridge until the party day which was the next day. We didn't put the tower on the cake until about 30 minutes before the party was supposed to start.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know what you think or if you have any pointers for future cakes.

Thanks,

Baby Boy's 3rd Birthday

Baby Boy's Birthday was just before Thanksgiving. I would have posted this sooner, but I couldn't find the camera. You know how that goes.

We had a John Deere theme, and we had the party at Nana and Papa's house.

I made a simple sheet cake and covered it with royal icing. I then took at toothpick and drew and outline of a tractor on the cake. I then lined my drawing with black icing. I thinned the icing down after that and flooded the body of the tractor. It was a whole lot easier than piping stars on the cake.



I also made a three shirt. I simply took some Wonder Under, and drew a three backwards on it. I then ironed that on to my material. After that was ironed on to the material, I peeled the paper backing off and ironed it onto the shirt. Nana went around it with some thread to give it a decorative edge.



This is of baby boy blowing out the candles. I can't believe he has gotten so big.



I also made him a cape. One side is superman, and the other is batman. If you would like to make one of you own, I got the idea from the blog Serving Pink Lemonade here.





I will post better pics of the cape when the kiddos are not asleep.

Pocahontas

Here in our little Town, they had a baby pageant the other day. The theme this year was Disney. So, I decided to refashion Audrey a costume out of something that was in my stash. It used to be a long sleeve top for fall or winter and I turned it into a cute Pocahontas outfit. She didn't do so hot in the pageant, but I do think she made a rather cute Pocahontas if I do say so myself. On the bright side, we already have a Halloween costume for this year.

Sayings from the kiddos

Nothing to post as of pics of projects today, but I thought I would add some cute things the kids have done here lately. Ian will now answer questions. If you ask him what does a cow say? He says Moo with his lips all pooched out like he is going to kiss you...so cute. He will also answer what does a cat say? He says Ow instead of Meow, but I know what he is trying to say. When he wants something, and you say what do you say he will say what sounds like cheese which is really please.

Audrey has her own little saying, too. If she ask you for raccoons you better be turning on the tv for some cartoons. And if she says she is playing with a holy poly she is probably playing with a roly poly.

That's about all the fun sayings with the kiddos that I have for the moment. Stayed tuned for more.

bluebonnet pics

Just wanted to add a few pics of my cuties in the bluebonnets. I really wanted a family pic and one of the cuties together, but the weather wasn't cooperating and Ian didn't really like the bluebonnets.

Birthday Girl

My daughter, Audrey just turned 3 last Friday, I am a little late in posting it. I can't believe how time has flown by. One minute she was a little baby and the next she is a sassy little 3 yr old. I can't wait to see what she becomes. Happy Birthday Audrey!

Potty Training & Walking

First off Adventures in Potty Training. Audrey is learning to use the Potty, and doing quite well most of the time. I send her to daycare in panties, and almost everyday she comes home in the same outfit. So, I thought it might be time to venture further in the panties. We went to Church Sunday in big girl panties. I even took her to the potty before class. When I went into get her from class, she was doing that bow-legged walk that kids do when they have messed their panties...and believe me it was a mess. She had poo-pooed in her panties. Luckily I had brought a pullup, but I had to do the old tag and bag with her panties and pants until we got home where I could put them in the washing machine. Fun Fun!



Second off Adventures in Walking. Ian my son is already walking. I think he wants to be into whatever Audrey is into. Then again, I think that Audrey wants to be into everything he is into because he gets into everything that Audrey never did. On any given day you can go into my kitchen and find spoons and pans from the cabinets where Ian has rumaged to find treasure. We are constantly having to go behind him and watch to make sure he doesn't put anything tasty in his mouth...i e, leafs, chalk, tv wires, you name it, I am sure he has tried to put it in his mouth at least once. So, with him walking now, we have to watch him even closer. Just wait until he really gets those legs to working.