Rosie's Birthday Party

Natalie's 9th birthday was approaching. I love making my children's birthday cakes. I asked her what she wanted this year and she very decidedly gave me a list of requirements for her cake this year: "Mom, it has to have purple, it has to have roller skates, and I really want that colorful paper stuff that people throw at Mardi Gras."
Hmmmmm confetti, roller skates, and purple? Okay. No problem I got this. ;)

I made her guests some roller skate cookie favors and colored some rice paper with colored edible markers to make her some confetti. I topped the cake with a giant decorated sugar cookie. Nat had such a great time at her roller skate party!

When the party was nearing an end, we gathered around Nat and sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Then the funniest thing happened. She blew out her candle and confetti flew everywhere! We all laughed. What a great day. I love this kid.

German Chocolate Cake

Ed Hardy Birthday Cookies

"Artsy" Birthday Cookies

"Artsy" Birthday Cookies & Cake

A dear friend of mine was having a special birthday and a mutual friend decided to throw her a party. I was thrilled to be able to volunteer my services and create some fun cookies and a cake.
The birthday girl has a beautiful soul: she is a tender friend, caring and compassionate. She is also very artsy and creative so I was feeling a  lot of pressure to create something gorgeous for her! My salvation came in the form of the Evite that was chosen for the party. When I saw this baby I knew exactly what her cookies would look like. The design fit my friend to a 'T'.

Evite for the party ~ Inspiration

I sketched a sample and got started!

I love how this batch turned out. I feel like they fit Denise perfectly: classy, pretty, artsy, fun. The cookie design turned out very busy so I wanted to keep the cake simple. I made a three layer Devil's Food cake with almond meringue buttercream. I added a gum paste fantasy flower to the top and a shimmery bead border to the bottom.

Happy Birthday, Denise and thanks for being such a great friend. You inspire me in so many ways! xo
~S

Shabby Chic

February 2013
Birthday Cookies

A friend of a friend recently contacted me to create some special cookies for her sister's birthday. She had previously seen this design on the website and wanted the same ones. It is rare that I get to recreate designs, not to mention one that is completely my own so I was thrilled to get to make these again. I think they turned out beautifully. I hope I get to make them again.

Fifties

January 2013
Fifties

My friend was planning a surprise for her sister's 50th wedding anniversary. I have met this wonderful couple a few times before and can attest to their awesomeness so I really wanted to do a good job! She wanted some cookies that were blue and purple using the fifties theme along with a cutting cake for the couple.

Here's the cutting cake. The records on top are a 50/50 gumpaste fondant combo piped with royal icing. The curls are made with fondant and the cake is vanilla buttercream.

Vanilla sugar cookies

Polka Dot Birthday

December 2012
Polka Dot Birthday

A friend of mine requested this cake for her daughter's birthday. Her birthday was earlier in the month, but got cancelled due to illness so this celebration was a bit last minute. Her daughter texted me a picture of a cake she had designed herself with the major element being a pair of candy canes shaped like a heart on the top of the cake. I tried my best to replicate it and I was so happy when she answered the door in a pink and purple polka-dot blouse! Happy Birthday!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

November 2012
The Very Hungry Caterpillar

My nephew turned ONE! I love my little nephews so much so I was excited when my Sister-in-Love asked me to make some desserts for his birthday party. She is a party planner extraordinaire so I knew it was going to be awesome! After brainstorming several themes she came up with The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Here are the results!

The cake

Smash cake and matching cookies

I told you she was good!

Best part!

Siblings

November 2012
Siblings

Siblings share almost everything. These two share a birthday month! Their mom wanted to have a cake for an intimate family get-together. The challenge? She wanted it to incorporate each of their interests. With a cowgirl girly-girl and a sports-loving boy that proved to be a small challenge. So we decided to divide the cake in half and give it two personalities. I think it turned out cute and hopefully they felt very special.

Sesame Street

Here are some fun cookies I made up for a little guy's birthday party. I have seen SS cutters everywhere but never really had cause to buy them so when I had this request I scoured the town. Of course they were nowhere to be found, but I was happy I was able to piece some things together to make these cute characters. Super cute! Dorothy was my favorite.

Personalized Macarons

Personalized Macs

 

Made up some of these personal macs for a sweet girl's birthday. Hope it was great Angelina!

Chevron Cake

October 2012

I had to make a final cake for my fondant/gumpaste class. The only requirement was that it had to be covered in fondant and have some sort of gumpaste or fondant decoration. I decided I wanted to use the colors red and turquoise because I just got a new bottle of Americolor turquoise and I am in love with it. I also wanted to use some gumpaste carnations on top because I like how they are so puffy like little pom poms. I wanted to do something a little challenging because this cake was just for me, not a customer, so there was no pressure. I settled on a zig-zag pattern that I have never tried before. I have been wanting to make some chevron cookies for a little while now, so this was the perfect opportunity to try something new.
There are two ways (that I know of) to apply the pattern to the cake. First is to cut the zig-zag pattern in one, long continuous pattern and apply all the way around. The second is to cut it into sections and apply to the sides. I opted for the second because it seemed more challenging to me. And I was right. It was challenging. It involved a little more math than I originally anticipated. However, once all the measuring and figuring was finished, and the cutting complete, I had these nice, satisfying, colorful  little fondant squares all ready to accompany me to class and jump onto my cake!

 It turns out it was a little more time consuming than I anticipated as well so I ran an HOUR late applying these to the sides and ended up taking my cake home with no border! Not to worry though, I completed the project at home and had a beautiful cake to show for my hard work.

Close up of the gumpaste carnations. They have such delicate ruffles. I hope I get to make these again soon.

The finished cake. Yuck, look at that awful cake board! No, don't look at it, look at those beautiful colors! ;)

Close up of the pieced design. Even after all of my math, the ends did not match up perfectly so this cake had a definite "back." Of course, there is no picture of THAT! ;)

My robotics students LOVE meeting up the day after my cake classes. They devoured this cake in minutes! 

I had so much fun making this cake and learned a lot from the experience. I hope I can use this design again soon!

Barbie Birthday

October 2012
5th Birthday

 Facebook has been a great tool for this little newbie baker! This project is a perfect example. After making some cookies for a friend's event, she posted a picture of them on Facebook. One of her friends contacted me about making some cookies for a birthday party the next weekend. I agreed and we quickly worked out the details. She was going to have a Barbie Fashion Show birthday for her 5-year-old daughter using a vintage Barbie theme. I was so excited when I saw the invites because there was a Barbie silhouette on the back and I have been itching to try some silhouettes for a little bit now. Here are some pics of the results:

Happy Birthday, Cara! I hope your day was filled with friends, laughs, and good memories!
~S

Zebra Cake

October 2012
Sweet Sixteen

This past weekend my good friend's daughter had her sweet sixteen party and I offered to make a cake for the big event. She was planning a black and white zebra theme with Tiffany Blue accents. I was very excited (and quite nervous) about this project. I was happy to try something new, but anxious because it was going to be a big event and a very important one at that! Well, in the end, I was satisfied with the results and I enjoyed the process so much! I made a two-tier vanilla and chocolate zebra design (inside and out) with chocolate buttercream filling. I added a large fondant bow to the top. I wish I actually could have been there to celebrate, but I had another commitment that day. I hope your birthday was very special, Kelsie!

 Here is the finished product:

I love the colors she chose. I seem to be using this teal color quite a bit lately. It is so popular.

I just love this picture. It says it all. I hope your day was fantastic, Kelsie. You really deserve to be celebrated!

Pink Brush Embroidery

September 2012
I whipped up these pinkies for my MIL's kickoff Bible Study. I hope her ladies felt welcomed and loved. I love how the pink and white contrast.

Cake #3! Happy Birthday FIL

September 2012
It was my FIL's birthday and he wasn't really interested in acknowledging it, but the women in his life wouldn't allow that! So my MIL gave him a little family soiree and I got to bake the cake! I made a few cupcakes to go along with for those non-cake eaters. (Poor souls) It was a Hawaiian theme which gave me a chance to try out some gumpaste. I made some hibiscus and plumeria but finally decided on the lacy petals of the hibiscus in the end. Be kind, it was my first attempt. ;) The inside was a vanilla cake with lemon cream filling which was perfect and refreshing for the hot weather we were experiencing that week here in SoCal.

Painting my hibiscus

Hibiscus flower drying

Decisions, decisions. Hibiscus or plumeria?

Matching cupcakes with fondant toppers. These are vanilla cake with lemon cream filling as well.

Top view: two large flowers and one small

The final product

 Here's to another year on the third rock from the sun, Dad! I hope you had a fun night.

Cake #2!...Chocolate Peanut Butter

October 2012
Well, here is cake #2. I told you I was hooked! This was my final cake for my RI flowers class. It looks pretty bridal but I really love white on white. The best part was the chocolate cake and peanut butter buttercream filling inside. On the way home from class I stopped at my friend's house (10PM...her husband wasn't thrilled) and we cut this bad boy up! YUMMO!

RI flowers pre-dragee

Looking back, I guess it could have used some leaves or filler, but I like how simple it is too.

Shabby Chic

October 2012
A friend was giving her mom a birthday luncheon and wanted some feminine cookies to serve. She wanted pink, lavender, and cream. She always gives a lot of leeway when she orders so my creative juices were already flowing. Fresh out of a RI flowers class, I knew I wanted to pipe some stuff on these babies! Here are the results:

Iphone doesn't like purple; it always turns this Wilton delphinium blue!

A look at the platter

This Americolor "Ivory" is my new favorite color. Last time I mixed a cream color and it was very "Easter." This color is the perfect compliment.

Oh my gosh how I LOVE to make flowers.

I hope the party was a success! I saw the craft project they are going to make and I can't wait to see the results!

Monkeying Around

August 2012
Monkey Cookies

This past weekend was a very special weekend for me. I drove up to Northern California to visit my BFF and her family, which happens to include my incredibly cute and sweet goddaughter, Iris. It wasn't just any visit, we planned a special baby shower for Iris' baby sister Violet, expected in October.
One of our favorite nicknames for these baby girls is "cheeky monkey." Iris loves to be called by that nickname so of course, the theme of Violet's shower was to be monkeys too. The day was a huge success and I think everyone had a lot of fun visiting. Here are some of the treats that I baked up for this special day:

Hearts and monkeys for the baby shower. Of course the monkeys were wearing small violets in honor of baby Violet.

Packaged and ready to go