Lights... Camera... Party Favors! - July 2015

I made these sandwich cookie movie reels and chocolate star pops to put in the goodie bags at my daughter Cara's Hollywood Movies 16th Birthday Party.  (Click here to see the cake.)

More pictures and details to come... 😊

(I created my animated name at this site.)

Let's Go to the Movies... - July 2015

I made this movie themed cake for my daughter Cara's 16th birthday.

More pictures and details to come... 😊

(I created my animated name at this site.)

All You Need is Faith and Trust... and a Little Bit of Birthday Cake! - November 2013

This is the Peter Pan themed cake I made for my daughter Carissa's 9th birthday.

To make this cake I baked 2 six inch cakes, 2 eight inch cakes, and 2 nine inch cakes.  I leveled them, stacked them (using bubble straws and cake boards in between for supports), and iced them.

I measured the circumference and height of each layer.  Then, I rolled out and cut to size three pieces of white fondant.  After that I wrapped the corresponding fondant around each layer of cake.

I used my airbrush food coloring drops, paint brushes (only used for cakes), and toothpicks to paint the scenes on the fondant.  I had printed out different scenes that my daughter picked out from the Peter Pan movie, and I used those to reference to as I painted.

After I was finished painting I sprinkled some gold shimmer dust on the tops of the cakes where the icing was showing to resemble pixie dust.

If I had more time I would've had more pictures on it and some of the pictures (like the mermaids) would have come out better.  Why do you ask did I not have time...?  Well, this was not the first cake I made for her birthday party.  The first cake was going to be the Big Ben clock tower with the characters on the clock hand, but that cake met an unfortunate demise. :(  So, the cake above was a starting over from scratch Plan B that began late the night before the party and finished right up until her party started.  :O

I was pleased with the way the cake turned out though, and my daughter was really happy with it.

[I may update the post with a little more details on the first cake and a few pictures, but for now it'll have to wait.  :) ]

(I created my animated name at this site.)

The Black Pearl Pirate Ship Cake - July 2013

I made this pirate ship cake of The Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean for my daughter Cara for her 14th birthday.

For this cake I used two 9" x 13" cakes.  I stacked one on the other and carved the basic body of the ship.  I used pieces that I cut off to build up other parts of the ship.  I crumb coated the body of the ship and then iced it with chocolate icing.

I put all the railings, stairs, cannon doors, and the figurehead, which were all made from white fondant, on the cake next.  I used a paring knife to make the lines in the icing to look like the wooden planks of the ship.  The vertical masts are wooden dowels cut to size, and for the diagonal mast above the figure head I used a long white lollipop stick.

I airbrushed the cake and everything on it at this point with black food coloring.  Then I placed the cannons, cannon balls, and steering wheel on the cake.  These were made from black fondant.

I used some thin wire and fondant to attach some white lollipop sticks to the wooden masts.  I made the sails from black fondant that I rolled very thin.  I tore and stretched the fondant sails to make them look ragged and old.  I draped the fondant sails on the masts and pulled some pieces off them to put some finishing ragged touches on them.  I airbrushed (or painted, I can't remember) the exposed parts of the lollipop sticks that the sails were draped on.

The pirate flag was made from black fondant.  I painted the skull and swords on it with white food coloring; then I attached it to the mast.

Although I didn't get everything on the cake that I would've liked (ropes, windows, lamps, etc.) I was really happy with the way the cake turned out.  Cara loved it, yay!  :)

(I created my animated name at this site.)

Star Wars Themed Teacher Appreciation Cupcakes - May 2012

I made these Star Wars themed cupcakes for my son, Caleb's, 4th grade switch teacher.  She had decorated her room with a Star Wars theme that year (much to the joy of my kiddos) and I'd heard her mention that R2D2 was one of her favorite characters.  So, I thought that R2, C3PO, and some lightsabers would be a nice set of cupcakes for her.

Oooo... shiny!  :)

These cupcakes are from the same batch as the other teacher's cupcakes we made (see the post Teacher Appreciation Tulip Cupcakes); just chocolate cupcakes baked, cooled completely, and iced with a big swirl of buttercream piped on with a large open star tip.

To make the lightsabers I tinted fondant red, blue, and gray.  I rolled the red and blue into long snakes the size I wanted the lightsaber blade to be.  I tapered one end of the snake for the end of the lightsaber.  Then I rolled the gray fondant into a small snake the same width as the red and blue blades.  I used water to attach the gray hilts to the red and blue blades.  I set them aside to dry for awhile.  Later I used a black food coloring marker to make the black markings on the hilts.  I inserted the ends of the lightsabers into the icing making them cross at the blades.  I put a little water on the spot where they crossed to help them stay together.  If I was doing it again I would've inserted part of a toothpick into the end of the hilt to stick into the cupcake.  This would've helped them to stay in the position I wanted without falling down.  I guess if I wasn't traveling with them it may not be as necessary.

To make R2-D2 and C3PO I rolled out some white fondant fairly thin.  I let it dry just a bit so the food marker would move smoothly on it.  I used a black food marker to draw R2-D2 and C3PO.  For C3PO I then used some of my gold airbrush food coloring to fill in the lines, and then I did the same with silver for the silver leg.  For the wires in his torso I used food markers to draw them in.  Most of R2 I just left white, but I did use the silver airbrush food coloring and a blue food marker to fill in the necessary places.  As I said with the lightsabers, if I was doing this again, I would definitely use something to make these figures a little sturdier on the cupcakes.  I would secure a wooden skewer or a lollipop stick to the back of the pieces so that I could insert the stick into the cupcake instead of just the fondant.  Traveling with the fondant pieces just stuck into the cupcakes was a little stressful.  :)  C3PO's leg actually broke a bit, but it was low enough that you couldn't tell.

I really liked the look of these cupcakes.  Caleb's teacher absolutely loved them!  Yay!  :)

(I created my animated name at this site.)

Utini!... a Jawa Cake - November 2011

I made this Jawa cake for my daughter, Carissa, for her 7th birthday.

More details and pictures to come... :)

[Right now I'm just trying to get everything on the blog, then I'll go back and fill in details; you can read a little longer explanation here if you want. BUT if you have any questions in the meantime, in general or about this cake, please feel free to email me by clicking on the 'Contact Me' tab at the top of the page and using the email address found there, and I will try to get back with you as soon as possible. Or you can always ask questions or leave a comment about this cake by clicking the comments link at the end of this post.  :)]

(I created my animated name at this site.)

Jawa Cupcakes - November 2011

I made these Jawa cupcakes for my daughter, Carissa, to share with her 1st grade class at school to celebrate her birthday.

The majority of these Jawa cupcakes were made using regular round cupcakes, but I did make one with a square cupcake (the first picture below) and one with a heart cupcake (the second picture below).

More details to come... :)

[Right now I'm just trying to get everything on the blog, then I'll go back and fill in details; you can read a little longer explanation here if you want. BUT if you have any questions in the meantime, in general or about these cupcakes, please feel free to email me by clicking on the 'Contact Me' tab at the top of the page and using the email address found there, and I will try to get back with you as soon as possible. Or you can always ask questions or leave a comment about these cupcakes by clicking the comments link at the end of this post.  :)]

(I created my animated name at this site.)