Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Happy Birthday Nicholas!!

Where have the past 3 years gone to? I can't believe my little guy is 3!

This year we went with a Toy Story theme.

Here are some cookies I made

The number 3, a cowboy hat, cowboy boot and Rex himself!

This was the back up pool cake.

Nicholas' personal cake didn't quite turn out as well as I had imagined.

So thank goodness I had this one planned and ready to go.

Here is the Slinky Dog attempt.

Yes I know, I can do better but for some reason the dog just didn't want to cooperate.

The fondant cracked, the head was to big and it needed extra support.

(hence the stick under his chin)

sigh...

I tried and Nicholas didn't seem to mind, thank goodness!

Still tasted good!

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Win a Cricut Cake!!

If you haven't heard about Cricut Cake you must be living under a rock. If you are...let me know tell you about this amazing machine. Cricut was originally designed for the scrapbooking world which has EXPLODED over the last few years or so. It is designed for the average person to design beautiful, intricate pieces of paper and turn them into works of art for your most treasured memories. I never did quite get on the bandwagon with scrapbooking ordeal. I've got all the books and papers to prove it, but nothing to show for it. Anyway...I was reading on Facebook and stumbled upon a website called The Scrapbooking Queen She (Theresa) blogged about Melissa who is the creator of Creating from the Heart blog. Theresa was letting everyone know about Melissa's giveaway as well as a giveaway on her blog if you follow her steps as well!

So anyway....here's the deal.

1. Go to Theresa's Blog first

2. Follow her instructions and in the process connect with Melissa's Blog

3. Follow her instructions and keep your fingers crossed that you win!

I hope I win! :-)

Spread the word!

Summer Wedding in the Park...

My My Cake Safe Box arrived just in time for a wedding I was doing this weekend. The bride (and neighbor) was getting married just a few minutes from our house at Colonel Francis Beatty Park at their Lake Point Hall outside on a beautiful Sunday summer afternoon. I was very excited to use my box for the first time!

Here is a close up of the cake before flowers.

Then a full shot of the cake inside the box,

look at how much room there is!

Here is the cake with the flower arrangement on the side,

I left the top open so I could put the pole through

and then decorate more after I arrived on site.

This was a bit scary to put in, but i did it.

A little bit of some elbow work to make it through all the layers

and then the cardboard at the bottom, but it worked!

In the car ready to go, bring on the speed bumps!

And for those who don't know

the park has a dozen or so speed bumps

that are not car friendly that you have to go over.

So thank goodness for Cake Safe!

The final product!

My Cake Safe Box has arrived!

If you have never heard of Cake Safe, then check out them out! What an amazing product! Scott and his family have created and sell these boxes that are used for cake transport, specifically the tiered wedding kind.

Back in the fall of 2009 I had an experience with a cake flop that you can ready about here. Then in 2010 I discovered Scott and his amazing Cake Safe Boxes and I entered a contest on their webpage. Just a few weeks ago I received a call from Scott telling me that I had won!

Here are some pictures of my cake box arriving and putting it together for the first time. It arrived just in time for a small wedding cake that I was doing for this weekend.

It arrived in a flat box and not that heavy either!

A little staged...but I was so excited to open it. Had to wait till the little ones were asleep.

Instructions with pictures!

The final product (without the top) but all 4 sides put together.

It's surprisingly light, just wait till the cake is in it!

I won, I won!!

Back in the fall of 2009 I had a slight cake disaster where in transport my two tiered wedding shower cake fell causing such agony, stress, tears and frustration that I thought I would never transport a tiered cake again! Despite my tears that morning I took out my camera and snapped a picture! I'm so glad I did!

Here is the before picture.

Then the after picture....

In early 2010 I found myself doing some research online and I came across a webpage that blew my mind away. It was for a product called Cake Safe, an ingenious idea to keep your tiered cake, specifically a wedding cake, safe during transport. I was in awe!! Wow! I knew what I wanted for Christmas, just had to start saving the cake money. Then I found a contest on their webpage that they were giving away one of their boxes to the best disaster cake story, so I entered.

Just the other day I got a phone call from Scott who told me I had won! Whoo hoo!! I am thrilled!!! No more worries about dropping or stacking onsite. Prep at home, insert in the box, put it together and off I go!

Check out their webpage and if you purchase one let them know who sent you there!

Little Drummer Boy and his cake

For some dear friends of our ours we celebrated their son's birthday this past weekend at a local park with a splash pad and a choo choo train. The kids had a blast and so did the adults. The theme of the party was a musical one with the drum being his favorite instrument. I was thrilled to make this cake and I have to admit, it turned out really good! I never did get a before picture of the cake, but here is the cake with a few candles in it. The entire cake is edible with the exception of the drum sticks having a small skinny stick inside for shape. The best part was when her little boy picked up the sticks and pretended to play the "drum"! Precious!!

Happy Birthday Liam!

20 years of Dentistry

Here's a funny story, I have been making cakes and treats for a friend for the past year or so. Mostly simple treats for close friends and co-workers. One of the orders she asked was for Matthews Dental Care in which she wanted several cookies and cupcake bites as a way of saying thank you for all the work they had done for her. I made the order and then the very next day I had my six month check up. The staff could not stop talking about how good the bites and cookies were! So every time I've gone back they know that I'm the "Cake Lady". Well one of the dental hygienists called and asked for a cake for one of the dentists who was celebrating his 20 years of Dentistry. So here is the cake we came up with.

Congratulations Dr. Palermo

Lights...Camera....Cake??

For my Birthday/Christmas my husband gave me an awesome Nikon D40 Camera. I played around with it but I really wanted to take some classes on how to use my nice camera. So for our Anniversary he gave me a chance to take an Intro to Photography class at the Light Factory here in Charlotte. Emilie our instructor was awesome! I learned a lot from her and from our fellow classmates. Emilie is a photographer here in Charlotte she does amazing work and I would highly recommend her class to anyone! So as our class ended I created my first 3D camera cake! The pictures here are not mine, our instructor actually took them, but they turned out really good!

Sleepover

What a popular cake this is! This is the second time I've created this cake for a young birthday girl. Here is what the mom had to say after receiving the cake.

"Just wanted to let you know that the cake was absolutely delicious!!! We all loved it. The cake design was perfect - the kids loved it - and the taste was even better."

Thank you again!

Traci

Thanks Traci, I enjoyed making it for your little girl! I hope she had a good birthday party!

Baby Shower

Here is a cute baby shower cake that I made two of for my neighbor and a co-worker of hers.

Kaleen's Sweet Miracles

I was asked by a friend to make some treats for a charity event to fight against childhood cancer. The event was for a young girl Kalen, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, at the young age of 10. What was a simple pain in her right leg turned into cancer. You can read more about Kalen and her disease at her website Kalen's Sweet Miracles. Kalen enjoyed nothing more than making sweets for others. Chocolate dipped strawberries and red velvet cake were her signature delights. So I was asked to make strawberry shaped cookies "dipped" in chocolate and a few dozen cupcakes to help with their charity event.