Under the Sea

The design for this cake is so cool that I wish I could take credit for it. But my client actually found a picture of it and asked if I could do it. 

I really like cakes with lots of little details going all around... Especially ones that create a scene (like this one and Katie's Winnie the Pooh cake). 

I added the rock with the number to the design, but it's not attached. Candles could go there easily too. 

I hope the water-loving birthday girl enjoys her cake!

Nine to Two

A peek into a Real Life Wednesday morning at our house. 

Anthony's Quiet Book

Lately, all three kids have been playing a lot with Katie's quiet book (which miraculously still has all its pieces), so I knew I needed to finally finish Anthony's. It was going to be his Christmas gift... Or birthday gift... But I got delayed, so it became a random Sunday in April gift because I finally sat down with my sewing machine last night and put it all together. I am not very good at sewing with a machine; only the page edges and cover are machine-sewn (and not anywhere close to perfect). All the details are hand-sewn, which is what I prefer anyway. I wish I was better with the machine, but I'm too lazy to seek perfection in that area. Measuring and pinning take too much time. So I've been piecing each page together since last fall, sewing after bed time on the couch, between cakes and other crafts, of course. And I like what I made. More importantly, he likes it too. 

You want to see it too?

The cover. The picture doesn't show the right shade of blue; it's a smidge darker and less gray. I closed it with a big button and a loop of elastic. 

Road sign page: signs, shapes, colors,  attached with velcro. 

City page: 2 toy cars can park in the "garage" and drive all over town. 

Car page: lift the hood, spin the wheels, pull out your tool box to work on the car. 

Gotta have tools too!

Fire station. 

Ladder turns and expands, dalmatian comes out of the truck, and the "hose" can be pulled back and forth. 

Dress the firefighter in his gear. 

Construction site: digger lifts the dirt. 

Look what's in the dirt! And the dump truck can dump the load. 

Number train. 

Lift the flaps and count. 

I had so much fun finding all the different buttons. 

Farm page. 

Cows in the barn come out to graze. Bird peeks out too. 

Harvest your veggies!

Ocean page. 

The boat is a puzzle!

Fisherman Anthony catches some colorful fish and puts them in his bucket. 

Airport page. Lots going on. 

Helicopter flies to the sky. The luggage carrier takes luggage to the plane. The plane's cargo bay holds the luggage. Ready to fly!

Last page: space. 

Unzip with the rocket to see its fiery blast-off. 

And the cutest astronaut does his space walk (printable iron-on transfer paper is so cool!). 

I am so happy to have finished this labor of love for my sweet boy. 

Ellie's Frozen Birthday Cake

Ellie chose Frozen for her 7th birthday party theme, so I planned a 2-sided cake with the north mountain (and Anna climbing it) on one side and Elsa's icy palace on the other, complete with fondant characters and lots of sparkle. 

Then we saw "Frozen Fever," and all of that changed. She wanted the cake in that movie, and I thought it was actually a really great idea! I customized the cake to fit our needs and my abilities, and this is what I came up with. 

Close-up of the princesses. 

Hungry Olaf. 

View from above. I was really nervous about driving it to the party (first party we actually held outside of our home!).

But here it is! It survived the car ride!

The fondant princesses watched as the kids danced and played games and had an awesome time before cake time. 

After singing and cutting and eating, this was left.

The girls ate Anna and Elsa. 

Anthony got to bite on Olaf.

And the party was awesome! My birthday girl had a great time with her friends, and the venue was excellent. I highly recommend The Purple Box Theater for an unforgettable birthday party.