My Little Pony Cakes

This weekend, we celebrated the birthdays of both of my nieces, Nevaeh who turned 4 and Amara who turned 1.

Amara of course is much too young to pick a theme or design (or really care), so Nevaeh's wish was a My
Little Pony theme. Purple and pink were her requests. I was on it.

Since I only have one child- who happens to be a rough and rowdy 100% boy- I get overly excited when shopping for the girls. Frilly things, glitter, dolls with big eyes, and pastels instead of primary. So naturally, I wanted this cake to be as girly and pretty as possible.

I decided on a 2-tier cake for Vaeh with the bottom tier being a chocolate fudge cake with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting, and the top being half strawberry and half funfetti (again, I wanted girliness galore) with a homemade whipped cream frosting. I used a little cream cheese so it would set and be sturdy enough to hold the fondant. I made a mini cake for Amara, in the same flavors as Vaeh's top tier.

I hope you enjoy it as much as my adorable nieces did! (We took the pictures after arriving at the park so I apologize for the background being busy).

Gio's Birthday Invites (Nightmare Before Christmas)

Giovanni is turning 4 next month :)

And this made me jump a little! Jeez, I need to get going on his party supplies!
This year, he decided on the theme "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Remembering how the film made a HUGE comeback during my high school years (Hot Topic was basically a Tim Burton tribute store), I figured, "No problem!" Well... it's been almost 10 years since high school, and apparently TNBC isn't as popular as it once was.

Not that I have a shortage of online stores to find merchandise.. everything from beanies to keychains to bobbleheads. And even the same shoelaces I wore during my freshman year of high school.

BUT NO PARTY SUPPLIES. The only ones I can find have been on eBay, going for ridiculous prices. Really? I don't think I want to pay more than $50 on cake plates that will be smeared with frosting and tossed in the trash. No thanks.

Instead, I have slowly but surely been accumulating pieces for his party. I decided to stick with a black and white (and somewhat purple) striped theme, using the characters as accents for the party. The showpiece will be the cake.

My first purchases were from The TomKat Studio. I went with the black and white striped theme, purchasing the cups, party favor bags, plates, straws, and baking cups for the kids invited. These will not serve as cupcake wrappers but as cups for little hands to store crackers, pretzels, and popcorn. I purchased plain black and white napkins, balloons, and streamers as well as extra plates and napkins. I decided on purple tablecloths and extra balloons for a little color, albeit a very Tim Burton "color."

I handmade Gio's invitations, because I couldn't really find anything I liked online. I wanted to do something kind of grandiose as this theme is somewhat gothic. I chose to do a tri-fold invitation. I first used a textured black paper found at Michael's, cutting them in half "hamburger" style. then I measured and folded them over twice so as to create flaps. I then used a black and white striped scrapbooking paper I found at Joann's. I measured out the middle space of the invites, and used double-sided tape (one of my FAVORITE inventions, along with hot glue) to secure the paper onto the invite. I then printed an image I found and modified in Photoshop of Jack Skellington. I liked how his pose is very inviting! I again measured it out, and secured it on top of the black and white paper. My last step was downloading The Nightmare Before Christmas font. I used this to type up the details of the party and printed it on vellum purchased at Joann's. After cutting those, I used the same double-sided tape to secure it to the picture of Jack. I folded over the flaps and used a black, glittery adhesive shape (I went with round but they have all kinds of shapes) purchased at Michael's to close the invite.

I am posting a picture of the finished invitations. Check back often as I will be posting other TNBC supplies I am handcrafting for the party!

Stepping Stone- Mother's Day Gift

 I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day :)

This year, I didn't have the resources to hand make something for every mother in my family. So instead, I purchased a lemon tree for my mom (something she's always talking about and has always wanted). I did decide to make a little something for my husband's grandmother, the matriarch of his family.

We went to Michael's and purchased one of those "make your own stepping stone" type box deals. It came with letters and numbers to press into the cement once it was drying, and some random brightly colored mosaic pieces of glass. I didn't care for the mosaic that came with the package, so I purchased 2 bags of the square glass tiles that Michael's carries separately (in the same section.. pretty much just look for a "mosaic" section).

We decided to do a hand print of our son Gio into the middle, with mosaic glass tiles around the edges. Gio, being very much opinionated at this age, took it upon himself to choose a footprint instead. This is, after all, a "stepping" stone. Smart kid.

We decided to make the stepping stone with Kevin's grandma, to make it a sort of group effort. She likes crafty things as well, so it was fun. After carefully following the directions, we mixed the concrete, poured it into the provided mold, and let it sit for 30 minutes before pressing the tiles around the edges and Gio's foot into the middle. There was a lot of water on the surface, even after letting it set, and after blotting it with paper towels (multiple times.. over multiple hours). We assume the weather affected the cement and would have had better, faster results if we had used less water. Oh well, we let it dry almost overnight before pressing the numbers and letters, and the tiles and footprint held up just fine.

The cement at the bottom started to separate from the tiles, due to moving it and checking on it many times. If it had dried quicker, we wouldn't have had to keep moving the dang thing around! But alas. Once it was dry enough the next day, I used a brass brush to clean the tiles. Brass bristles will not scratch glass, so this was a good option. It also seemed to smooth out the actual top of the cement, which created a nice clean looking surface.

We left before it had sit for 48 hours and we could remove it from the mold. I did, however get a good picture of the finished product. I may update once it is removed and placed in gravel in the yard. This was a fun project to do because everyone could get involved, including Gio (he even helped press the tiles in).

Summer Backyard Lanterns (Recycled Materials)

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a "conservative hoarder." I have not crossed over into the territories of the hit television show, but if I think I can use something again- I'm saving it.

Hence, my giant box full of old scrap clothing and materials. I have found everything from my 5th grade graduation skirt to an entire hoodie jacket made of mesh (oh, glorious goth days of yore!)

Well, it was time to really put these puppies to use. I was sick of having idea after idea, yet no actual finished product to prove to my husband that he is putting up with boxes of old crap for all these years for a reason :)

I stumbled across a picture of a string of "lanterns", made entirely of clear plastic cups and recycled fabric. Finally, I found my inspiration! (Well, finally I had the time to follow through on something!) All I needed were the plastic cups, everything else I had. After hitting the 99 Cent store, I was ready to go.

I started by cutting a plastic cup down one side and removing the bottom. This allowed me to flatten out the sides of the cup and trace it along a piece of regular white printer paper. I had my template. I then placed the template on each piece of fabric I chose to use for the lanterns. I tried to find "bohemian" styled clothing I had collected through the years. This reminds me of summer, and I wanted to go with an outdoor lantern string as opposed to an indoor lantern string as was my original inspiration.

After cutting enough pieces to cover each plastic cup, I then placed hot glue along one side of each cup. This part you must be careful with, because if you get the tip of the glue gun too close to the cup it will melt the plastic. Also, the hot glue makes the plastic hot on the inside too, and pressing the fabric over it can make the fabric hot. In general, be careful not to burn yourself and do not let small children help with this part.

Easy as pie! Now, I realized you just cut an "X" on the bottom of each cup to push a light through after I had already cut off all of the bottoms. Oops. I then had to hot glue the string of lights to each individual lantern (with the much appreciated help of Holly). Learn from my mistake. Do NOT cut off the bottoms of the cups!! A simple cut across each way would have saved us almost 2 hours.

Et, voila! My lanterns, successfully hanging across Holly's back patio space. There will be more outdoor summer patio crafts to come. This was my kick-start. The pictures don't do justice to how cool these really look in person, but you get the picture. The first photo is the original inspiration, the last is my finished product.

Carter's 1st Birthday Cake!

Saturday we celebrated my nephew Carter's first birthday party :D

I asked if I could make the cake. Being a perfectionist, I instantly became nervous that I would not make it to my own or anyone else's standards. But I was excited to take on my first fully decorated 3 tier cake. Carter's theme was "Monkey Boy," and instead of overdoing the monkeys on the cake I went with a simple idea: incorporate banana flavoring.

I started by baking the cakes and home-making the frosting on Wednesday. The bottom tier was a vanilla cake with a banana frosting in the middle. The banana frosting was delicious, but almost more of an icing consistency so I decided to add a thicker chocolate frosting into the banana for the sides and top, to make a sturdier "wall" for the fondant. This was a good idea, and the chocolate banana was so yummy! The top tier and personal cake for Carter (the mini) were both chocolate cake with a rich chocolate frosting.

On Thursday, once the cakes and frosting had chilled overnight in the fridge, I covered them with fondant. I used the Wilton pre-rolled 5lb box of pure white fondant which was enough for all 3 tiers and plenty left over for decoration. I also used the Wilton fondant gel coloring, which saves a lot of money compared to buying already colored fondant.

Friday morning we did detail work. My hubby and I cut out circles using metal icing tips. We used shaped scissors for the border work (not my favorite tool- I wouldn't suggest it because it leaves marks where ever you stop cutting, and made it hard to keep a consistent width throughout the entire border. Go with a tool specifically for fondant!) I used alphabet shaped cookie cutters to cut out CARTER for the front of the cake. Luckily, the detail work was pretty simple so I didn't feel overwhelmed. My only wish was that I had used wooden dowels to hold up the top tier. It started to cave a tad bit (not overly noticeable, but again, I'm a perfectionist) and pulled the fondant.

And, finally, the finished cake. We packed this sucker in ice and it made it from Sacramento to Clearlake, then Clearlake to Santa Rosa. So apparently, it was sturdy. Everyone enjoyed the cake and I received a lot of compliments... now I feel ready to take on another!

Vegan Lasagna (For Whitney) :)

So, I have been quite negligent with my blog but have things to share! And many more coming up these next few months...

I am starting with a vegan lasagna I made two weeks ago. For one whole week, I did a vegan diet. No dairy, eggs, honey, etc. I actually read labels for things like "whey." This challenge was harder than it seemed at first, then easier than it seemed after a day or two. My biggest vice is cheese. I can snack on it all day and incorporate it into every meal. Halfway through my vegan week, I started craving (of course) LASAGNA!

Now.. how does one go about making a vegan lasagna, you ask? Easy.

I started off with my ingredients, all purchased at Sprouts:
One package pre-cooked lasagna noodles (I chose rice lasagna noodles because I like their texture)
One jar tomato sauce (sauce can be homemade also, but since this was my first go-round I decided to stick to jarred in case I hated it. Plus, it was my first shopping experience at Sprouts so I tried their own brand of sauce)
One 15 oz package of soft tofu (some recipes use firm, but I've read this makes it dry. Yuck.)
One package Daiya "shredded mozzarella" cheese substitute
One bag of fresh spinach
Italian seasonings, salt, pepper

I purchased the pre-cooked lasagna noodles that do not need to be boiled ahead of time. This saves a lot of time! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, or what the noodles say on the package. I used a glass casserole dish for the lasagna. In a medium bowl, I squished all of the tofu into a ricotta like texture. I seasoned it well with salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings. It will taste somewhat plain on it's own, but it takes on the flavor of the tomato sauce and maintains its creamy, ricotta like texture. I first layered sauce on the bottom, as you want all of the noodles to be covered in sauce (otherwise they will not cook and soften properly). Next, I put down a layer of noodles. I then alternated layers of sauce, tofu mixture, spinach, and shredded cheese substitute between every layer of noodles like a normal lasagna. I topped everything with a generous amount of sauce and a layer of the cheese substitute. Bake for about 30 minutes or until done.

I must say, this lasagna was pretty good! I doubted the tofu would even come close to ricotta but with the sauce it wasn't plain or dry at all. I would definitely make this again, but add more flavors like fresh mushrooms, rosemary, basil, sliced tomato, and more GARLIC! This is a perfect "Meatless Monday" meal and you can add as many veggies as you like. The Daiya "cheese" was a bit of an acquired taste, but not bad. Just don't eat it on its own ;)

I forgot to take a picture of this one, but it looked very similar to a "real" lasagna.

(Now, Whitney, you HAVE TO make this and tell me what you think!! Add the ingredients I suggested like mushrooms or sliced tomato.)

Damn you, popsicle cake!!

From last Tuesday till yesterday night, I had been working on a cake.

Not just any cake, but a popsicle shaped caked that I found in the book "Planet Cake." Being overly ambitious and somewhat arrogant, I decided to skip the "easier" cakes of circles and squares and go straight to the "advanced" shaped cakes. This was my first mistake of many.

Although I have worked with fondant before, and at times with more odd cakes, I had never attempted a shaped cake. Shaped meaning it is not just smooth or flat edges. Shaped meaning ADVANCED. But again, my mind is a dreamer so I felt this would be no problem.

I am posting a series of step-by-step pictures of my popsicle cake, along with what it was supposed to look like. I enlisted the help of my excited toddler and impatient husband. My second mistake.

I did not follow the directions in the book (again, arrogance). I did not do ANYTHING right! Did I mention I had a toddler and impatient husband as my "assistants?" By the end of my week long process to bake 2 cakes, make and set ganache, shape the cake, ganache the cake, color the fondant, roll the fondant, cover the cake, and attempt to add the last detail of the second layer of fondant (the dripping chocolate coating, which I didn't have enough brown coloring for), I was just done with the stupid thing. I realized it was far too advanced, no matter how "easy it looked."

If I had proper tools and had more time to sit down and smooth out the ganache, and work with the fondant a little more, I would've been much happier with the results. But being a perfectionist and detail-oriented, I just wasn't having this lumpy cake. It definitely isn't smooth and crisp like the book's!

CURSES!

The tiny popsicle stick was added for comedic effect :)

who is gina?

i know the only people reading this probably already know me, so let's skip the introductions. at 23 years old, i am finally writing a blog. i have made them... deleted them, made them... deleted them for years now. i find myself having a lot of time on my hands, and thus feel it necessary to do something with it. create, inspire, anything. i will also be pulling out old things and re-introducing them here (old diaries, anyone?) i hope you all enjoy and get a kick out of my postings. my "welcome" description pretty much sums up the oddities of my blog, so let's not waste time now. after all, we only have so much.