I. WANT. THIS. NOW

Seriously?  Cricut is coming out with a machine that can cut fondant!  Genious! 
I could have some serious fun with this thing! 

Add this to my eternal list of things I want right now.

Two little birdies

Check out the momma bird and two little chickies!

Okay--first a little background. A friend from my ward was adopting a baby boy and soon after she found out she was pregnant with a baby girl! Isn't that always the way it happens? So, she was practically going to have twins--they will be just a few months apart. So, what better shower theme to go with than a little bird shower! This one was actually planned by me and another girl, so not only did we have the whole shower to plan and set up, but we were doing a cake and tons of cupcakes too! It was busy but it all turned out beautifully. There are a few things I would have changed, of course, but overall I was pleased with the result.

The cupcakes were absolutely adorable too.

Nothing fancy

Just whipped up some basic butter cream frosting for these babies, colored in purple for Sofia and blue for Zach and piped spirals on em and then threw some sprinkles on them. Done in 15 minutes! Easy, cute and very inexpensive.

Of all people, you'd think I'd would have done something more exciting for my own son's birthday party. Well, I had it all planned out but then realized there just wasn't enough time and I was too exhausted. I had just gotten home the night before his party from a 10 day trip to visit my parents in Colorado. Coming right home and making a cake all day did not sound pleasant. So, next year I'll do what I had in mind for him. Next year I am certain he'd enjoy it a lot more too.

Baby Shower Cake--Twin Boys

Blue and brown were the colors for this adorable shower put on by a friend of mine, so doing a blue and brown polka dot cake just seemed perfect. I loved this cake. Might be one of my new faves! Maybe it's because of the trouble it caused me to get it done. Seriously the harder I work on these the more I love them. Ughhhh....let's just say I learned something KEY while doing this one. I am not sure why it took me so long to learn this. I made the entire top two- layered cake (only 6 inch round thankfully), very heavily frosted it with regular frosting, then covered it with the fondant that I so carefully died the right color and rolled out perfectly. I ever so gently laid it on the heavily frosted cake and within seconds I knew I was in trouble. The fondant got a huge crack in it and was just NOT working. I looked at my watch, realized I still had a good three hours before the shower, and threw it all in the garbage. I had to start from scratch. Oh man--what a waste of cake, fondant and most importantly time. Luckily I had a friend babysitting for me so I didn't neglect my son the entire day!

So what went wrong? I finally learned...I PUT WAY TOO MUCH FROSTING ON THE CAKE. It is called a crumb coat--not a "smother the cake with frosting" coat. So I now know, all you need is a very thin layer of frosting--who cares if it is completely covered--it's going to get covered up with fondant anyway. Duh. I guess I just always thought it would make the cake taste better since fondant isn't that great tasting. I guess with fondant it's all about the look, not how it tastes.

Well, yet another huge lesson. Since that day, covering cakes with fondant has been much easier! The end result was pretty close to perfect and thank heavens for those little brown circles that I get to use to cover up the few blemishes there were. You'd never know!

Have I mentioned I love making cakes!


Cutest decorations for the shower done by Audrey.

Don't you just love the cute pregnant Rebecca in the background? She looked amazing--skinnier than a bean pole with this basketball inside her. Seriously? Is it okay to say I hate people like her?!

Nephew's Soccer Cake

Another fun cake--my first ever tiered cake. Did I ever learn a thing or two on this one though! Definitely made lots of mistakes and actually don't really enjoy looking at this one all that much. I do have to say though, that making those stripes and all those dots was really fun and seriously cute! That is my favorite part of fondant--that creative decorating part. Covering the cakes with the fondant is the dreadful part, but I am getting better with each cake I make!

I ran out of time before his birthday party so some things I had to do without (like a base covering under the soccer ball) and attaching the soccer ball onto the cake permanently (it was just stuck into the cake with a wooden dowel. The kids at the party loved that it could spin in a circle so maybe that was a good mistake! By the way, a little secret...that soccer ball was made out of styrofoam! Genius I might say. I do not think I would be very good at cutting cake into a ball like that. Oh just the thought stresses me out.

Laney's First Birthday Cake

Okay this one I cannot take all the credit for--, but it was so darn cute I just have to add this one on here. My friend Kim and I did this together--she taught me a lot about coloring fondant and cutting out shapes--she is amazingly creative and just one of those people that are good at whatever they do even if they've never done it before. A friend wanted us to replicate this adorable owl cake as best we could. Isn't that darling as all get out!


So we came up with this one instead. The actual cake was not fondant (doesn't make for a very entertaining one year old getting into her cake). Those little owls took FOREVER to do--they were so detailed and each cut out free hand (using a little stencil owl).

Turned out to be the most adorable cake and still my favororite to this day.

My first Fondant Cake EVER!

A friend (Jocelyn Qualls) from my days of living in downtown Dallas, moved with her husband and little boy to New york for her husband to attend law school. I committed to bake something for her going away party, but had no idea at the time that I was going to attempt fondant--and black fondant at that. Little did I know that black was THE hardest color to get with fondant. Oh the innocence back then! The cake wasn't that great in my opinion, but it definitely got a lot of attention. There were so many blemishes and imperfections but overall, I think it turned out alright considering it was my first one EVER. I remember telling Todd how horrible it was and how embarrased I was to take it to a party. I was so close to throwing it out and just running to the store (even though the party was on a Sunday). I was so stressed and frustrated. It's a miracle that experience didn't ruin it for me. I guess it was the end result that was the most rewarding. Seriously, I think the things that are the hardest, that require the most time, lots of effort, frustration, and almost tears, are the things we cherish the most.

Covering my first cake ever! Phew--that was hard.