A is for Armadillo

When I'm making a cake for a family member or friend I will ask them what they want, and the usual response is, "Whatever you want to make". Not Cameron, my husband's co-worker...he knew exactly what he wanted!

"Have you ever seen Steel Magnolias?" "Yes, I have."

If you have seen this movie before, you probably already know what cake I'm talking about. If not, be prepared. It doesn't really look like something you'd want to eat!
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(Actual picture from Steel Magnolias)

Yuck! Now, if I could choose any cake to make or eat, it most likely would not have been this one. But what the birthday boy wants, the birthday boy gets! So I started researching armadillo cakes. I ended up making a more realistic version...and I actually had a lot of fun making it! Plus, the hubs helped out a lot on this too, since we only had one day to make it! Check it out...

It was a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, covered with fondant. The head, ears, feet and tail were all made with gumpaste. I used a dresden tool for the striped texture on the back bands and I used a straw and frosting tips for the spotty texture. Then to get the gray color, the hubs sprayed it all down with black Wilton Color Mist food color spray. My favorite thing about this cake ended up being the tail! (Get it? "End"ed up? heheh!) Anyway, I thought it came out perfect!

I heard this cake was like a tourist attraction at hubby's work. People were lining up to see it! Hope everyone enjoyed their piece of armadillo!

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Is He NUTS About Carrot Cake?

My husband's co-worker requested a carrot cake for his birthday...with no nuts! Now, I have to agree with the co-worker here, only because I am not a fan of nuts at all! But I'm pretty sure I've never seen a carrot cake without nuts before. My husband loves nuts on carrot cake and said to just put some on anyway since I had already drawn out my design with nuts being a majority of the cake decorations. What's a girl to do? I came up with a new plan that would give my hubby (and others who agree with him) some nuts and others (who agree with me and the co-worker) a nut free slice. Here's what I came up with...






What do you think? Perfect, right?! So, he can have his carrot cake and eat it too, with no nuts! He was very thankful for my brilliant idea. And I heard him and his wife were fighting over the last piece!

Hope you had a great birthday, Joel!

Insanely Gorgeous!

I just had to post this for everyone to see! I was browsing my online addiction site, Cake Central and came across this picture made by cake central member Peecheekeeno...





I feel like I can't breathe! It is fabulous in so many ways. I can't imagine how much time, effort, and pure talent went into making this cake! It was made for the Canadian National Wedding Cake Competition and only placed 2nd. The judges must be crazy! I really can not imagine anything being more beautiful than this! It is pure elegance, from the flowers on top to the fabric ruffled bottom! I am in LOVE!!!

Hailey Angel Silent Auction

If you haven't ever visited Fabulous Fun Finds, you're missing out! They have great products, reviews, and giveaways! But today and tomorrow only they're having an auction for a very sad cause. You can find the story here. The auction includes so many fabulous items. If you bid and win you are not only recieving one of these awesome products, but you'll also be helping a family out in their time of need. If you have a chance, check them out and bid for a fabulously fun find! I know I will be bidding on a couple items. All you need is a paypal account. There is already a lot of bidding going on...so start bidding! Good luck!

Jewelry, Anyone?

Thanks to Alisa from The Tidy Nest for giving me a fun little project idea with her great tutorial! I have seen those cute tile necklaces and loved them, but I didn't know that they were so easy and fun (not to mention cheap) to make! I've already made 5 necklaces. Here are 2 that I made for/with my daughters (one who just happens to also be named Alisa) and 1 that I made for myself...






I made one for my sister's birthday last week and everybody was asking me to make one for them too! And since they are so versatile...you can literally make anything you want to fit each person's interest! Plus the tiles come in different shapes and sizes. My next project is to use a bigger tile to make a photo magnet for the fridge. And I think I will also be making a ring with a cake picture. I can't wait! If you want to see how she made these, just check it out here! Now go have some fun!

Finally...There's Cake!

It seems like forever since I made a cake! But I finally got to make one this week for my sister's birthday! Her birthday is on Cinco De Mayo, but I didn't use that as a theme. I had seen the cutest purse cake on Cake Central and wanted to give it a try, TRY being the main word! It didn't come out as cute as the original, but it wasn't too horrible either. Take a look...

My sister has always loved giraffes or anything that looks like one. So, when I saw this cake made by Cake Central member mrsmudrash, I knew it would be perfect for her! I made her favorite cake, German chocolate with coconut pecan filling, which I now know is not the easiest thing to carve. Then I frosted with ganache and finally covered in fondant, with chocolate fondant for the spots. This was also the first time I made this type of ganache, and it was amazing...both in taste and to work with !

Now, I had tried to make the gumpaste bow and handle super bright red, but it never got bright enough, kind of orange-y. But as I was looking through my cake supplies I saw the red sprinkles and thought, "That just might work!" For these, I just used water and a paintbrush to "paint" the entire handle and the top part of the bow. Then I laid them in a pile of sprinkles that I had dumped on a plate. And shook off the excess. Pretty simple, but cute and sparkly! And what girl doesn't love sparkly?!

And so, I applied them to the cake board too! After I covered my board, I spread a thin layer of piping gel onto the board with my small offset spatula. Then, over a larger plate, I poured the sprinkles on and let the excess fall off. I love how it turned out and I will be doing it more in the future!

Thanks for looking! Enjoy! I know we did!