Shower cakes!

K's class has two teachers and one of the teachers is pregnant, while the other one recently got engaged.

Two of the other class' teachers decided to be sneaky and sent home secret notes asking the kids' parents if anyone wanted to contribute to a stroller and dish set for them, but not to say a word to them!

So, of course, my brain thought of cakes!!

They are what every celebration needs, right?

So here's a little close up of the cakes:

As you know from the previous posts, I chose to make two 8" cakes, because of the design I wanted for the inside: ombre and checkerboard.

(Incidentally, the recipe that came with the checkerboard pan tastes just like a sugar cookie to me - fantastic!) 

I'm working on my frosting skills for inside the fondant. It's tricky when using a regular knife but I can't justify the price on a frosting spreader just yet...

And, oh man, I just love how smooth fondant feels. I even made my husband feel an extra little piece.

I don't think he cared as much as I did.

So, first up is the bridal shower cake.

I have to admit that these cake ideas were totally found on pinterest...but were so cute I just had to do it!

First I got to make a little wedding dress.

See those little imperfections? yeah, I forgot to sift the powdered sugar first.

But it's all good - that's what little pearls are for!

And I just love how the folds fell at the bottom of the cake!

Next is the baby shower cake:

She's having a boy, so I knew this was the one!

The little laundry basket and socks are too cute!

Oh, how I'm in love with this cake!!

*****update!*****

So, we just gave them the cakes! They were speechless! :)

Sweet kids who kept a secret for nearly a month!

And what I've been waiting for - the insides!

The baby shower cake was the ombre cake.

Blue was definitely a good choice! Turns out that is also her favorite color - score!!

Haha - thank goodness for frosting filling - those cakes did *not* bake evenly!

Seems like it might be a good time to invest in some baking strips.

Then, in the bridal cake was the checkerboard cake.

A rough cut, but man they look so good with those colors!

I doubt I'll ever do a black and white one again :)

I'm so happy I had a reason to make these cakes!!

I'm so happy I had an opportunity to make it!

New Flower Fondant Cutters

My husband can be a tool at times. 

Especially when I'm trying to create a new post. 

But, I digress....

My mom was a hostess for a bridal shower and was placed in charge of the cake.

She was given a budget and then hired me! Woohoo!

So, I was told to go find a spring/flower napkin and make it match.

Talk about limitless boundaries!

I found a cute orange one with some lime and turquoise flowers. 

That's when I knew it was time to purchase some fondant cutters. Michael's had a new daisy set that I had already seen. They were cute! 

The two layers of flowers were fun to work with, and made it easy to give a lot of color choices around the cake.

And, while I knew the cake was not nearly as dark as the napkins, this next picture in natural lighting makes them look completely different! Now I know :)

The Game ... of Life!

So, our friends Jessica and Jarrod were getting married and we had a shower for them. 

But, they asked for board games for the shower gifts, and we got to play some at the party. It was actually a pretty great idea - we love games in our house!

So, I knew that this would be the perfect time to make a Game of Life cake so I could put some spaces from the game that would fit their new lives together.

I actually looked at the real game to pull words and phrases - and as my cousin pointed out later, it would be nice if we could get childcare for just $5,000 these days!

I made the car and people from rice crispie treats again. And also the bushes. 

This was also my first creation after purchasing my 16x16 (and two smaller) pan(s) from Michael's with my 40% off coupon. That set is *definitely* worth the $25 I paid for it!!

Oh Baby!

My mom's cousin was having her first baby. They waited a really long time to have a kiddo, so we were all super excited for them!

When I was asked to make the shower cake, I was thrilled.

A little less thrilled that the shower was 7 hours away from me, but thrilled!

It did let me find out how to logistically transport a cake though :)

Anyway, I was sent an invitation and a picture of the napkins and got my idea!

I'm proud to say that the cake made it in one piece!

I don't have a picture of the top, but it had the words from the napkin. 

The shower was fun, and we got to see my Granny as well (who also lives 7 hours away).