anika grace's {baptism}

I got to make a fun little chocolate cake for the beautiful Anika Grace's baptism last weekend.  It was just a simple 9" round butter cream cake.  Joelle (mama extraordinaire) requested chocolate and that it would say "Anika Grace, child of God".  Precious.

 I used a really simple technique for this cake.  After I frosted it in the white buttercream, I got out some flower cookie cutters and gently pressed them into the icing where I wanted the large and small flowers.  I had a tiny cutter I used to outline the centers.  I then outlined the flowers and centers with a small circle tip and filled the flowers in with a star tip.  I used the same star tip for the edging on the bottom of the cake.

Pretty cute, huh?

And I just had to include some photos of the darling little one.... we got to photograph her when she was just a week or so old in the living room with mom and dad.  Beautiful.

 

 

cozy mittens {for a cause}

My friend Elaine is selling these WONDERFUL warm, adorable, and cozy mittens to raise money for her family's upcoming {adoption}.

 

 

They are handmade from {recycled} wool sweaters.  Each pair is lined with fleece and is 100% machine washable.  They come in kids ($15) and adult sizes ($25), as well as a "long" adult size.

 

 

  

If you are interested in any of the mittens please email Elaine at eandeolson@cox.net.  Your fingers will be happy for a cause all winter long!

o {happy} birthday

I made this cake for a friend of a friend a few weeks ago.  It's just a simple 9" butter cream chocolate cake.

 

 

Happy.  :)

when life gives you {cake} crumbs...

...you make cake balls!  Kudos to my cousin for the idea!

Chocolate and chocolate mint.

{congrats} to jesse and allie

Allie and Jesse said their vows Sunday in a GORGEOUS wedding at The Fountains Ballroom.  It is SUCH a beautiful wedding venue!  It helped that God provided them with one of the most beautiful days of the summer to get married... I look forward to seeing sunset pictures.  :)

Allie wanted a simple butter cream wedding cake.  We weren't positive about what she wanted, so we spent some quality time on google and came up with an image we both loved.  She also had an ice cream sundae bar (YUM), so the cake was only three tiers.

After my disaster Saturday morning was behind me, I rolled up my sleeves and ended up with a much more presentable cake!  Abby spent the day keeping me company (thanks!).

And of course my wonderful hubs accompanied me early to Glenwood to set up the cake.  He snapped a few shots of me at work.

The final product!

Had to include a couple photos from the wedding.  Too beautiful.

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs.  Thanks for letting me make the cake for your big day!!!

life lessons...

...this lovely creation will NOT be featured at Jesse and Allie's wedding tomorrow.  I must say, though, I tried a few bites and it was pretty amazing.  I just don't have it in myself to eat 100 or so servings of ugly-yet-amazing-tasting chocolate cake, so it's headed for the trash (sad).

For reference, here's a beautiful white layer that will top the happy couple's cake tomorrow.  The kind I expect when I throw a pan in the oven:

And this would be the little {but still tasty} disaster we're dealing with:

Bahaha.  I'm excited that I didn't have a meltdown.  But, it's back to the grocery store for me.  (Third time in 24 hours if we're keeping track).

P.S.  Allie, if you have time to read this in your "day before the wedding" chaos.  DON'T STRESS.  It'll be amazing... not as beautiful as you on your big day, but beautiful nonetheless!

{congrats} to david and nicole

All done!  Wedding cake #1 of my life is a memory.  It was a lot of fun, but I'm relieved.  :)

David and Nicole got married in a gorgeous {outdoor} wedding in Nicole's parents' backyard.  The wedding was beautiful and so much of it was DIY which I thought was very fun!  Their colors were gold, ivory, and brown and we dreamed up their cake with a little help from the embellishments they chose for their invitations and programs.

I got prepped Thursday evening and my dining room table looked something like this.  And for those who are concerned, the eggs made their way back to the fridge after their photo shoot appearance:

Friday morning baking began.  I think I would have been much more overwhelmed with all the mixing, frosting batches, and cake crumbs, but a happy little elf stopped by on her way home from work and stayed ALL day.  Thanks, Meg, you're the best.

By Friday evening, this is what we'd accomplished:

Saturday was devoted to the chocolate fondant ribbons on the sides of the cakes and painting Nicole and David's design in gold dust.

Sunday after church was operation "prep, deliver, and build this cake!"  I found a dreamy guy I happen to know that made all of that go much more smoothly.

AND... the finished product!  David's dad made the topper, which looked great!  I was a little worried about the cake outside in the heat until the wedding, but it did just fine!