The greatest show on Earth...

What a fun day this past Saturday was! I went to the sweetest little 1 year old's birthday party. It was an old school circus theme. The decorations, food, and everything was so well planned. It was absolutely adorable! My part in all this was, of course, the cake! They wanted to have a "smash" cake for him to play in at his party. So, together with this little guy's Momma, we figured out a design that was very circus, but not too modern. And here's what we came up with...

Their family has a special cake and icing recipe that has been passed down through generations and they wanted this to be his first cake, which I thought was so sweet! So, I made a two-layer, six-inch cake and iced it with their special icing recipe too! Not covering the entire cake with fondant made transporting and moving the cake a little more difficult, but it worked out pretty well still. And I'm sure you see those adorable cupcakes, but I can't take credit for those! His Mom made those and they were absolutely delicious!!!

Now, I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to make the elephant. You should have seen the many tries before the final version that I attempted. I was trying to mimic one that I saw online, but a picture was all I had to go off of. In the end I think it turned out great. And to top it off I added a little bunting banner with Gavin's name on it. 

Gavin just wasn't getting into the "smash" part of this smash cake though. He poked his fingers around, but with everyone watching him made him a little shy! He was such a sweetie though. I still can't believe he's 1 already! Good job Mom & Dad!! You made it through the first year!

On a different note, I may be on a hiatus from blogging the next few weeks, well at least about cakes! My husband and I are moving back to our home state of Florida the first weekend of July. With boxes being packed and our house being shown to sell there won't be much time for cake making! I can't wait to be able to make some cakes for my friends and family in Florida. I didn't start doing cakes until I moved here to Tennessee, so it'll be exciting to bake some cakes for others down there. We're excited for this new season in our lives, but still sad to leave the family and friends we have here. Thank goodness for Facebook so we can keep in touch with each other easily! 

Hope you all have a "sweet" week!

I mustache you a question...

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails...that's what little boys are made of? Not anymore! 

Now it's bow ties and suspenders and mustaches!

Here is the cake I did last weekend for my friend Tiffany's baby shower. She is having a sweet little boy, Liam, who will be here within the month. It was such a fun day! Liam is a spoiled little boy already. So many people came out to show their love for Tiffany and her growing family. 

It was a "little man" themed shower complete with ties, mustaches, and all things any little man would want. For the cake I did a 3 layer 6 inch chocolate cake covered in white fondant. I attempted to make the chevron stripes as the background...it was my first try, so I think it came out pretty well when you consider that! I also cut out little mustaches from sugar sheets, which is the first time I've used those too. For the top of the cake I created a bunting banner in different colored chevron patterned paper with "LIAM" written across the front. It was such a fun theme to work with!

I also made cheesecake cupcakes topped with chocolate chips or strawberries. For parties it's so much easier to pass out cupcakes than to have to cut 50 slices of cake, but the cake is the fun part for decorating, so I just did both! The cheesecake was so yummy, if I do say so myself! Here's a little secret for you...it's a no-bake box cheesecake! I love that stuff!!! So easy too!

It was a great day and I'm so happy and excited for the new chapter of motherhood in my friend's life. So glad I was able to be a part of her special day! Love you Tiffany!!!

Boy oh boy!

 My most recent sewing attempt has been for my sweet friend expecting her first little one...a sweet baby boy that will be making his debut in July. Her baby shower is coming up, so I wanted to make her a little something for her little man. I'm actually writing this in May, but since I don't want her to get a sneak peek it won't be posted until after her shower in June! We're having a bow tie and mustaches shower for her, so I thought these onesies would be a great addition to the shower. It was my first try at doing an applique and it didn't turn out too bad or as my hubby says... "It has character!" Oh boy! I'll be doing the cake for her shower too, so be prepared for another post to be added shortly after this one! 

*Post shower addition*

There were quite a few ooohh's and ahh's when these guys were unwrapped, especially my last edition...the vest onesie. It was a fun day. I think this little boy is pretty well stocked up at this point. Now we just wait for him to make his debut!

Getting crafty...not just cakes today!

My sweetheart gave me a sewing machine for Christmas last year, which I absolutely LOVE! I love being able to fix my own clothes...mostly hemming my pants, since short sizes are too short, but regulars are too long! I also love being able to create one-of-a-kind gifts for people too. This gift is one that will definitely keep on giving...for quite a while too!

You may remember the birdie and button baby showers I did cakes for from my last blog. Here are some  pillow case dresses I made for their sweet baby girls. I think these were my first project that actually looked good enough for it to be a gift! What a nice surprise! haha!!! And now, one of those little girls has finally arrived! She is absolutely beautiful. It's so easy to forget how tiny babies are when they're born. Just adorable!

Here's some pictures of my other sweet friend, from her shower, who is waiting any day for her little one to arrive. It shouldn't be much longer now! She finished her last day of work with us this past Friday. Such a sad day! She will be sorely missed, but I'm so happy that she'll be able to stay home with her sweet baby girl. We just need to work out a schedule for her weekly visits to the office, so I can play with Addie Mae!

Have a great long Memorial Day weekend everyone!!!

I know I will since my whole family is coming into town. We haven't been together since Christmas. It is long over due!!! I just can't wait for Friday to come. :)

Well, here goes nothin'! Welcome to my first blog!!! It kinda makes me a little nervous knowing other people might actually read this, but it's time to get on board with technology and jump on the blogging band wagon! This probably isn't going to be a daily blog, until maybe someday when my cakes hit it big and I can quit my day job and just bake all day...ahhh that would be the life....but, back to reality now! I wanted a place where I could post all my cakes and baking projects...well, this is it! I'm sure I'll throw in some 20 something girl nonsense here and there, but for the most part I'll be sharing something SWEET!

Here are two of my most recent cakes, which you can also find in my cakes tab along with a many of the cakes I've done in the past. 

This cake was one that I made for a baby shower I threw for one of my co-workers. I used some buttons on the invitations I made, so I continued the button theme on the cake as well. This was just a vanilla cake with butter cream icing in between layers and then covered in sweet, baby pink fondant! I made the buttons out of fondant as well. And with my handy, dandy, new sewing machine my sweetie got me for Christmas I used the lettering function and made this bunting with the baby's name on it...little Miss Addison Mae. It was a fun shower. It's always nice to have down time like this at work when you can just hang out and have fun with people...instead of making phone calls and meeting deadlines! And boy does our office like to EAT!!! Food does not last long in our kitchen, so if you're ever trying to get rid of something send it this way! 

And here's another baby shower cake I did that same weekend...it was the official baby shower weekend for me...3 showers in 2 days and 2 of them I made cakes for! This special shower was for a sweet friend of mine expecting her first little one. This baby girl has been long awaited! The ladies at my church did such an amazing job decorating for this baby bird themed shower. There was a yogurt bar with so many delicious treats and for a morning shower it was perfect! There were nests, feathers, and trees everywhere. It was precious. For this cake I needed it to be tall, so I did a three layer vanilla with the butter cream icing and pink fondant to cover it. I cut out a tree and some leaves using fondant and a little baby bird too! I had a hard time making the bird house on top, but luckily I found a little wooden bird house that I was able to just cover in fondant...I hope no one tried to eat that part!! :)

I made cupcakes for this shower too. I did some chocolate and some strawberry (cause you can never have too much pink, right?) and topped them with pink butter cream icing and then sprinkled them with baked coconut and added a few little robin egg candies on top. I loved these little nests! They did have a mishap on the way to the shower in the car, but thankfully with the coconut on top you couldn't even tell...thank goodness!

I also made crème brûlée cupcakes as well when I heard that that was one of the mommy-to-be's favorite desserts. That recipe took some time! But it definitely paid off in the end. The first time I made them they got kinda sloppy when I would torch the icing, but when I made them for the shower I planned to torch them that morning and wouldn't you know it my torch burned out! So they were definitely less messy, but just sprinkled with some brown sugar, not too bad in the end! Oh and I added some little birdie toppers too!

Here's a few shots of the cupcake stand with all the cupcakes and the cake table. We've definitely got some awesome party planners at our church. Pretty soon we'll be having another shower for a sweet baby boy coming soon too!!! Can't wait for that one!

Hope ya'll have a sweet weekend!

~Stephanie~