Catching Up: Window Coverings

I, like many mothers, have a very serious love-hate relationship with summer and how late the sun stays up during those months.  My daughter's bedroom has three wonderful 21x21 inch windows that I loved all through the winter months.  But, when daylight savings time went into effect, it was still too bright to expect my little girl to fall asleep before 10 pm in her west-facing room.  So, to combat daylight savings time, I created these.

They are canvases from the craft store that I painted with acrylic paints with the assistance of blue painter's tape and a pretty bird stencil.  I had never done chevrons before, as you can probably tell, and, for the most part, winged it.  They are a bit crooked and will probably be replaced before too long, but I absolutely love how the other two turned out!

Now I just have to figure out where to put them when we enter the fall and winter months and I want those windows uncovered again...

Catching Up: Ladybug Cupcakes

My daughter's first birthday was all about ladybugs.  One of her first words was "bug" and they are still some of her favorite things.

I used vanilla frosting tinted purple (it had to be purple, my mother was coming all the way from Michigan for this party and purple is her FAVORITE color; also, when the baby dives face-first into her first cake, don't we want the frosting all over her face to be dark enough to look great in pictures?), black decorator frosting for the spots, peppermint patties for the head, and colorful M&Ms for the eyes.  They were a hit!

Catching Up: Avengers Cupcakes

For my son's third birthday party everything was Superheroes with a very strong emphasis on The Avengers!  I found these cupcake liners and toothpicks from Williams-Sonoma and the rest was done with colorful frosting and sprinkles.

Catching Up: Mickey Mouse Cupcakes

For my son's second birthday party the theme was Mickey Mouse.  I had a very intricate design planned for his cupcakes, but, as commonly happens when you have children, the day of the party fell apart and things fell behind.  So, I improvised and made very simple, but still-adored-by-my-2-year-old, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes in the shape of Mickey's head.

I baked the cupcakes as directed and then dipped them in melted icing to get the smooth, shiny look.

Catching Up: Caterpillar Cupcakes

For my son's first birthday I made these caterpillar cupcakes.  They were so easy and turned out very cute.

It was my first child's first birthday, so these were my first try at decorating cakes and I like how they turned out.  I would probably do some things differently if I were to do them again, but they were great for my lack of experience.

I baked the cupcakes as I normally would.  I then melted and tinted my frosting.  The pink cupcakes were supposed to be red (trying to use primary colors) but pink was as good as it got.  I then dipped the cupcakes into the frosting because I wanted a smooth surface.  I then piped (and this is where lack of experience really shows) the polka dots onto each cupcake.  The antennae are made of toothpicks and colorful mini marshmallows.  I also used toothpicks and black jelly beans to make feet.

Let's Catch Up!

I have a few creations that are old, but still great.  I am going to post what pictures I have of them in the next couple of posts. I apologize for the lack of visual aids--I am going to do my best to describe how everything was done; however.  Please let me know if you have any questions on anything.

Making the Pocoyo Cake!

I made this cake for my daughter's second birthday party.

Here's how:

The first thing I did was find a coloring page of Pocoyo (I did just him because I wanted something very simple).  I pulled an 11x14 piece of glass out of a frame that I was not using, cleaned it up, and taped my coloring page underneath the glass, picture side up.

I then taped a piece of parchment paper to the top of the glass.

Using black decorator icing, I traced the outlines of the picture.

And then filled it in with my colored frosting.

I put it in the fridge overnight so that the frosting could harden.  It probably wouldn't require that much time in the fridge, but I had it.  I suppose you could also put it in the freezer if you are in a crunch, but I would worry about it cracking when applied to the cake (even refrigerated I had a little of that).

Also, be sure to save all of your frosting for touch-ups!

The next day I made my cake and added a thin layer of white frosting to the top of it.  I was not as thorough with the white frosting as I should have been.  I should have covered the entire top of the cake with the white because the balloon was not fully on icing and did not lay flat and pulled cake up as I peeled the paper off.

Anyways, after the top had frosting on it, I held my breath, removed the tape from the parchment paper, and flipped little Pocoyo onto the cake.

I had managed to get it centered on my first try, which was awesome since moving it would have sucked.  I pressed the little guy lightly into the white frosting and then proceeded to pull the paper off of him.  When you do this, go slowly enough so as not to rip him, but quickly enough that your icing does not melt while you are doing it.  I should have done this in two parts and left the balloon in the fridge while I put Pocoyo on because, by the time I got to the balloon, the frosting was already soft and did not want to come off the paper.  With a knife and a lot of patience I managed to get the balloon onto the cake, where it belonged.

And, after a little touching up (remember that saved frosting), he looked great.  I did miss a part of his sleeve, but not bad.