So, homework for next week’s cake decorating class is to bring a 2 layer already iced cake and be ready with a design of our very own to complete in class. This has me very excited. My teacher, Heidi, (who is fabulous by the way) told us to think of something we love and decorate our cakes with that in mind. So, I love owls. They have been springing up all over my house and on and around my space at work. So, with what we learned so far, I have put together a mini tutorial of my very own on how to decorate some owl cupcakes using my leftover buttercream icing from class 2.
I give you: yellow and green owl cupcakes:
cupcake owls
First things first, this picture shows all my progress. Can you pick the one I did first and the one that I think is the best take?
platter of owl cupcakes
So here’s my final decision on how to make these puppies. Next week, we’ll see my frosting owl on a full sized cake set into some type of scene. But for our purposes here:
1st: using a #12 round tip, pipe on two white flat circles for the eyes
2nd: using your beak color, pipe a shell for the beak using a #21 tip
3rd: using the leaf tip #352 pipe an extra long “leaf” or feather in this case at about the 4 o’clock position jutting out right under the right eye. Then do the same at the 8 o’clock position jutting out right under the left eye.
4th: again with the leaf tip #352 I made the first row of feathers directly under the eyes and beak. Then I put successive layers of feathers staggering their positions almost like you would when laying bricks. (check the pictures for visual reference).
5th: for the ears I used the shell tip again which tonight had yellow frosting in it. On my finished product, I will have the feather color (which will not be green). But instead of holding the bag at a 45 degree angle to the cake like you do to make the shell, I held it at a 90 degree to the cake and just pipe a raised star shape.
6th: I did the same for the claws sticking out under the last row of feathers. I’m thinking on the next version, I’ll probably just use a circle tip and pipe on some elongated circles for a 3-toed claw for each of his two feet.
Now, i didn’t have any colors for the pupils and the eyes looked really creepy, then it hit me: chocolate chips!
Those I always have. So, I pushed in some chocolate chips upside down into the middle of the eyes and (trust me) it made all the difference in the world.
Some of the cupcakes I went around with a little shell border, just because I was using up my frosting. You can also frost the cupcakes first before decorating, which I didn’t since this was just practice and I only had a limited amount of icing. But, hey, I think these turned out pretty cute for being yellow and green owls.
Tonight at my cake decorating class we had to bring our own buttercream frosting and at least 6 cupcakes. I’m glad I took 12. We learned how to use some more tips – my favorites were the grass tip and the leaf tip. I can have fun with those. But then we just got to play with some of the techniques we learned and decorate our cupcakes. I only had a couple of colors to play with so I didn’t go too crazy. But here they are, a feast for your eyes and my coworkers bellies. Enjoy!
In case you haven’t been over to the Living With Punks site lately, she’s doing a Sew along for the kids in Japan. It’s a cute little project and of course it’s for a good cause.
Go check out her blog. It’s not too late to get involved. She’s even got some fabulous prize packs for all those who enter.
Pink Fig's Chloe & Meiko T Shirt Sew Along at Living with Punks
Y’all! I am so excited. I have always wanted to be able to make clothes from a pattern, but I have yet to be successful…until today. I have a sweet co-worker who’s having a precious baby girl soon, and I was determined to sew something for her. Today while I was out at Joann’s I found the cutest little book full of baby stuff to sew and picked it up. And, it came with patterns. There was a darling little Kimono style dress that I thought would be an easy enough project to attempt and be successful with. Check it out.
I hit a couple of road blocks along the way.
#1 the pattern called for 1/2 yard of fabric, but I was actually able to squeeze in all the pieces to a fat quarter.
#2 I bought single fold 1/2″ bias tape instead of double fold. But then I found some double fold 1/4″ bias tape that I bought before and couldn’t work with because I kept missing the back when I was stitching it on. Thanks to my new found patience and a lack of desire to go back out to the store, I used it on the kimono and actually think it looks better than the 1/2″ would have since this is a newborn kimono and 1/2″ is really wide in proportion to the size of the dress.
Tonight was my first Wilton Cake Decorating Basics class. It was very exciting. My teacher, in a word, was amazing. I wanted to ask her for her autograph. I can’t wait to hear the rest of her fascinating stories. She’s even going to have some of her cakes featured on an upcoming episode of Rachel Ray. Can’t wait to see it.
But back to me…tonight we decorated a whole cake that what we got to take home. And it made me very happy. I didn’t get to finish the whole cake, but I managed to ice it fairly well without crumbs, and put a cupcake on it. Wanna see?
Last week was a busy week for birthdays at work. Monday was one of my favorite people’s birthday…Shannon. Shannon is a diva and she’s fabulous. She’s so fun to shop for because she likes anything bedazzled, flashy, or covered in animal print. She sports the most positive attitude of anyone I’ve ever met, she’s totally non-pretentious and she’s absolutely supportive of everyone on our team.
She's fabulous!
I was in charge of the baked goods for the birthday celebration, so I decided to make some happy little sunflower cupcakes. The center of the flower is an Oreo cookie and the petals were piped on with two shades of frosting-orange and yellow. The cupcake itself was frosted with grass green frosting.
Happy birthday Shannon…love you, girl.
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Happy birthday part deux.
Tuesday, the ides of March, was the boss lady’s birthday. Not only is she my boss, she’s also the best friend I have here in Texas. I absolutely adore her. She’s outspoken, very knowledgeable and funny as hell. She makes coming to work an adventure. We enjoy breaking into impromptu old-school rap songs, quoting our favorite movies and sometimes finishing each other’s sentences. When we’re not having fun, we’re hard at work. The big fun starts after 5 since we’re both night people we generally stay late. The team took to Taco Deli for Sally’s birthday lunch and it was tres delicious.
This year for Valentine’s Day, my lovely husband gave me a very sweet and special gift. It didn’t cost hundreds or dollars. It didn’t come in a pretty Tiffany blue box, and it wasn’t delivered to my office for all my friends to see and swoon over. This gift came from him observing me and making a decision on what he thought would make me happy…and that’s what makes it so special.
He noticed that of all the shows I have set on the DVR, 9 out of 11 of them have the word cake in them. Let’s see, we have Cake Boss, Cupcake Wars, Fabulous Cakes and then there’s Challenge (which isn’t always cake, but it usually is) and more…
So, he went and found me a Cake Decorating Class and signed me up at the All in One Bake Shop here in Austin. I’ve dabbled in cake decorating in the past but mostly with cupcakes. Check out my Bumble Bee Cake Pops and Cherry Pie Cupcakes. My mom “did cakes” when I was younger-all Wilton trained and such. I used to pore over the Wilton Yearbooks. I just loved the design and the beautiful craftsmanship that went into each one. And, now, all these years later it’s my turn.
I’ll be sure to post pictures and share some of what I learn here after my first class. squeee!
I reached out to several different groups of people that are a part of my life to look for people who would benefit from some free blog design and advice and I’ve chosen a winner. I’ve started working on a blog/website design for a grandmother of 5 who because of health reasons is pretty much confined to her house and needs a creative outlet and a means of connecting with people. Blogging is a way for her to do that. Once we get her design up and ready I’ll be sure to link to her site. Be sure to check back here for more info as we get further into the development. I’m really excited about this little project. Here’s a sneak peek at the design board we’ve put together.
OK. So, here’s what I’ve been up to lately.
For those of you who don’t know, during the day I work as a webmaster for the largest independent IT training provider in the world. (We’re kind of a big deal.) At night I get crafty as often as possible. Last year I started my own website based on a blog layout. It’s easy to keep updated without needing fun (and expensive) programs like Dreamweaver which I use to maintain my websites at work.
Anyway, this long story has a point I promise. I am going to start a side business from home doing design work. I plan to set up blogs, do banners and avatars, full blown websites, etc. First, however, I need to build a portfolio. That’s where y’all come in. I need some patient clients who would like a web presence, or would like to enhance their existing web presence. The deal is, I will do the work while consulting with you. This work may take longer than usual, though, because I need to document and work out the process while we go along. I will start with one person who wants a blog. Any fees to host said blog will be the responsiblity of the blog owner, I will be donating my design services for free.
If you are interested, comment on this post with your contact email. After one week, I will do a random draw to pick the first recipient of Unruly Art Design Services. Good luck.
My husband is not an overly emotional guy. And I don’t need him to be. He is very funny and fun to be with. He’s got a great sense of humor, and he’s still the first person I call when I have good news to share, or need some support in a bad time. We’ve been together for 20 years and 17 years ago today he proposed to me and he wasn’t even in the apartment when he did it.
At the time, he was working nights, and I was working days. So, when I got home from work, there was a note in front of the tv telling me to turn on the Super Nintendo. When I did, a very amateurish drawing of a diamond ring lit up the screen, with a tiled background of the words “Say Yes” and floating around the ring was a little text bubble asking, “Will you marry me?”.
…proposal by Mario Paint. It was unique and inventive, I’ll give him that. The back side of the note read, “Don’t call me at work. I’ll talk to you when I get home.” I told you he wasn’t an overly emotional kind of guy, but he is sweet.
Today I want to express my love for my valentine through song. This song couldn’t be more appropriate for us as a couple. The lyrics are spot on. Enjoy.
