Another year has come and gone!

OLLIE IS 2!!

Oliver has yet to "request" his birthday cake, so....
I decided I should make him " The very hungry caterpillar" for his #2 birthday.
The cake was a BIG hit!

HOW TOMAKE YOUR OWN.
2 cake mixes, bunt cake pans , 1 large can white frosting. green,yellow,blue food coloring. red paste food dye.
yellow and green fruit roll ups ,gushers,1 green jelly bean,
1 black licorice stick
make 2 bunt cakes ( I used funfetti )
cut 1 in half for the top hump.
cut the leftover half, in half for the " neck and tail"
using the other cake , cut wedges to fill in to make the shape. " glue " with frosting.
for the head , slice several "straight" pieces and stack to make a round shape. " glue" together with matching frosting.

Using 3/4 of 1 large can of white frosting in a bowl and green,yellow and blue food color. start with green and frost several sections of the caterpillar in stripes.
then add yellow to the green frosting to for a different color, frost more stripes blending with the 1st green stripes. Finally add the blue to the frosting, changing the color once more and frost stripes blending them with the others. This will make the multi colored body.
With the rest of the white frosting add red PASTE food dye for a deep red face.
for the eyes I used yellow fruit roll ups cut in a oval shape topped off with green fruit roll ups cut into a bit smaller oval. For the nose I used a green jelly bean.
The antena is black licorice . The feet are gushers.
all the fruit candy was purchased in a mixed selection box.

invasion of THE ANGRY BIRDS

Here is the last cake till Dec.

Connor had a bowling party with his friends for his 6th birthday!

The Angry Birds were invited too.(They did not however bowl).

Here is my ATTEMPT @ the cake.

I think the kids LOVED it.

I Love you Buddy!

Connor is ALREADY 6!

For 6 years I've been making my oldest grandsons BIRTHDAY CAKE. Each year we try to out do the last. Connor puts in the order and I oblige. With the Craze of ANGRY BIRDS ,
a 6 year old boy and you got it an Angry Birds theme.

Connor's Kindergarten class endulged in a mecca of sugary delight! (sorry mom's). We made 28 angry bird and pig cupcakes. I did the prep,then put a picture in front of connor and this is what he made.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNOR



Thanks to Brooke for the great tutorial!

CAKE CAKE CAKE

Wow! I've been up to my ears in cake the past month.
First, I was honored to make my sister and new brother in-laws wedding cake for thier reception. They were married in Sedona Arizona and had a reception in thier home.
**(disclaimer)** I am not the CAKE BOSS!!

But I did have fun. Here is my effort.

Thanks Sis for trusting me with your cake.

All WET

Last week Oliver and Mimi went to the water park.
It was 104 with the heat index and we (I) needed to cool off.

Thinking Oliver would LOVE it (HE DID NOT!!!!)

I put on his suit and off we went

You can see he is much happier in the stroller and NOT in the water.

I love his white hair, BIG blue eyes and toothy smile!

ANGRY BIRDS

Since Connor starts all day Kindergarten in a couple weeks, I won't be sitting for him regularly any more. I wanted to do a fun craft project. I had purchased a white tee shirt on sale at
Hobby Lobby and I was "itching" do do SOMETHING with it.

After discussing it with Connor we decided to paint an angry bird on it!
I googled "angry birds coloring page" and printed his choice out on plain paper.
Then placing it under a piece of freezer paper I traced the complete design on the ROUGH side to make a iron on stencil.
I did all the cutting and ironing and Connor did the painting.
I think he was pleased with his craftiness and I was too.

getting rid of clutter one shoe at a time

Though some may like this "LOOK" I was getting tired of it!

I was trying to find a solution When I ran across a "shoe cabinet"

in a Japanese table book!
" Brilliant" I exclaimed!! Well not really but I wanted to!

Any way while shopping for one just the right size and price I scored this baby ( for only 27.00).

( in it's first life it was a corner tv cabinet). As usual I didn't get a real" before" pic. First the hubs added a matching bull nose to the three sides of the top that had been flat, took off the masonite back and side panels with ply-wood and trimmed it out.
It was then kilzed, painted out with old paint (Alabaster by Valspar) I'd used on another project, added new knobs.

Wanting a fun surprise I painted the inside THIS color!

(Spa blue by Decoart)
Now we have a shoe cozy!
What do you think?

Happy Father's Day 2011

What dad doesn't love to eat or grill??

Well I have the perfect thing to please either!

It's a grill cake. How cute is this??

I saw something like this somewhere. ( I think in a magazine )

I thought my grandsons would get a kick out of it.

The cake was baked in a prepared aluminum bowl.

The coal and fire are cookie crumbled and mixed with black gel, and m&m's.

The hamburgers are oat meal cookies brushed with cocoa powder.

and topped with "cheese" colored fondant.

The hot dogs are stubby pretzels wrapped in fondant

and tinted with red and blue color and brushed with cinnamon.

The lines were also made by dipping a tooth pick

in cinnamon to create "grill marks"

Both the legs and handles were wrapped in fondant as well.

The body of the grill was frosted in white

then sprayed red with wilton red food spray.

I think this would make a great 4th of July cake too,try it!

Linked to

Father's Day gift

Father's day is fast approaching and I helped my grandsons make their Daddy an amazing gift that I think he'll cherish for ever.
While browsing the web I came across THIS site and adorable DIY for Father's Day and just had to make it. I just noticed we both used very similar fabrics! (It was the best "boy fabric" in my stash that didn't have robots, or dogs on it). I followed her instructions with a few changes. ( just make sure you have the hands arranged so they will fit the size opening you want BEFORE you iron them on and sew around them. I found the frame at T J MAXX on clearance. The frame was already matted and had a picture in it. I just ripped out the ugly picture and re-framed it with the adorable hand prints of my little sweeties! I also decided not to put the cute saying on the frame because it was not a "crafty " styled frame. This was a pretty easy project and one that is a real keeper! If you double click on the pictures you'll notice the boy's names and ages are written beside each wrist. *NOTE* if you have a little one, you may want to trace their hand while he's sleeping! just a thought. :) Please check out roots and wings co. she has wonderful tutorials!

Suzan