I love doing first birthday cakes! It is so fun to make a cake that you know will be a fun and new experience for someone. This cake was such a fun one too. I went to the consultation ready to ask all of the questions about the birthday girl and design a cake just for her. But to my surprise, I got there and they had a cake already sketched! Not a picture of a cake they wanted me to copy, but an actual sketch!

That made me so happy to see people that are really into their cake. It really is fun to see the excitement and passion for cake alive and well.

Isn’t that just so cute? I love the monkey theme.  And THEY had the idea of the palm trees and monkeys hanging from them!

I thought her name and the little monkey faces turned out pretty cute too.

And I LOVED the palm trees! Aren’t they just so cool?

WARNING! This post is picture overkill. All of the pictures were just so cute that I couldn’t narrow it down any more than this.

My little girl just turned 5 and we just happened to be having a small family reunion that day. So my wonderful mom, and my awesome sisters (including sisters-in-law) helped me put together the cutest 5 year old birthday party I’ve ever seen. So, I thought I would share some of the cute things we did.

The theme for the party was FAIRIES! What’s more fun for little girls than putting on a cute pair of fairy wings, a flower headpiece and a fluffy pink tutu? I would have to say that about tops the charts on the list of all time favorite things for little girls. So, I did some research on how to make some homemade wings, and my seamstress of a sister (who makes amazing cloth diapers) made the tutus.

If you know my family, birthdays are not a big deal.  I honestly only remember getting about 3 birthday presents throughout my entire childhood. So the fairy world was quite the production for us. We had a fairy world set up in the backyard. A nice wooden arbor was the entrance and we had some stakes placed in a large circle which we connected with simple pink crape paper. Inside the circle was a fairy bower made out of pink tulle and a hula hoop suspended from a tree with a table and benches for the fairies to make their crafts and have a tea party. Then everything was adorned with pink Pink PINK . Flowers, butterflies, bows, anything pink and glittery was in this fairy world.

So, here’s how the party went. The Fairy Queen (my brother’s girlfriend) brought all of the girls to the entrance of the fairy world. They waited (somewhat) patiently to have their faces painted and have their fairy accessories put on.

Then the fun began. They all sat around the table inside the bower and made toadstools out of easter eggs and aluminum foil.

They really did turn out cute. Then they made little fairies out of clothespins, tulle ribbon and flowers.

After the crafts, they all went over to hear a fairy story told by the Queen Fairy. Then it was back to the bower which had been magically transformed into a tea party.

They decorated their own little fairy gardens on cupcakes which I had prepared. There were toadstools, stones, and flowers, with a sprinkling of fairy dust (sugar sprinkles).

Then they had flower shaped sandwiches and fairy wands (fruit kabobs) with a cup of nectar (pink lemonade). When they were finished they were sent on a fairy treasure hunt to find sparkly buttons and beads which were then made into bracelets.

My little girl was just giddy to have such a fun party and all of the girls had so many fun treasures to take home. I’ve never seen a cuter sight than 10 of my cute little nieces fluttering around in their fairy world. It was truly magical. Thanks to everyone who helped me prepare for the festivities, and thanks to my sister-in-law Britta for the amazing pictures!

Oh I forgot the boxes! My mom and sisters covered shoe boxes for the girls to hold all of their fun new treasures.

Tomorrow I’ll have pictures and instructions on how I made these cute fairy wings.

Yesterday I had my most fun cake delivery yet. First of all, I was very tired. I started making this cake the night before and worked through the night. The cake had to be delivered 1 1/2 hours away too. So a quick stop for a Dr Pepper and something to munch on, got me there. I had every intention of going and setting the cake on the table and turning around, driving home and taking a nap.

However, this cake delivery turned into a fun day out on the lake with some really great people. I really enjoyed getting to know such a great family. I just love what I do!

Here is a picture of the cake. I apologize for the picture quality. But a not-so-great picture is better than no picture at all, right?

I promised pictures for the next few postings, but a picture of the cover of the July issue of Cake Central Magazine will have to do for now. If you subscribe to the Cake Central Magazine, it should be arriving soon (if you haven’t already received it). So, while you’re thumbing through the pictures of all of the beautiful cakes, check out pages 36 and 37. I have my own take on a tattoo cake. It was a pretty fun cake to make. Not your typical Utah wedding cake.

This cover picture is a cake made by Kasey Lackey of The People’s Cake.

So, now that Cake Central’s Magazine has been out for a while, I feel I can post the pictures of my cake that I made for it. So, here they are! There are some that have been begging for more pictures. So, today you’re gonna get your wish. Honestly, the real reason is that my photographer is so wonderful that I have a hard time choosing just a few pictures.

This cake would fit so well with a wedding where the bride wants elegant without the frill of flowers. Just a funny coincidence that I just thought of…these were my wedding colors. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the pictures.

This cake was in the June issue of the Cake Central Magazine.

This interlocking fabric design was pretty tricky. I laid each strip on individually. Of course, it can be done with one gathered piece of fondant, but I was going for this specific effect.

As you can hopefully see, each side of the bottom square tier had that same interlocking effect. That is what made it so tricky.

I saw some pearl bead-work on a dress that was similar to this design. Very random yet orderly. I loved how it turned out.

Believe it or not, that 'fabric' flower was a last minute idea. It just needed something there. Good thing I'm a crafty mamma and have learned some bow making skills for my little girl's hair accessories. It came in very handy for this last minute gem.

The inspiration for this globe of 'metallic' flowers was from a bracelet. It looked more like a corsage than a bracelet. It was stunning. I just loved the effect. I enjoy making gumpaste flowers but wanted to change things up a bit.

With a little knot on top. I really liked this cute little tier.

And a shout out to my awesome photographer Tricia Hancock. She's AMAZING, isn't she?

Today I am finishing up some flowers for an upcoming cake. I am making a bouquet of peonies, hydrangeas, and anemones. We’re going creams and pinks with charcoal accents. This one is definitely my style. I’ll post pictures as soon as I can get new batteries for my camera.

Chances are that you have heard about Cake Centrals new magazine. The first issue came out last month featuring Kerry Vincent on the cover, and sold out quickly. The second issue is on it’s way out and will feature a cake of mine in the Trend section. I’m excited to see the magazine and I love the cake that I made. I hope you all get a chance to see it. If you don’t have a subscription to the magazine and would like one, or if you just want to purchase the second issue, you can go to  Cake Central Magazine for more information.

Second Issue of Cake Central Magazine. Cake on cover by Ron Ben-Israel.

Correction: The second issue that is out now with Ron Ben-Israel’s cake on the cover is NOT the issue that my cake will be in. Mine will be in the next issue. This is the cover. It will be in the “Tie the Knot” section. Sorry for the confusion.

As promised, here is the story of my biggest cake disaster. You all of course know of my Ultimate Cake Off disaster with my wires being taped down, which lost us a competition. I would say that is on of my biggest disasters. But the one that sticks out most in my mind was for my sisters wedding.

She wanted a beautiful 5 tiered wedding cake that had a stand for each individual cake. She had a cake stand custom made for the cake that had a fountain built in so the water would start out at the highest tier and pour down into the next largest tier until at the end it trickled out into a pool of water in which all of the cake stands were resting. It was a very ambitious cake with a lot of details and a bouquet of flowers for each tier.

No, this cake wasn’t the disaster. It turned out beautifully. However, with such an intense cake and a two month old baby, I had run out of time and had to decorate the grooms cake in Arizona. The grooms cake was a 3-D Seattle Seahawks cake since my brother-in-law is a big fan. I had made and sculpted the cake and had shaped the beak out of rice krispies. All I had to do was cover the cake and decorate it. When I went to pull out my fondant to cover the cake, I noticed that the large beak that hung over the edge of the stand had completely fallen apart. I had not taken into consideration that Arizona is a lot hotter than Utah. I tried to salvage the rice krispies but to no avail. So, I hurried and ran to the craft store for some styrofoam.

I tried so hard to get the cake finished but it didn’t work. Did I mention that I was also the Matron of Honor? Yes. I was. With the problem I had with the beak, time just ran out. I wasn’t able to finish the grooms cake. So, my poor brother in law had a white buttercream covered cake in the shape of a seahawk.

Every year I like to choose a charity to support. This November, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is having a fundraising banquet in which I will be donating a cake. The mission of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is to ensure the future of Elk and other wildlife. They raise money and awareness to conserve the habitat that supports wild animals. It will be a great banquet for a great cause. Here is more information on the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for those that would be interested in supporting a good cause. The information for the November Banquet can be found here.

A friend of mine was talking to me yesterday about a very odd cake request. You know the type of cake I’m talking about. One that even if done well, could still end up on Cake Wrecks.

Fortunately for me, I haven’t had very many strange requests. The most odd cake request I have ever received was for a little fat lady. Believe it or not, the cake was for a MAN’s surprise 50th birthday. According to the family, he had a fascination with large women. So, they thought it would be funny to surprise him with a little lady in a bathing suit.

This cake was made back in 2007 I believe. Maybe 2008. I apologize for the poor quality of picture.  I really liked how her cute little face turned out. It was my first time sculpting a face.

So, do any of you decorators have a crazy cake story? I’d love to hear about them.