Bright Eyed Owl Birthday Cake

A few months ago, I was asked to make an owl cake and smash cake for a first birthday party. There are SO many ideas out there, so I had plenty of inspiration! I ultimately decided to make a round, two tiered cake and use fondant to make whirly pops, owls, and trim, inspired by this one.

My lollipops were made a few days ahead of time to allow time for drying. I experimented with several methods and found it best to roll two ropes individually, then roll them together, and then roll the rope into a spiral. I inserted Wilton lollipop sticks up through the center of the spirals and later cut them to the lengths I needed.

I found an owl illustration online to use as a template for my large owl. I blew up the image on my screen, traced it, and made patter pieces. I used a paring knife (I'm sure not the most efficient tool!) to cut each piece from 1/8 inch thick fondant. While the pieces were still soft, I layered them. The old (young?) bird needed two long dowels between her back and front layers that would be inserted through the 3-D feet when I assembled the cake. The entire owl needed to lay flat for 24 hours to dry.

The smash cake owl was really just a repeat of playing with play-do as a kid. I used chocolate fondant (Wilton's brand) for the body, cut pink circles with an icing tip for the feathers, and flew my the seat of my pants for the rest!

St. Patrick's Day Goodies

It was really inevitable that I'd come to love the green, happy, silly traditions of St. Patrick's Day. My Irish blood combined with the close proximity to MST's St. Paddy's Day spirit made the holiday all the more fun for me growing up!

I'm so thrilled that our preschool celebrates St. Pat's with a classroom party. I love an opportunity to bring out my green food coloring! Last year's class treats were a hit with the kids, moms, and teachers.

In 2011, before Pinterest, these awesome goodies that I found online passed as clever, and I still think they are! They're also great for those schools that don't allow homemade treats to be brought in. This is just a dessert bag (I buy mine from the cake decorating isle at Wal-Mart) filled with Twizzlers Rainbow and a few chocolate coins (found them in Target's $1 section this year). The tag was a free printable backed in golden cardstock. When the teachers saw them, they used them as their prize at the end of the class leprechaun hunt. I think they're worth repeating this year!

I found a candy mold at my favorite cake supply store last year and made these candy covered pretzel rods. If you've never used candy molds before, you really have to try them! If you're using one color of candy melts (I use Wilton brand), they're impossible to mess up and quick to set too! The kids thought they were very tasty!

The trifles I made were a little experiment. I thought they turned out cute! The layers were green vanilla pudding, chocolate cake drizzled with irish cream creamer, chocolate pudding, and green cool whip. I topped them with a little crushed Heath bar.