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!

Shopping Bag Cake: Tutorial in Text

I had so much fun making this shopping bag cake for my Aunt's birthday! I started with two 9x13 cakes cut in half lengthwise and stacked 4 high. The great thing about this cake was that I was able to slather buttercream between the layers and over the entire structure without worrying about neatness.

I cut 4 sheets of fondant to fit the dimensions of the cake and wrote the store name in black food coloring. Then I tinted and rolled fondant and cut random shapes for my tissue paper. I let all of this dry overnight.

I applied my sheets to each side of my "bag" and used buttercream on the corner seams. I twirled 12 " strands of black fondant and folded them over the top of of my larger panels for my bag handles. My tissue paper laid on top of the cake.

On the side was a fondant gift tag with a Happy Birthday message paired with a "bracelet" made from black fondant "beads" strung on florist wire.

And there you have it! I would love to do this shopping bag cake again in a couture label or maybe a Victoria's Secret. It was such a simple design but would work for so many occasions!

The Simple Woman's Daybook: November 1st

For Today... November 1, 2010

Outside my window... Grey skies and crisp air might be depressing on some days, but I'm personally excited to ditch all the jack-o-lanterns around here and replace them with Thanksgiving touches!

From the kitchen... the espresso maker brewed up a great white chocolate late this morning. I'm off to a Williams-Sonoma cooking class tonight with a great friend. It's a Thanksgiving dinner class, and I hope to pick up a few tips and ideas!

From the Learning Rooms... Lots of counting these days. Little Mister is working on counting by 10's, and his reading skills seem to be growing steadily. Little Miss, always on her own schedule, surprised us a few weeks ago with her alphabet song. It was nice to know that my efforts weren't being ignored. Now we're working on learning letters. It's been difficult to introduce new concepts to her because I don't want to push them if she hasn't mastered the building blocks needed for a new skill.

I am creating...

I was really happy with the weekend's cake!

Little Miss and I are already planning her birthday cake- Strawberry Shortcake. I can't believe she's almost three...

I am praying... for Baby Ella and her family... and all families who have lost a child to anencephaly.

Around the house... It's a disaster. Let's face it. There are toys everywhere!

One of my favorite things...

The rare times when these two get along well enough for a sweet picture. Little Mister isn't the most affectionate big brother, but we're working on it!

A few plans for the rest of the week... Amidst the normal taxiing, a horse is being delivered to my parents' farm. It's finally one that Big Sister will be able to ride. That means that it's time to arrange for riding lessons and riding gear. I've been praying for a way to give her a shot as the activity she's passionate about, and it's still hard to believe that I'm going to be able to provide her with this opportunity!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

The eskimo...

The super-heroine...

And the video game heros...

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Princess Cake

Dora the Explorer Cake

Dora birthday cake. This cake was one that I really tried to work on my buttercream icing consistency for flat icing my cakes. When I started decorating cakes a couple years ago, this design would have intimidated the heck out of me. Yesterday, I was able to successfully estimate the amount of time I'd need to bake and decorate this cake to feed 50. I started baking at 7:15 and put the finishing touches on the cake at 1:15. Just enough time to shower and load the crew to make the delivery!

The stars were super easy- made with fondant and a cookie cutter. A bit of pearl dust brushed onto each shape created a slight twinkle. I used a round tip to trim the cake, adding a stripe of orange food coloring to my bag to create the line on my pink beads. I've used that technique to make flowers with contrasting tipped petals with great success.

I LOVED that I was able to score this dora set from the Wal-Mart clearance isle! I had a single dora figure in hand when I ran across this set for the same price- $7. It sure beat setting Dora up there all by her lonesome!

My little stars were attached to craft wires that I'd spiraled around a smooth pencil. I really enjoy the effect that such a simple, cheap addition makes to a kid's cake. More pearl dust blown onto the entire cake, and I was ready to hit the road... the mile long string of rocks, bumps, and potholes!