Birthday celebrations

Last weekend was full of cake.  First, there was this cake for a baby shower:

This went to a baby shower for twin boys (get it? The two little blue bees on top?) and was a new and slightly improved version of the first beehive cake I did several months ago.  Getting a decent picture of this cake was not something I really figured out--it's very tall and as with all cake deliveries, I had about 30 seconds to try to capture it on film before I needed to get moving to drop it off on time.

Once that delivery was complete, I turned my attention to a theme party for my one year old niece.  My sister only gave me direction in one word:  Gnomes.  (Then she asked me not to "go crazy".  I decided she did that to be polite...I mean, she knows me.  I don't know how to just quietly say, 'Happy Birthday' to anyone, let alone an adorable niece.)

I found a few things at the party store--a tablecloth that looked like it was a blanket of grass, some tableware and balloons.  Check.  

The cake was a little toadstool house with a sleeping gnome on the side of it.  But the best part was the mushroom top--it was one giant rice krispie treat covered in a layer of cream cheese frosting and then fondant. I'm not going to pretend that wasn't the best part of the entire cake.  It was.

Ben and I found a quick and easy gnome costume online that we made with felt.  We made hats for everyone and little beards to go along with them, but the fumes from the adhesive on them proved to be a little bit much to casually wear the beards around as I had envisioned. We tried, though!

It was a fun little party and wonderful to get to spend some time with my sisters!

Side trip: Bedazzling

I freely admit it.  I am drawn to things that a lot of people consider gaudy.  I love big hair, lots of makeup, and sparkly stuff in general.  I think it comes from my 80's experience. 

So I'm enamored with the idea of bedazzling.  I know I shouldn't like it, but I do.  When I was visiting my parents last fall, I talked to my mom about the need for everyone in the family to have a shirt with their names bedazzled on the back of them.

A few weeks ago, I saw this in the craft store:

and it was super cheap.  Eight bucks for the bedazzler thing and a ton of bedazzles.  I stood in the aisle, fantasizing about all of the STUFF Ben and I could make with it.  So I got one.

We started with some little projects...a tote bag, an apron for my sister.  But I kept thinking we needed to do something...bigger.

I thought my mom needed something, but what's the point of bedazzling if you don't personalize it?  Since she prepares taxes, Ben and I got her a sweater wrap to wear in the office and just baaaaaaarely decorated the front of it with a little tastefully restrained pattern of silver stones (well, not really stones, but whatever they are) on each side.

And the back:

Isn't that FUN??!!  Business in the front, party in the back.

I'm still looking around for other items to bedazzle, so if you are relieved you haven't gotten anything like this sweater from me, just be warned:  yours may be on its way soon.

Nothing.

That's what it probably appears I have been doing.  That isn't entirely true....but my attention has been focused on family life and I haven't gotten any pictures loaded to post until now.

I've been playing around with the rolling mill to get different textures on silver, brass and copper--I love that thing!  (Is it wrong that I consider it a cardio session when I run the metal through the rollers about 20 times?  I mean, I break a sweat and my arms are usually sore the next day...I say it counts.)  I'll post some of those pictures in the next week or so.

But first, I can't go through a holiday with no caking.

I found these Conversation Hearts Kits at Micheals, but wish I had picked up more than two of them.  I haven't seen them since then, and I have looked online, at Micheals, Hobby Lobby, WalMart...no luck.  They have giant blank sweetheart candy hearts and a food marker inside, and I was a bit skeptical because there are two kinds of food writers, as far as I can tell.  The kind you can get in the baking aisle of the grocery store and the kind you can get in more specialized stores.  The grocery store food writers are terrible. Some of the others work well.  My point is that it's a crapshoot when it comes to these things and it would make the whole kit sort of ridiculous if the markers were no good.

The markers were A-W-E-S-O-M-E.  Ben and I colored an entire kit to try them out and had a fabulous time.

 
We sent the other kit to Ben's after school group with cupcakes so they could make their own personalized treats.