DIY Toadstools!!

I saw this pin from Martha Stewart http://www.marthastewart.com/268508/toadstools. I thought it would be perfect for my daughter's woodland fairy bedroom. My husband had just recently cut down a birch tree in the backyard. The previous owners of our house had not taking care of the tree. It was terrible placed (growing over our neighbor's roof). I was sad to cut it down but it had to go. At least I could use it for a few project. I knew the paper white bark would be perfect for the trunk of the toadstools. For the round seat I used the tops of 2 wooden kitchen stools I picked up at a garage sale for $5. I just had my husband remove the legs, so I was left with just the seat. I picked up some foam from Walmart.  I cut and shaped, with scissors, the foam making sure to give it a dome shape. I had my hubby screw the tops to the logs first and then I glue the foam to them (this way I could hide the screws). I covered the foam with batting and then some red fleece. I used a staple gun to attach it to the underside of seat. I cut away the extra fleece. Lastly I added white dots white fabric paint in different sizes to complete the look. I used the Martha Stewart paint dabbers, they made perfect circles. I love how they turned out.

Mickey's Clubhouse Birthday!!!

So I got asked to make a cake and 7 dozen cupcakes for my husband's cousin. Now I'm an amateur baker. I've only been doing it for a few years. I do it as a hobby for family. I only do it maybe twice a year if someone asks me.  She was having a Mickey Clubhouse theme first birthday party for her son. She wanted a clubhouse cake and cupcakes to correspond to mickey and all his friends. I have to admit I had no idea what his clubhouse looked like. But I agreed to do it anyways. So my first task was to google the clubhouse. I was kind of perplexed by it. What was with the one foot and hand. It look like some failed science experiment. So I set out making the hand, foot, and head ahead of time. I used this website as inspiration http://sweetkatscreations.blogspot.com/2012/02/mickey-mouse-clubhouse-cake.html.

 

 I knew it would take a couple days for them to dry. For the head I cover a large foam ball and 2 small balls with black fondant. I do make my own fondant. I find it taste much better then the store bought.  I inserted a dowel into the large foam ball so I could add it to the top of the cake later.
For the hand I shape the hand and fingers out of one large ball of fondant. I did insert a toothpick into each of the fingers. For the foot I shaped it out of one ball of yellowish fondant. I use 2 dowel for support and left it to dry. She asked for Mickey and Minnie cupcakes with ears like she saw here http://spoonful.com/recipes/mickey-mouse-cupcakes. But I wanted them to look more realistic.

So I took large Oreos and inserted  sucker sticks. I then "glued" 2 small Oreos with chocolate frosting for the ears. I put them in the fridge for the frosting to set. Later took a can of chocolate frosting and microwaved it for 45 sec until it melted (remember to remove the metal lining). Then I dipped the Mickeys into it. I set them in the fridge to set.

She had purchased cupcakes picks with bows for Minnie and Daisy, along with Goofy and Donald's hats. I took the Minnie bows and stuck then into the dipped Oreo mouse heads.


On the day of the party I baked the cake as well as the cupcakes. Looking back I should have done them the night before, lol. I finished all the cupcakes and put together the cake. I was very proud of the finished result. I had never done a cake like this before. Or really modeled with fondant before. All and all she was very happy with the cake and cupcakes. It was a great party!!

 

 

A Secret Hideout for a Superhero- New house, new room, new adventures

With a new house comes a new room.. Since I never got to finish his old bedroom, I decided to stick with the Super hero theme. My son still hasn't out grown his love of all things Super heroes. As a matter of fact it seem to be the his favorite topic of discussion. I painted his walls in a darker seal gray. I figured it was the best color to go with the majority of reds, blacks, and blues throughout the room. I painted the trim a high gloss white. I recycled his comic action words I had made from his old room http://pitty-pat.blogspot.com/2014/03/super-hero-room-from-old-house.html as well as, the Spiderman spider for his window. I wanted something else for window. It seemed too bare. I cut out a city scape from poster board for the window but it looked too plain. I wanted it to seem like when he looked out the window he be right in the city. So I added another city scape out of foam board. I put a small strand of Christmas lights in between the two. At night it looks like the glow of city lights.....

I did a spider web again in his new room because it was his favorite thing about his old room.

 

 

Batman for the bottom bunk and Spiderman for the top

 

 This is the progress thus far. I have many plans for this room and there will be more to come....

Back on Track

Its been so long since I started this blog, 4 years really. I seem to have let it slip into a forgotten shelf. Since this lapse of time, much has happened. My son is now a little man of 5 years old. I had a beautiful daughter. Who is now a busy, bouncy one year old which we have lovingly nicknamed,  on the part of my husband "Husky Tubs" or Tubs for short. For her sake, I hope it changes when she's older. We had bought a house in a quaint little village with a beautiful backyard with willow trees and a stream. It was a fixer upper, by the least, but it was going to be our dream home. We were there 2 years before my husband was offer a better job. We couldn't turn it down. We rented out our house and bought another. We have a little "hope to be" farmstead with 16 acres. I hope my children will love it here with room to roam. I'm ready for this adventure!!

Super Hero Room from the old house

When we bought our old house we had no intention of ever moving again. We thought it would be where we raised our family and grew old together. But life has a funny way of work out otherwise. So when I started on my son's room I wanted to doing something awesome that any little boy would love. His world at the time was starting to become all things Super Hero. He loved them all and he was starting to accumulate quite a little collection.  I decided to do a Super Hero room for him. I focused mainly on Batman and Spiderman (his favorites) but I included a few others as well. I first painted a city scape on his wall in black paint and painted lit windows in yellow, as well as the Batman signal. Batman, himself, was a wall sticker I picked up at AC Moore. The comic action words I made from foam board that I free handed myself.

 

For his nightstand I recycled a plain pine one my grandmother had gotten at a garage sale. I painted it black and sanded the edges to give it a cooler look. I then cut up a few comic books and laid out a design and then decoupage it to the top and bottom shelf, as well as, the front of the drawer. I put on a few coats of poly to protect it. I was impressed by the out come. I plan to do his dresser the same to have a matching set.

Spiderman was the next to go up. I painted a web on his wall with painters tape and free hand. With a sharpe I gave it detail like a comic book. Spiderman was another wall decal.

I had so many other projects in store for this room but we had to moved due to a new job opportunity. But on the upside, now I have a whole new space to do. New ideas I can't wait to do!! I'll still keep it super heroes (to happy my inner geek!!).

Cakes in Review

Four Years of Cakes
From birthdays to just because...

Train Birthday Party

I know its been years (so sad) since I last wrote in my blog but I decided that this would be the year I stick to it. (We'll see how long it lasts, lol). I couldn't decide where to start. Four years is a long time to catch up on. What should I post first. After many a thought I came to the conclusion I should start with parties. Everyone loves a party. I've had 4 years of birthday parties to talk about. I've grown to love the stress and creativeness of planning a party on a shoe string budget. Don't get me wrong I'd love to spend the money my imagination would prefer, but lets face it we just can't. I mean I think anyone can have a beautiful party with a limitless budget. But its the real challenge of having a memorable blast on next to nothing... So my quest begins
The Goob's first birthday party was your normal minimal decorated backyard party with piñata. We had just moved back to NY from NC a few weeks prior. Steve almost out of the Marines. We were living at my in-laws. So it was difficult to pull anything together. His second birthday was better. It was my first real children's party to plan. I had just taken wilton course 1 in cake decorating. And Goobie loved trains. I had my theme. I remind you this was before I found my beloved pinterest. So I had no help. I made train ticket invitations on publisher. I printed them out on a heavy cardstock. Next came the crazy idea, cardboard train. My husband looked at me like I had lost my mind. But I convinced him of the sheer awesomeness of it. I dove for 2 weeks straight in the cardboard dumpster behind the local appliance store to find the right size boxes. Then I proceeded to cut, tape, and glue myself a train. Looking back I wish I had painted it instead of using just electrical tape. I did make it so the kids could crawl right threw the front of the train. The smoke was just some white party balloons. I set up a few tables in the backyard under a tent. I had streamers and balloons. I did red table cloths and put blue painters tape tracks down the middle of the table. I had bandanas and red and blue lanterns for my centerpieces. I made the confetti with a hole punch.

I bought bandanas and train hats for all the kids.

 

As for the cake... it was my first attempt at any cake besides a 13x9 never leave pan cake really. I wanted a mountain with a train. So I made a mountain with a tunnel with a wooden Thomas coming threw. I made a few paper trees for the top. It seems kind of simple now but it amazed me at the time. I did the whole thing in buttercream (I had yet to venture into the world of fondant). I also made cupcakes. I use the same train from the invitations and a few different punches to make the cupcake toppers. All and all everyone had a good time, especially the kids. Plus it started my love of all things party :)