Tuesday, September 22, 2009

If you love cupcakes...

(if you love cupcakes), then clap your hands, (clap your hands)...
Or just enjoy these pics of some cupcakes that will seriously make your mouth water for more. I have always used icing from the can...gasp! With this class, I have had to make my own icing...I really didn't know what I was missing. ( Still love me some icing from a can though! ha!)
Tonight we learned how to make clowns (creepy) and little flowers as well as the second step to the rose (not fun and may be the end of me...j/k). I practiced the clown but did not want to waste money on clown heads. I decided to get a little creative and make other figures from another book. (I seriously should not be in a class because I really just like to do my own thing)
Enough rambling...here are the pics!


Sweet little elephant is all lopsided after turning over on the way home...oops!


It may or may not be a goal of mine to see how many owls I can sneak in my cakes during this class. We have required cakes some weeks but I may just have to tweak them a bit. I was lazy this week and didn't mix new colors which is why there is a pink elephant and then pink little owl. Makes it more fun with fun colors...don't ya think?!



After two animals, I got really lazy and decided I would practice these little flowers because they are really really easy and super fast. I think this might be one of my favorites from class so far. I mean seriously, how cute are these little flowers. I tried one out and it was simply delightful.



No cake in fondant class Saturday which will be very nice. We will be learning how to use royal icing! Woohoo!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Weekend Review

  • worked almost all day Friday (kind of ready to have my 3 day weekends back!)
  • lazy Friday night with mom since dad was in AL
  • mum shopping for fundraiser at work (they will be really cute if anyone in this area is interested in buying some!)
  • just for fun shopping...found more owl stuff in this town = awesome day!
  • watched BAMA WIN!!!
  • some cleaning
  • made cupcakes for Tuesday night cake class which was sooo much easier than a cake which reminds me of why I have always liked making cupcakes more than cake
  • more cleaning
  • more mum shopping...my car is loaded with mums
  • went to my first XO mtg as an advisor...so fun!
  • still have tons of projects to finish
  • still cannot login to FB!!!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Hoot Cake! (Beginner Class)

Tonight was class two of the first course. I just had to do an owl! I know you are all so surprised. The book wanted us to do a rainbow (no thank you) and our teacher let us pick our own design if we wanted to do something different. We could have also picked the character cakes and I am so glad I did not as it would have taking forever to do all those little stars. I added dots for fun and added a few too many...oh well...that is why I am practicing! ha! (The green looks better in person...at least I think it does)

Sunday, September 13, 2009

First Cakes (Fondant Class)

So when I planned on taking a cake class, I signed up for the first one...the beginner course. After the first class, my friend and I decided we would go ahead and take another one while we were at it...fondant...might as well get them both under our belts why wait for the next one to be offered. The teacher was fine with us doing both even though we had already missed the first class. This was all Tuesday night...by Wed. we were planning on jumping in and taking the other class but still needed some questions answered. Naturally I had previously agreed to babysit Thurs. night and did not get home until after 11pm after working 10 hours. After working most of Friday (still working overtime), I finally made it home to bake the cake for Sat. morning class...Tues. night's cake would have to wait. Now we all know I have made plenty of cakes but for some reason this one was a challenge. It had to be at least 3 inches. Mine was 2 1/2 inches. I still had to go to the store to get ingredients for fondant and butter cream icings as well as other supplies, so I decided to just try again with the cake. By the time I bought everything and got a quick bite to eat it was almost 8...class was at 9 the next morning. I made the second cake which was also 2 1/2 inches and attempted to make the marshmallow fondant...would have been good to read the directions correctly. After 3 failed attempts I called it quits! I had no more marshmallows anyway. I moved on to butter cream which was a success and iced my cake! I think I went to bed around 2am and re-read the directions to find my error in the fondant process. I got up extra early to finish gathering everything and even thought about trying again with the fondant...decided I would buy pre-made fondant if mine was really bad...well, it was bad so store bought fondant was purchased in the middle of class. We all made the same cake to learn certain techniques and here is the finale product!


So what did I do with the first 2 1/2 inch cake?! Decided to make the fondant successfully and then get a little creative making something different from our class cake! The fondant was much better, but I could still use some practice...I think it was too soft/sticky! It also tastes a lot better, too!



Tuesday's class is just butter cream, so that should not be as bad. The cake is made and in the freezer. Just have to decide on a design (owl or elephant...not sure yet!) and make the icing!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Southern Fried Labor Day

We had so much fun this weekend in Atlanta with family. Most of the weekend was spent outside watching football and baseball, too! We laughed about family stories, watched the kiddos play and dance, and ate way too much good food!
The Bama boys watching game day before the game. I love how they lined up to watch tv...they are a little too much! ha!




The Bama boys getting ready to go to the game! We went in shifts...which was awesome. Some of us went much later. We were all dropped off on the side of the road which was funny and great all at the same time...very little walking! After the game our rides were waiting on us!


Our traditional victory picture! I have to sit on my uncle's left side during the games...he won't let me sit anywhere else. Well, this game we were on the other side of the field, and he wanted to be closer to the 50 so I was on his right...until the second half when I reminded him of our typical sitting arrangements...guess it worked. ha!


This picture is out of order but was pregame where the player met in the middle.





Another pregame pic...my cousins during our 5-10 min. tailgate!



"A" cheering for another team


These are some of my favorite pics from the weekend. I had a lot of favorites but just picked a few! The first are at duck pond where we met a photographer to get some pics of the little ones. They weren't too happy about it, but she did get some good ones. These were some I took as we were leaving.






















4 generations!


4 generations!

Matching PJ's!

Coloring a birthday picture for their Papa!

"A" wearing the shirt I made! She is the cutest!!! Also, she has an owl on her bday invites which is just awesome and so very cute! She might just need an owl creation!!!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Because I am not busy enough, let's add another hobby to my list...

Well, it is not a new interest and really not a new hobby, but I did start a cake decorating class with a friend from work tonight and wow was it fun! We may even be joining another class (fondant class) this Saturday. I may be crazy to be taking two classes at one time with overtime at work and a list of projects a mile long at home but boy will it be fun and tasty, too!

*I just finished editing the 200 pics from the weekend...post coming soon...don't worry there will not be 200 pics!*

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Project Pics!

A coworker is going to my favorite place in a few weeks and bought the shirt/fabric for me to sew her little girl a shirt to wear while they are there. It is not perfect but turned out pretty cute. I hear she has a matching skirt! She also had someone else who has an embroidery machine make a really cute shirt with a girl with mouse ears...I think. It was really cute though and something I would definitely like to be able to do...maybe I will get an embroidery machine one of these days and the software for DW stuff!!

One of our coworkers took a job in the school system, so we had a potluck before she left us. She said she loves strawberry cake so just a few days after making dad's cake, I made some cupcakes to take to work. There were not many left at the end of the day! This picture is really bad, but the sprinkles are pearl white and so pretty! ha!


We are headed to see family soon, so I had to make stuff for my cousins! My cousin is having another little boy in Dec., so I made her some burp cloths and a bib with an Alabama/Football theme! I think they turned out so cute!


My other cousin has a little girl, so this cute shirt is going to her! It did not turn out how I wanted it to...oh well!


This one is going to my cousin's little boy! I really like this one and the shirt from ON is so soft! The football is with corduroy fabric!




These cute letters are for a coworker. We went to HL one day to buy these and scrapbook paper and everything else she needed to make the letters. When we were getting stuff, I decided there was no reason to buy stuff when I have it all at home. She picked out paper that would work to match the bedding but it didn't have any orange in it. I was thinking about it when I got home and decided it would be too cute painted to match. I told her if it looked bad I would cover it with the paper. It turned out pretty good and matches, too! It is not perfect but they like it and that is all that matters! ha!
I still have more projects on my to do list that seems to be growing instead of shrinking...good thing I enjoy crafty things! ha!