Nutcracker Cookies

We just finished another year of Nutcracker rehearsals and shows! This year my daughter had a solo as the Columbine Doll so we were all super excited! We finished the week with a cast party after the Saturday show. I decided to make decorated sugar cookies. I made mice, snowflakes and tutus. Tim made the cookie cutters on his 3D printer, which was very convenient! I was really happy with how they turned out, I just wish I had more time to make more! They went fast!

Colorado Springs Trip

We took a quick trip up to Colorado Springs recently and had such a great time! We crammed a lot of driving and activities into just a few days! It took us about 12 1/2 hours to get there, but it was so worth it! We arrived in Colorado Springs on a Friday and decided to drive right up Pike's Peak. I was extremely nervous about this, but I managed to hold it together. I was even able to snap a few pics on the way up!

The last picture is of some sheep that were grazing very close to the top of the mountain. It was around 86 degrees at the bottom of the mountain and in the low 40s at the top, which we were very excited about! When we got to the top of the mountain, we had to try the donuts and hot chocolate. The girls did not like the donuts at all, but loved the hot chocolate. The donuts were a cakey texture with hints of nutmeg and other spices. They were OK, but I'm pretty sure they are only famous because of the mountain and experience! We snapped a few pics at the top and then headed back down. We happened to see a goat walking near a lookout point so we stopped and I got out to take some pics. 2 more walked up at that time, which was really exciting! 

Later that night we went to Cave of the Winds. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I didn't take any pics inside of the cave, but I did take some on their balcony. The place is located high in the mountains and extends over a canyon. They have some thrill rides but I would never have the guts to do them! After the cave tour, we waited for the free laser show. After dark, they cast the lasers onto one of the canyon walls. The show is set to music and was great. The breeze that came through was so nice! 

The next morning we attempted to go to Garden of the Gods, but it was way too crowded. We decided to drive up to Breckenridge, which was a nice 74 degrees. We rode the gondola (which is free in the summer) and got some awesome views. Afterwards, we played in the Blue River. This was probably the girls favorite part of the trip! The water was very cold but so clear and beautiful! 

Later that day we went back to Garden of the Gods and it was empty! We had a picnic in one of the picnic areas and enjoyed the views. Then we hiked one of the easy trails up to The Siamese Twins rocks. Both girls really enjoyed it and loved playing on the rocks. It was getting dark, but the views were still awesome!

On Sunday we went to Cañon Springs and went on a family raft trip. We really enjoyed this and I would highly recommend it! Next time we go we would like to try one that has a few more rapids since this one was very tame. We did the morning trip, which was nice because it got pretty warm. Our guide was great and the girls thought he was lots of fun. We didn't snap any pics and I really regret that because their picture prices were ridiculous! If you ever go, make sure to bring a waterproof or disposable camera!

We also decided to skip the tourist attraction of Seven Falls, but we still wanted to see the falls. I had done some research online and found that you can hike an "easy" trail to the top of Mt. Cutler. While this trail had no real obstacles, we still found it long and a little slippery. However, this was our first mountain trail and I am a bit of a scaredy cat! Maclayne actually did the whole thing without having to be carried (but not without whining)! We didn't go all the way up to the summit because it was thundering, but we got a great view of the falls! It was totally worth it!

We finished the trip with one last visit to Garden of the Gods so the girls could run and play. They had so much fun and were very sad to leave (so were mom and dad)! We left for home the next morning and drove all day! The girls were so good and we all can't wait for the next trip to Colorado!

Rustic Wedding Cake

My younger sister got married this past weekend and asked me to make the cake. I knew it would be a huge undertaking, but I decided to go for it. This is only the 2nd wedding cake I've made but it was by far the biggest . I usually just make birthday cakes, which are so much less stressful! My sister asked for a rustic cake so I thought I could handle it. I know I over thought the frosting technique because I was trying to duplicate a picture. I called her on the wedding day, freaking out a bit, to try to understand exactly what she was expecting(a little late, I know!). She simply stated that she wanted it to look intentionally messy. Messy is hard for me since I'm all about pattern and symmetry, but she was happy with the finished product! I'll explain a little more about the process!

I feel like one of the hardest parts of cake making is getting perfect tiers. This cake is 14 inches, then 10 inches, then 6 inches on top. I was worried about how the biggest layers would turn out, but they were some of the best I've made. That silver thing in the middle of the cake is a flower nail used to make buttercream flowers. It makes a perfect heat core! I made sure to grease it well and put it in the middle of the pan before adding the batter. I also always bang the pans on the counter to even the batter and get out any air bubbles. I only put 1 pan in the oven at a time to ensure that it baked evenly. The cakes baked up perfectly!

I felt kind of dumb, but I just recently learned the proper way to put a cake together. I used to always flip the cakes over and make the bottom of the cake sit on top, since it is always flat. This is all wrong. You want the tops of the cakes to be touching. This way you have the light colored crust in the middle of the layers, and the darker crusts around the edges. It makes for prettier slices, but also made my tiers very even. I didn't even have to cut these. I also cut and placed 4 dowels in each of the bottom two layers and then put 2 sharpened dowels through the middle of all 3 layers.This icing technique required a good, chilled crumb coat before adding the rustic look.

Once the cake had chilled for about an hour, I made a ton of buttercream icing. You want to be very generous when applying the icing. I used a small offset spatula and moved it back and forth and up and down, all over the cake. I would get big dollops of icing and just start moving it around the cake. At times, my husband would catch me creating too much of a pattern, so I would go back and try to mess it up a bit! I wrapped the twine and ribbon that I had lined with wax paper around the bottom of the tiers and secured it with clean sewing pins. It was very secure. After it was done, I placed it back in the fridge to set up a bit. It was pretty easy to transport and didn't move at all! It was a lot of work, but I felt a great sense of accomplishment when it was done!

Princess Canvas and a Silhouette Cameo Trace Tutorial

Maclayne loves the princesses, so when it was time to decorate her room, I knew they needed to be included! This project was super simple and didn't take long at all. I had her pick 4 of her favorite princesses. You could do as many or as few canvases as you want. I bought a pack of small canvases from Hobby Lobby (using a coupon of course). I had some left over paint from painting Mackenzie's room and it matched perfectly with the bedding in Maclayne's room. I applied 2 coats to get the finished look that I wanted.

Now you will need your Silhouette. I searched online to find the shapes that I wanted, paying attention to the actual silhouette rather than colors or facial expressions. Once I found an image that I liked, I copied and pasted it onto the Silhouette program. Then I traced the shape.

All you have to do to trace is click on the trace window in the upper right hand corner. Once it is open, click on select trace area. Drag the mouse and make a square over the image you want to trace. For this project, select trace outer edge. This will leave you with the silhouette of the image. Make sure the traced image is set to cut (you can delete or move the original image from your mat screen). Set your Silhouette to the vinyl setting. I find it cuts best for me when the blade is on a 2 and the speed is low. You will load your vinyl directly into the Silhouette. Make sure you bring the white holders all the way in to grab the vinyl, then cut! After the shape is cut, remove the excess and put your transfer paper over the cut out. Then all you have to do is smooth it onto your canvas! Super easy! This can be customized to any colors, characters, or themes you want!

Maclayne's 4th Birthday Party

We had Maclayne's 4th birthday party over the weekend and she had such a great time! We got her and Mackenzie a joint gift, which was a trampoline. I think she jumped on it almost the whole time! We just had family this year so it was very laid back and a lot of fun!

She loves dinosaurs and it just so happens that Peppa's little brother, George, always has his toy dinosaur. So I decided to make peppa cookies and dinosaur cookies.

We also had "Muddy Puddles" which were No Bake Cookies. These are one of our favorite cookies and I think they worked perfectly with the theme! We also served "Muddy Water" or chocolate milk. Maclayne really got a kick out of all the names and called them muddy puddles and muddy water! My husband printed out the poster, but you can find them for pretty cheap on Ebay. 

She insisted on me making a chocolate cake and was a little bummed when she saw me with blue frosting. She wanted the whole cake to be chocolate! Brown is just too boring for me! I did a very simple shell technique for the cake and it did not take long at all! All you do is make rows of shells all along the sides. You don't have to be perfect! I made a chocolate muddy puddle by melting chocolate candy melts and forming it into a circle. I then placed her Pig family on top. You could make the characters out of fondant, but I really didn't feel like it was worth the time and no one would eat them anyway!

For party favors I just did candy and dinosaur bubbles. I used pink bags and printed stickers on the silhouette with a picture of Peppa. I really kept it simple this year, but I loved the way it turned out!

Peppa Pig Invitations

I recently created Maclayne's 4th birthday invites on the silhouette. She loves Peppa Pig and decided on that theme for her birthday. This is a very simple invite and took very little time to make.

First, I decided on the colors that I wanted for her party-pink and yellow. Next, I found an image of Peppa Pig that was good enough quality to print on the invite. I began by creating a square with rounded corners. It is a shape that you can select from the upper left side. I filled it in the dark pink that I wanted. Next, I found a shape that I wanted to use to put the text in. I was able to expand the line thickness and make it yellow. Then I placed the image of Peppa Pig at the top. The banner at the bottom is also a shape that I already had. I added the text to fit in the banner. If you double click on the text, there will be a little black cross or x that appears. You can move it around to make the curve needed for the shape. Finally, I added the text in the center of the invite using the Miss Smarty Pants font.

Now it's time to get it ready to print. Click on the cut icon to make sure that only the large square is set to cut. Then go to the open registration marks icon at the top right of the program. Add your registration marks and make them as small as they will go. I was able to fit 2 invitations on one piece of 8 1/2 by 11 paper. After you have set the registration marks, you can either click on send to silhouette or print. After it has printed, load it onto your mat and into the machine. Click detect registration marks. Once it says it has been successful, click cut. Voila! You can either send them as is, or make a square a little bigger than the original, cut it, and paste the printed invite on top. That is what I did because I like the sturdiness and contrast it gives. Hope you like it!

One of My Favorite Cake Decorating Techniques

I recently planned a baby shower for my little sister. We decided to do a woodland animals shower, which turned out so cute! The colors were coral and tan so we incorporated a lot of natural looking elements.

I decided to do an ombre cake in shades of coral. This is such an easy decorating technique that really takes no skill! All you need is a piping bag, circle tip, and a small spatula. I always make my starting point on the backside of the cake just to try to hide any unevenness. Start by piping a dot and then gently swiping it to the right with the flat side of your spatula. Make another dot just over the end of your swipe and swipe it again. Continue doing this all the way around the cake. Once you have completed the first row, start at the backside again and create your dots, touching the row beneath. Continue all the way up the sides. You can either leave the top plain or do the same design on the top, jut going in circles. This is so easy, but makes such a huge effect!

Paw Patrol Party

Maclayne loves to have parties based on characters that are pretty new! Last year it was Paw Patrol and this year it is Peppa Pig. Peppa Pig has been around for a while but it is really hard to find a lot of products here. So both last year and this year have required me to be pretty creative in decorating for her parties. This is where the silhouette comes in! It is so easy to find images online and use the print and cut feature to make custom decorations.

For the main wall, I created large pinwheels and put cut out images of each pup in the center of each one. I used a shape from the silhouette library and stretched it to the biggest size I could get with 12x12 paper. I really loved the effect this had and helped me break away from the traditional banners. I also used the same cut outs as centerpieces. I just put them on sticks, as well as number 3s, and put them in a bucket of similar colors.

For desserts I made puppy chow, pup cakes, and bone cookies. I always use the icing recipe from www.bakeat350.com for my cookies. They were super easy since they were only 1 color. Since there were so many little ones at the party, I decided to use plastic cups with lids for the drinks. Once again I used the print and cut feature to make stickers to put on the cups. Gotta love adhesive paper! The balloons really created a lot of shadows in my pics, but I think you can get the idea!

The party favors were little puppies that the guests could adopt. I put paw stamps on brown boxes, put cocoa puffs in little baggies as pup food, and scooby snacks as treats. Mackenzie wanted to make loom band collars for all of the puppies, which I thought was a great addition! 

I have started planning Maclayne's Peppa Pig party so I will post pics once the party is over. 

Disney World 2015 and the Silhouette Cameo

I love using my cameo to create things that I have seen online! Even though the machine is somewhat pricey upfront, it has saved me so much money over the past few years that I have owned it.

We are literally counting down the days until we leave for our trip to Disney World. We will be staying in a Royal Room at the Port Orleans Riverside. The girls are so excited about the hotel and getting to ride their favorite rides and see their favorite characters. Maclayne's 4th birthday is actually the day we will be heading back home, so we are planning to let her go on a shopping spree in Downtown Disney. She will be so excited!

I asked the girls to both decide on a character that they wanted for their countdown chain. They actually decided pretty quickly on Rapunzel (my favorite!). I found an image of Rapunzel that I liked online and copy and pasted it into my Silhouette program. Then I used one of the frame shapes that I had and placed it around the image. Then I added registration marks. I used the print and cut feature to print it out. After you select print, you place the image onto your mat and load it into the machine. Tell the program to detect registration marks automatically. Once it says they have been detected, press cut. It's really easy and is such a versatile feature! You could take the same frame that I used for the image and expand it to make a border around the image.

Voila! Super easy!

The girls really enjoyed making the paper chain and stapling it to the image. Mackenzie insisted we make the chain yellow to make it look like her hair, which was a great idea. It has made counting down fun for them and it's crazy to see the chain get smaller and smaller!

Monkey 1st Birthday Cake

I wanted to start out my blog by showing some of the cakes I have created in the past. Cake decorating is a hobby of mine and I usually get my ideas from a combination of things I have seen online. When my youngest daughter (who is now almost 4) turned 1, we decided to do a monkey theme for her party. I made most of the decorations an her invitations using my Silhouette Cameo.

I decided to do a 2 layer cake because we have a large extended family and I love the effect they have! I found a monkey cookie cutter that I used to create the monkey faces on the cake. I used a sharp knife to hand cut all of the facial features of the monkey. I only did a few monkeys so it did not take that long. I had a flower shaped cookie cutter that I used for the flower on the monkey. I just used a small circle cookie cutter to create the circles all over the cake. Cookie cutters were also used for the design and letter on top. The piping along the edges help hide any imperfections in the fondant and create a finished look. I also do this step last so that I don't bump it when I am working. I used a wilton tip to create the shell pattern. I always use Americolor gels to color my frosting and if I decide to color my own fondant. I have found that most people just take the fondant off without even trying it. I just buy the cheaper Wilton fondant instead of the pricier fondants because they work well for me and I don't worry about the taste. I made this cake the day before and the fondant held up very well! I think it also helped the cake hold the fondant because it firmed it up. Hope you like it!