My New Find

I went to buy some fabric this past week and one of the ladies there told me they had this book also if i wanted to get it turned me onto to this book and i just had to get it. What does that say about easily convinced i am of buying something? It contains tons of ideas for things to make with just a yard of fabric. It comes with the pattern for every idea in the book. I can't wait to get started!

Let's Talk Blinds

We moved into our house last April and still have not gotten any blinds installed at our house. We only have the temporary blinds and they look horrible. 100% of the reason we don't have blinds is because i really want plantation shutters. I have had my heart set on them but they cost a fortune so i've been dragging my feet on getting a quote. I finally got a quote on them the other day and i can do our house 4 times in faux wood plain blinds for the price of plantation shutters. This alone makes me want to go with plain but i still haven't made up my mind. It doesn't help that i am super indecisive either. The main reason i am hesitant is because i have one domed window and it would look ridiculous with square blinds in the window. Plantation shutters would be custom fit to the window so i wouldn't need to have drapes around that one window if i didn't want. Which of course, i don't. It couldn't be that easy could it?

New Look!

I hope you all like the new look! I changed all of my blogs to new backgrounds and headers. It is a lot easier than i would have thought and a lot more fun too!

Long Time No Talk!

I feel like i have been neglecting my personal blog because i have been so busy with my business one! I have been up to so much. After i started working on embroidery on my borrowed machine i was able to buy the software i needed to do much more. I have done a good bit of embroidered burp cloths and sewn a few things but just haven't had time to do everything i want. I have started doing hair bows which is also a lot of fun. I am lucky that so many people around me let me practice and buy the things i make!

I am still doing baking jobs but haven't put those on here because i didn't want to this to become a crossover business blog. I seem to have a job to do every weekend and many booked throughout the summer. It's been a fun and interesting ride so far. Hopefully i'll get a good bit better as i am able to practice more. There will be new classes coming up in the spring and my local cake decorating store. I'm really excited about this. I can't wait to expand my abilities!

Valentine's Heaven

Today is our first valentine's day as a married couple. J had my favorite bouquet, red roses and white calla lilies, delivered to me at work earlier this week. They are so beautiful! I included a pic of them below. This is the pic i found online, not an actual picture of the ones i got because i didn't take one. He also gave me the new Almond Joy pieces. How exciting!!! He is the best husband i could ever ask for.

For dinner we decided to stay in instead of fighting crowds of people at restaurants. I cooked crawfish etouffee and attempted my first cheesecake. I did blueberry cheesecake because J loves it. Neither were spectacular but i did the best i could. I definitely could use some practice. All in all it was a fabulous day staying in with my love.

 

Happy Birshday to Me!

Today is my birthday and it is raining horribly outside but i had the best morning already. J and I went and got Burger King breakfast (my fav) and he bought me a cupcake shake. It was delicious and a little mini birthday cake of sorts for me. 

Last night we had a bunch of friends get together for Sushi and i had a blast! We'll be going to dinner tonight with my ILs and doing lunch tomorrow with my family. This has been the best year of my life and i can't wait to see what next year has in store!

And the list continues....

I decided to add embroidery and sewing to my hobby list. I have always loved Embroidery and cutesy personalized things and knew i wanted to do this but didn't figure i could until i could buy a machine. Well, my MIL offered hers until i get one and i could be happier! Over the thanksgiving holiday i embroidered and sewed away getting used to the machine. I bought a ton of fabric and applique/embroidery files and am ready to go to town. 

Since i didn't know enough about this process, i didn't exactly know that i needed software to do what i need to do so this is next on my list. In the mean time i will be making things that do not necessarily need to be embroidered. Minor set back i guess. In the mean time, look at what i made first!

Giving Thanks

I always tear up thinking about how blessed i am and how thankful i am for everything i have been given so when better to say it than now?

Today and everyday i am so thankful for:
~  God blessing me with a wonderful life. I am healthy and mobile and alive! 
~  I am thankful for my wonderfully amazing husband who supports me through all my new adventures, listens to me babble on about things that excite me and things that make me sad, and most of all because he is patient with me and loves and accepts me for me, warts and all. I do not know what i would do without him. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me. 
~  I am thankful for having a wonderful job with wonderful employers who just so happen to be family. They are selfless and ever supportive of their work family just as they are their personal family. 
~  I am thankful for my amazing family that loves me unconditionally and has always stuck by me and i them at all times. Even though i don't see them often, i always think of them and would do anything for them.


For Thanksgiving, we went to J's uncle's house and hung out with family. I brought this pumpkin chocolate chip cake roll with cream cheese frosting. It was delicious!

Cooked Candy and Heavenly Cookies

I attended a cookie swap/cooked candy class this morning and our pass to get in is a batch of baked cookies and a few supplies for cooked candy we will make in class. I chose Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies to bring and they were heavenly! Pumpkin is my new favorite flavor to bake with. The pumpkin spice cupcakes i made for Halloween were so good that i decided a cookie recipe must be just as good. Since i can't do anything half way, i wrapped these as i do the favors i make for baking jobs but with pink ribbon. I might be a slight overachiever.

Anyway, the class was awesome. We received a cookie and candy cookbook as well as a goodies bag for us to go home. It was a lot of fun and something Hope and I are thinking about doing on our own!

 

Dream Baby Shower

So, i have had this ideal baby shower vision in my head for quite some time now and was finally able to make it a reality. I love polka dots so i really enjoyed this job. Hope's friend from back home wanted to really throw a good baby shower for her friend so she enlisted our help! We did a dozen chocolate chip with cream cheese filling and a dozen white cupcakes with bavarian cream filling cupcakes with pink, chocolate, and white fondant decorations and a coordinating 6" and 8" stacked cake. The cake will have a big pink bow on top but will need to be added when assembly is complete. Hopefully i will get a good picture to post when the party is over. 

We also did two dozen chocolate dipped sandwich cookie favors with pink baby decorations for guests to pick up on their way out. Everything turned out so cute and this was such an easy job to do. Maybe this means we are getting better at it? Who knows, but i am so glad i was finally able to do this! I have been waiting on someone to have a girl, so i could have some baking fun!!! 

 

Happy Halloween!

I decided to make some Halloween treats for us to bring tailgating for the LSU game. I made pumpkin spice cupcakes and pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with buttercream icing. I also made some fondant flowers to use as decorations and added candy corn to the tops of some of the cupcakes as well. I also made candy corn bark and chocolate dipped oreos.

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is breast cancer awareness month so i decided to make some pink cupcakes to honor it! These cupcakes are pink lemonade with lemon buttercream in hot pink cupcake liners and adorned with pink ribbons (one with pink sugar crystals and one without). They were pretty good, not perfect, but good. I will still be working on my recipe. I also made a few little white chocolate dipped sandwich favors to go with it.

Gender Neutral Baby Shower

My Sister in Law's baby shower was today and i made the cupcakes to go with the theme. I made two dozen chocolate chip cupcakes with chocolate cream filling and two dozen white cupcakes with vanilla cream filling.

Amish Friendship Bread

I got my start from Hope for this bread and thought it was such a cute idea! I had never heard of it. You get the starting materials already mixed and squish it everyday until day five when more things are added. The daily squishing continues until day 10 when the same things are added and more of things that you want. I added pudding and chocolate chips. It was so good! 

On a side note, i am experimenting with my photography so hopefully my pictures look better from here on out than they used to!

My Charity Contribution

Not that i really contributed much, but i just had to share the big order i had that will be included in a gift basket at a charity event in Ohio. One order of 100 baking cups of everything i have in stock is what i am sending and i just had to take a picture when i started packing them in because of the beautiful colors.

Course 3 - Mission Accomplished

Taking two Wilton classes especially on days back to back is quite tiring. I threw this cake together and unfortunately didn't smooth it as i just wasn't in the mood. This is a hummingbird cake (which i had never made or tasted before) with cream cheese filling and i decided i didn't really like this kind of cake. Maybe because it tastes too banana-y. Who knows. Anyway, i brought it to work and they devoured it as always. Thank heavens for them because i hate to waste!

70 Years Young

We had a family get together this weekend and i made a chocolate chip cake with buttercream icing. I also put cupcakes around the cake but didn't take a picture. Happy Birthday Don!

Shake, Rattle, and Roll!

This is a rattle cake i made for my employee who is about to go on maternity leave with her second child. It is a chocolate chip cake with pink and brown fondant and buttercream trim/writing. It was the perfect amount of cake for the 5 of us going to dinner for her tomorrow night. The fondant got so soft while i was working with it. I'm not sure if it was because my house wasn't as cool as it should have been or if my hands were warm. Anyway, i'm new to fondant but really love what fondant cakes look like so i just need to keep practicing!

Chrisanthemum Love

Today was the third day of my fondant and gumpaste class and we learned flowers. I had to leave early to go eat dinner for my husband's birthday but at least i was able to stay long enough to make the most beautiful gumpaste flower i have ever seen. *Honest tidbit: this is the first gumpaste flower i have ever seen.* Nonetheless, it was absolutely gorgeous!! I saw them make daisies too but I was already packed up and walking out the door so I'll have to make one and post it here later.

Happy Cheaper Insurance Day

My husband's birthday was today and all the family went to dinner. I made him his favorite cake, funfetti. This is also my first fondant covered cake and i was really nervous because i froze it but it turned out perfect! I obviously need to practice covering the cakes with fondant but for my first, it turned out okay but it was delicious! I forgot to push down the edges of the dots on the sides before i took this picture. The words were free hand, not too bad if i say so myself! Happy Birthday Love, you old fart!

A Present for Hope

Today was the second day in our Course 3 class and we had to bring an iced square cake to class to cover in fondant. I decided to bake a chocolate cake with peanut butter chips and peanut butter filling. Instead of bringing this cake to work and then making another one for Hope's birthday next weekend, i decided to do as good a job as i could and keep it for her on her birthday. I only had one gaping hole so i guess that means i was successful. I put entirely too much icing on the cake before i covered it in fondant so it oozed out while i was covering it. You can kind of see it in the front shot below (it is in the bottom right corner of the cake). I also had to squish my 3D bow down because the carrying case wasn't tall enough. Anyway, i can't wait to taste it! I think this is going to be one of the best tasting cakes i have done so far, but i'll have to wait and see until next weekend!

Birthday Disaster

My Father in law's birthday was the 7th but we celebrated today because my husband was out of town. Well, my FIL wanted an ice cream cake and when i tried to make it the ice cream must have been too soft or not in the freezer long enough after i filled it because when i put it together the ice cream came gushing out all over the floor! Well, i threw that one away and just decided to hurry and make him a yellow cake. I was experimenting with fondant so the big balloons on the side are too big. I just tried to make due with what i had available but it turned out ok. It was really good though!

Beach Party!

I am missing out on a beach trip for Labor Day weekend but thought i would post the cupcakes that will be enjoyed on the trip. Hope baked and decorated these and they are so cute! We might have snuck and taste tested them and they were so good. Here's to fun in the sun...

Figure Piping

My figure piping class was tonight and it was a lot of fun! We learned various things. I made a little chick, an elephant, a ghost, wreaths and other things.

Birthdays and Babies

I had two jobs to do for today. One was a pink and white polka dot birthday party for two twin girls and the other a pink and brown girl baby shower.

For the twins' birthday party i did three dozen cupcakes for the guests and jumbo cupcakes for the girls because they requested "muffins" or "cuppy cakes" as their separate personal cake. I used some solid pink and some pink polka dot cupcake liners and did both chocolate and white cupcakes each decorated with bright pink fondant decorations stamped with birthday images (if you look close, you can see them in the picture below). For the girls i did jumbo cupcakes to be placed on a cake drum with fondant decorations with their name. For the twin that wanted a white cupcake, i decided to do hot pink striping in the batter. I finished each jumbo cupcake with pink mouse ears to go with the party theme. There will also be a candle on each cupcake for the girls to blow out.


For the baby shower, i made a custom pink and brown polka dot cupcake tower and made both chocolate and white cupcakes and petit fours each with a white M monogram in chocolate cupcake liners. The petit fours do not even deserve to be called petit because they ended up being HUGE! So, i'll call them grand fours.


What a job this was. Cupcakes: no problem, fondant letter and petit (grand) fours: TIME CONSUMING! I began at 8pm and didn't finish until 2am. I think my feet fell off somewhere in the kitchen... i'll just look for them in the morning. In the morning you ask? Yes, i am blogging at 2:42 AM waiting on the petit-grand fours to dry but dry or not, i'm putting them up now or else i'll be sleep blogging!

Brownie Fun

Hope and I attended the brownie class tonight and had a lot of fun! We were able to open all the flavors and other treats that Wilton offers for brownie making. While chocolate buttercream is good on the brownie, Wilton makes a brownie fudge icing that is F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S. Here are my brownies. We had two circles, one heart, a mini, a pop, an oblong, and one that looks like a set of stairs. Still not sure what that one is supposed to be!

Web Store

Since i don't have any jobs being finished this week for pictures i thought i would post that i have bought so many baking cups, i decided to open an online store to sell some of them in. Bear with me because i just populated it but it is there nonetheless! I have to buy thousands at a time to get a good price so i have more than i need presently. These would make your baking that much sweeter!

Doberge and Petit Fours

Today was the doberge and petit fours class and it was amazing! I learned a few things that i hadn't really thought of and can't wait to experience. I am so excited in fact that i wanted to do a post just on my class without any pictures of anything i've made because, well, i just got home from the class! Below are pictures of what we learned to make and there is a certain someone that is absolutely obsessed with these cakes so a surprise may be in order, for practicing purposes of course. My husband's cousin decided to come with me and i think she really liked the class and i enjoyed her being there. We also tasted the cakes and man were they good! Here are some pictures i found online of what we had in class. I can't wait to do this myself! I may just have to experiment this weekend.

Doberge cake is a layered dessert originating in New Orleans, Louisiana. Still popular in the area, the cake is made of multiple thin layers of cake alternating with dessert pudding.

A petit four is a small cake generally eaten at the end of a meal or served as part of dessert.The name is from the French petit four, meaning "small oven".

Candy Basket

I was enlisted to make some candy and cupcakes for a family get together this week. I was able to do what i wanted so i decided to make a dipped candy basket of sorts. Yesterday Hope came over to help me and we had a blast. What a team we are! We made dipped sandwich cookies (chocolate and golden), dipped rice treats, and dipped pretzels. We packaged them and put them in a square dish i had at home. I also made Chocolate cupcakes ahead of time with mint buttercream icing topped with fleur de lis designs.