Bronwen Class

Brownwen is an amazing lady. She is very smart and knows her stuff, it makes me realize that I really should go to pastry school. She is just as outgoing and crazy as you see on TV, but also very sweet and makes sure she helps everyone.



Like I said earlier that the class was only three days, but I did learn alot. I am not going to go into every detail because this post will end up being so long that no one will want to read it but I will run over the main details! We did two cakes during the course. The first one was a big baby doll and the second was a three-tier topsy turvy or "caddy whompus" as she called it.

The doll cake started out with a structure made out or PVC and plastic so it is completely food safe, the stand was about twenty inches tall. You could adjust the arms and stuff to pose the baby however you wish. The clear acrylic plate in the middle is to stack cake, so the stomach part of the baby will be the actual cake.



Next we covered the legs in modeling chocolate, not fondant, and shaped to look like baby legs. Then we stacked layers of cake in the middle and carved a belly and booty. We then attached the PVC arms and covered and shaped using more modeling chocolate. Iced up the cake and this is what mine looked like at that point...



The first thing we did after that was cover the arms and legs in an ivory colored fondant. Then we did white ruffles on the babies bottom for underneath the dress and white sleeves and a shirt. Then we wrapped pink fondant around the front and back and added straps for the dress. I added some bows and a little collar to mine.



Then we added some socks and fondant booties, made some fondant hands (that were a pain to get to stick without sagging or falling off), and decorated a Styrofoam ball for the head. We just wrapped some more ivory fondant on the ball, made indents for eyes and cut a mouth. We made small white dots for the eyes and added blue and black centers to them and a ball with indents on the sides for a cut little nose. We could wither do hair or a hat to finish it off. I chose the hat because it was easy and I was tired of working on it for two days. But I thought that they turned out really cute and I couldn't bear to break it down and kill it, so I had them ship it home for me!



On the last day we did a square three tier topsy turvy cake. On this cake Bronwen taught us a quick and easy decorating technique on each side. Most of them I already knew like stripes, polka dots, diamonds, and stuff like that, but she did teach us some really cool piping designs and tips. I must say however piping on the side of a cake is harder than it looks! I did not stack up my cake on the stand because I did not want to have to wash it at the hotel to take home so I just took a picture of Bronwen's cake to show you what we did. Of course hers looks 100% better than mine did, that's another reason why I am posting hers!



It was so much fun and I learned alot. If you are into cake decorating (Rebekah) or just want to learn, if you ever get a chance to do something like this, DO IT! I highly suggest it and you won't regret it!

Gimme! Gimme!

First Five Gimme Gimme
from the lovely Sherrie Hanna

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice for you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It’ll be done this year. {translation: you may be waiting a little while}

4. You have no clue what it’s going to be … it may be cards, a poem, a bookmark, something yummy or a complete surprise to you (and me!) … who knows? not you, that’s for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

6. Most importantly, you must offer the same deal on your blog - the first 5 people to comment on your blog (or if you do not have a blog, Facebook, etc.) get something made by YOU!

My Eternal Family Primary Activity

So now that I am the 2nd Counselor and in charge of the quarterly primary activities, I pretty much get free reign (with the exception of a budget). We had it a couple weeks ago, but I am finally blogging about it now...
So for the first activity I wanted to do something to introduce this year's primary theme: My Eternal Family. I got the idea for this activity from the new song that we will be learning this year, the first line in the song goes "I am a builder working each day to build my family." I thought that it could be SO cute to have all the kids be little builders and they would learn the "tools" they need to strengthen and build their eternal families.

I went to the party store and bought a bunch of little construction hats and to the fabric store and bought fabric to sew little tool belts for each of the kids to wear. Then I did a whole bunch of die cuts of 5 different tools to symbolize the 5 different "tools" they would be learning. I was really pleased with the results. Here is an example of the completed product:



I bought tons of construction tape and little mini constructions cones to decorate the gym for fun. I also made construction signs for each different station and activity. The stations were going to be divided into the different "tools" they would be learning, which were: Family Home Evening, Family Prayer, Family Scripture Study, Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, and Service.



At each station the leader would talk about how that particular tool helps build and strengthen our families and then do a little activity. At the end of the activity they would get a tool for their tool belt. At the Scripture Study station we did a matching game of different things you learn from the scriptures; at the F.H.E. we gave out family home evening packets about eternal families that had songs, scriptures, games, and a recipe for a treat; at the Family Prayer station we passed around a ball to music and when the music stopped whoever was holding the ball named something they were thankful for; at the Service station the kids made service coupon books; and at the Keeping the Sabbath Holy station they played a game were they would draw different activities out of a toolbox and decide whether it was appropriate for the Sabbath or not. We did each station for about 10 minutes then some group pictures, so the activity lasted about an hour. Here is a couple pictures from the day.





Finally I was at a store shopping for some cake stuff one day and saw a really cute candy mold of tools that I just had to get. I just melted white chocolate tinted grey then poured it in the mold and let set, then bagged and tagged for treats to give the kids at the end activity. They turned out super cut and went perfect with the theme.



I think that it turned out really well, and I have had quit a few parents comment on how much fun their kids had. It was alot of work but well worth it! I am already brainstorming for next quarter, but I am most certain that it won't involve any sewing! Also I just have to end with a couple silly pictures of Mason from that day...

Bowling

We took Mason bowling at FatCats on Tuesday because that morning David and Mason were watching Reading Rainbow (yes, Reading Rainbow, on at 9am on PBS channel 7), LeVar was explaining cause and effect by bowling and what happens to the pins when they get knocked down, where the ball goes, and so forth... It was actually pretty interesting and Mason thought that it was the funniest thing when the pins would crash.

Mason was really excited when we got to FatCats because he know that we were going bowling. He got a 5lb ball and I was a little worried that it was going to be too heavy, but he did really really well. He watched David go a couple of times and then he went for it. So Cute! He would throw the ball and then runaway because he was afraid of stepping on the foul line and hear that loud buzzing sound! It would either go into the gutter or roll along the side of the bumpers and knock like 1 pin over.

Here are some cute photos and videos of Mason bowling...









They also had these little ramps that kids could put the balls on and push it. He didn't think it was as fun as throwing the ball, but it knocked down more pins that way. It was so much fun and Mason had a blast, he keeps talking about it all the time! We will definitely be going again.

Our New Family Addition...

Whenever we go out to the pet store so Mason can look at the animals, we debate on getting him a pet. Something simple, not too expensive, easy to take care of, in a cage, and easy to replace just in case it dies, in other words, A FISH! So last weekend we finally decided to go ahead and do it, we bought some fish. Our first family pet! We were just going to get a simple bowl and a couple of cheap goldfish, but as we looked around our minds slowly changed. With all the cost of the heater, gravel, thermometer, and filter, we decided to go with a starter kit. Then the we got some cute little guppies instead of goldfish. With the food and water treatments (and of course David had to get little sunken pirate ship) it turned out to be not so cheap. But Mason was so excited that it made it all worth it.


Mason and his Fishies!


We put the tank on his dresser so it was high enough that he couldn't get into it all the time.


The Guppies


Feeding the fish


Oh! I want to hold the Fishies!

We went and got Mason another fish and a frog for his tank because he had been so good with the fish, and they have made it longer than we thought!


He picked this guppy out...


The frog is lazy and hides behind the ship all day!

January Cakes

January was a little bit slower for cakes, which was a very nice break because I was feeling a bit burnt out. I still had some fun ones though, and thought that I would share some of them with you all...


Another Sleeping Hunter and Deer


Peek-A-Boo Baby Shower Cupcakes


Chinese New Year (year of the Ox)


Purple Mountaintop Castle