Another year older

Both of my daughter's are now in elementary school. I have a 5th grader and a 1st grader. They are aging faster than I can count. Everyone tells you, when you are pregnant with your first child, how fast those years go by. During the first year of that child's life you think, "Yeah right!" I am here to attest that it is true. I am almost the mother of a middle schooler. AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Anyway, my oldest (top photo) had a Harry Potter party. We had magic tricks (science experiments), played authentic HP games (quidditch), and of course had cake! Chloe read all of the books, so I fashioned a book cake.

My youngest is obsessed with the movie "Tangled." Anytime we ask her what she wants to watch, that's her choice. So for her party we took a trip to Focus on the Family, which has rooms to rent for FREE! The kids played in the children's play area and I didn't have to clean up!! Perfect! Her cake is a replica of Rapunzel's tower in the flowery field.

My new job!

I got a new job at a bakery. After years of working for myself, following my own rules, and using my own recipes I am working for someone else. I like not having to put a price on my cakes, or cleaning up my kitchen. It is nice to have a place to enjoy my craft and have people to talk to while I do it. Below are cakes that I have at work. If you like them check out www.marvelscakes.com .

My mom's wedding

I am running a bit behind on updates. It has been a whirlwind over the past 4 or 5 months. We had a family vacation, relocated, started new jobs, and are trying to settle into life. This cake is from my very own mother's wedding reception, which was in May. It was a lovely small ceremony in a park. It was great to bring all of the family together to celebrate together.

My mom gave me free reign on her cake design. So I started gathering intel. Her cake combined the flowers used in her bouquet, lace details matching her mother's anniversary dress, and pearls which she wore. I wanted to duplicate my grandmother's wedding dress, but it turns out that her and my grandfather eloped.

The flowers are all handmade from gum paste. The middle photo shows my flowers next to my mom's bouquet. The sotas on the top layer are meant to replicate the lace and there is also a fondant lace detail on the middle layer. The bottom layer has a faux fabric swag and gold broach.

Birthdays and bunnies

My friend's daughter, Adria celebrated her 6th birthday last weekend and I had the privilege of making her cupcakes. In true little girl fashion, Adria wanted confetti cupcakes (vanilla cake with sprinkles in the batter) with vanilla frosting and I obliged. The kids gobbled them up and think a few mom wanted to! Unfortunately, there were only enough for the kiddos.

The party was great and very organized. The kids played games while the moms chatted. When it came to present time, Adria only opened one gift. It was a special gift from all of the attendees because the other gifts, Adria decided to donate to a family who lost everything in a fire. What an inspiring 6 year old. Great job Arlinda!

Roses

Since I was asked to make some flowers for Lori's wedding cake I figured it was a chance to learn a new technique. So I watched countless episodes of "Amazing Wedding Cakes" and surfed Youtube to learn something new. What I noticed was that not all buttercream roses are as hideous as they appear on grocery store cakes. So here are my attempts at some buttercream roses.

Lori

I made this all buttercream cake for Lori and her husband in January. The flowers are all handmade from gumpaste made to look like the flowers from her bouquet. The cake was alternating layers of vanilla and chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and raspberry mousse with vanilla buttercream.

Brittany and John

This past weekend I had the pleasure of making a wedding cake for a lovely couple, Brittany and John. The wedding was simple and understated, but beautiful so I tried to convey that in the cake as well. The cake was vanilla with strawberry mousse, covered in fondant and decorated with royal icing and gumpaste flowers.