Book Rack

I've been working on a design for my son's bookshelf. I love these wall shelf style with the books facing forward so the book covers can be seen. I finally got it finished yesterday and installed it last night. It's made out of wood we had left over from other projects. Whew! I love it and so does our little boy!

Cookie Gift Tags

Here's something to inspire you. Instead of paper tags on your gifts, how about a cookie! These are sugar cookies, topped with Royal icing around the special person's initials. Have fun with yours!

Snowmen in the sun

I saw these cute little snowman cookies online and just had to try them for this year's cookie season. It was really fun and not hard at all. Unfortunately, these pictures were from the second batch I made and the colored icing was too thin and pooled a bit. But, I think you get the idea.... These are the closest I think I'll get to snow this year...

Happy Birthday Jesus Party

The Girls Club of a local church asked me to create a cake for their Christmas party (served 70) and also asked if David would be a part and do drawings for all the guests. It was a real treat for us both and we were actually paid for our creative work! I received many compliments on the cake. The kids thought all the characters were really 'neat' and most loved (and wanted to keep) the sheep (they were my favorite too!)

The girls (and boys) really loved coming up with all sorts of animals (and superheros) for David to draw for them. They looked so happy when they were given their own mini masterpieces! We calculated that David drew about 40 pages of characters! Whew!

It's hard to get the true feel from a picture, but here are some snapshots.

Baby Shower!

Early next year there will be a new addition to our extended family. Yesterday was my sister-in-law's baby shower and everything was so pink and girly and cute. I was allowed to make the cake for it and I think it was a big hit. I tried a new chocolate cake recipe and I'm pretty sure it's a keeper! The only hangup was that I didn't have the time over this busy holiday weekend to spread out making my little creations and I had to do the whole thing in one day. It came out pretty cool though so I'm happy!
The invitations had a cute little girl on them so I tried to make the character resemble her and added the flower.
I would have liked this to come out a little nicer but at 2am, that's what I could get out of my hands... :)
Until next time.... TFL!

Customer Cakes

Had my first real cake delivery today. It was like I was on one of those tv shows where I had to be very careful for pot holes and road construction so I wouldn't mess up the cakes I was bringing to a customer. It was very exciting and nerve wracking at the same time! I got there and was greeted by a very happy little boy who was very quick to point out how much he loved cake!
These cakes were for a cute little girl's birthday party. The theme was Butterfly Garden and she was going to be wearing a fairy style dress. I tried to incorporate their colors of copper, goldenrod and antique pink. I had a little trouble with some things like the borders and such but over all it came out nice. It was a buttercream frosted cake with fondant accents. Chocolate cake on the bottom tier and strawberry cake on the top tier. The smash cake was white cake.
I can't wait for the next cake I'll be doing in a couple of weeks! Stay tuned!

Birthday Cake for my Sis!

I had basically no time at all but managed to spit out this birthday cake for my little sister. I don't like to only have a small portion of one day to make and decorate a cake but that's all I had since I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my brother and his family who were visiting from up north. I have three nieces and a nephew that I hardly ever get to see so juggling everything was tricky. I think my sister liked the cake so that's all that matters!
I didn't want it to be completely covered in fondant so most of the icing is meringue buttercream. It was a little slippery for the vertical strips of fondant and they slid around a little bit in the car on the way to the party. I didn't have time to 'draw' veins on the leaves and the roses aren't really my favorite. But, enough with the excuses, I'm always going to find something I don't like!

More Cookie Cutters

A friend of mine asked if I could make her a couple of cookie cutters. I have only made the one for the surprise party way back in July 2008. I was willing to try it and they came out pretty decent! They're not really something I can do to earn money since they are really inexpensive to buy. It was fun even if a bit tedious.

Started out with making these sketches. She needed a lemonade glass and a sock.
Ended up with these...

Sunday Fun

Our church had a 'family meal' together last Sunday and my sister-in-law Gabby and I decorated for the event. It's become a nice little tradition we often do for our themed dinners. This meal had a breakfast theme and the food everyone brought was scrumptious! Our decor was themed French Bistro. We did the best with what we had (and could afford)!

We had an area for drinks (coffee, juice, hot tea, etc.) that was topped with an awning type feature and finished off with a chalkboard. The tables were topped with blue/white coverings and custom placemats made for this occassion. The room also had the abstract artwork on the walls that is typical of French cafes. The decor provided a cozy and fun atmosphere and I think everyone enjoyed themselves!

The room itself needs a lot of updating and we're hoping to accomplish that in the very near future. Here are some snapshots!

Autumn Leaves

Fall doesn't officially start until September 22 but my sister-in-law Gabriella and I love to decorate for the seasons so we start early. We like to give the decor it's due time on display. From leaves to pumpkins, I go for the 'harvest' theme when it comes to Autumn. Unfortunately we don't get the extreme weather changes that come with the seasons so I have to make due with branches that I can buy at the local grocery store. This year it's been especially challenging to find places for my little knick knacks since my 2 year old loves to investigate, but I think I've managed it.
Hay stacks, for some reason, feel like autumn to me. Probably because of all the pumpkin patches!
I love this little wooden cart I found in a pottery store.
It's just a nice change to have some different decor in the house. Adds a touch of 'cozy'.

Shoe Box and Shopping Bag

I finally finished the shoe box and shopping bag to go along with the shoes. I didn't expect it but they took longer than the shoes themselves! Part of the problem was that I didn't use the right sugar powder in order for the box to dry hard. In the end though, it worked out.

I also entered a shoe-purse cake contest since I already had the shoes. This is the picture I used. I just had to make the purse. The purse was only 4" tall but it was cake! I won't find out until the end of September how many votes I got. I don't think I really stand a chance but it was fun to enter!

Wedding Cake

I delivered a cake today for a friend of mine who's daughter was celebrating getting married. It was kind of last minute but I'm glad I was able to help her out! It's chocolate and vanilla cakes with buttercream roses and icing.

Shoes for Cake

My former cake decorating teacher referred me to this person who needed a few pieces for her friends' surprise birthday cake. Turns out, she already had the shoes done by someone else but they weren't what she wanted and hired me to re-do them. They are less than 6" long and I wasn't too sure I could do this but David and my teacher insisted I could. I was a little nervous but I decided to go for it. I am mostly happy with how they came out. The buckle on the one shoe is wrong and there are several other things I would work on if I had to do it over but this is what I could do at this stage of my experience.

She also asked me to do a shoe box and a shopping bag and that's next on my list! Everything is edible except the buckle and the gems. TFL!

Birthday Cake!

For my son's birthday I made a cake that incorporated 2 themes - cars and barn animals. His bedroom has a slight monkey theme, thus the monkey on his personal cake. The monkey isn't what I was exactly going for. I'm pleased with the cow and the horse on the two layer cake. The top of the 2 layer cake has a little dog, to represent our little maltese, who is poking his head through the #2. Everything is edible except the cars.

Cake of Appreciation

This past Saturday afternoon some good friends of ours threw a Pastor Appreciation party for David's parents. Since I've been in the cake decorating mood, I asked if I could make the cake and they agreed. Here's what I came up with:
The bottom layer was chocolate with cookies and cream filling. The top two layers were white with strawberry cream filling. Everything is completely edible and I think that really surprised everyone. I got a lot of encouraging compliments. Thanks everyone! Unfortunately I'm not very happy with the woman. She was the first one I did and the arms, hands and feet are a little longer/larger than I had planned. Her face isn't what I'd hoped for either but I'm still a newbie. I really enjoyed working on it and getting practice with making people. There's a birthday coming up so I'm guessing that will be the next project!

(thanks to Justin for helping set up the cake and for taking photos!)

More Cookies!

I've been working on products for my fundraiser website. I'm revamping the look and working on some new things. Here's a look at some of the new cookie designs I'll have available.

I'm not super happy with how the tuxedo came out. The icing wasn't right but it'll be better next time! I think the birthday cakes look really festive!I have one more design to do but just haven't found the moment to sit and finish it. TFL!

Special Occassion Cake

Here's my final project cake. I didn't have a ton of time to make more flowers and often less is more. :) This was only a single layer of each cake for practice purposes. Higher cakes would look better and there wouldn't be as much open pillar space under the top cake. I have a lot I could tweak with the piping but I've learned a lot and the future looks bright. ;)
TFL!

Finally!

Well, I've finally re-designed this blog. I didn't really like what I had before and I've gotten some great ideas from other sites online. Hope you enjoy reading the posts even more now. Thanks for stopping by and for all the encouraging messages.

Fondant - for real

Well, this was what I did in my lesson on fondant. I really like this style of rose. The royal icing rose was prettier than the buttercream rose but these fondant roses take the cake! TFL

Basketweave

Here's my latest practice cake. I still have a lot of perfecting to do but I'm happy with the results. :) TFL

cookies, cookies

I got a new cookie cutter and so I wanted to put it to use. David's brother had a birthday so I thought I'd make some sugar cookies for the occasion. It was fun to be able to use the decorating tips I've been working with in my cake decorating adventures plus you'll probably see these on our fundraiser website as we're still trying to raise money to pay for our adoption expenses.
I plan to be doing more of this in the future so stay tuned!

Newest thing

Well, it's been a while. Jack is really my "new" project but recently I've been working on cake decorating with my mom. I've always enjoyed decorating and here's another outlet for that interest. I'm not into 'typical' and always try to be a little different (as you can see by a post below with my attempt at fondant) so hopefully I'll learn the basics now and be able to expand on them in the future.
Here's a few cakes I've done with the help of an instructor. Not sure if I have the hang of it yet but it's fun to try! (I didn't have time to brighten the photos - sorry)
TFL

Back to the Drawing Board

I decided to make David a new Drawing Board stand. He has been asking for a movable one for some time now and I figured it would make a good birthday gift for him this year. About 4 years ago, when I made our desks, I also made him a stand but it didn't change angles. (see below)

He wanted one that could move lower, and even flatten for inking and writing purposes. So, after much time in the "R&D lab", I came up with something David really likes. He was very surprised and delighted when he opened it on his birthday's eve. It took me like 5 hours to finish. (I hadn't used my table saw in a while and needed time to get comfortable with it again.) It's no masterpiece but it's inexpensive and it works well, I think. I am pretty happy with it too. I haven't decided if I'll paint it yet, but I'm leaning that direction.

Thanks for lookin'!

Time for something new

The last few days have been busy. I got some new creative work that I'd never done before. A friend of mine had asked me to research different ways to use edible paper. Basically you can print anything you'd print to regular paper on to icing paper with a special printer and edible ink! These images are incredibly clear and have a ton of possibilities! She asked me to make different types of desserts to see what the paper can be applied to. They have purchased the printing system and are in the process of setting up their website to sell printed sheets. So... This called for a photo shoot!

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and into the night baking regular and mini sized cupcakes, creating different shapes of sugar cookies with icing, dipping strawberries, pretzel rods, rice krispy treats and even my biscotti into white chocolate and then applying the edible paper to each one. It was a learning experience for sure and I loved it!

I loaded up all my creations and headed over to their office this morning for the shoot. Below is a collage of the pieces I made. I can't wait to try some new things!

Sock Hop Centerpieces

It's finally finished. After a solid week of working 15 hour days, the project is now complete. I made the remaining 9 Records, 10 number circle centerpieces and a box for cards that was intended to be similar to a juke box.
All the letters were cut from foam board... quite thick foam board....Each record was to have a song title from the movie Grease. They were 2 sided so all the song titles had to be done twice.
The glitter is now all over our home but again, it worked really well for this project. And it was kinda fun. :)
Most wouldn't realize the effort it took to complete this, but the client really appreciated it and that made it worth it. I can say this.... I don't want to look at an Xacto knife for a while!

Baseball Cookies... You're outta here!

The cookies order I had for 7 dozen baseball cookies is now complete. I learned a little bit more about decorating cookies, which is usually what happens when I try something sorta new. It was fun, but scary. I was afraid I wouldn't get it right, or that something would go wrong.

I thank God for His faithfulness in providing the extra jobs that brings in a little more money towards our adoption fees. Yay God!

Surprise Party!

I was the Event Planner, Decorator, Caterer, and the Baker for a Surprise party this past Saturday evening. The party was for a woman in our church who just turned 65. Her family hired me and, overall, it was a success! The theme was "Mary, This Is Your Life" and was based on a game show theme, thus the glitzy feel of the black/white and silver. The guest list climbed to between 60-65 people and it was a challenge cooking and setting up seating for that many people. In the end, there were about 50 guests so the family took a lot of food home.

The previous post shows what I did for guest favors. One cookie was put at each place setting. I had them packaged in a little baggie with a thank you note attached. (click on the pictures to view them bigger)
I thought the back wall of the room turned out great! I made the 5-1/2 foot wide sign out of styrofoam and glittered it. That was a lot of fun.
This glittered styrofoam "65" was a part of the table centerpieces. I must say, I never liked using glitter, but it just worked really well for the decor of the room.
This is the cake I made. It is no where near what I had envisioned. Basically it was a disaster. Nothing worked right for it. I did get a lot of compliments on it's flavor though. Each tier was three layers, neopolitan style - chocolate, white and strawberry.
I was told Mary's favorite cuisine was Italian, which made it easy on me. I made Baked Ziti, served with Meatballs, Salad with Italian dressing, and Garlic Breadsticks. Yum.
We played a Game that was similar to Jeopardy/Price is Right, etc. Questions were asked about Mary's likes, her life and her interests. There were three contestants and Mary's granddaughter won!

I wanted to also sincerely thank all those who helped pull this off! I couldn't have done it without my friends and family who immediately pitched in to help me when I was so overwhelmed with everything I had to finish. THANKS!

TFL! (thanks for lookin')

Cookies Galore!

I have another project I'm working on and here's something new that I tried. I made my own cookie cutter. Of course, I would have to pick a hard design for my first one. It's not the straightest cutter, but it worked out. I made over 150 cookies. I intended it to be on the whimsical side, so I think they turned out ok. The icing's a bit messy on these so I changed it. TFL

Sock Hop decor

I was hired to work on table centerpieces for a Bat Mitzvah. I was asked to expand on the original idea and I think it's really cool. I gave her the first one so she could meet with her florist to make sure it would work. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the finished piece. Here's what it looked like without the pink glitter completely finished and without all the extra silver pieces around the record itself. I designed the label too. The design goes on both sides too, so there's a lot of letters to be cut. *ouch* There are a total of 10 Records, and several Numbers for children's tables. I really need to get working on the rest before time runs out!


I also get to design a "cards" box with the Sock Hop decor theme. Any ideas what it should look like? I'll post another picture of a finished record when I get it finished! TFL!

Being Italian

Over this past week, we had some of my cousins from Italy visit us (stayed with my parents), along with my aunt and uncle from Pennsylvania. It was really great to see them and we had a lot of good meals, as you might guess. My uncle and aunt (and cousin) from Clearwater joined us on Sunday too. I was able to cook for everyone on Sunday and made a couple of things throughout the week, like pane italiano (italian bread) and zuppa (soup), and I enjoyed that very much. Unfortunately work has been extremely busy for me, and especially for David. It's been kind of tough physically, but it all worked out.

I made another watermelon for our trip to my Uncle's house in Clearwater on the 4th of July.

This was the lemon cake I made for dessert after Sunday's meal at our house.

This is all of us on Sunday afternoon in our living room... eating again.
Here's some of my family from left to right: Franco, his wife Anna, (their son Samuele is in one of the pictures above), my dad's sister Giuseppina, her husband Salvatore, my dad's brother's wife Franca, my dad's brother Pasquale (their daughter Sabrina is in a picture above), me, my mom Esther and my dad, Giuseppe

'nother watermelon

At church today, we had our 5th Sunday Fellowship Lunch. Whenever a month has 5 Sundays, the 5th Sunday is generally when we have a meal together right after our morning service. It's a time that we can spend 'catching up' with our church family and it's always so nice.

Today's theme was Independence Day Picnic. We had a deli meat and cheese tray for sandwiches and everyone brought sides to pair with it. I brought the fruit. I've been handed a lot of work lately so I didn't have a lot of time to spend, but I did want to create something fun.

I don't like the jagged edges around bowl, but overall I think it came out pretty decent and the fruit was quite tastey!

First Paid Catering Job

As most of you know, I love to host parties and create fun atmospheres. I've done Valentines Banquets and Mother's Day Brunches and all sorts of things, but I've never been "paid" for the food and decor I create.

This time was different! I just completed my first real catering job. A woman at David's workplace asked if I'd be interested in catering a baby shower for a co-worker. I gave her some prices and she hired me! woohoo!

First thing was the Diaper Cake. The nursery theme is airplanes so they requested I add a plane to the top of the cake.

Per their request, the first tray consisted of spicy mini quiches and veggie tarts. (click on picture to see close-up)

The second tray was tortilla deli wraps and deviled eggs.

Lastly, I made a fruit salad in the bowl of a watermelon shaped like a baby carriage. I think it came out pretty decent.
Whew!

A Ladies Brunch

Yesterday, May 3rd, I held my 6th annual Ladies Brunch. I think this was the best, so far. I was pleased with the decor, and, while I wished I could have followed through with a couple of more menu items, I think the food was pretty good. The company, as usual, was wonderful.

(Feel free to click on the pictures to enlarge)

David was such a tremendous help in the preparation, as usual. I hate to admit it, but being short has it's drawbacks. Like connecting the top of the gazebo I made.


I used my table again. I finished it just before last year's brunch but needed to sand and repaint it for this year's meal. I think it works out really well for 12 people.


I grew pots of grass for the garden theme and, like last year, inserted skewered fresh fruit. The flower pots had mini oatmeal cookies.

The last thing we did was a fun group game. We split into two teams and the goal was to attach as many balloons as possible to the "model" in 5 minutes. Gina and Gabby were great sports!

Sad it was over. Thanks to everyone for coming and making this time extra special!

A Fondant Graduation

I'm finally writing a new post here on my personal blog. This one is about Fondant. It's basically a pliable sugar icing and has been used to create terrific cakes in all kinds of shapes and styles. It's amazing to see what some bakers create! David's brother, Jon, graduated with honors from Southeastern College and we had a party for him. This is my first real fondant covered character cake.


It's not the greatest. But it's a start. I'll need to work on a better cake batter as the one I made was kind of tough. The fondant was from a store-bought box and it doesn't taste good at all. But, the point was the character design and it got the message across. Next time it will be better and not so sloppy looking. haha

For those of you who remember, I did make a fondant covered cake for Linnie's birthday, in the shape of a Publix 'p', but I can't count that as a real one because that fondant wasn't right at all. Too thick, obscure recipe, and, well, I just don't count that! :)

Banquet Success

We had our 3rd Annual Valentine's Couples Banquet last Saturday. This was probably our best one. The food worked well, the decor was nicer and people seemed to have more fun. I made all of the food from scratch, even the Manicotti shells, which were crepes. Thankfully it was all very tasty. I have to say, God smoothed a lot of things out for me. I'm very grateful to Him. The whole thing was very fulfilling for me, very tiring too, but worth it!

Enjoying the first course: Bruschetta

Our Second course: Italian-style Salad (Justin showing it off)Our Main Dish: Manicotti & Braciole
Eating Dessert: Chocolate Strawberry Tower of Love

Gina's in the background doing a great job of serving...

Our Awesome Servers/Kitchen Help... Gina, Justin & Diamond
(Thank you all sooooo much!)

Something to dream about....

When I was little, in elementary school, I remember being accused (a lot) of daydreaming. Most of the time I got in trouble for it because I wasn't listening to my teacher but I was, instead, staring off into oblivion.

To this day I find myself continuing this tradition of mine. I sit and stare, usually in the mornings, not looking at anything in front of me, letting my thoughts run around to all the different corners of my world. It's quite relaxing for me and I really enjoy it. I find it spawns creativity and also causes me to work through any issues I might have at the moment. Many might think this is a form of meditation but as I understand it, meditation is "emptying" your mind of all things, and I don't think that's healthy because someone(thing) else could fill it with things you don't want. Instead, I think of this as working around your own mind and seeing what is really there....

So, do you "daydream" and what do you usually dream about?

Winter What?

I hosted our monthly Ladies meeting at church this month and I picked a Winter Wonderland theme. With Christmas and Cookie Sales and many other things, I waited until the last minute to put things together and so it didn't turn out as I imagined it. I wanted a blue/white backdrop but didn't have the time to make one ... (wah)

Everyone said they had a good time, though. We had chocolate and caramel fondues and snacks and hot cocoa and coffee. We played a fun game and had a "winter" devotional.

Be sure to gather your spiritual emergency kit for when those "winters" come along in your life. Here's what you should pack:
-Non-Perishable Food (Scripture)
-Extra blankets/Warm clothing (Fellowship)
-Drinking Water (Christ the Living Water)
-Emergency Candles or Flashlights (God's guidance)

Stay warm!

Birthday dinner

Last Saturday night we went to P.F. Changs for David's and my birthdays, just the family. Our birthdays are only one day apart so we celebrated together. Thanks everyone for joining us and for the gifts that you weren't supposed to get us!

We went to the Mall at Millenia after dinner since the restaurant was a part of it. They still had Christmas decor up and I just loved the designs. Very whimsical and very creative!

More Wedding Pics

Courtesy of Chad, here are a few more pictures of Sue & Roger's wedding...

Wedding planner

This past Saturday was the wonderful culmination of the last couple of weeks of planning. The wedding was for a sweet, middle-aged couple in our church. I was able to gain some experience in wedding planning under the best of circumstances. I've decorated for a few weddings in the past but this one included everything, from start to finish, except the catering. It helped a ton that there were Christmas poinsettias around already!

I printed their simple invitations, decorated the sanctuary, put together the bouquets and the boutonnieres, the centerpieces and all the decor in the reception hall, and coordinated with the caterer and photographer. The bride and groom wanted the theme colors to be aqua/teal and with some of their other requests, I ran with it.

I was a little nervous at the Rehearsal because I had never been fully in-charge before. Plus, it wasn't really traditional in that the grandsons were asked if their grandma could marry the Groom and the Bride's son walked her down the aisle. The Pastor helped me a lot in some of the decisions. It was beautiful and worked out great. The next morning I kicked it into gear though, and I was a lot more confident!

The church's fellowship hall became the reception hall. I can't wait until we're able to redecorate that room. I think it would be much nicer if everything was a neutral color and the country-style border and valances were removed. But, that's what I had to work with!

Our friend, Chad, was the photographer so I'll upload some of his pictures in the near future!

Thanks for lookin'!