Cakes, Cakes, and More Cakes!

Thought I'd take a minute to show you what I've been doing since moving to Korea.

I was at a birthday party for one of our neighbors' daughters (where I met my now wonderful friend, Jami), when we got to talking about cakes.  About a month later, Jami was going to have a birthday party for her youngest 2 children, so I offered to make them each a cake.

Her daughter Ahriel turned 3 and chose this cake.

Miguel, the only boy of now five children, turned 1.

That sweet boy is going to have his work cut out for him sticking up for all his pretty sisters!

After that, somehow my name got out as someone who decorates cakes.  I don't know who to blame thank for that... Jami or Kim.  Anyway, I was approached by one of the moms at Tristan's preschool to do a cake for her son who was turning 3.  She said she wanted a bowling cake of some sort, preferably a ball, and I went into a panic.  I said, "I'm not that good, but here's what I can do for you..."  She seemed rather disappointed, but accepted an alternative.  I came home and talked to my wonderful husband about what this "crazy" lady wanted from me.  And he said, "So, what's the problem?"  He's such a motivator. :)  But, with his confidence in me, I began to think, "Maybe I can give her what she wants."  So, here's the final result:

Despite the fact that the bowling ball looks like a face, I was pretty proud of myself for actually being able to make a sphere cake.

For the bowling pins, I found a picture of a bowling pin, printed it out, enlarged it to the size I wanted, and cut it out of a 9x13 cake.

 

For Grace's birthday, she got leftovers... I have had a cake pan that Judi gave me several years ago that I haven't had a chance to use yet.  There was just enough cake batter left over from the bowling ball to make this teddy bear: 

Poor thing - she even got leftover frosting...

I call this my tie-dye bear.  I just kept adding frosting to the bag, no matter what the color.  Makes for some cool color mixes as it comes out.  Love my sweet Grace - she was just happy to have a cake on her actual birthday, even if it was hideous!

These cupcakes that I made for Grace's party were super easy!

And because the drawings weren't super crisp in the book, it was okay that they weren't perfect.

Shortly after I did the bowling cake, I was approached by a lady who was at that party who wanted me to do a cake for her son's first birthday.  I believe her message said "...nothing too fancy, just something with a 1 on it and a cupcake just for him..."  I thought, perfect!  I have just the thing!  Then in communicating with her a little more, she sent me a link to a professional bakery's blog and said, "I want this."  GULP!!  Now this lady really is crazy!  And again, my fabulous husband, the motivator, said, "Just give the lady what she wants."  Really?  REALLY?!?  I can't do that!  You're both out of your minds!  But, I thought about it and looked at the picture some more, and decided I'd give it a shot.  How hard could it be?  It's cake, if I screw it up we'll just have to eat it.  So, here's what that other "crazy" lady got:

It looks almost exactly like the original.

The lady was thrilled - said it was better than the original.  I have a hard time with compliments so it was hard for me to agree with her, especially since I saw all the flaws, but I thanked her for being so kind.

 

This was his "smash" cake.

I made it out of a 5x5 pan, printed a 1 out and cut it out of the cake.

I've enjoyed doing these, and even got paid for the last 2 ladies' cakes!  David says the only reason he "allows" me to bake and decorate cakes is because he gets to eat all the scraps... Frankly, I'm sick of cake, and I still have one in the fridge and about half a dozen cupcakes left.

Also, for Jami's baby shower, I tried my hand at a diaper "cake".  That was kinda fun to do too and I think it turned out pretty cute.

Even though I haven't been able to do any scrapbooking yet, I have still had the opportunity to be creative!