Flower Blossom Cake Tutorial

Materials Needed:
1 9-inch Cake Layer (any flavor)
2 8-inch Cake Layers (any flavor)
1 batch of your Favorite Frosting
2 boxes of Rolled Fondant
Green paste Food Coloring
Violet paste Food Coloring
White Sparkling Sugar
Decorative Candle
Cake plate, stand or board
Frosting Spatulas/Spreaders
Heart-shaped Cookie Cutter

First start with one 9-inch cake layer.
Put it on your cake plate or board to decorate.

Frost the cake with your favorite frosting.
Not all people like the taste of fondant, so it is nice to have a tasty frosting for those who just peel it off.

Knead the store-bought rolled fondant in powdered sugar to make pliable.
Knead in green paste food coloring.

Roll the fondant out with a rolling pin to 1/8" thickness.

Lay fondant over cake layer; smooth with hands; trim excess.

Add one 8-inch cake layer; frost.
Add second 8-inch cake layer; frost.

Color the other box of the fondant violet.
Roll out; cover cake layers; smooth and trim.

Cut "petal" shapes from the violet fondant.
Adhere to the side of the cake with a little water.
Overlap the petals; curl tips back.

Cut the "leaves" out of green fondant with heart cookie cutter.
Adhere to the bottom of the blossom.

Make vines the way that you would make a play-doh snake.
Place them in a random wiggly pattern up the blossom.

Using a pastry brush, wet the fondant with water.
Place your candle in the center of the blossom.
Sprinkle with Sparkling Sugar for whimsy.

Fairy Party

*this post was recently edited to submit to TipJunkie and ended up with my contemporary posts*

This Fairy Party was for my 5 year-old daughter. We had a houseful of little Fairies-in-Training who participated in our Pixie Fun.

• When the little 'Fairies in Training' arrived. They were crowned with Tinkerbell tiaras, and my oldest daughter sprinkled them with 'pixie dust' (shimmery powder).

• As they were waiting for all of the kids to arrive, they all colored fairy pictures.

• We played 'Follow the Fairy'- each little girl got a turn to put on fairy wings and twirl or gallop around the house with everyone following.

• We also played 'Pass the Magic Wand.' Kind of like Hot Potato- except when the music stopped and the child was 'out' it was actually a fun thing because they got to keep the wand.

• I then told them that Fairies had come to fix us lunch. It was so cute. Everyone went a little hushed. Here is what we served.

Fairy Bread [bread with butter and sprinkles]

Magic Wands [grape and marshmallow kabobs]

And Golden Nuggets [cheese cubes]

Also served, but not pictured, Fairy Fizz [soda pop with pop rocks in it!]

I absolutely LOVE to make kids party cakes. I have made a lot of them through the years, but I think that this might be my favorite. It is made out of rolled fondant, and it is so much fun because it is totally like playing with play-doh!

Disclaimer:
In all of my excitement to post Lilly's birthday, I failed to mention that all of these fun ideas were found on the internet. I just picked my favorites from lots of sites and put them together.

First Day of School and Our Big Night!

Lilly's First Day of Kindergarten! 

She was so excited. She has been asking for weeks. Truly. It was adorable to see her pick out her clothes a few days before school and ask every 10 minutes all morning long if it was time to go to "Kinner-garden."
I didn't cry, but a little bit of sunshine definitely left our house that day.

Stephie's First Day of High School!

Wow. What a big day that is. I was a bit more sad to see Stephie go to High School than to see Lilly go to Kindergarten. I just know that the next few years will fly by. Sniff, sniff.
She was a bit nervous, but came home with rave reviews of how much more she like it than Middle School. Yay!

Maddy's Sophomore Year

Wow. Now she is not a little Freshman, anymore. Again, a bit more sad about her moving up the ranks in High School. She was super-excited to get back into the swing of things- except for the early mornings, of course. She had a great first day, and doesn't feel nervous at all. She was glad to be back with lots of friends.

And to top off a great first day of school, I took the girls to the American Idols Live concert.  Yay!  It was sooooo much fun!  We had a blast.  We screamed our heads off, purchased lots of souvenirs and had an amazing time.  

Stay tuned for a full report.  

Leaving for the American Idols Live concert

Guessing Game

Where are Aurora, Maddy and Stephie going tonight?

Warped, But Hilarious

Love, love, love this crazy, warped commercial!

Olympic Mascots

I love all things Olympic, and so here is a little offering of some of the mascots through the years.

2008 Beijing, China

2006 Turino, Italy
2004 Athens, Greece

2002 Salt Lake City, Utah
2000 Sydney, Australia

Olympic Observations

Okay, so I am not usually a cynic; at least I don't think that I am, but sometimes things just make me wonder.
So, I am watching the amazing event of Triathlon yesterday; how grueling! These people run their bodies to the ultimate limit. First they swim 1500 m (in the questionable China water...,) then they bike 40k, followed by a 10k run. Unbelievable.

After the commercial break, they start showing PING PONG.

Now, I understand that this is not an easy game. I can very rarely hit paddle to ball. But Olympic? Not so much.

Having a tennis player in the family definitely spiced up our conversation. Have you seen these guys get ready to serve? Stephie, Maddy and I were practically rolling on the floor with laughter.

The clincher? One of the guys was wearing a knee brace.

Okay, ranting is over. I think I'm going to go play a little 'table tennis.' ☺

Phelps Phever!

So, has Phelps Phever hit your house? It certainly has had an effect in our household. Evidently, Michael Phelps is GORGEOUS! Who knew? I guess that I am so much a mom that he just looks like a cute, gawky kid.

Has anyone else been kind of embarrassed at how much they talk about him like he is a racehorse? They are always talking about his 'Size 14 feet that could be flippers' or his his 'dinner plate hands.' How about the words 'dolphin' and 'fish'?

But truly he is the most amazing swimmer of all time. He is a joy to watch and it is an understatement to call him 'America's Golden Boy.'

For those of us who can't get enough, here is a fun little video about his eating habits. 10 000 calories / day!!!

Lauren's Wedding

At long last, here are a few pictures of the wedding. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Snowed Under in a Heatwave

After an amazing amount of things to prepare, pack, gather, shop for, travel, unpack, organize, teach, repack, clean, tidy, shop, camp, unpack, chill, repack, travel, holiday, visit, unpack... I think that you get the idea...
I am sitting here with a stomachache and a headache. I can't move.
I want to catch up on everyone's blogs, de-junk my house, deep clean everything that I own, but alas, I sit.
Hmmm....