A very MERRY CHRISTMAS from our home to yours!
Tag Archive for Celebrations
University of Oklahoma Groom’s Cake
Before football season even began this year, OU was on my mind. As you can imagine, just thinking of OU is a disturbing idea in our household, as I am from Nebraska (Go Huskers!) and my hubby is a huge OSU fan. But sometimes you make sacrifices to help a friend, and since my buddy Nick was getting married and wanted an OU groom’s cake, think of OU I did.
I’m more of a golfer than a footballer, so I found this sweet photo online that I could use to get the proportions of the design fairly accurate.
After baking two chocolate layers and stacking them, I carved them into a football shape using my trusty bread knife and set to the task of icing the whole thing.
Here’s a glimpse of the base coat.
I used homemade marshmallow fondant to construct the laces. I was really pleased with how well they turned out. I also used strips of fondant for the stripes on either end of the ball (not shown, see below).
Next, I used piped stars to create the OU logo (while simultaneously attempting not to feel like a traitor to the real Big Red back in NE. 
)
To finish off the edges of the cake, I added some green ‘grass’.
I was really pleased with the final result. I later found out that Nick and Mary received lots of compliments on this cake at the wedding reception–the main one being that it was even better than their professionally-made wedding cake. Wow! I was flattered to hear that!
Nick and Mary, thank you for allowing me to be a special part of your big day. All of God’s blessings and happiness to you both!
–Abbi
Baby Dax’s Cake
I was asked to make a baby shower cake for Lyndi and her soon-to-arrive son, Dax.
The invitation was a mint green with brown and white polka dots, so I used that design as the inspiration for my cake. I made a two-tier cake (top tier vanilla, bottom tier chocolate) with classic buttercream icing tinted pale green.
I’d been wanting to try my hand at using fabric ribbon on a cake, so I did some research as to what I would need to do to make it food-safe. Once I gathered that info, the next trick was to decide how to disguise the ribbon’s seam.
I wanted to make some sort of plaque with Dax’s name on it, so I used Candy Melts! I used my computer to print out the perfect letters, then placed wax paper over the top and traced the letters using melted white chocolate. While the letters set, I poured milk chocolate into shallow rectangular molds. Before the chocolate bars set completely, I arranged the white letters.
The little chocolate bars covered the seams perfectly!
Even better, I’d discovered a new way to ‘write’ on a cake!
The final product:
Congratulations, Thompsons!
Ooh La La!
Last fall, I was asked to make my first-ever Bachelorette/Personal Shower cake. I wasn’t even sure where to being on THAT assignment, so I was lucky that the hostess sent me a photo of a cake she wanted me to copy.
I made a sheet cake and two 6″ round cakes (guess why) and designed a stencil on the computer using Adobe Illustrator.
Rather than leveling the cakes as I would normally do, I left the ‘dome’ on the top of the 6″ rounds. They gave the cake some body (pun thoroughly intended).
Then I started adding stitching and lacy details to make the shape unmistakably feminine:
Add a little bow and some squiggles for fun, and we are ready to party!
Detail of the ‘corset ties’:
See the nice curved effect created by the slightly domed round cakes? So much better than just cutting a flat cake into a shape.
Baby Lynley’s Cake
Back in January, I had the honor of making a shower cake for my dear friend Crystal, who was expecting her first child, a baby-girl she and her husband named Lynley Kate.
For the color scheme, I stuck with the hues Crystal had selected for Lynley’s nursery: raspberry pink, brown, and two shades of green.
Polka dots and bows are always popular decor at baby showers, so why not roll with it? I made a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing and fondant accents.
Top view:
This was the first time I had used fondant to make bows, and I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. So cute!
Crystal and me at her shower. Congratulations, friend! That Lynley is sure a cutie! Glad I could help welcome her into the world!
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas…
…wait…no, it’s not! But that doesn’t mean it’s too early to start thinking about Christmas and all the gifts you’ll be buying for your loved ones!
Why not invest in a unique, hand-crafted book that will easily become a treasured keepsake? For this holiday season, I’m offering two options: Custom or Collection
CUSTOM: I love creating one-of-a-kind journals and sketchbooks and can easily customize a design for anyone on your gift list! Each book is designed-to-order, so to guarantee that your book(s) will be finished in time for Christmas, please have your orders submitted to me no later than NOVEMBER 15th. That will allow me ample time to create a design for each of your items, collect the perfect materials, and give each book the amount of artistic finesse and patience they deserve.
Please note: a 50% non-refundable deposit is required up front for all custom orders.
COLLECTION: I also currently have several designs in my inventory available for sale. I have listed images of each book as well as a brief description and price.
“Precious Pink” is 8.5″ tall by 5.5″ wide, hard-bound, 200 pages (pink paper), with a white satin ribbon bookmark.
The cover is made from a wonderfully soft and fibrous patterned paper featuring flowers and dots. The spine is embellished with two diamond rhinestone-studded brads.
The paste papers are a playful pink gingham. This book would be perfect for an expectant mother who is going to have a girl. Cost: $25. SOLD
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“Beaded Bohemian” is 5.5″ wide by 4.25″ tall, paper-back, 120 pages (pink paper).
I have two of these books available, and I am willing to sell them individually or as a set. The covers are cut from the same sheet of paper, so they are similar but not identical.
The binding is exposed and sewn using canary yellow thread. The stitches are embellished with seed beads. Cost: $8.50 each or $15 for a set of 2. SOLD
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“Bloomer Sooner” is 8.5″ tall by 5.5″ wide, hard-bound, 224 pages (neon green paper).
Features a recycled paper cover and wild paisley paste papers!
Prisma pencil illustrations and flower brads combine to embellish the front of the book. Cost: $30.
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“Namaste” is 8.5″ wide by 5.5″ tall, soft-cover, 120 pages (white paper). These book covers were cut from a dark blue yoga mat.
I have two of these books available. I am willing to sell them individually or as a set. Both feature a Japanese stab binding technique known as “Noble Binding”. One binding has been done with blue eyelets and twine.
The other binding has been done with silver eyelets and 1/8″ black satin ribbon.
The yoga mat covers are very durable and flexible. Cost: $15 each or $26 for the set.
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“Red Velvet” is 6″ tall by 5.5″ wide (a squarish version of the original), hard-bound, 200 pages (red paper) with black satin ribbon tie closures. The Red Velvet cover is made from flocked (fuzzy) wallpaper.
Detail of black satin ribbon tie closures. Cost: $30 SOLD
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“Stitch in Time” is 6″ tall by 5.5″ wide, hard-bound, 200 pages (lavender paper).
The cover paper features silver stitched spirals.
The book’s lavender pages and heather gray facing pages. Cost: $25. SOLD
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“Wild Child” is 4.25″ wide by 5.5″ tall, soft-bound, 160 pages (red paper) with silver eyelet embellishments. The Wild Child cover is made from black pleather.
Detail of the silver eyelets and red pages. Cost: $15 SOLD
To purchase any of these books, or to place an order for a custom-designed book of your own, email me or leave a comment on this post.
With either Custom or Collection orders, shipping is available at an additional cost, or the books may be picked up from my studio. I look forward to working with you and helping make your holiday gift-giving very fun and memorable this year!
Flower Power
Amanda, my amazingly talented photographer friend agreed to trade me a photography session in exchange for a cake. The photos she took were INCREDIBLE and no cake in the world would have been a fair trade, but I gave it a shot anyway!
I was provided with a plate that was the inspiration for a bridal shower Amanda was co-hosting.
I LOVED the leafy vines on the plate, and used them as my inspiration for the piping.
I did my best to imitate the colorful flowers that made the plates so cheery and bright.
I was pleased with the final result…
and it even looked quite a bit like the illustrations from the plate! Amanda and the other hostesses were quite pleased with how the cake turned out.
So fun to be able to trade favors with talented friends. A win-win situation, I’d say! What about you…what skills do you have? Let’s make a trade.
Ice Cream Cone Cakes
Many moons ago, I had read about the concept of baking cake batter inside an ice cream cone. Being naturally curious (especially with anything that involves cake), I wanted to give this technique a try.
And since most experiments are best done with a couple of trusty friends by your side, I called up two of my besties–Jacee and Emily–to help. I mixed up the icings and baked the cake cones before the girls arrived. Jacee had made a cake earlier that week, so she brought some icing as well, and both girls donated sprinkles and candies to the cause.
Let the fun begin!
The cupcakes were for a family birthday celebration with my husband’s side of the family. With six kids at the party, you’d better have something fun and yummy to nibble on! The girls and I experimented with several different icings and toppings. In all, we made nearly 4 dozen cone cakes.
These were chocolate cake with mint-flavored green icing, chocolate jimmies, and a cherry sour.
Cute, right?!
And who doesn’t love rainbow sprinkles?
When we began running out of icing, we tried our hand at “twist” cones:
We had a great time putting all of these together, and the kids at the party LOVED them. The adults appreciated them too, because their kids could hold on to the cone and didn’t end up all sticky!
What great baking experiments have you tried?
Tat Cake
A co-worker friend of mine is both a talented graphic designer and an avid music lover. His first tattoo–a stylized treble clef that he designed himself–was the inspiration for his 31st birthday cake.
When planning birthday parties, how have you used icons/symbols to represent the guest of honor?
Happy 75th Birthday!
I enjoy having enough cake-making skills to be able to whip something up for a friend in need. A buddy of mine at work came to me one day and asked me to create a cake for his father’s 75th birthday celebration. I made a chocolate 10″ round with milk chocolate base icing and dark chocolate rosettes and stars as borders. I don’t write on cakes very often, so this was a good chance to practice!
YUMMY!