Gymnastics Girl

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for $30 towards Sweet Peach Paperie. This is the last day!! Winner selected tomorrow!!!!!

Last night was my daughters bestest buddy's birthday. Sweet Katelyn turned 5 a couple of weeks ago and had her birthday party at a local gymnastics center. IT WAS A BLAST!!! SOOOO MUCH FUN! Every child had a huge smile on their faces as they tumbled and played around the gym. Even my little Livie was keeping up with all the big girls. What a good time!

For the cake Kate wanted something to match the colors on the invitations and go along with the gymnastics theme. So I created a little Katelyn dressed as a gymnist to sit on top of the cake that was same colors as the invite. :)

If you're in the Cumming/Alpharetta area you've got to check All Around Gymnastics. Fantastic gym and they throw super fun parties. I'm signing both my girls up for classes through them. Cannot wait!!!!

Cakewrecks don't you dare!!!

Before I even start, no...I did not make my own birthday cake. This year someone very special to me made my cake. I'll give you a hint...he is goofy, handsome, acts like a kid but isn't a kid, pours me coffee in the morning and doesn't complain about the fact that he never gets gourmet dinners at home.

My husband...

My sweet husband made me a birthday cake this year.

Isn't it great! lol

Thats ME! Lookin' quite HAWT sitting on top of my 30th birthday chocolate goodness!
The apron is the detail that just kills me! I love it! :)

He told me his plans a few weeks ago and I just said "yeah yeah, I'll believe it when I see it!"

Next thing I know he is breaking out the boxed cake mix and getting started.

From the kitchen I hear him yell,

"Does it absolutely need oil b/c I can't find any."

UGH! Men!

Yes Bri guy, if it says it on the box, you need it.

I come to check on him after I give the kids a bath. The cake is in the mixer. I ask, "How long has it been mixing?"

"I dunno, 15 minutes?"

Oh Brian, you don't mix it for 15 minutes! You're gonna kill the cake!!!

From that point on I realized he needed supervision or this would really turn out bad!

So I pulled up a chair and watched it all go down. Taking pics along the way. :)

Here he is working on ME! A little gumpaste baker. I honestly cannot believe how good it came out. Of course I was over his shoulder saying "No! You can't do it like that, you gotta do it like this!" ;)

I'm the backseat baker. The next morning it was time to ice the cake. This is what really threw him for a loop.
Bailey decided she needed to supervise as well, she was backseat baker #2, saying "I think you need to listen to mommy...thats not how mommy usually does it". hehehe, I love that little girl! ;)

The cake kept falling apart on him (carved cakes are not easy to ice!). I did have to jump in a few times before he took a huge chunk out of the 3. Everytime I tried to help Bailey would say, "Get back mommy, you can't make your own birthday cake!!!"

A sip of beer should help....

Google the word "pride", this image will pop up.

ONE PROUD HUSBAND

We went out to dinner that night to celebrate two things.

My birthday.

And Brian's first cake.

Birthday Giveaway from Sweet Peach Paperie!!

Happy Birthday to me!! Today is my first day as a 30 year old. Out with the old, in with the new. Today I'm officially, legitimately an "adult". ...guess its time to start doing responsible, adult-like things such as eat green vegetables (may as well be poison to my taste buds) and listen to talk radio (ugh!).

slowly curling up into a fetal position...

My feelings about turning 30 may be a little on the fence, but what I AM excited about is today's giveaway from Sweet Peach Paperie!!! Tracy, the face behind Sweet Peach Paperie, contacted me a couple of weeks ago after finding my blog. While visiting my site she came across a cake that I designed around one of her invitations! Such a small world!

Remember this one?

Tracy's invitation...

My cake made to match...

Sooo, after some fun party talk back and forth she introduced me to her Sweet Peach blog and Sweet Peach Paperie Boutique on Etsy which showcases her great party products! She does everything from invitations to birth announcements, and party decor galore!! :)

Ok, this invite makes me want to have a cupcakes and cocktails party. Who do I know thats getting married soon??...I could do mimosas, engagement ring cupcake toppers, a cupcake table over there, some tissue poms over here, could get a band if I save money on the food.... focus Kate, focus!

Ok, I'm back.

(a little daydreaming never hurt anyone) ;)

So anyway, Sweet Peach Paperie is SO sweet and generous to host my birthday giveaway!

$30 towards your next party design.

fabulousness!

I wonder if there is any way I rig this contest to make me the winner?? ;)

KIDDING!

(I probably need to just hurry up and get through this post before I aggravate you all to death)

There are two ways to enter this giveaway...

1.) If you're already a follower of my blog just leave a comment...if you're not a follower become one and then leave a comment.

2.) Become a follower of Sweet Peach Paperie's Facebook Page. Leave a comment there and you're all set!

(I suggest entering both ways to up your odds!) :)

Winner will be chosen Monday, August 1!!!!

Good luck!!!!

Tipsy Tuesday: Margarita Pop Tutorial

Remember these???

After I posted a pic of these margarita cake pops I recieved a few emails and comments requesting a tutorial, soooooo here it is!!! A quick tutorial to show you how easy these cute desserts are.

First, start off with a little ball of cake ball mixture. (recipe here) WARNING: Bakerella's recipe says to use an entire can of frosting. That is WAAAAYYYY too much! You do that and your cake balls will be mush and slide right off the stick! I use MAYBE 1/4 - 1/3 of a cup of icing...then add more if the mixture is too dry.

So, start off with a cake ball and flatten the top of the ball by pressing it down on a flat surface. At the same time you are making the top flat, go ahead and shape the bottom by kind of pinching it on all sides so that its thinner at the bottom and fatter (and flatter) at the top to resemble a cup.

Dip your popcicle stick into melted chocolate and stick it in the bottom of the "cup".

Put it in the fridge to firm up.

While its "firming" go ahead and get the bottom of the margarita glass ready.

I took a wooden skewer and warmed it up a little by touching it to the hot stove. I wanted the stick to be warm so that it would go through the little round piece of unmelted candy melt easily and not make too big of a hole. You want the hole just smaller than the lolipop stick which is why I used a skewer instead of the lolipop stick.

So here I am...making a hole in a candy melt with my skewer. :)

Now that you've got that done...you can do something else with your time like scrub the toilet or pull the weeds (yeah right!?) while you give your cake pop some alone time in the fridge.

After you've finished all your chores, its time to cover the cake pop and make this baby come to life! I use a large spoon to pour my chocolate over the pop rather than try to dip. And as I pour the chocolate over the pop I don't try at all to avoid the stick. In fact...ya gotta cover part of the stick to make the margarita's stem. Sweet!!! Love being able to be sloppy!! ;)

While the chocolate on the stick is still wet its time to put the base of the margarita glass on. All you have to do is slip it through the bottom of the lolipop stick and bring it up to the "stem".

Since the hole on the candy melt circle is slightly smaller than the width of the lolipop stick it will stay up pretty easily and stick to the melted chocolate on the stem.

Now, let the chocolate on the cake pop completely dry. While its drying you can make your strawberry topper.

Start off with a little ball of red fondant and some little "ropes" of green fondant. Shape the red so that the top is thicker than the bottom (like a strawberry). :)

Stack the green fondant ropes on top of each other in a criss cross pattern.

Add the stem to the red and use a black edible marker to add seeds. (seeds not shown in pic) And this is the point in my little tutorial where things got tricky. My kids needed me so I put the camera and sweet stuff down to play. Sooooo, I neglected my tutorial and didn't take any further pics. :( BAD BLOGGER! (I can see you all pointing and waving your fingers at me) ;)

Stay with me. though..I'll try to explain the last couple of steps which are pretty easy...

Make sure the chocolate on the pop has dried completely. Then put some melted chocolate in a plastic baggie, cut a hole in one of the corners. You will use this baggie to create a "rim" around the top of the margarita glass. Once you've got the rim on the top of the glass sprinkle some pink sugar. The sugar will only stick to the melted chocolate creating a rim for the margarita glass.

At this point add your strawberry and you've got one sweet little toddy.

(to make the lime I cut a candy melt in half and added white frosting for the embellishments)

Cheers@!!

Brooke's 30th Surprise

A couple weekends ago we travelled down to Savannah to celebrate my wonderful friend Brooke's 30th birthday. Jamie (her husband) planned a great surprise party for her at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House on the Savannah marsh. It was gorgeous weather, good food, good friends and a good cake (travelled all the way from North Atlanta)! :) Here are a few pics from the night...

The cake survived the 4 hour drive!!

(felt like an 8 hour drive for me)

SURPRISE!!!!

I love this picture of a little boy trying to steal a taste while us girls were getting a picture. He was dying for a piece of the bow and told me about a hundred times while I was cutting the cake that he just HAD to have a piece of the bow. lol (and don't worry, he got one) ;)

Paula Deen was there...gave me props for a good cake. Gotta love that!!!!!

Happy birthday Brooke!!

Love you love you!!!!

Blue and Brown Baby Shower

Arkansas Razorbacks

Fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks? Heres ya a hog! :)

I love his cute little tail. ;)

Little Buckaroo Baby Shower

Here are a few pictures of a Little Buckaroo Dessert table I put together for a baby shower. Buck and Natalie are friends from college and this will be their first baby, a little boy named Colt. Since daddy's nickname is "Buck" the shower's theme seemed almost too easy...Little Buckaroo!

The pennant banner going across the front of the table read "Little Buckaroo". Once again, Amanda from Amanda's Parties To Go created an amazing printable set!

Here are a few close ups of the table...

Cherry Pies on a stick. This is my husband's new favorite dessert! :)

We set up a photo booth with a few cowboy props. Lots of silly fun (especially after a few cocktails). :)

The excited parent's to be...

My sweet best friend Merey and I.

Congrats Buck and Nat! Can't wait to meet the little buckaroo!!!! :)