Little Livie is turning 2!

Tomorrow is my little Olivia's 2nd birthday. I cannot believe my little baby is turning TWO!!!!! I just have to say a few things about this little girl...

Born on St Patricks Day, Livie is our little leprechaun. Mischievous and clever. She is perpetual motion, always on the hunt for trouble. My husband calls her a "hot mess" because she is always...well...a mess! She licks the bottom of her shoes, she rubs food in her hair and she loves to dig in the dirt and then eat it. She is a mess.

She loves her sister. Examining Bailey's every move then trying to mimic, she wants to be just like her. Smart as a whip, she will figure out a way to get what she wants!!

She is very silly and very goofy. Mean as a snake, but so sweet at the same time. She is a chatterbox, literally wakes up singing her ABC's and goes to bed singing her ABC's. Every night before I put her to bed she takes my face in her hands and says "Love you sweet sweet mommy". She makes my heart ache I love her so much.

Tomorrow we will be celebrating her first 2 years with many fun activities. On the itinerary is a morning Gymboree Play class, lunch at the park with some friends, a nice little nap, dinner at McDonalds (her favorite "restaurant") and then cake back home with mom, dad, sister, nana, papa and gigi (her great grandmother). I cannot wait for our fun filled day celebrating my little girl!!

And if you're still reading (after my long love note to Liv) check out her cake for tomorrow. I almost didn't make a cake for her b/c I have so much going on with planning for her party this weekend, but after some thought I knew I couldn't let that happen. ;) I made her a little 6 inch round representing her love (emphasis on love) for ice cream and ALL things sweet!!!!
I love you Livie Bivie!!!!!

Shower for Baby Deen!!!

This weekend was soooo fun!!!!!!!!! I just got back from Savannah where I helped host a baby shower for my dear dear friend Brooke who is pregnant with her second little boy! She and I go way back and it was so fun to spend a couple of days with her and my other bestie, Merey (sans children!!).

Let me just tell you about this shower!!!!!

Held at Paula Deen's house, this shower was BEAUTIFUL!!! Her house is unbelievably gorgeous, decorated to a tee and really provided a perfect location for this celebration. Flowers filled the rooms and not only looked amazing but filled the air with a beautiful scent.

The food...y'all! It was beyond words!!!! D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!! I filled my plate 12 inches high with an assortment of brunch foods from crab quiche to french toast casserole. It was divine! (and I'm sure everything was under 100 calories) ;)

Here are some pictures of the day, starting off with the cake of course!!!! I had a lot of fun making this one mostly because I really love how the little gumpaste jungle animals turned out. I especially loved the monkey...I think he was voted most popular at the shower. ;)`

Cake pops with fondant animal print circles

S'more pops!

As favors we gave out cupcakes in little clear boxes.

I just love the printables that Jemma from Iced Jems made for me. She has a great website with free printables! Check it out if you get a chance. She also made this cute sign to direct guests to sign the guest book.

The hostesses Paula, myself and Merey, with the beautiful guest of honor, Brooke, in the middle...and the sweet big brother Jack on the end! Paula and Jamie hard at work in the kitchen. Can you imagine any better treat than having the Deen's cook for you!?!? I mean really!?

Caramelized bacon....O-M-G!!!!!!!!!!!! YUM!

French toast casserole cookin' in the oven. The smells coming from this kitchen were out of control!!!!!

Quite the food spread!

And dessert...cake, cake pops and s'more pops!! :)
Look how cute these shirts are! A sorority sister of ours made these. She has a monogram business and has the CUTEST creations!

Celebrating 300 followers! GIVEAWAY!!!

I just noticed this morning that my little cake blog has hit 300 followers! I'm so excited about this!! :) I remember being surprised when I had 30 and now 300!!??!!? Wow! I want to say a big thank you to all my supporters and followers for all the wonderful comments, emails and opportunities all of you have given me over the past year and a half!

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I'm not sure if I have ever really told my story on how I started off so here goes...about three years ago my mom, nana and I decided we wanted to learn how to decorate cakes so we signed up for a cake decorating class through Wilton. I made it to one class and had to drop out. Yes, I am a cake school drop out. :( School is cool right?! Well, not when you're 6 weeks pregnant and the smell, look, taste, thought of icing makes you sick sick sick! It was torture! I love cake, but couldn't stand it for the entire 9 months of Olivia's pregnancy. Isn't it crazy what pregnancy can do to you!?! So after one little class I dropped out and didn't look at a cake for another year or so.

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Then Livie was born and Bailey's 3rd birthday came around. I revisited the idea of decorating cakes because my little girl wanted me to make her a cake...I practiced and practiced and practiced. I bought a couple cake decorating dvds. I googled about 1000 "how tos" and watched some You Tube videos on different cake decorating techniques. I have learned how to decorate cakes through a lot of trial and error and countless hours searching the internet for advice. But with no proper training, and lots of "holes" in my cake decorating education it hasn't always been easy.

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Which brings me to my giveaway!!!

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I so appreciate all your support so I wanted to host a fabulous giveaway that would be perfect for all my cake fans. :) I contacted the TALENTED and oh so WONDERFUL Melissa Diamond (my new best friend/hero) of MY CAKE SCHOOL. If y'all don't know about her site you NEED to check it out!

Mycakeschool.com

I found it about a month ago and I am SO HAPPY I did!!! Its full of great cake decorating ideas and video tutorials from basic buttercream decorating techniques to working with gumpaste and even chocolate. Its great for beginners and even experienced cake decorators who want to improve on their skills. I am particularly happy with the gumpaste tutorials as that has always been a big weakness of mine. But with Melissa's tutorials I actually ENJOY making gumpaste figurines! I'm telling you, I LOVE this website!

The giveaway is for one year free membership to My Cake School! ($30 value) You will gain access to decorating assistance, advice and 100s of cake decorating videos for an entire year. The $30 membership fee is a great deal on its own...getting it for FREE is even better!!! :)

To enter the giveaway leave a comment with your name and where you can be contacted. (You must be a follower) I will randomly select one winner on April 15th.

Stay tuned, good luck and Happy Caking!!!!

Girly Owl Birthday Cake

I just finished this one a few minutes ago. Very rarely do I get to work on cakes in the middle of the day, but my mom (today's hero) took Bailey for a play date while little Livie napped. I had a whole 2 1/2 hours of quiet bliss!!! Actually, I take that back...it wasn't quiet at all! ;)

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Typically, I'm working on cakes in the EARLY EARLY morning hours before everyone is awake, or at night while everyone is sleeping. I'm required to be very very quiet during my cake time. Boooooorrrrring!!!

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So today I broke out my favorite mixed song CD and danced around the kitchen, spatula in hand covered head to toe in sugar!! (quite a sight to see I'm sure!) Unfortunately I took too many breaks to "busta move" and this cake ended up taking me a little longer than I expected, but hey...it was fun, so it was worth it! :) :)

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And here it is...a girly owl cake made to match the owl themed partyware.

This is what it looks like from a child's view...always looking up.

And if you're really really tall this is what it looks like.... ;)

Dr Seuss

Cat In The Hat with a side of Green Eggs and Ham!! :)

Tomorrow morning my daughter's preschool class is having a Cat In The Hat party to celebrate Dr Seuss and all his imaginative rhymes. I LOVE Dr Seuss books and always have so much fun trying to recreate elements from his books into cake form. :)

Here is hoping the kids enjoy their party tomorrow and that I get this bad boy to the school without any cake blunders!!! :)

Funky Fun 30th!!!!

This cake was made for my friend Delaine's 30th surprise party. Delaine is a super sweet, playful and fun fashionista and I think this cake matches her personality to a tee. :)

Happy 30th Delaine!!!!

Toy Story Bed

Baby Shower cakes

This was the weekend of baby showers! First up, a super chic baby stroller. I love zebra print and would seriously buy a stroller just like this if they ever made one! :)

Cute, huh?!

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And if there is anything cuter than a real preggo belly it would have to be a preggo belly cake, miniature style!! I did 10 of these and OMG had so much fun with them!!!!

Are the little boobies killing you!?!?! lol