MCT 3-D Wednesday: Birthday Banner Cake

As the resident baker of my friends and family, I love to try fun new ways to 'dress up' my sweet creations. I usually stick to cupcakes: they're quick to bake, easy to frost and yummy to eat! But sometimes, I feel fancy and decide to bake an actual cake.

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This cake was baked with so much love for my best friend, should-a-been-sister, former manager, college lunch mate, maid of honor, Stephanie. She turned the big 2-8 this year and we celebrated in style!

As you've probably noticed, banners are a HUGE trend nowadays. You can find them everywhere - even on baked goods! As I was baking this cake, I knew I'd put a banner on it - there was no question.

After baking and stacking my cake...

Confession time: I use boxed cake. Pretty much always. Ms. Crocker and Mr. Hines have come a long way since I was little. Their cakes are not only delicious, but save me time. I'd rather spend my time decorating than measuring ingredients. I give major kudos to you 'from-scratch' bakers, but I'm not ashamed to admit that I stand behind my boxed-creations. Can I get an 'amen'?

...so, after I baked and stacked my cake, I started frosting. I do make my own frosting, but it's so easy to make that it almost doesn't count as being 'from-scratch' (find recipe below). I knew I didn't want my frosting to be smooth. I wanted more of a homemade/vintage look to the cake. (I also didn't want to end up in tears because I couldn't smooth the frosting well enough - it's happened. *giggle*) Once my cake was frosted and the edges of the cake board were piped, I moved on to making the banner.

The banner flags were cut using My Creative Time's Build A Banner Kit. I stamped the HAPPY letters from Anyday Bingo & Crossword and used pop dots to adhere the banner pieces together. I then stamped "birthday" from the "Happy Happy Birthday" sentiment in Wow So Many Candles and hand-cut it into a trapezoid shape. The top of that shape is adhered to the bottom of the last banner flag.

I used an anywhere hole punch to poke through the top of each banner flag twice and strung linen thread through each hole. The thread is then stuck into slits in the skewers to hold the banner above the cake.

This sweet little banner made a HUGE impact on the cake and Stephanie absolutely loved it!

Pro tip: Be sure to insert your candles in front of the banner so that you don't accidentally end up with a much larger flame than anticipated. You do NOT want to light your banner ablaze!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Be sure to stop by Emma's blog to be directed to ALL the fabulous projects for today's 3D Wednesday!

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

As promised... the homemade frosting recipe (you'll never use another frosting again!).

Easy Vanilla Buttercream

Makes enough frosting for 2 dozen cupcakes
Source: Annie's Eats

Ingredients
20 tablespoons (2-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/8 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions
Beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth. Add sugar and salt and beat at medium-low speed, scraping down sides of bowl. Add vanilla and heavy cream and beat at medium speed until fully incorporated. Increase speed to medium-high until light and fluffy.

...want chocolate frosting? Add some cocoa to the mix! *wink*