MCT Inspire Me Tuesday: Let's Bake!

One of my favorite hobbies is baking. It's something I picked up in high school and have been doing ever since. I'm a cupcake girl myself - it's so easy to just pipe on some cute frosting, add a little somethin' on top and VOILA! I still have yet to master frosting a cake smooth (how DO they do it?!?!), but that shouldn't last too long: I've signed up for a cake decorating class at my local bake supply shop and they claim that I'll learn how to make buttercream frosting look like fondant - can't wait!

For today's project, I was inspired by photos of a Baking Day I had with my 6-year-old niece, Evelyn.

Evelyn had asked me if we could bake a cake for Grandpa (my Dad) for his birthday this year. Since his birthday is on St. Patrick's Day, she insisted that it was themed accordingly: including lots of green, clovers and Lucky Charms cereal.

She loved my idea of tinting the vanilla cake green, so we went with that. Of course, we had to test the cake before subjecting our family to it, so we made a couple of extra cupcakes for us to try out. *giggle* We had such a fun time baking and decorating together.

I can be a bit of a perfectionist (and by "a bit", I mean that I'm totally OCD), so I'll admit that it was a little difficult to let her go nuts on the decorations (notice all the green sprinkles and Lucky Charms). But since this cake was her idea, I wanted to be sure that it followed her 'vision'.

She wanted the cake to say, "Happy Birthday", so I used a toothpick to draw the letters and she traced them with the brown and yellow frosting (her choice of colors). Everyone agreed that the cake was beautiful and delicious (once you scooped off most of the sprinkles!).

I used the colors from the photos (our aprons, the cake) and the birthday theme of the cake to inspire today's card. This will be for my mother-in-law's birthday next week.

MCT Products Used
Stitched Doily Die
Celebrate Good Times Stamp Set (Cupcake Dies)
Birthday Buddies Stamp Set ("Happy Birthday")
Tab Notes Stamp Set (Banner)

I hand-cut the candle and colored the flame with my Copics.

Thanks for stopping by today. Head on over to Emma's blog to see what the other designer's have been inspired by today!

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

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.

Click photo for larger view

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*

Autism Awareness Puzzle Pieces

Earlier this year, my family learned that my (now) 3-year-old nephew, Joseph, is Autistic. Of course, it's not the news you want  to hear about a child you love, but it was a relief to finally have answers about what he does/doesn't do and be able to start helping him.

We are fortunate to have an Autism Center within driving distance so Joseph can receive the special care and attention that he needs. Early intervention is key when dealing with Autism, so it is imperative he attend this wonderful 'school' at his young age.

Of course, great treatment comes at a great cost. Here in Michigan, insurance companies are not obligated to cover Autism treatment, so the parents of these special kids must foot the bill themselves (to a tune of $4000 per month!!! You read that right - four THOUSAND!). To help cover the cost of this treatment, my sister (Joseph's mom) helped to organize a fundraiser held at the Autism Center last month.

My Mom and Grandma made these fantastic pins for the fundraiser which were then offered to the event's attendees for a small donation. They're really quite simple to make and VERY inexpensive - just the right features for a fundraiser!

Here's what you'll need:

• Puzzle You can usually find these pretty cheap at a thrift store or even in the clearance section of your local big box store. It doesn't matter what design the puzzle has on it, but keep the size of the  pieces in mind when choosing your puzzle.
• Spray Paint Mom opted for the traditional primary colors. You can use whatever colors you want!
• E6000 Adhesive Any super strong adhesive will do. I highly recommend E6000!
• Pin Backs These can be found at your local craft store.
• Accessories (as seen on the 'one-piece' pin) Mom used a rhinestone and puzzle piece ribbon to give the 'one-piece' pin some added flair.

The steps to making these pins are EASY PEASY!

1. Spray paint the puzzle pieces. Let dry.
2. Glue the puzzle pieces together (if making multiple-piece pin). Let dry.
3. Glue on any accessories. Let dry.
4. Glue on pin back. Let dry.

My sister asked me to bake and decorate a cake to serve as a centerpiece for the 'Strolling Dessert' portion of the event. I really enjoy baking, but tend to stick to smaller canvasses (cupcakes, small treats, etc.). I called around to local bake supply shops (I didn't have time to order anything online) for an 'awareness ribbon' cake pan and no one had them in stock. Instead, I opted to make a tiered cake.

I tried printing puzzle piece shapes from my computer (thinking that I could use them as templates), but I just wasn't happy with how that process was going. 

After a little while, I decided to just try free-handing the puzzle pieces. It worked! What a relief! I used a couple different star tips along with my frosting bags to create the pieces on the bottom layer. For the top layer, I used the same tips, but instead of piping the stars, I 'smudged' the frosting onto the cake. Why? 2 reasons:

1. I ran out of my homemade frosting and had to switch to a pre-made frosting I had in my freezer and it wasn't piping the stars very well.
2. I was running out of time.

I was so happy when the cake was finished! And everyone at the benefit seemed to really like the cake. Of course, no one actually cut into the cake. It stayed at the front of the fundraiser - untouched - the whole evening. Oh well! I'm really glad I was able to pitch in to help such a great cause!