Christmas Wedding Cake Poll

I've been asked to create a Traditional Wedding Cake for a Christmas Wedding.  Very Exciting...fun..can't wait!

Bride and Groom would like a traditional 3 layer Christmas themed cake, done in traditional red, green & white.

Perhaps some roses and greenery,  maybe some poinsettias... oh what do I want to do?

I would like your help on this one!

I would really like to have your opinions peeps!

I have browsed the internet for some inspiration since I have not done a Christmas cake.  I have lots & lots of ideas...but as usual the hardest part is narrowing it down.

So, here are some of my favs...

Cake #1 - Traditional 3 tier white buttercream w/ poinsettias.

I don't care for the topper used on this one, that would have to go. 

Cake #2 -  Gift box cake.  Red & white fondant w/ lots of details.  No green though.  I like this so it's in the running but not really my fav.  Also not so traditional as weddings go, also would be a little bit pricier.

Cake #3 - This one is my absolute FAV!  It screams winter.  It screams Christmas to me.  I luv the way the artist applied the butter cream icing, reminds me of snow for some reason.  Luv the red & white roses,  I could actually make mine from sugar dough instead of real... A topper would look lovely instead of the flowers on top.

Cake #4 -  Simple traditional 3 tier w/ fondant & red ribbon.  Elegant and beautiful.

So, which is your FAV?

Again, none of these cakes are my creations

BUT

as for inspiration purposes,  they are all gorgeous.

Which would you choose?

I would really appreciate your input.  Leave me a comment, send me some new inspiration, wish me a Merry Christmas...

(If my Bride & Groom are reading this...let me know your thoughts too)

Vote for a cake.

#1- Poinsettia & Butter cream Cake

 #2- Gift Box Cake    

             #3- Winter Wonderland Cake             

#4- Elegant Ribbons Cake

  

Football! It's for the BIRDS...

Sadly, baseball season is over.  I actually really liked watching my 'little man' Austin play little league.  He even played fall ball well into October.  He's pretty good at it.  There's nothing like watching your children succeed at a team sport.  His nickname was Awsome Austin!

I luv luv luv baseball.

I never really even liked it...til he came along.

Never like watching it on TV.  Never new the players, the teams...long and drawn out I thought.

That all changed due to him.  Countless hours watching our home town Phillies play.  LUVED the few times I actually had the chance to take him to the ball park to watch it live (thanks ASD) !

Now it's cold.  Winter's fast approaching.  Looking forward to some pretty white snow.  Looking forward to Santa's arrival in less than 30 days.  The one thing I NEVER looked forward to was football.

Again, though...til Austin came along.

I can't lie... part of me still cringes at the thought...

Football is for the birds...

The Philadelphia Eagles Birds that is!

Although I still do not understand ONE thing about the game, except a touchdown... Austin's luv of the game inspired me to paint this rocking horse.

It's a one of a kind children's rocker just waiting for some little guy's name (or girl).  All work is personalized free if wanted!

Perhaps I learn to really love the game like I do baseball.  I need to buy a book from the Dummies Series to explain all the 'down' crap.

For now, I'll just use the inspiration to paint a few more items!

Go Birds!

Happy Thanksgiving Turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Had a wonderful evening with my son last night baking cupcakes!  It was so great to just de-stress with him and have fun....after making a few cakes for others recently and the stress that goes along with that.  We made a few turkeys as well.  Not the typical turkey, but sugar dough turkeys!



Don't stress... ANYONE can do these easy little turkeys.

Roll out three balls of brown fondant. One big and 2 smaller.

Roll the 2 smaller balls into cone shapes and pinch one end to make the turkey legs.  Add a tiny ball of white to those ends for the bones. 

Simply use some water and carefull pinch them to the larger ball (the turkey).

Voila!

These turkeys were done in under 5 minutes!

My turkeys turned out pretty well, I was happy with them.

But oh, I learned a very valuable Thanksgiving lesson last night.

Spending time with your kids is WAY important.

I spend valuable time - many many hours stressing over the cakes I do for others...the scrutiny I put myself under for the perfect cake decor.

That's all well and good.  I do luv what I do.

But my favorite turkey cupcakes were not my own.

Austin's cupcakes were my absolute FAV!

My  year old's turkey cupcakes are my favorite EVER!

His happiness and creativity are of the utmost importance.

The works of edible art we made last night are WAY better than any other cake I've done recently!

The imperfectness of them makes them SO perfect to me.

Anyway...please give thanks for your blessings today and everyday!

Fondant Ribbon-Monkey Cake

Recently I had the opportunity to make a baby shower cake for a friend's daughter's shower.  Not just any cake, but a 3 layer fondant cake.  I was very excited to take this one on.  I love fondant work.  Now I know I am not "The Boss" or a "Pro" but can do a pretty nice job! I was pretty excited to sculpt the little monkey for the top of the cake to match the baby's bedding.

Today I wanted to share a few quick tips on making the chocolate fondant ribbon bow that wraps the top layer of the cake and drapes down the front.  Perhaps in later post, a series of  'how to' will come on the rest of the cake.  

Fondant is a sugar clay; mold able & pliable.  You can buy pre-made fondant in craft stores, white or pre colored or you can make your own with marshmallow.  Now, I am not that fond of the making & mixing part of cake decor... I luv the creative decor part, so I buy my fondant.

So, first things first.  I roll a hunk of fondant into a thick snake.  Much like we did as kids in art class, playing with clay.

(personal note: I do realize what the snake of chocolate clay resembles so please forgive me.  This was the color choice of the customer - so bear with me!)

Gently roll the fondant snake flat into a long ribbon like piece.  About 1/8th of an inch thick.  Not too thin that you cannot work with it and pick it up. Trim the side edges with a sharp knife or pizza cutter for a straight edge.

Wrap this around the joint of the top and middle cake as shown.  I like a free flowing 'wrinkled' appearance on my ribbons.

To make all the remaining pieces of the ribbon you will need to make the snakes and roll them flat.

Next, take 2 trimmed flat fondant pieces cut to about the same length and fold them into a circular shape, pinching the edges together to form the bow of the ribbon as shown.

wrap a shorter piece to cover the joining of the 2 bows to resemble a knot.

Allow these to sit and air dry to the side while you make the rest of the ribbon.

Continue making 2 more very long strips.  These will be the tail of the ribbons.

Attach these to the cake with a bit of water or cake icing for your glue. 

Allow them to roll and fold down the cake, gently draping the edges.

(& covering and mistakes you may have made in icing!)

NOT that I would have make any! Ha Ha.

Last you will want to attach the completed bow that has had some time to firm up.  Gently 'glue' the bow onto the overlapping of all of your tails like so...

Place cake back into the fridge to cool for PARTY TIME!

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookie Pops

A little while back my daughter & I were looking for a quick baked good idea.  It needed to be simple for her & a bit creative for myself.  I remembered some 'on a stick' ideas I had seen a while back here at Christy's Blogspot.  Her's were done with cinnamon buns.  Since I had none of those, I decided peanut butter cookies should work just fine.  So we slaved  played in the kitchen adding ingredients for the finest quickest cookies we could make...from a box... (hey don't judge!)

 We shaped a few into large lollipop shaped round balls and set them on a cookie sheet.

Next we ever so gently stuck a lollipop stick into the ball and...

SMACK!
squashed them flat

While they were baking.  We gathered up some peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and some chocolate sauce and stirred it up. 

No exact measurements here...

just plopped gently and caringly mixed this to the consistency of thick syrup.  No too watery but just so it flows from the spoon.  Be careful when lifting the  cookies from the pan that the stick stays put and the cookie does not break.  We lost a few at this stage.  But that's the fun of baking with kids...they get to eat the mistakes.

We spooned the topping into a zip lock bag and snipped a corner off to make a piping bag.  You could use a real piping bag or just let it run from the spoon.

Then we just zig zagged the icing across all of the cookies lined across the counter top.  Fun!

I had a flower pot painted black from a previous project.  I added some cheetah print ribbon to the rim to create a little bow, halved a round foam ball and jammed it into the pot.  Next we covered the foam with some glittery shiney gift basket fill (I luv luv luv anything glittery & shiney).  Finally we arranged the peanut butter cookie pops into the pot as shown below.

Not too bad for a quick unplanned afternoon of baking!

These would look adorable made as fun shapes for kids, holidays, baby showers etc.  I think they would also be a cute little gift for a teacher or a friend as a cute thank you or get well.

I would luv luv luv to see what creations you could come up with using this idea.  Don't forget to let me know if you do, I'll share your photos here on the blog

Thanks for reading!  Have a blessed and fun day!

Welcome to Tiaras & Bow Ties

Welcome to Tiaras & Bow Ties.  This is my special little world where everyone should feel magical & special.  This is where girls should put on their Tiara & their TuTu & dance happily thru the meadows.  Where little boys should wear their Bow Ties with pride!  Every prince & princess should grow up feeling that dreams come true.  A place where pink flowers & castles dot every corner... a knight in shining armour waits to give her that special kiss...

Oh, ok... a little stange?

I know.

I do love the enchanting...the whimsical

It is my Blog ya know.

I am so sorry, really.  I want to thank you for visiting.  My hopes for these posts are to share my love of painting.  Especially for children.

Perhaps share some how to's along the way.

Stop by the gallery where new photos will be updated frequently!

Kim