Alas, my Wilton cake decorating class has come to an end. For our final cake we tackled the “Wilton Rose.” They’re kind of fun actually, you know…when you don’t want to chuck your frosting bag across the room because you can’t get the petals just right. Anyhow, after getting all my roses on the rest of the cake just looked so empty so I did a tribute to one of my favorite Cake Wrecks.

I have to admit, I totally cheated on this cake. We were supposed to do a shell and sweet pea border instead of a star border. But you know what? I hate shells. And I hadn’t had a chance to practice them since last class. So, as my table-mate in class put it, I was a “rebel.” Because there’s nothing like using the wrong border to really stick it to the man! Viva la cake revolution!
*ahem*
Anyhow…the roses…here they are.

My best one ended up buried on the bottom of the pile, so I did one more and it ended up being better than the one that got covered up. But then it got a little smooshed by the lid of my cake carrier. That’s it to the left. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to see the smooshage or not. Adam and our friend Liz didn’t seem to notice. So it’s all good. And here are a few more shots, just because I feel like it:
   I finally figured out why I was getting so many little craters in my base coat of icing. And by “figured out” I mean I asked the teacher. Turns out I was over-mixing my icing. So this time my base coat turned out much better.  I went with an orange vanilla cake this time. It was OK. I think chocolate will always be my favorite {though the key lime cake we had at Lucy’s birthday and funfetti cake are yummy too}.
Anyway, I really, really enjoyed the class. And if supplies didn’t cost so freakin’ much I’d be signed up for the next course already. But for now, it will have to wait. In the mean time I have a LOT of leftover frosting with which I can practice those lovely roses and stupid shells.
What’s you favorite flavor of cake? Tell me in the comments.

So, this week in class we were making clown cakes. Clowns. Like this guy…

1 cup whipping cream

1/3 cup sugar

whip until fluffy then fold in

1/2 package chocolate pudding mix

an equal amount powdered cappuccino mix and

2 tbs. espresso

whip until fully blended and fluffy

chill at least 30 minutes and try not to eat it all straight from the bowl

Enjoy! And if you decide to make it let me know what you think!

So, how did my cake class go?
Well, after an epic cake fail that ruined my second rainbow batter cake {don’t ask, I don’t want to talk about it} I ended up making a third cake. This time I went with the always lovable chocolate cake because I didn’t have the heart or the time to do the rainbow batter a third time. I didn’t even make it to class on time.
I pretty much hated my cake until I got to class and snuck a peak at some of my classmate’s cakes. Clearly I have some perfectionism issues to work on. Compared to my fellow beginners I’m doing just fine thank you. Anyhow, here’s the cake:

Partway through the band of purple I realized I meant to do red on the top. But it was too a late to fix it. Here’s another shot:

And here’s a close up, so you can see, in detail, the flaws in my base coat.

Overall though, I’m happy with it. I gave it to our friend who just had a baby, a BEAUTIFUL baby girl. Sorry, I don’t have a picture of the baby. She was sleeping and I didn’t want to wake her with the camera flash. But trust me, she’s gorgeous! And I got to hold her! {Yes, be jealous!}
Next week I’m making a mocha cake, an evil mocha clown cake {I’ll explain later}. I’ll be sure to take pictures and report on how class went. Class this week went fairly well, and I enjoyed myself. But my hand is killing me. Parchment paper bags are evil. That is all.

Two days ago I make a test-cake. It’s a good thing I did. I’m going to need to double this particular recipe. Yesterday I did a test run on icing the cake {no decoration, just a base coat, so to speak}. It’s a good thing I did. I definitely need the practice. I have plans for the “real” cake, but shhhhh! It’s a secret. Don’t worry, I’ll reveal it soon. In the meantime, here are some photos of my uneven test run.
 

Anyway, this weekend I’ll have another go at baking the cake. And maybe the icing will turn out better the second time around. It’s definitely smoother than any cake I’ve done before, but there were still lots of imperfections, only some of which would have been covered by decorations had I practiced the design we’ll be doing on Tuesday in class.
Wish me luck!

Binders aren’t just for students. I love binders for home management. There are all sorts of ideas for home management binders or “control journals” all over the Internet {see the links below}. I use one for my Motivated Mom’s* planner, one for recipes {page protectors keep spills from ruining my pages}, one for the holiday season, and I even have one I call the “I’M the Mama! Book.” That’s one I use for organizing articles I’ve photocopied/printed with evidence and support for my parenting decisions, such as breastfeeding, co-sleeping, etc. and articles and resources for decisions I’m still trying to make {such as homeschooling}.
My most recent binder is my cake binder. I threw it together to organize myself for my Wilton cake decorating classes.
  I like my binders to look snazzy. Plain old white just doesn’t do it for me. So I use scrapbook paper to dress them up. I always use the binders that have clear sleeves on the covers. Then all I have to do is find paper I like, cut it to fit, and slide it into the cover. In this case I also grabbed some cake-themed embellishments. Adorable, no?  Going the paper route {you could also use wrapping paper} is quick and easy. But you could use pages from a book or magazine, photos, or design a cover on your computer and print it out.
In the front pocket I have my shopping list for class supplies, as well as some Michael’s coupons I printed off their website. I keep scissors {for cutting coupons and cutting decorating bags} plus some writing utensils in the blue zipper pouch {and will probably throw in a small calculator as well, just in case I need to do some tricky conversions}.
Next are the practice sheets from our class book. We’ll use these by sliding them into the clear pouches on our practice boards and doing decorations right over the templates.
I’ve also included a color-mixing chart from the Wilton website. And I’ll be adding my color-wheel from when I was an art student. Hopefully, with all those resources at my finger tips I’ll always be able to get my frosting to color I want it.
    Then I have space for my notes from each class, as well as my cake plans. I’ve got all three class cakes planned out. I’ve typed up the flavors {including the instructions on altering the cake mixes}, and the colors I’ll be using as well as listing the amount of frosting I’ll need in which colors and at what consistency. Who knew there was so many details to organize just to make a cake? ;)
Finally, in the back pocket, is the class book we received on our first day, our cake decorating bible, if you will.
And that, my friends, is my cake binder. The organizing possibilities for binders are many. And the products made for use in binders are versatile. They make tab dividers, pouches, page protectors, photo pages, and more. You can even use baseball card sheets for organizing coupons. If you’re interested in using binders to organize your own interests, hobbies, schedule, or home then check out the links below.

• Flylady.net the site that first introduced me to the idea of “Control Journals”
• Organized Home Lots of information on home management binders as well as printable pages for your binder
• Simple Mom great post all about home management notebooks
• Mom’s Budget plenty of printable pages for your binder
• Executive Homemaker more printable pages
• D*I*Y Planner lots of printable pages in different sizes that can be used in a home management binder or in a more traditional planner
• Organized Christmas several different plans for organizing the holiday chaos along with comprehensive printable pages {really fantastic resource!}

So, there you have it. Binders rock!
Do you use any sort of home or hobby management binders? What are yours like? Tell me in the comments. :)


*To learn about Motivated Moms you can click the affiliate ad in my sponsor’s section. I do receive a {very} small kickback for planners purchased via that link, but that’s not why I recommend the planners. I use them myself and really, really like them. I’ve written about them in the past.

Guess what! Tonight I’m attending my very first cake decorating class!
OMG! Let me say it again!  Tonight I’m attending my very first cake decorating class!  Do you realize how exciting this is?  I mean, yeah, I’ve wanted to take the Wilton classes for years.  And yeah, I think this is going to be all sorts of fun.  But that’s not even the most exciting thing about it.
I’M GOING OUT TO DO SOMETHING FUN ON MY OWN!
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been out of the apartment by myself this year.  That’s really sad, people.  Obviously, once you become a mom you have a lot less time to yourself, but I’m talking unhealthy habits here.  Seriously.  That much time with a toddler?  I don’t even remember how to just BE without keeping an eye and ear on Lucy.  I’ve been Mama 24/7 for so long now that I’ve forgotten how to be Holly.
Well, for the next four weeks I’m getting out for two hours, once a week.  And I’m gonna make kick-ass cakes y’all!  Of course, by “kick-ass cakes” I mean “cakes from a box mix with decorations by a beginner.”  But you know what, box mix cakes are delicious!  And I’m not ashamed to admit I use {and love} them.
So there.
And just to give you a comparison point for when I post pictures of my practice cakes here are some cakes/cupcakes I’ve made in the past.

Let’s hope we see some improvement, yes?
Have you ever taken the Wilton cake decorating class? Tell me about it in the comments!

Valentine's Day is Saturday. Hence the temporary change in background. Are you ready? I'm not. Do you have a card, maybe some chocolates or a small gift prepared? I don't. Just a friendly reminder to get ready if you haven't already. Do as I say, not as I do.

And now for my gift to you, dear readers. Here, for your enjoyment, are some Valentine's Links.

• An incredible cake (featured this past Sunday on Cake Wrecks).
• The history of Valentine's Day.
• Vintage Valentine's cards.
  

For all my talk about being a geeky family I have to admit, it could be much worse. Check out these cakes. The last one is a wedding cake...and yes, the entire wedding followed this theme, decorations, clothing and all (there's a link to see more pictures from the wedding). So while I can take pride in the fact that I'm not as geeky as all that...I do have to concede that I think those cakes are really stinkin' awesome!

Here are some more geeky cakes and geeky weddings for your amusement.

Weddings/Cakes

Cakes

More Cakes