We Reap What We Sow

Where we plant seeds of kindness, we can expect love to grow.

(My son pulled these cute love carrots out of our garden today, so I just had to share.) Pin It

Winna-Winna-Winna! We Have a Winna!!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

11
Timestamp: 2009-07-15 07:31:04 UTC

Forgive me as I don't know how to post this proof of results with the cute little box that I got it in. (Or is this right? Just copy/pasted the results right from the generator.)

Anyway... JT42 is my Birthday Surprise Winner!!! Congrats!!! Her birthday is on July 25th. Email me your info and I will send you a birthday gift!!! (Email link on right sidebar.) Pin It

My Birthday Cakes

First of all... Have you posted a comment on my Birthday Giveaway post? If not, you have until midnight tonight! I will use the random number generator to choose a winner, and that person will be getting a surprise from me in their mailbox before the end of the month!! Go here for the details. One of my other fave bloggers is also doing a giveaway with the same deadline, so while you're at it you might as well try for hers too!

The following are all the birthday cakes I've made for my kids over the last 7 years or so. I'm just missing my Elmo cake, which was my first creative cake.
I will look for the pic of my Elmo cake (not a digital photo- you know.)

I love making the balls. They're creative and quite easy to make!



How do I get my frosting on so shiny and smooth? I dip my frosting tool into a cup of water and I work it around until nice and smooth! (That takes a little time, especially if you are a perfectionist like me.)

All these (above) have been my own creation. I forgot what I did for the ladybug's head. I think it was my smallest stainless steal bowl. I used black jellybeans for the eyes and legs. I thought I was so clever coming up with the ladybug cake idea, but then I saw it on FamilyFun (I think). I'm sure all of these were thought of before me too. Goes to show that great minds think alike!

How to get that perfect, round ball shape you might wonder? If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, it's a "piece of cake" (no pun intended)! Just be sure to grease and flour your bowl really well!! Use a whole cake mix. (It will need to bake a bit longer than normal because of how thick it is.)

The Pampered Chef Batter Bowl works too! I used that one for the football cake (below). I cut it down the middle after cooled and matched up the centers for the football shape.

I've seen people do princess doll cakes with these too. In fact I found the princess doll cake-topper (doll) at Michael's craft store for like $5. They come with blond or brunette hair. I haven't attempted one of those yet, but have seen many great ones!

Wondering how my frosting can be a nice deep color? It's all about the Wilton food dye, found at Walmart and/or craft stores in the cake decor isle. They are about $1.50 each at Walmart.

These next 3 cakes were inspired by the FamilyFun website (my fave for party ideas)...
I loved this princess crown cake. It was SO easy! I just used 2 normal-sized (medium) round cake pans, and 1 small one (the one I always used for my kids' 1st Bday cakes). I used 2 cake mixes and just made cupcakes with the extra batter. I used a $5 princess crown from Walmart for the top (which came with some matching clip-on earrings that my daughter won't wear) so I used the earrings on the sides of the cake for extra bling. I also used big round sprinkles that I found at Walmart in the cake decor section.

Last fall we had a "pretend sleepover" party for my daughter so I found this tutorial at FamilyFun.

Here is the skateboard cake I did that was so clever from FamilyFun.

These are my Great to be Eight Cookies that I posted about in January, which includes a "tute" on how to make them!

I didn't make this one. But did you know that Sam's Club will put "edible decor" (meaning photos) on your cake for no extra charge? You just hand them the photo either at drop off OR pick up! This 1/2 sheet cake from Sam's was only $16 and some change! I got to customize everything. This cake was for my son's baptism on the 4th of July (a week ago).

The rest of these are my own creations again. I couldn't think of what to do for my son's bicycle birthday party, so I tried to make a bike tire (below).

I made the Spiderman eyes out of grey card stock and laminated them with contact paper- so easy! I still have the eyes somewhere.

These other spider things were from the same party, and since my son's birthday is near Halloween they just worked out perfect! (I used plastic spider rings as decor.)


These I made for my other son's school Bday treat, which was shortly after Spiderman III came out so we did some "Venom" ones as well. To make these oval (like a face) I think I just used an empty round container and squeezed it a bit to form an oval. These were a big hit in the class!!

(Only problem was all the black tongues and lips. Oh well. The kids loved 'em!)

Whew... a lot of info for one post! FamilyFun is my fave place to go for birthday cake inspiration. I also frequent this site for ideas and have liked what I've found there too. Enjoy!

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You Can Make This Birthday Giveaway!

One of my fave websites called YouCanMakeThis.com just turned THREE, and they are hosting a birthday giveaway on their blog! {giddy} All you have to do is leave a comment on the birthday post and post about it on your blog, and you'll be eligible to win some great things!! I can't wait! We have until July 20th to enter.

Come see what I recently made with the YCMT patterns!
Also, don't forget to sign up for my giveaway (below) as well! Pin It

Birthday Month and a Giveaway!

For me, JuLy is BiRtHdAy month!! Why? Because...
July 2- my SON, bro-in-law
July 3- niece
July 4- AMERICA, cousin
July 6- sister, niece
July 8- niece
July 14- ME!!
July 18- niece
July 22- bro-in-law
July 23- sis-in-law

So in lue of so many birthdays in my world, including my own, I am proclaiming JULY as my Birthday Blogging Month!! (All posts related to birthdays.)

So spread the word... If you read my blog and your birthday is in JULY, leave me a comment on this post with your name and birthday. (Do not have to say the year.) On July 14 (my birthday) I will randomly choose one of YOU (using the random generator) and send a surprise birthday gift to you from me by the end of the month! (Don't worry... it will be something good!) If you were not born in July, you may nominate a girlfriend with a July birthday. You may comment as many times as you'd like to heighten your chance of winning! Please also post this giveaway on your blog to be eligible! Pin It