Christmas Cakes Gone WRONG!

After looking at another fine batch of Cake Wrecks, I thought it was time to share some more Christmas Cakes Gone Wrong. 


Let's start with Santa. Let's just say, there are so many ways to go wrong with a man in a red suit. 

 

 

Snowmen: We might just be better off if they found a way to melt away! 

 

 This last group of photos, is a great mod podge of wonderful, delectable pieces of art!

 (I finally just realized what these remind me of. The little white soldier guys in the Star Wars movies)

Honorable Mention goes to this Grumpy Cat Christmas cake I found at Project-Nerd.  Some might find this utterly amazing and to any grumpy cat fans I apologize. However, I just find it CREEPY! Something about this, is just not appealing to me. 

A Hello Kidney Cake... A Special Celebration!

This past week, my niece celebrated her 1 year anniversary of her kidney transplant. Although her health has been far from perfect this past year, we are blessed by the donation and the life saving changes because of it.
She chose to celebrate and honor the donor of her kidney by releasing balloons with her family.

 I wanted to honor her and celebrate her accomplishments by making her a special cake. I knew I wanted to make her a Kidney cake, but after doing a search for ideas, I was flooded with choices. Believe it or not, alot of people have made Kidney cakes. Some are silly, others more realistic and some just have a weird color and I wasn't sure I wanted to go there.

Since my niece is 12, I wanted to be more girl friendly. Once I crossed paths with this photo and the group online, I knew I wanted to use it as my inspiration.

If you are interested in purchasing any Hello Kidney products or connecting with the group, you can do so at these links... 

 Hello Kidney On Facebook  

Hello Kidney T-Shirts


Now, I'd like to say upfront.  I'm far from being a cake expert, but I've dabbled in cake decorating a bit. 17 years ago or more, my friend called me and said.."Hey, lets go sign up for a cake decorating class". She was trying to find a new hobby, so I volunteered to tag along. We bought all the necessary supplies, enjoyed the class, but once we were done she never used those tools again. Me on the other hand, had a 2 year old daughter and put my skills to use for birthday cakes and parties throughout her childhood. Some turned out great, others so, so.  This one, I happen to be pretty proud of and even happier at how simple it was to make. Here are a few photos from the process.

 I started with a 9x13 cake, a paper template and a frozen cake. Using a frozen cake, warmed just a tad, gives you stability to cut your cake into the shape you want.

 I used the template as a guide and just used a sharp knife to cut a guide on top of the cake. Once I had my guide, I went back with a longer knife and carved the cake out. If you are having difficulty carving it, because it's still to frozen, just let it sit a few minutes and try again.

One of the most important steps in making a decorative cake is putting 2 layers of frosting on. The first, is your "crumb layer". You frost the cake quickly, with a thin layer of frosting, pop it back in the fridge or freezer for a few and then come back to put your final and thicker layer on. This keeps all those crazy crumbs from your carving taking over your final frosting master piece. For more details on crumb coating your cake, check out Martha Stewart's video tutorial.

This cake only required two colors, but two of the hardest colors to mix. Black and Red. I just so happened to have Wilton's tubes of each, which made my task even easier. Easier on time, but these tubs can give your hands a workout. I always seem to find these tubes on clearance after holidays and pick them up for future use. Christmas Red, can be used for Valentines Day, Valentines Red, can be used around the Fourth of July...ect! Just think ahead and outside of the box.

Here is my final piece.....

My 19 year old daughter was pretty impressed, being a Hello Kitty junkie. When I told her "to bad I never made you a Hello Kitty cake as a kid". I was quickly told "I still can", so I'll have to keep that in mind.

Now, on to the most important part of the story, delivering it to my niece.  As you can see from the photos, her smile tells the story.

Now on to more important things. Let me take a moment to share Shae's story and tell you how you can find out more information or get support following a diagnosis. In a matter of months and less then a year, my niece Shaelyn went from being a healthy young runner, to a fragile young lady, needing a desperate kidney transplant. After multiple misdiagnoses, and lost previous time, she was diagnosed with  Wegener's Granulomatosis. 

The kidney loss was a result of lost time treating her disease. Before she could be put on the transplant list, her disease needed to be stabilized. This was accomplished and just 6 days after being put on the transplant list, she was called with the news. She had a donor!

Today, her life is getting back to a "new normal". She's been home-schooled this past year, but plans of returning to middle school in the Fall. They've also been working hard at supporting and bringing awareness to the treatment of Wegeners Granulomotosis and Vasculitis by organizing a non-profit called W.G. Warriors.  In support, many of her friends and family, wear Red on Wednesdays to support Shae and W.G. warriors all over the world.
 

To support or contact W.G. Warriors, you can locate them on the web and Facebook.

W.G. Warriors Web Site

W.G. Warriors Facebook Page

Merry Christmas in July

The good thing about CIJ is having fun blogging about it, the bad thing is...while having so much fun and planning for Christmas in July, I run out of time to blog about it. I have so many ideas running through my mind, but haven't sat down to blog about them. Tonight however, we celebrated with our annual Christmas in July dinner. Today is the 25th of July and in our house, that means family, friends, food and fun!  The tradition seems to be growing each year and we gather a few more guest. I love having friend over, but the bad thing is my house just doesn't accommodate everyone well. But we squeeze in and make the best of it. It really, doesn't leave us much room to spread apart, so when one of us laughs, we ALL laugh!

So my next topic...the new camera in our home. My daughters first big purchase after working this summer, was a fancy new SLR camera. She was offered a deal she couldn't refuse, by a fellow student from school. After using my camera for years and going through several of her own portable camera's, this new camera is her prized possession. Over the past year, she's been slowly taking over the photographer role in the house, so when we have family get together or go on trips, she's the one responsible for taking the pictures. That works great, until she's with her friends and forgets she's the "Photographer". Tonight my BFF surprised me with an awesome birthday cake he made and my daughter missed the whole thing, until I got her attention and by then she had missed them all singing happy birthday to me. You moms know how it is, you are always on the backside of the camera and getting you in the picture can be difficult. She finally joined in and here are a few photos of my cake. I'll have to come back and do another post on this cake alone. 

Just like Christmas, we exchange names and buy one gift for the person on our list. We all know each other pretty well obviously, so it can be a lot of fun and HYSTERICALLY funny. 

 The "Last" book Aunt Sandy will ever read....

But NOT because she's "Old"

We all decided that Lesley finally needed a planner. 

I mean, she only works 4 jobs! 

My nerdy husband got the Gumby and Pokey toy he wanted, along with some Gumby Gummies.

Ciara got some Monogrammed towels from Aunt Sandy for college and had another break down moments. Something about towels and totes, seem to set off those moments in our house right now. 

And when Mike gets a Nerf gun, watch out. All must take shelter!

We did it potluck style this year and that worked really well. It kept the cooking at a minimum for everyone and better yet, the house stayed cool. We also "enjoyed" of a new kind of meat tonight - Hamurkey
Let's just say, it was suppose to be a honey spiral cut Turkey, but tasted like Ham. Literally, it was the weirdest thing ever. Needless to say, I won't be buying that again at Costco.

When you tell people you are having a Christmas in July, the response is pretty black and white. You hear....wow..that's kinda weird, but sounds fun or you hear...ARE YOU CRAZY. It's 6 months early and I hate doing it in December, why would you do it twice? Well my answer to this is family. You know, I married into a pretty big family, however my immediate family is an adopted family of friends. Often, they have other places they have to be and this is just one more excuse to gather then together for a night of fun. We could do it in August, but since I love Christmas, CIJ just sounds like a good excuse as any. It gives us one extra day a year to pull out the wrapping paper, wear a pair of Christmas earring and start day dreaming about how we wean to accomplish so much for the upcoming holiday season.

On that note, I"ll end with one final photo... 

Did you know tomorrow is Flag Day?

Does your family stop and acknowledge it's Flag Day? If you do, that's awesome. If you don't, tomorrow may be the day to start a new tradition. What goes along with family fun and traditions??? FOOD!!! Why not take a few extra minutes and prepare something Red, White and Blue for dessert. Here are some fabulous ideas. 

Cupcakes Takes the Cake, used regular cupcakes and mini cupcakes to create this fun treat. 

 

 The Celebration Shoppe made these simple cupcakes, but added a lollipop stick to take it over the edge. Little details like that, always take it to another level.

Want a healthier option? No cake for you? Well, how about some Flag fruit kabobs? 

How about just using mini cupcakes. If you are one of the many (and I am not) who enjoy making 100 mini cupcakes for a project, then this is the project for you!!! This flag is made of entirely mini cupcakes with some small fondant stars.

Now, if you are torn between cupcakes or fruit???? Good Housekeeping has the option for you. The combo of Blueberries, Strawberries and Coconut sounds super yummy. I don't know which one I'd pick first?

 

If one or two bites is all you need to satisfy your sweet tooth, check out this cake pop cake by My Juice Cup.  

If you don't have time, don't fret. Just head to your local grocery store and I'm sure you'll find plenty of Red, White and Blue items in the bakery. Just remember, a little treat, can go a long way when trying to peak the interest of your family.