Vintage Circus

There is the cutest little vintage place within walking distance of my house. Dangerous! I decided to go for a walk yesterday and my feet just automatically took me there :)

I pretty much always find something I need (okay, "want") when I stop by. Yesterday I got these wonderful vintage elephant salt and pepper shakers and this little circus book. I won't even tell you what a steal they were but I will say the total was quite a bit under ten bucks. The prices are like thrift store prices, seriously.

I think I am going to make these guys into Christmas ornaments as I don't really need or use salt and pepper shakers. I love to repurpose things like this!

Minnesota State Fair

I got to the fair very early this year. Most of the buildings were not even open yet! The great part about it was that it was so much easier to take good pictures! Normally, it is practically impossible to get a pic without a random head or arm sticking in front of it. I got some good pics of the carousel before it was turned on. Cool!

I always try to do a little research before I head out to the fair (yes, I am a Fair Nerd and I take my visit seriously). This year, I decided to try the Sweet Corn ice cream (new this year at the Blue Moon Diner).

I had a hard time deciding what topping to get and limited funds. I finally went with blueberry but kinda wished I had decided on the honey butter bacon because the blueberry was delicious but overpowered the delicate corn flavor of the ice cream. It was still delicious!

I also caught a couple shows, including.....

Street Corner Symphony! Did anyone else watch The Sing-Off on tv last season? I started watching because Ben Folds was one of the judges (love him so much!) but was very impressed with all of the singing groups. I kinda wanted to get my picture taken with them but was too shy :)

I got to the "Miracle of Birth" barn right when it opened at 9am. I am a sucker for the piglets, lambs, and kids!

My nephew played a little pinball, which was pretty awesome (and one of the few things open before 9am). I didn't play the Guns 'N' Roses pinball, shown below, but it looked pretty awesome.

Pinterest! My New Obsession!

So, have you discovered Pinterest yet? I just started pinning (a little late to the party, as usual. I'm not what the techies call "an early adapter")and I can see all kinds of ways it's going to come in handy. Just like a real inspiration board, you can "pin" inspirational images onto boards you set up so you can keep all the cool ideas you come across in one place. You can also "follow" people or boards that you find interesting. I've set up boards for craft projects, cake ideas, Christmas ideas, and lots of other things. It's awesome!

Donkey Kong Cake

Earlier this summer I made a Donkey Kong birthday cake for my brother-in-law's 30th birthday. I was fairly happy with the way it came out, but I should have made all of the figures smaller. Once I had made Mario so large, I realized that meant that Kong had to be HUGE! Oh, well. I also think Mario looks a little more like Warrio.

It was good practice for modeling figures in fondant, anyway, and I'm told the cake was delicious.

Graduation Cupcakes

Last month I made some cupcakes in honor of a friend who just graduated from college. I was given carte blanche on the design, pretty much, so decided to go with these cute owls (owls=wise=graduation), some stars in the school colors, and some little fondant diplomas. I think they turned out well, don't you?

I made the decorations out of fondant, as you can probably tell. There are TONS of tutorials online for making owls of all different styles. I just kind of looked at them and decided to wing it (get it? wing it! ha!) The owl's body was made with an oval cutter and then I took another round cutter to take a piece out of the top to make the ears. The wings were originally half circles but they were too big so I cut them down to kind of a tear drop shape. Everything else was pretty easy. I used the end of a frosting tip to make the circles for the eyes and also used it to make the "feather" impressions on the body.

The diplomas were pretty simple. I just cut out strips of fondant and rolled them up! Then I cut out a litte strip of gray fondant for the "ribbon", put a dab of water on the diploma to make it stick, and wrapped it around.

The best way I've found to transport a large quantity of cupcakes? Plastic storage bins with snap-on lids. They leave plenty of head room for the cupcakes so you don't smoosh your frosting or decorations. They also can be stacked and are pretty sturdy (sturdier than cupcake boxes and ESPECIALLY the pieces of garbage they sell at Michaels). Also - reusable!

Links and Stuff

Why, hello, Little Bloggy! It's been a while. Today's post is what one blogger (wish I could remember who!) calls a "faux-st" or faux post. It's when you want to post something on your blog but don't have any new projects to post. I've been so busy working and baking that I haven't had time to upload pics of anything!

On a side note, did you know that most of the chain thrift stores (Savers, Goodwill, Arc, etc.) have 50% off sales on July 4th? I'm going to try to sneak out in the morning before my BBQ.

In the meantime, here are some flower pics from weeks ago (we had a great peony season here in Minnesota, didn't we?) and some awesome links:

• http://www.jimspancakes.com/ - art made from pancakes!




• http://www.oldbookillustrations.com/ - just what you'd think - a place where you can find old book illustrations that are categorized and free to download




• http://www.etsy.com/shop/HeyYoYo - a great Etsy shop that has all kinds of cool cupcake supplies and a good selection of paper straws. Retro stuff, too!

Some new decor

I got these two little framed pictures at a thrift store for less than five bucks. I guess they aren't very sophisticated (that may be a huge understatement) but they make me smile. This little triangle at the bottom of the stairs had grimy, off-white paint on the wall with smudgy marks left by previous tenants. I think the kitty pictures, butterflies, and blue paint are much more cheerful.