Thomas the Tank Engine Cake

Here is the cake I made for a friend's son. He LOVES Thomas! I didn't have a large enough cake pan so supplemented with some cupcakes.

Below is a picture of the cake before I added the colors. I did a black outline is royal icing to make sure that the detailed drawing wouldn't melt or run all over. It didn't need to be an exact replica of Thomas but I wanted it recognizable, at least.

Below is a picture of Thomas colored in with buttercream. I wasn't sure what to do for the black parts at first because no one wants a mouthful of black frosting. These chocolate sprinkles or jimmies (as we called them in Massachusetts) worked pretty well, I think.

The Glorious 4th and a Birthday Shout-Out!

The 4th of July just so happens to be my older sister's birthday as well. Fireworks for every birthday and grilling outside? Sweet! Beats my December birthday by a mile (chance of blizzard, close to Christmas and everyone is busy with holiday plans). It makes sense because Michelle is definitely a firecracker! Happy Birthday, Michelle!

I made this flag "cake" out of little lemon cupcakes. The frosting is a simple buttercream with vanilla bean added for a little extra flavor. The flag would have been better with more rows but we just don't need to be eating that much cake!

Below is a close-up.

The weather was a little iffy yesterday. Here is when it started really clouding up and looking a little ominous.....

...then it rained so we retreated indoors for a little Rockband and Trivial Pursuit. Below is a pic of a little blue peeking through the clouds....

...and then it cleared up in time for fireworks, just as Sven Sungard (weather gnome for Channel 11) said it would. Cool - time for some pyrotechnics..........

The guys lined up the fireworks and did their pyro thing.....

....and the rest of us mainly took pictures from a safe distance. Below are the only two decent pics I got of the "real" fireworks display put on by the town. My camera battery was low and it just didn't want to do its thing.

Happy Birthday, Laura!

This week was my friend and roommate's 21st birthday. Yes, she is practically a child still. But now one who can drink legally, I guess. Above is a banner I made out of cardstock and strung with ribbon.

Above is a snapshot of Laura's cake. Actually, it is a brownie with brownie bites all around. The attempt at an actual cake was a disaster. It looked terrible - lopsided, oozing filling, the frosting was separating, ugh. Anyway, Laura loves clocks and Laura loves cheeseburgers. So, here she is (yes, that lumpy figure it supposed to represent Laura. Sorry, Laura) eating a cheeseburger and sitting on a giant clock that is covered in cream cheese frosting.