Thursday, September 1, 2011

Goth Challenge, Day 14

Day 14 – What was your worst DIY disaster and best DIY success?

I do love a good DIY project! And I do make many things. For example, I've made most of our Christmas ornaments, embroidered shirts for my kids, made them fun pillows, hand-made embossed birthday invites with caligraphy... I could go on for the rest of the day...

But the thing I like to do best is cake sculptures. I make fancy cakes for my children's birthdays, friend's children's birthdays, school events, etc. I made my first sculpture for my daughter's second birthday. She was very into The Wizard of OZ at the time, so I did the ruby slippers for her.

Ruby Slippers for Lily's 2nd birthday

I really wasn't sure what I was doing, but with the help of a friend (who was the former pastry chef at the restaurant where my husband worked, who also made our wedding cake and who now owns the best chocolate shop ever, Artisan Confections) I was able to get a basic idea of what I needed, where to get it and the techniques to use. And I was fairly pleased with the results, as it was my first time.

Since then, I've done many fancy cakes.

The worst disaster was the Super Mario cake I did for a good friend before he left for Special Agent training. The cake looked great when I went to bed.

Super Mario cake for Ryan's Bon Voyage

Early the next morning, my son came into my room crying that the cake was broken and vowing that he didn't touch it. I flew down the stairs to find that the back of the middle layer had collapsed over night.

Disaster!

I cried. I was so very upset.

Then I calmed down and assessed the damage. I decided I had enough skill and supplies that I could salvage the cake. An hour later it was repaired.

Repaired

And it was a hit at the party too.

The best cake? Well, I've done some awesome ones, but my favorite was the one for my daughter's sixth birthday. She requested "Dracula coming out of a coffin with blood everywhere!" (I was so pleased that my little girl was becoming a baby bat!) This was the most fun I have ever had making a cake. I listened to Evil Dead 2 on the tv in the background, and used my Bela Lugosi doll as a model for the figure. And of course, I just happened to have mint flavored stage blood in my closet...


Dracula for Lily's 6th



I think some of the other kids were a little afraid of this cake, but, I didn't let that bother me.  And I know my in laws thought it was "wildly inappropriate." <insert maniacal laughter here>

I truly love making these cakes. Yes, it takes hours and hours, but it satisfies my creative needs. No, I will never do this professionally. It is a hobby and something I do because I want to not because I have to. If this were a job, I'd most likely end up hating it.

Just for fun, here are some of the other cakes I've made of which I am rather proud:

Dragon for Gareth's 1st

Fasery houses for Lily's 3rd

Tea Mouse for Lena's 1st

Hello Kitty for Siri's 3rd (Kitty head made of rice crispies)

Pink Grumpy Bear for Lena's 2nd

Tiana for Lily's 5th

R2D2 for Gareth's 3rd

School mascot for Teacher Appreciation Day

Death Star for Gareth's 4th

Despicable Me for Kindergarten Graduation

Minons

1 comment:

  1. Your cakes are awesome! I made a princess castle for my daughter one time and it ended up looking like a really cute pig in the end. :/

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