Easy Homemade Pirate Cake

Here is an easy to make pirate cake that the kids go nuts for.  Even if you don't decorate a lot of cakes, this is one you should be able to tackle.  

I made a double cake and frosted a crumb coat.  As you can see, this cake was very crumbly!  After the all important crumb coat, I stuck the cake in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to let the crumb coat harden.

Next I frosted the sides of the cake in blue buttercream.  Then I used a toothpick to draw an outline of where I wanted the ocean and beach to be.  I spread brown icing on the beach side and blue icing on the ocean side.  The nicest part about this cake is that you don't have to get any of the frosting smooth!  Just smear it on!  I even used my spatula to make the water extra wavy.

Painted Backyard Furniture

 My backyard chairs needed some love.  They were boring brown and the cushions were shot.  I decided to spruce them up with a can of spray paint and some new cushions.  Now they are bright and cheery.  And they look brand new!

I found some cushions for $15 each at Home Goods.  

This is what my chairs looked like before I painted them.  Faded cushions and plain tan metal.  The chairs are really comfortable and they're good quality so I thought a coat of paint would bring them back to life.