My Take on a Buttercream Cowgirl Cake

Here's my take on a cowgirl cake made with buttercream.  

I made a 3 layer, 10 inch, bottom cake and frosted it (smooth) in pink buttercream.  Then I piped on black and white paisley designs to look like a bandanna.  I made a separate 3 tier, 6 inch cake and frosted it in white buttercream.  Then I used canned chocolate frosting to make the cow spots.  Before frosting the cakes I added a little homemade simple syrup to each layer to keep it moist.  I also used my candy molds to make pink and white chocolate boots to place around the cake.

  

Bath Towel Solution!

3 kids + 3 bath towels = one big mess! 

Our old system for hanging bath towels was to hang towels on the closet doorknob.  It didn't work for many reasons...

#1.  Three towels didn't fit properly.

#2. The bottom towel never got dry.

#3. My kids didn't like hanging their towels so they wound up on the floor.

I needed a better system so I searched Pinterest (my go to place for all things crafty) and found a few different towel hanging solutions.  I chose the bits and pieces I liked and came up with a simple and inexpensive solution to our towel debacle.

I turned this...

Into this!

Here's what I did...

Spring/Summer Window Decor

First of all, let me apologize for these pictures!  They are pretty bad, I know.  It was a very sunny day so no matter what I did, the window acted as a mirror.  I tried to blur out images of the parking lot but this is the best I could do with what I had to work with.

I did a really simple window painting display at my son's preschool and thought it could be something fun to do at home as well.  If you find yourself feeling crafty and want to jazz up your own windows, just grab some acrylic paints and get started.  This was super easy and didn't take long at all.  I painted on the inside of the window because I wanted it to last through the summer, but you could paint on the outside and just hose it off when you are tired of it.  

I usually draw my design out on butcher paper and tape it to the outside of the window to use as a guide.  I did this with the larger flowers so I knew where to place them but then I freehanded the rest in.

(This is a shot from inside.)

A Very Sweet Thank You Treat

I love Pinterest...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  

I am so happy when it is gift giving time, I no longer have to agonize over an inexpensive, creative gift to give the people I love and appreciate.  Pinterest has examples of anything you can think of, plus a million things you never even imagined!  Anytime I see something I like, I just pin it to one of my boards and save it for later.  For an OCD brain like mine...it's genius!  

It's the end of the school year and I needed a fun thank you gift for my kids teachers.  Since I'm a teacher too I know the kinds of things they love.  And let me tell you, sweet treats and gift cards are always appreciated by every teacher!  I definitely wanted to find a creative way to say thank you to our teachers.  So, I searched Pinterest and I was NOT disappointed.  

Here's what I did... 

I bought a ton of candy bars and gum.  Not just any though...specific candy that was used to write a message to our favorite teachers.

Pinterest had several different messages to choose from.  I chose the sayings I liked, made a couple of my own and put them into the order I wanted.  

Here's the message I used...

Cars Cake Tutorial

A lot of people have sent me questions about the construction cake I posted a few months ago.  This weekend I made a similar cake so I figured I'd turn it into a mini tutorial which may help.  

DISCLAIMER!!!!  

I am not a cake decorator.  I'm just a mom who likes to try to make cool cakes for my kiddos and their friends.  My way may not be the RIGHT way but it's the way that works for me.  Hopefully you can take some of the ideas here and tweak them to work for you. 

You can totally make this cake!  It's pretty simple!

This is the tip I used...the "grass tip".

Now I'm a Florist???

My daughter's school was hosting a Father-Daughter Dance and my girl was beyond exited to go on a real date with her daddy.  We wanted to make it special for her so we thought a corsage was just the thing she needed.  Little did I know, corsages are expensive!  I mean, really expensive...Like $45!

  

Since buying one was out of the question, I went to my local Albertsons and bought some flowers; 3 bunches for $12.  I chose baby roses, Baby Carnations & Baby's Breath.  All appropriate for my sweet six year old.  And all the right size for her tiny wrist. 

Albertsons was super awesome and gave me the little elastic wrist bands (made of sparkly hot pink sequins) for free!  JoAnn's also sells them for just a few dollars.  The only other things I purchased were a pack of floral wire ($2) and a spool of ribbon ($2). 

Here's what I did...

I found some tulle in my scrap fabric and cut an 8 inch square.  I folded it into fourths and rounded it so that when I opened it back up it was a circle.  I pinched the center and made a stem at the bottom.  Then I put some hot glue on the stem to hold the shape.  After it was dry, I cut off the excess stem and glued the tulle circle to the wrist band to use as my base.  You could easily skip this step if you didn't already have the fabric.

Next I took my ribbon and looped it back and forth until I had 4 to 5 loops on each side.  I used a piece of floral wire to secure the middle.  Then I glued it on top of the tulle (on the wrist band).  

I cut the flowers at the base and began hot gluing them on top of the ribbon and tulle.  I started with 2 of the Carnations since they were biggest.  Then I used the baby roses to cover the Carnation's stems.  I continued to add flowers until it looked full.  The final touch was adding the Baby's Breath.  I stuck small pieces in between the other flowers to fill in any holes.  

It's a Jungle Out There!

My brother & sister-in-law threw an adorable safari themed party this weekend.  I know it wasn't my party, but it was so cute I had to share it here.  I have no idea what their budget was but I'm certain you can pick and choose some of their ideas to include at your own safari party.  

Here's a brief recap..

Upon arrival kids were able to choose an animal hat and bracelet (so it's already a hit in my kids' eyes).  My mom & I were recruited to paint animal faces on all of the kids.  Next, the kids went on an animal hunt and tried to spot beanie animals hidden in the bushes.  The grand finale was having a lizard man arrive with tons of creatures which the kids were able to hold!  They saw snakes, lizards, tortoises,  tarantulas, and a 40 pound Albino Python!  It was seriously fun!  They served lunch, cake, and opened presents.   Before leaving the kids were allowed to choose one of the hidden animals as a party favor (my kids were thrilled about that).  They also had the most amazing safari candy apples, that my friend Holly made.  You are going to flip when you see the them!  It was a really well thought out, exciting and fun party that my kids loved...and the adults had a great time too.  

I snapped a few shots on my phone...check them out.

This is the cake I made.  I thought it needed some sass for my niece so I added the turquoise.  Hot pink would have been cute too.