A Dora Cake...

Going through some old photos, I found this...

Never posted the good ol' Dora cake I made for the Mess Maker's 4th (family) birthday party.  This was HARD!  She wanted a "Princess" Dora cake, not just a Dora cake.  The only Princess Dora they make is the one with the yellow dress...  "But mama, I want a pink dress!"

I think I made it work, but this took some real effort I tell ya!  Fondant flowers, colored, cut and embellished by yours truly...over the entire dress.

Thought when I finished that it was perfect...until I noticed a slight "lean"...and then a bigger lean...and then the whole thing looked like it was going to be one massive landslide.

Oh well, lesson learned...

USE CAKE SUPPORTS!!!

The Noisemaker's MICKEY PARTY!

My "baby" boy turned two and because of his intense LOVE of anything Mickey Mouse, we went with it for his party theme.  We have an AMAZING park close to the home we'll be closing on in just one short month...and we invited all of the Noise Maker's and Mess Maker's friends to help up celebrate!

In true Household CEO fashion, I did make a lot of the things we had at the party, most with a little inspiration from the web...

Invitations:

The details are on a piece of carstock stuck into the back pocket (on the other side).  I got this idea from Lisa at Lisa's Handmade Cards (truly talented lady!).  With the help of my Cricut and Mickey Font catridge, these were a breeze!  The buttons were cut from the Just Beacause cartridge.

Cupcake Toppers:

The inspiration from these also came from Lisa's Handmade Cards.  I used the Mickey Font cartridge on this one too, and attached the pieces to lollipop sticks.

Mickey Shirt:

I wanted a special birthday shirt for The Noisemaker so I whipped up this one with the help of (once again) my Mickey Font cartridge and some freezer paper...I cut the image from freezer paper, ironed it on, painted, and ta-dah!

Treat Bags:

I cut some black cardstock to fit the tops of the bags and added a strip of red polkadot paper.  I printed the journaling on my printer and attached it on top.  Then I cut some "gears" from my Accent Essentials cartridge to mat the Mickey Mouse heads on (printed from the web) and attached them with a foam dot.  Fun Mickey toys and treats for the party guests!

We also had a book exchange in lieu of gifts...what fun!  He definitely had a good time...even if he won't remember it!

"Royal Cupcakes": FCCB Challenge #30 Natl. Bake & Decorate Month!

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "National Bake & Decorate Month": create a project that has something to do with baking...and if we have the Cricut Cake, we can use that to create something tasty as well.  Well, I don't have the Cricut Cake.  :(  But that didn't stop me from whipping up something tasty!!!

I made some chocolate chip cupcakes and decided to dress them up a bit in honor of this week's challenge.  I have to brag a little on the super-cute graphics...because I didn't make them!!!  My friend Tommie, from OhMyGluestick! designs graphics that you can use for party decorations, including these little "party circles" which I used as cupcake toppers.  This set of four designs is from the "Alice In Wonderland" set (which was one of the featured free sets a while back!) and features the ace, spade, heart and club.  How fun would these be for a card game get-together or royal-themed party???  OMG! has an Etsy shop with TONS of graphics for party decor, and she does custom designs as well.  Go check her out!

Okay, to complete my cupcake toppers, I punched each image using a 1 1/2" circle punch.  Then I used my Cricut to cut a 1 3/4" circle (George & Basic Shapes) to mat the image and a 2" scallop circle (Storybook) to mat the circle.  I added stickles to the dot borders on each image to give them some sparkle and added a rhinestone in the center of each.  To finish, I attached them to lollipop sticks and tied coordinating ribbon around the sticks.  Super-easy and super-quick, and I think they're pretty stinkin' cute!

Hope you'll visit both OMG! (for fabulous party decor ideas) and Fantabulous Cricut to enter your own "Bake & Decorate" project. 

Have a creative (and yummy) day!!!  :)

Just Buggin Challenge #18: Mickey & Friends Centerpiece (AND a Minnie Mouse Cake, Too!)

This week's Just Buggin Challenge #18 is called "In The Shadows":  use the shadow or blackout feature on your project.

The Mess Maker's third birthday party was this past weekend and she just HAD to have a Mickey theme!  I borrowed the Mickey Font cartridge from my AWESOME and talented friend and got to work on this centerpiece.  I used the shadow feature on the "3"s to add definition, and then punched some holes in white cardstock using a standard hole punch and added those circles to the "3"s.

Then, using the blackout feature, I cut each character's face from black cardstock.  I used the facial details feature for each character's face in the appropriate colors of cardstock.  I also cut an additional blackout of each character's face in black so that when I attached the faces to the lollipop sticks, I could cover up the stick by adhering the additional layer on the back.

I inserted each stick into floral foam inside the red pot and added a silver spray and twisted pipe cleaners (wrapped loosely around a ballpoint pen and then attached to lollipop sticks).  For additional detail, I added large red sequins to the twisted pipe cleaners.  Lastly, I tied a black and white polka dot bow around the pot.

In addition to the centerpiece, I also altered some plain red paper plates by adding a Minnie hat to the edge, and made a Minnie Mouse cake, inspired by this cake I found while doing a Google Images search for Minnie cakes:

The white circles, black Minnie mouse heads, mini red bows, large black circles (ears) and large white bow were all formed out of gumpaste (by hand, not Cricut....though I TRIED and TRIED to get my Cricut to do this for me!!!).  The black balls around both layers of the cake are Sixlets that came in a bag of just black, also available in other colors, at Hobby Lobby.  This project made me realize that I am DEFINITELY not a cake decorator...HAH!  Think I'll just stick to paper projects!!!  :)

Thanks for looking!