Katrina's Umizoomi Milli Birthday {Part 1}

Last month I had the pleasure of making not one but TWO cakes for a very lucky girl named Katrina.  She turned four and her aunt Moka always buys not one but at least TWO cakes for her very lucky nieces and nephews, no matter what age they turn.  I wish she was my aunt, hehe.

Anyway, the first cake I'm gonna share with you is Katrina's Umizoomi Milli birthday cake.  Like a lot of my {girly} cake requests, I have NO CLUE what or who the characters are.  So, I turn to my good friend Google :-)

So, without further ado, here's my cake version of Milli.  Hope ya like it!
{Note: I ended up finishing the cake in the evening so my lighting was poor...:-(}

And here are some progress shots...

Chocolaty haven...nom nom nom

I hope you liked today's cake feature!  Come back tomorrow for Katrina's second birthday cake!  Have a gray great day!!

xo,
Jackie

DIY: Scrapbook map art

One of the things I absolutely love about homes is the little details that make them unique.  Today's DIY special is all about adding a touch of your identity into your home.  It is super quick and easy, and of course FUN!

Here's what ya need:
Scrapbook paper {assorted designs/colours}
Picture frame{s}
Glue stick
Scissors

You also need to work off a laptop or computer with a printer because you have to print the outline of your chosen map...otherwise if you're feeling extra artsy fartsy, just use a pen or pencil and draw :-)

Note: the map of Philippines was too complicated to cut out so I simply coloured it in using a black felt :-)  Choose your battles guys!

Now, let's let the pictures do the talking...

Print your chosen map outlines on different sheets of scrapbook paper.

Carefully cut out your map.

Glue your map onto another sheet of {cut-to-frame-size} scrapbook paper.

And frame your art work!  These frames were a score at .66cents each!!

And there ya have it!!  

Now, the map of Samoa {the red one above^} was bothering me.  It just looked wrong and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  So I decided to scratch it and make another one.  But this time I took on board my hubby's suggestion of making it smaller so that there's more 'water' around it to make it look more like an island.  I'm glad I asked him for his opinion because he was right on the money.  It looked WAAAAY better smaller.  So, here is how they look on my {*SPOILER ALERT} gallery wall.

I just love how something so small can add so much meaning to a home.  It shows our identity in such a fun way.  Now my gallery wall is up but I won't be sharing that with you til later, so you're gonna have to wait a little while longer for that.  Don't worry, it won't be that long! :-)

Feel free to give this easy DIY project a go and send me pics of your creation!  Who knows, I may even feature your masterpiece on my blog!

Have an awesome wet weekend guys!!  And to those of you who were rattled by today's earthquakes, I am keeping you all in my prayers.  Keep warm and stay safe!  God bless!

xo,
Jackie

Happy 21st Birthday Ryan!

Happy Wednesday everyone!!  Today I am thrilled to share with you a tyre cake I made for a 21st birthday last month.  It was my very first time to make a tyre cake, so I was all giddy about it!  {I get crazy excited when I get to attempt new things}.  I must say, there were lots of learn-as-you-go moments, but still beyond happy with the end result.  Hope you like it, too.  :-)

I personalised it even more by making a RYAN21 cakeboard border and flag.

Fondant checkered tiles and plate number.

Progress

I hope you enjoyed today's cake feature!  Can't wait to share many more cakes and DIY with you this week!  Have a wonderful Wednesday!!  Be kind to yourself :-)

xo,
Jackie

Farewell Ritchie!

{This is a late post by the way}.

Last month I had the privilege of making a special farewell cake for my sister-in-law's bf, who was leaving NZ on his quest to pedal across Africa in 8 months.  Yup, you read right.  I am not even kidding.  How amazing is that, huh?  That's just inspiring stuff right there!  If you would like to know more, or follow his journey, you can visit him on his blog here.

Now, back to the cake.  Tele wanted to surprise Ritchie with a special cake that would best represent what he's leaving NZ to do.  Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy xo

First I started with a map of Africa.

To those who couldn't see the gif above ^, here's a still version...

Please do excuse the poor quality of the final photos.  They were taken on my phone at a low-lit Thai resto.

That's him in the middle, lol.  It was a fun night!!

Well, I hope you all enjoyed today's cake feature.  I still have sooo much more cake and DIY to share with you, but I've had a sick bubba and life has been jam-packed lately.  My family will ALWAYS come before the blog, so if I seem absent from time to time, it doesn't mean I don't love you anymore, it just means I'm busy with life and will be back soon.

I will definitely try my best to post as much as I can this week in order to catch up on months missed.  Until then, stay warm and keep smilin'!

Have a toasty Tuesday!!

xo,
Jackie

Sweet 13th!

Today is all about a Sweet 13th birthday that I was happy to have been a part of!  My friend April had a last minute cake request for her daughter Jade's birthday in June.  She didn't really have any ideas about what she wanted the cake to look like, so she gave me Jade's favourite colours to work with.  Instantly I wanted to create a watercolour effect on the buttercream, which I was really excited about because I first tried it in 2011 just from experimenting with a cake I was making for my Uncle.  Yup, a long time ago and it was a happy accident.  I haven't really practised this technique much since then because I've received so many cake requests that were for cakes covered in either fondant or some type of chocolate frosting.  I was sooo glad to finally give this effect a go again.  I really love how it looks!

If you would like to learn how to do this, then read on.  Recently I made a really cool how-to video for this technique.  Nah, just kidding!  I didn't have to make a video because one of my favourite bakers/bloggers, Rosie, already did!  And she did a wonderful job at explaining how to get this effect step by step.  You can check it out on her website/blog Sweetapolita if you want to give this a go yourself.  It's super fun and the end result is ahhhmazing!

Now it's time to reveal Jade's 13th birthday cake to you all!  I hope you like it!! {Photos taken on my phone}.

Now, let's take a closer look...

Yum and fun!!  Now, here are some progress shots 'cause I know you like checking these out...

Don't ya just love how the different colours swirl together in beautiful harmony?  Sooo pretty!!

Well, I hope you liked today's cake feature!  Be sure to come back next week for more CAKE and DIY!!

Have a wonderful weekend and catch you back here soon!

xo,

Jackie

Chocaholic birthday

Happy Wednesday everyone!!

Today's gonna be short and sweet.

And oh so scrumptious!

My cousin Gjon celebrated his sixteenth birthday a few weeks ago.  His only request for his birthday cake was that it had to be chocolaty and really muddy.  So, that's what I did :-)

Simple yet rich.  Enjoy!!

Handmade bunting with S-I-X-T-E-E-N scribed on each flag

These mini cake pops {without the sticks} were super yum!!

And here he is, with his birthday cake!  Happy 16th Gjon!!

I hope you enjoyed today's cake feature!  Have a wonderful Wednesday and see you back here again soon!

xo,
Jackie

DIY: Rainbow wall

HELLOOOOOO BLOGDOM!  I know, I know, it's been a wee while since my last post...wee meaning months :-/  But rest assured, I haven't stopped caking or creating!  I just haven't found the time to write about them.

Until now.

So, behold!  I'll be posting EVERYTHING I've been up to while I was MIA within the next couple of weeks.  I can't wait to share them with you!!  :-)  But that does mean that I won't get to share my monthly glimpses with you until the end of August, where I'll combine the months of June, July and August into one big monthly glimpse :-)

Today I am very excited to share with you my twins' bedroom rainbow wall feature.  It was super easy to do, just a bit time consuming, but the end result was truly worth-it!  It just creates such a cool space to admire, and definitely adds a WOW factor to any kiddies bedroom.  Best of all, it's temporary!  So when it's time to switch things up again, you can just peel them off and you're back with a beautiful empty canvas to work on.  Of course, you could totally go permanent by painting directly onto the wall.  My way is suitable for those who don't want that sort of commitment, and is also ideal for renters who want to make their temporary house a home.

Before we get started, let's all sing "You're my rainbow wall" {to the tune of Oasis' Wonderwall}.


OK, so here's what ya need:

As well as some tape to adhere to your wall.

Oh, and let's not forget...

{Note: my 'helper' wasn't really much help...Carlyle just climbed up and down the ladder the whole time, making the process of application even slower...at least he had a blast}.

After dead arms and sore feet {from climbing up and down the ladder naive to the fact that I was supposed to protect my soles with footwear}, we got a pretty awesome rainbow wall!!

Not sure how long we'll keep this rainbow wall up for, but hopefully it'll last for the rest of the year.  We'll see if I get a sudden urge to create something else before then, eh?

I hope you all enjoyed today's DIY feature!  Be sure to give this easy project a go in your own kiddo's bedrooms {or another room in your home} and send me pics of the end product!  You could even switch things up by changing the colour theme, or the shape!!  The sky's the limit!!

So go on and have fun with this project and I'll see you back here soon!!

xo,
Jackie