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

April/May 2013 in a glimpse...

I hope you all had a lovely long weekend, thanks to the Queen :-)  I still can't believe we're halfway through 2013!  Next thing you know it's Christmas!  Gotta get my planning on soon!  I LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME!

Anyway, let's check out what we got up to in the months of April and May before I get side-tracked with Christmas planning shall we?

Rob's 29th Retro Bulldogs 29th Birthday

Stanley's Birthday

Emma's Sofia the First Birthday

Minicupcakes for Photobooth Auckland

Birthday Designer Cupcakes

Eggless Birthday

Selah's Spiderman 5th Birthday

Samoan themed 30th Birthday

Judith and Colin's Frangipani Wedding

Jamie's Sunshine Birthday

Well, there ya have it!  I hope you enjoyed glancing at the past couple of months with me.  I can't wait to share many more yummy cakes and cupcakes with you all.  Have a wonderful rest of your Wednesday and see you back here soon.

xo,
Jackie

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...

You make me happy

When the skies are grey...

Hey guys!  Sooo happy to be bloggin' again after such a long time away!  Been super busy with life, but lovin' every day of it.  Of course, I've missed you all so much that I couldn't wait to share another cake with you!  Today is very special because I'm sharing a cake I made for my sister Jamie's birthday {on Monday}.

I'm actually surprised at the way this cake turned out to be honest.  I had very little time to put it together because the plan was that we would celebrate my sister's birthday on the same day as their house warming {which is still a couple of weeks away}.  So, when I found out that we were going to put a last-minute party together, I had to whip something up quickly!  Talk about stress!  I swear it felt like I was on NZ's hottest home baker or something {which my very talented friend Gemma is on by the way}.

I drew inspiration from one of my favourite cake decorators Jessica Harris.  Her sunshine cake is truly awesome, and I hope I did it enough justice.  The only thing I did differently is that I made the rays out of coloured paper as opposed to fondant {because of the time frame I was under}.  It was such a rush!!  I know I'd like to make this cake again and do a few things differently for sure.  :-P

Anyway, with that said, I'm sooo happy it turned out better than expected!  It truly represents my dear sister because she is always full of smiles and can brighten up anyone's day...just like a sunshine!!

And here are some fun pics of my sis and her wonderful family xo

 Oh, and I forgot to bring a birthday candle...so she had to blow out one of her own :-P

I hope you enjoyed today's cake feature!!  Keep warm and stay safe this long weekend!

Stay blessed and see you back here soon!

xo,
Jackie

What's at the end of a rainbow?

Better than a pot of gold.  A love story.

Now, you're probably wondering why that title?  Well, I'm not gonna go into any detail, because I think this particular love story needs to be told by the couple themselves, but what I will tell you is that it involved a Rainbow's End...the theme park :-)  

I am so happy to share with you a beautiful love story I was sooo blessed to have been a part of!  My friend Judith married her husband Colin in the beautiful Rarotonga not so long ago, then had their NZ wedding reception this past weekend at our church.  I absolutely love the story of how they met, and I think it would make a great romantic comedy!  Blue painted toe nails and all :-P {private joke}.  

Judith knew exactly what kind of cake she wanted.  Simple.  White.  And it had to represent Rarotonga.  That's where the yellow and pink frangipanis come into the picture.  She also wanted a yellow ribbon around the bottom of each tier, to incorporate her chosen theme.  I was sooo excited to make another wedding cake!  My second Rarotonga-inspired frangipani cake!  It's been a while :-)

So, here you go peeps!  I hope you like Judith and Colin's wedding cake!  I really enjoyed whipping up this sweet creation for them xo

Top

Side

Left

Right

And now, the beautiful couple and their cake!

If you like seeing progress shots, here are a few for your viewing pleasure...

The cakes were red velvet with cream cheese and moist chocolate with ganache...YUM!

I hope you enjoyed today's wedding cake feature!  I'm so glad that I finally got to share it with you.  That's all I wanted to do but had to wait!

Have a lovely day and I'll see you again back here soon!

xo,
Jackie

Manuia lou aso fanau Cynthia!

Talofa!  To those of you who have no clue what that title is all about, it says 'Happy birthday Cynthia!' {in Samoan}.  Let me tell you, I was beyond excited when I received this cake request a month ago.  My friend Lupe emailed me requesting a cake like the Pasifika one I made for the lovely Asa's 70th birthday last year.  That cake was truly one of my proudest and most defining moments as a self-taught cake artist.  It's something that I haven't seen before and I'm just so proud to call it my own.  

This cake is very similar, but with more of a Samoan twist.  What makes my Pasifika cake so special is 

the woven basket and hibiscus flowers {all handmade and edible}, which I definitely had to include in this cake.  Having to work with two tiers, I needed another design element to bring this cake to full life.  So, I decided to include some Samoan patterns in the mix, and my inspiration came from the 'taulima' {which is the Samoan tattoo} and 'tapa cloth'.  I also included a Samoan necklace that I draped on the side of the bottom tier.  I own this particular one {being married to a Samoan I was bound to have one in my jewellery collection hehe}, so it was really great to have on hand to work off.  

Cynthia actually went to my high school, so I know her, which makes this cake that much more special.  So much heart went into the creative process of this cake, so I really hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed bringing it to life! xo

I also made a dozen chocolate cupcakes and decorated them with edible images.  Now, I don't print on edible sheets {I don't have the equipment for that}, so I had to order these in {and Lupe provided me with the photos}.  What I did have to do was cut the pictures out individually then adhere them onto a piece of white fondant so that they don't just melt into my chocolate buttercream.  Please excuse the blurry photo below :-/

Here is a collage of the cake's progress for those of you who like to see these sort of details...

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's second post!  I'm so happy to have finally shared these two cakes with you before the weekend!  I've been so busy with my own family that trying to get these two posts out today were a real mish.  But, never mind that!  The important thing is we got there in the end and I hope it was worth the wait!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Stay warm and dry and keep smilin'!  God bless you all!

xo,

Jackie

Happy 5th Birthday Selah!

So, as promised, I was going to feature two big cakes today that I made recently.  The first one I want to share with you is Selah's 5th birthday cake with a Spiderman theme.  The lovely Shaye {who I made the Sesame Street themed 'Elmo Cookie' cake for a year ago} contacted me again from Oz for another big and fun cake order.  I was so excited to work with this theme because, strangely enough, I have NEVER made a Spiderman cake before!  It's strange because I know a lot of my nephews {and trust me I have PLENTY} love this character, but when it comes to making their cakes they choose a different theme!  Now, I'm not gonna lie, I experienced some challenges with this cake, but this I absolutely LOVE because that means there's opportunity for me to learn and grow :-)  In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, let's just say there was supposed to be a big spider where the number '5' is.  It took me ages to cut it out of fondant, then I had to wait for it to dry for a couple of days, and when it was finally time to apply onto the cake, the {brittle} legs broke to what looked like a million pieces :-(.

Anyway, 'nuff said.  Time to meet SPIDERMAN!  Enjoy xo

I just realised that some of the pics on the gif below was cut :-/ so you won't get to see the whole thing...oops!

Oh, and before I forget!  I also made a dozen Spiderman themed cupcakes to surround the cake.  I had fun making these fondant toppers...however, my hubby wasn't too keen on the spiders {they totally freak him out!}.

And underneath the fondant toppers were delicious chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream in blue.

I hope you enjoyed today's {very late but oh-so-worth-it} cake and cupcakes feature!  I'll be quickly working on the second big cake I wanted to share with you, so hopefully it'll be up before midnight! LOL

Have an awesome Friday guys!!  See you soon!!

xo,
Jackie