Monthly Archives: July 2011

So…….after seeing countless adorable cakes posted on my friend Julie Atwood’s facebook profile, I decided to try my hand at fondant.  I’d tried traditional buttercream decorating and found that I HATED it…but this seemed like a whole new genre, and I was eager to try my hand at it.  It turns out that I freaking LOVE it!

As a child, I spent countless hours working with clay along side my mother who was an amazing sculptor.  Tuesday nights we would head to Salinas High for a pottery class through the adult school.  I have very, very fond memories of late nights with water and clay oozing through my fingers, the smell of dirt and clay lingering in the air, and the heat from the kilns heavy on my face.  Dried, crispy pieces of clay always seemed to be floating around our house, and mom’s pottery wheel on the back patio was the backdrop to many a childhood memory.

While pottery hasn’t exactly been a huge part of my adult life, there is something about feeling the fondant in my hands that reminds me of moments spent with my mom creating and watching HER create her amazing pieces of art.  The things she used that I thought were silly, I now see were actually brilliantly repurposed – and as I worked in the kitchen on my new found hobby, I was floored at how much I had actually retained and learned without even realizing.  I was also surprised at how comforting it was to hold a lump of nothing in my hands and watch as my fingers molded and created emotional, vibrant, and beautiful pieces of life.

Taking away all the nostalgia, I still just plain ol’ love creating these pieces!!!!!  While it may seem a bit silly that they’re created and then just eaten, I actually like that! No one feels obligated to put a cake up on a shelf, or pull it out whenever the creator comes to visit…but they will still talk about it, admire it, and enjoy it every bit as much! The joy they bring outweighs any kind of sentimental attachment that might come with all the hard work put into each one!

For Ellie’s birthday, both Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen made their appearances on the cakes.  In fact, my first “go” at fondant was a Tiana doll cake, which, while it doesn’t compare to the second Tiana cake, wasn’t half bad for my first shot at any type of fondant!

Armed with the confidence of first time luck, I set out to make a cake for Jeffrey for Father’s Day…again, it seemed so easy!

Then came this bad boy.

And I decided that I had no idea what I was doing! So I started back to little again, and for my sister’s birthday went with simple and small!

That little guy helped get a bit of confidence up…and mom’s birthday brought another little cake with lots of happiness.

By the time I set out to start working on Prince Naveen, I had a decent amount of confidence……….sort of.

I set up the kitchen with all my supplies, which meant several images of a posed Prince Naveen…but mainly this one:

I poked and molded, stretched and compared – finally, Prince Naveen sorta kinda peeked out of the lump of sugar…

Excited, I ran back into our bedroom:

“Look, Jeffrey! I finished Prince Naveen! What do you think?” I was expecting a “HOLY CRAP! That’s AWESOME!”

What I got was, “That’s cool! It’s not professional looking, but it’s better than I could do.”

I can’t say that I handled the criticism graciously.  In fact, I grabbed Naveen’s head and ripped it off of his body: dramatically squashing his teeth, eyes, and lusciously green head into a big blob.

“YOU’RE A JERK!” I yelled…all the while knowing that he was 100% right, and I had secretly been hoping that I was just being to self-critical!  So it was back to the kitchen for some serious reassessment.  At 2 AM, I  headed back into the bedroom, delirious, but extremely happy with the results.  I had hoped that Jeffrey would for some odd reason be awake, but he wasn’t….so I placed the newly sculpted Naveen in a place that couldn’t escape Jeffrey’s morning routine as he left for California…

The next day, I was sufficiently complimented on the new sculpture, and began planning for the final cakes.  The final cakes are something I’m extremely proud of…and I’ll let them speak for themselves!

I swear, I haven’t been hiding the last month. I’ve been manically preparing for Ellie’s Princess and the Frog 3rd birthday party.  Did I go a little overboard? Of course.Was it totally, completely, and utterly “me”? Absolutely!

A few weeks ago, someone close to me asked me who the party was actually for: me or Ellie…the question got me to thinking, and I kept came up with the same answer: Ellie.  While I LOVE the preparations, the planning and the creative parts of getting ready for such an event, it really comes down to wanting to create an extremely special memory for her and all the other kids who were coming.  As my brother Jake said, “Sometimes in those really low moments in adult life, memories like over-the-top parties can be just the thing that reminds you that not everything has been horrible, that maybe someone does care, and maybe someone DOES love you.” Indeed, Ellie Graye had an absolute blast and aside from one little sharing issue had a grin on her face the entire day!

BLESSING IN DISGUISE: We had an amazing turn out, with between 70 and 80 people (including little ones) roaming about.  Friday was an absolute panic day, and I have to admit, I broke down.  Living in Oregon, with its insanely wet weather, I usually have a Plan B for anything planned outside.  But the track record for our parties in July was impeccable, and I hadn’t even thought about the “what if it rains” scenario!  We were having a pool party, damn it!  As the party date grew closer, rain was becoming eminently imminent.  With a phone call at dinner time on Thursday asking, “What’s plan-B?” I just about lost it!  What WAS Plan-B?  Every weather report called for rain…and not just a chance of showers – a 71% chance of showers.  My decor was all planned for outside, the serving tables were planned for outside, and the kids were supposed to SWIM! There was no way around it: the living room had to be turned into a play room.  Sofas got pushed against the walls, folding tables were set up inside, every single one of Ellie’s toys were piled around the perimeter, and I found myself planning additional decor at the last minute.  As things started to come together, I realized that the set up worked even better than what I had planned even if the weather was GREAT!  We were finally utilizing the amazing space that we have, and on top of that, I could set up the night before rather than getting up at the crack of dawn! My mother stepped up and offered to do an art tent for an activity, and boy was that a hit!

The living room converted into Play room! (taken with my iPhone)

As it turned out, we completely lucked out, and the rain that had moved in overnight, stopped fairly early, and the day was absolutely perfect!  It wasn’t too hot, but it was warm enough for the kiddos to go swimming, enjoy running around outside, and the adults sat comfortably watching the mayhem!  We feel insanely lucky!

The one unfortunate thing was simply my fault: I didn’t think to take photos of the decor on either Friday OR on the day of the party – so hopefully someone took some and can send them my way!  I took a few today, but most of it was already taken down…I’m crossing my fingers that the photographer we hired got a few and I’ll be able to post them once I get the CD from her!

Photo Booth tent (though the camera stopped working at some point...)

Naveen and Tiana wedding picture 🙂

Living room Mantle

Above the appetizer table (I wish I had gotten a photo of it!)

Mama Odie Appetizer table decor (also had her back up singers, The Flamingos, but again, I didn't take photos)

This was the bar...for adults...missing some of its vital parts!

Dr. Facilier's Hat...made of felt, stuffed with tissue paper.

The kid's drink station

I’ll post more tomorrow about the food as well as the cakes – they deserve their own entries…for now, I’m off – and if you were there….send me your photos!