I'm on Purple Overload!

First let me say i'm sorry for the poor quality and coloring of the photo. Bleh! A photographer I am not. =)

Anyway, it's been a very busy and very purply couple weeks for me. =) My daughter is a varsity cheerleader at Rocky Mountain High School. Which, if you've read some of my other posts, you possibly already know. Their colors . . . purple, white and black. This past weekend was their final competition of the cheer season, the Idaho State Championships! And before the big event I hosted a team lunch at our house. And for dessert, I went with cupcakes. I attempted to make the cupcakes look like pom-poms. Because really, is there anything more appropriate for cheerleaders? I also wanted to make them personal so I made little gumpaste pennants and put their names on them. It's hard to tell from the pics but they are also dusted with cake sparkles so that they would look shimmery. =)

And now the most important question . . . how did they do at State? Well, i'm glad you asked. Their squad took first in the stunt routine, first in the sideline routine and second in the show cheer. State champ is then awarded to the team with the most overall points. They ended up in second overall . . . by 2 POINTS! They were truly incredible. I was so proud.

So we had the lunch last Friday. State was then on Saturday. And last night was the end of the year banquet for which I was doing the cake. So more baking, and more PURPLE! I needed to make enough for approximately 130 people. So I opted for a smaller tiered cake and then supplimented with cupcakes. The cake was a white, rasberry almond sour cream cake with a chocolate mousse filling. I did a buttercream finish with fondant decorations. Then I added a gumpaste bow and swirlys. =) The cupcakes were both the white cake as well as a chocolate version with buttercream. It was a hit! Cute and tasty! And people actually commented that they liked my fondant, and that's always a good thing considering there are some mighty yucky versions out there.

A scarf for all seasons

I recently completed my second scarf. This one was a gift for my mommy. Technically it was suppose to be her Mother's Day present, but after I got it done I just couldn't wait to send it to her. :)

So since Mother's Day isn't until May, and since that's what the scarf was suppose to be for, I knew I needed to pick a yarn that was really light weight so that she could still get a little bit of Springtime use out of it. She lives in Northern California, so come May it's usually already plenty warm. Not exactly scarf weather. (Another reason I jumped the gun and sent it early.) =) I also wanted to make sure the colors were appropriate for spring and yet still neutral. So after lots of looking and debating I actually opted for "baby" yarn. (They were both by Baby Bee) It made for a super soft and lightweight scarf. Perfect! I made this scarf 8 feet long and I used a basketweave pattern which I achieved by alternating front and back post double crochets.

Flowers in bloom!!

While it can be completely frustrating, I love trying new things. For my nieces birthday my sister-in-law requested cupcakes that looked like flowers. She tried describing to me something she had seen on a tv show. Not sure if it was my brain, or her explaining but I didn't quite get her description. But I figured I could still make cupcakes look like flowers. And this is what I came up with. A sweet personalized flower pot filled with pretty spring blooms and topped off with pink fondant butterflies! I used tissue paper for the "leaves" but if I were to do this again I would probably go with a silk leaf instead. I opted for a dense white cupcake recipe so that they could handle the "post" through the center without ripping. And the frosting was a straight buttercream. I was really pleased with the result. And the birthday girl was happy as well, and that's really what counts. =)

Kitty's and Dino's

So I was in desperate need of a birthday present for my brothers girlfriend, the Hello Kitty lover. She had already "requested" a Hello Kitty hat but I didn't want to do something that predictable. So I searched and looked and looked and searched for a pattern that I thought she would love. Something to satisfy her want for Hello Kitty without actually being Hello Kitty. I saw quite a few hats that had cat ears, some that were really cute even, but nothing that screamed "this is it!" So, it was time for me to create my first hat. I wanted something with the look of cat ears, but nothing childish. And pink was an absolute have to! I decided to start with the basics from the tassel hat. Afterall, without the tassels the corners would just stick up, right? Right! So I started this hat in the same way. I tried a few different stitches but ultimately stuck with a double crochet. I nixed the cuff and just did as many rows as I needed for the right length. Next, earflaps. I knew I wanted the hat to have earflaps. Figuring out the location was a little tricky but I finally got it just the way I wanted. Then I did a single crochet around the entire hat. Now on to the braids. And finally a big, fabulous, obnoxious flower! PERFECT!! It took longer than I thought and there was a whole lot of trial and error but I was thrilled with the final result... and so was she! =) Since then i've even made one for myself. And my girls have both requested one as well.

The next hat here is a dinosaur hat that I made for my Noah Paul. He is completely OBSESSED with dinosaurs. Now I know most little boys go through a dino stage, but let me just say that I have never seen it at this extreme. He reads everything he possibly can about them then he runs around educating anyone who will listen. Even his teacher. =) He recognizes and knows TONS of dinosaurs by name, ones I've never even heard of. So needless to say, I was thrilled when I find a pattern for a hat that would reflect this passion of his. The original pattern for this hat is worked in a continuous spiral. Now I knew I wanted to add the strip in the body of the hat, so again, I opted to use my pattern for the body of the hat. The same pattern I use and love for most of my basic beanies. The spikes however were direct from the wonderful "Stegosaurus Dinosaur Hat" that I found on-line. This was the first time I had ever worked with such a small hook (an F.) It was a little tricky for me but in I finally got those darn spikes done. Ta-Da!! And it was well worth it. My little dino lover was very happy with his new hat.

You can find the pattern for the Stegosaurus Dinosaur Hat here. Thanks Sarah!

http://totsandbottoms.blogspot.com/2010/12/stegosaurus-dinosaur-hat.html

Are you ready for some football!?

Ok so generally when you think of March you don't usually associate it with football. Well, what can I say... my son started football practice yesterday which reminded me that I hadn't yet done a post of my football cakes. In all fairness, only one is actually a cake. The other is all cupcakes. The football field cake with the helmet on top is something I did for my husbands fantasy football draft. (We're fanatics around here.) =) I was really happy at how the bottom "field" cake turned out. Piping straight lines or number or letters always tends to make me nervous but I think it came out well. I have to admit, however, I wasn't as thrilled with the helmet cake. I'm not sure what color the fondant should have been, but the white just didn't work for me. I'll have to come up with a better plan next time. I considered making the helmet look like his favorite team (the Eagles) but since it was for his fantasy league I decided to take the easy road and just put his league logo, "AQFL." (Armchair Quarterback Football League.) =) And even though it didn't quite look the way I hoped, it still tasted delicious!

The cupcakes were for my sons 6th birthday. Oh my goodness! I can't believe I'm just 4 short weeks away from his 7th birthday! Ouch, my baby is growing up. Ho-hum. Sorry, forgive me, back to the cupcakes. He had a football themed party, obviously. I just grouped cupcakes together in the shape of a football, smothered them in chocolate buttercream and piped on the details. Piece a cake! Haha, pun intended. (Yes, I am dork.) To make sure I had plenty I made some extra cupcakes to look like grass and stuck on the little football decorations that I grabbed from the grocery store. Everyone loved them and with everything else I had to do for the party, I loved how quick and easy this was. Touchdown!!