Easter Baskets

I saw this idea in Bakerella's book Cake Pops and decided that I would make them for my adorable Sunbeams. They are ice cream cones with the bottoms cut off, filled with cake balls, and decorated with frosting, jelly beans, and sour punch straws as handles. They were a little tricky to transport to church and I’m quite sure they didn’t look nearly as cute by the time the kids got them home, but they were fun to make and the kids were excited to get an extra special treat on this extra special Sunday. 

Happy Easter!

What do you think?

Although I’m always on the look out for something cute to make my girls, I NEVER sew my own clothes out of fear of looking like a polygamist. But about a month ago, I saw this skirt online and really liked it so I decided I would throw caution to the wind and ordered the fabric. I finished the skirt today, although I did the bottom two tiers differently than the tutorial because I didn’t want a double of layer of fabric on the bottom. When I tried it on, I figured it was cute enough for lazy summer days, but when I showed my husband he cringed. Now I’m afraid to wear it. I need some honest opinions. Would you wear this for a regular running to the grocery store or taking the kids to the park kind of day?

Easter Skirts

Every year, I buy my girls new dresses for Easter. But a month or so ago, I came across this bustle skirt tutorial and decided I would make the 3 little ones skirts for Easter this year. I still haven’t decided what I am going to do for Hailey.

I finally finished the last one yesterday and have even made each one a matching hair clip to go with it. Here are the girls modeling their new skirts. Don’t worry, they won’t be wearing those shirts with them for Easter, it’s just what they happened to be wearing when I tracked them down to try them on.

And here are their hair clips:

And a close up of one of the skirts:

Ballerina Cake

My friend asked me to make her daughter (who happens to be one of my sweet Sunbeams) a ballerina cake for her 4th birthday. The only specifics she gave was that the cake be pink. I was SO excited when she told me because I have wanted to do a ballerina cake for a long time, but my girls have never wanted one.

I used tulle and silk flowers for the tutu around the cake and hot glued it between two cake boards. I also used the silk flowers to do the bottom border around the cake. The ballerina shoes were made of gum paste. I piped a simple border around the top of the cake and added her name. Incredibly simple, but I LOVE the final result.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake

The mom who ordered this cake sent me a picture of a cake that she pretty much wanted replicated. Although I always use other cakes for inspiration, I usually put my own twist on them. I was a little nervous about having to be so precise, but I am THRILLED with the way it turned out.

 

The backside of the cake was left up to me because the picture she sent me didn’t include the back. I decided to incorporate Pluto’s dog house.

And the smash cake:

Dress Recycling

I bought two of these dresses for the twins from Baby Gap a couple of years ago. Of course they have outgrown them and, as usual, Payton left a big stain right in the middle of the top of hers. I spent good money on these dresses and didn’t want one to go to waste.  Kennady doesn’t really need two of the same dress anyway, so I decided to turn the stained dress into a skirt.  It was super easy and only took a few minutes. Here’s how I did it:
I used my rotary cutter and ruler and just cut straight across the dress right below the stain.

The dress has a lining, so I did a basting stitch to keep the lining together with the dress and then zig zag stitched along the cut edge to keep it from fraying. Then I folded the top edge in about an inch and stitched along the edge to made a casing for the elastic. Just make sure to leave a few inches open so you can thread the elastic thru.

Once the  elastic was in,  I stitched the last couple inches of the casing closed and the skirt was complete. Now Kennady can choose between the coordinating dress or skirt. A girl needs options!
The skirt ended up being longer than the original dress was, so you could also do this with a dress that has grown too short. Just cut the dress across right below the arm holes, make that the waist and it will give you a few extra inches.

Tea Party Cake

This cake was for a little girl’s 5th birthday. She had the most adorable tea party themed party EVER! I was thrilled to be able to make the cake for such a fun event. One of the mom’s that took her daughter to the party commented to me that it was decorated nicer than her wedding. Mine too!

They wanted a very simple cake, covered in pink fondant with white accents, and they wanted a flower on it. This is how it turned out. I love the simplicity of the whole thing and I like the way the flower turned out too.