Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Birthday Boys 2017






With Husby and the Little Man sharing a birthday, is was time for another double celebration!  Baby Girl wasn't too happy about their birthday falling on a school day, so I made sure that she had fresh cinnamon rolls -with sprinkles- ready for breakfast.  We spent most of the day relaxing and lounging and went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch.  Everybody had been sick with colds so a low key day was nice.

For dinner Husby chose bacon (BLTs) and the Little Man wanted 'Donalds' (McDs).  But not before the Little Man got to open his presents.  Why aren't their any gifts for Husby?  Because he opens them as soon as they arrive, that's why 😁



Treats

The Little Man's actual birthday cake was a yellow mix with red icing and lots of sprinkles.  Baby Girl  had a great time adding the candles and Thomas the Train toys to the top.

Husby's treat of choice was sugar cookies with buttercream icing.  The blue icing was leftover from those shark fin cupcakes we had at the pirate party (post coming soon).

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And that was how we spent their actual birthday this year.  I hope you enjoyed the update, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2017

Saturday, February 11, 2017

How to Make a Pirate Ship Cake






I'm back today with step-by-step details on how to create a pirate ship cake exactly like this one!
(I learned how to do this on Pinterest, so check there too for more inspiration πŸ˜‰)



Supplies

This pirate ship took quite a bit of ingredients.   For the cake I used two Pilsbury chocolate  mixes and  two tubs of chocolate icing.  For the decor I bought round pretzels, large pretzel rods, lifesaver candies, M&Ms and of course, a number 3 candle (for the coordinating mini cake).



Pans & Such

To create the base of the ship I used a small glass casserole dish (it's about half the size of a standard family casserole dish) and then I filled two bread pans about halfway each with batter.  These would allow me the pieces I would need to build up the deck.  I also poured batter into a couple of mini round pans (to create the Little Man's personal cake).  The white platter was the surface I used to display the finished cake.

Side Note:  Yes, this is the exact same platter I used to re-fashion those t-shirts for the Labor Day parade.  (You can click here to read more about that)



Step 1

After all of my cakes had baked and cooled, I spread a good amount of chocolate icing onto the white platter.  This serves as a 'glue' to help keep the cake from shifting around - very helpful when the cake in question is a bit tall πŸ˜‰



Step 2

I used the cake made in the glass casserole dish as the bottom layer of the cake and gave it a good coat of icing.



Step 3

Next I placed one of the small rectangular cakes (from a loaf pan) on what would be the rear of the ship.  If you look closely, you can see that I did a bit of trimming to make the layers match up perfectly.  This was easy to do with a small, serrated steak knife.  Just gently saw back and forth while pressing down on the top layer (to keep it from sliding around).



Step 4

After cutting another loaf pan rectangle in half length-wise, I placed it at the front of the ship.



Step 5

I trimmed the front layers of the cake into a triangular shape to create the bow of the ship.



Step 6

Remember those large pretzel rods from the supply photo?  I purchased them to create masts for the ship's sails, but they ended up coming in handy during construction as well.

I used a good amount of icing in between the layers, but felt that the top layers were a bit too wobbly.  That was when I decided that the pretzel rod 'masts' could double as dowel rods also.  I measured them against the cake to get an idea of where to cut them, and them chopped them at an angle.

Once cut, I very slowly inserted them into the cake (pointy end first) by twisting them like you would a screw driver.  The angled cut combined with the twisting motion meant that the pretzels could go in easier without a lot of pressure (smashing).



Step 7

After icing the cake I added the decorations right away before the icing set.  The round pretzels were great for deck railing and the ship's 'wheel'.  The M&Ms added fun pops of color and the life savers served as portholes.  I was concerned that the life saver candies would fall off, so I inserted a long pretzel inside of each one to help keep them in place.  A few more stick pretzels at the edges of the decks helped to define the different spaces.  The pretty blue icing around the bottom was leftover from the shark cupcakes, but more on that in an upcoming post πŸ˜‰

And there you have it! That easy! .........hahahahahaha!!!!  Let. Me. Tell. You.....

I was adding the icing when about a third of the front deck crumbled away and fell off.  

***It may or may not have had something to do with the fact that my sister called and I was trying to gab on the phone at the same time, but who's judging?!?!? πŸ˜ŒπŸ˜€***

Anyway, remember how I had to cut one of those loaf pan cakes in half earlier?  That meant I had extra cake pieces left over.  I cleaned up the sides of the deck, cut a new piece in the right size and stuck it into place.  Then I quickly used a few more small stick pretzels to anchor that baby into place and covered everything with icing.  Whew!

Now, every good sailor has setbacks, right??? 😌
Once that catastrophe was averted, it was time to move on to the sails.....




Scrapbook Paper & Stickers

I used some scrapbook paper to create sails and decorated them with stickers I picked up at Dollar Tree.



Masts

A bit of hot glue and the sails attached quite nicely to the pretzel rod masts.



Pirates!

On a whim I decided to glue the pirate figure stickers to the small pretzel sticks.  
Every ship needs a crew, right?



Ready to Sail

The cake turned out to be pretty cute.  This was a huge relief to me, because things got a little scary there for a minute!

Tip:  Wait until the day of the party to add the masts and pirates.  For one thing, it was easier to cover and refrigerate the cake without all the added decor.  I was also worried that the moisture of the refrigerator would start to ruin the paper sails and stickers.



Mini Cake

I decorated the personal cake with similar candies and added a touch of blue to keep things coordinated.
(You can click here to read more about these mini cakes)



Dessert Buffet

  And here you can see everything all together for the party.  My Little Man was really happy once all of his goodies were assembled and on display.
Totally worth the effort πŸ˜€

(You can click here if you would like to see the rest of the party decor)

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I hope you enjoyed this how-to post, thanks for stopping by!
-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2017

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Pirate Party Decor

Welcome to our pirate party!
Come in (if ye dare) and take a look at the decor 😁



Box Props

I saw this great idea on Pinterest.  All you have to do is wrap up an empty box and label it with pirate related contents for instant cargo inspired decor.  The 'rum', 'black powder' and 'cannon ball' labels were my/ pinterest's ideas, but I have to give Husby credit for the 'arm hooks' πŸ˜‚

The photo that I saw on Pinterest had a fishing net and starfish tossed over the boxes to make them look a bit more seaworthy.  But I ended up using some of the Little Man's pirate toys instead; a hat, sword, treasure map and coins.  I did add a few seashells though. I liked the idea of starfish, but wanted our party to lean more on the pirate side as opposed to beach themed.



Balloons

I went with red, black and white balloons to set a simple color pallet and echoed these colors with the table decor, plates, napkins and cake.

You can click here for all my balloon tips.



Signs

These signs placed throughout the party added a bit of fun to the atmosphere.

In case you can't see the text:

Top- Choose your poison & prepare to pillage (drink station)

Middle- Surrender the booty or walk the plank! (gift table)

Bottom- Ahoy me hearties!  Please be pardoning our barnacles during your voyage...  (front door).  This one I didn't make up, but found here at pirateglossary.com.  I was researching pirate vocabulary and could't resist making this website-under-construction apology into a sign.



Table Tops

After laying down a plain black table covering, I placed a large rectangle of brown craft paper on top.  I taped a couple of red construction paper X's into place and followed up with dash marks to create my own large 'treasure maps'.  This table happened to be the gift table, so it also got a sign, but the rest of the tables had treasure.



Living Room

This chest is a jewelry box and belongs to the Little Man, he saw it one day while at a garage sale and had to have it πŸ˜‰

The sword and coins are also his, and the large 'diamond' napkin ring belongs to Baby Girl.  The seashells I pulled from my design stash.



Dining Room

The larger chests, bones and coins (dining room and kitchen photos) are mine and usually live with my Halloween decorations.  The large faux diamond paper weight (look carefully to the left of the skull) is also mine.

(You can click here to see these with the rest of my Halloween decor)



Kitchen Table

I made little piles of forgotten treasure & seashells on the table tops as well.



Entry

Another 'treasure map' and the (previously described) sign made for a fun and festive entrance at the front door.



Cake Time!

I'll have separate posts coming soon to describe how I made and decorated the desserts.  
But for now, eat up me hearties! πŸ˜„



Pirate Ship

This cake caused me a lot of stress, but was worth every bit.  My Little Man was soooo happy!



Individual Cake

I like to make a coordinating miniature cake for the birthday kiddo.  That way they can take their time (and blow all of their candle germs) with their very own cake.  Plus, it's just adorable 😊



Shark Fin Cupcakes

Stay out of the water.....😝



Dessert Station Decor

Behind the desserts I propped up my copy of Pirateology.  I love this book!  Not only is it fun and entertaining with all sorts of envelopes and compartments to explore, but the book is stuffed with factual material regarding the history of pirates.  As a bonus, the cover even features a working compass 😏

In addition to the book I also had the Little Man's mini treasure chest filled with coins and seashells and more that I scattered around.  And if you go up a few photos, you can see a treasure map that hung on the wall as well.

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And that was the Little Man's pirate party.
I hope you enjoyed the voyage, thanks for stopping by!
-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2017