My Alma Mater

Marquette University

The place where I earned my Nursing degree.  The place where I grew up to become an Army Officer, thanks to the most incredible Army ROTC program!! 

It also happens to be the place where I happened to run into Mr. Boss on the first day I was moving into my dorm.  I don't know how many people meet their soul mate over a big moving cart their freshman year...but I was one of them!

With that said, our children are subjected to Marquette Basketball every single year.  March madness is a sacred time around here.  We don't buy NFL packages for our television review.  We buy NCAA men's basketball packages!!!

You are wondering...why the pillow?  

It is for our oldest son.  

The one who turned 16 yesterday.  

SIXTEEN!!!!!!!

Oh..and yes, it is official.  Fancy Fondant is not for me. Cupcakes?  Oh yes.  I did make the 16 out  fondant because he is the only one in the house that actually likes to eat it!

Back to the pillow....

I predicted he would not be super excited about it. His general response to my quilts when I am done are, "that looks just like all the others....it's a quilt".  But don't be too harsh on him. He admits and everyone else in our house knows that his talents are not in anyway bent to artistic creativeness.

He loves sports.  He REALLY loves Marquette Basketball.

We decided that he needed something special.  A trip to Milwaukee with his dad to see a game.    I am all about surprises and silly packaging. So I thought I would make the foundation pieced pillow.

It was a rocky process and my design changed as I was working on it. 
But I finished it yesterday morning, just in time to tuck the tickets in the box.  

I thought for sure he would say, "Oh...gee...nice" and then the tickets and trip would be even more exciting after such a let down.

Instead?  It was "Mom, wow. You made this for me?  I love it.  It is awesome!"  

I love him.  

He is currently my favorite right now.

Shhhh...don't tell the others.

One Cute Button

This year, I promised the boys and myself that I would attempt to do birthday parties better than I have in the past.

I am notoriously, not a good birthday party mom. 

 I grew up with the notion that birthdays were for family only.  The only time I had a "friend" party was when I was 13.  I don't feel like I missed out, but when we moved further south, I realized that birthday parties are definitely "a thing".  Especially here in Texas!  We have been to parties with more than one bounce house, petting zoos, real Cinderella horse drawn carriages, Video Game trucks pulled up to the driveway, rock walls....do I need to go on?

So I am tentatively stepping my toe in the water, but I don't think I will ever take the full plunge.  Just so the boys can say "Mom tried!"

How did I start?  

A theme!  I figured that this would be the last chance for me to do a Button theme, since I will most likely have to do a character, superhero, or sports theme in the future!

The next step was color.  

I took my inspiration from his quilt.

Then I made a birthday invitation using a picture of him. I was going to go with "Cute as a Button", but then thought it would be cute to incorporate the number one.

  I kept the design simple, color and one big button...because he is only one, right!

I sent my newest friend (officially met her at my last scrapbook retreat) Angie, a picture of his quilt so she could make me some cookies for favors.  

If you are in the Houston area...I HIGHLY recommend her!

My photo does NOT do her work justice. Not only did she match the colors perfectly, they are so YUMMY!  The boys just adored them, they were so excited!

The next step was to decide what to do about bunting.  I traditionally, do not have it.  I have seen ADORABLE fabric and paper ones.  I ran out of time this week to make nicer ones...I kept it simple and fast.

I found matching papers, and used my circle cutters.  White circles just slightly larger than the patterned paper circles.  I then printed out the letters on my computer.  I chose a fun font on my word document application and changed the color to the blue.  It didn't take long to cut them out and glue them.  I then glued the ribbon in between the two layers of circles!

 Next?  The cake.  I went with fondant again. It just makes the presentation so much better.  And it is so much easier to work with than buttercream or whipped frosting (for me!)

Unfortunately, I had one of my "not so wise" moments and decided to tear apart my pantry and cabinets while making this the day of the party.  Once again, the left brain struck again and really made the whole thing stressful!!!  I overcooked one of the 10" layers so the bottom layer is much shorter than I intended. 

 I realize now, that his cake looks a bit like a hat....oops!

I didn't even cover the cake board...and can you see the icing everywhere?  

No?

How about now?  

I just rushed the whole thing!!  There was even an incident where I ripped the fondant in places, so I used more buttons to cover up the mistakes.

I didn't even secure the words and number...yikes!

But Button didn't seem to mind!

If he was happy, I was happy!!

A little help from big brothers to blow out the candle,

 and it was time to dig in.

And, yes, I couldn't resist, a bib to go with the theme!  

I designed an applique/embroidery design.  After I perfect the stitches, I will probably add it to the new Etsy store too.

He wasn't too sure about it...and he never really got that messy!  He struggles with solid foods right now, so we just let him play.  

He actually ate more than we thought!  Sorry no messy icing hair pictures!  He was too neat.

Button's Birthday WEEK is finally done....and I am tired! 

  Too bad, Butter's is right around the corner....ugh...

Football Cake Fun

Thursday was Bean Boy's 12th birthday!  

I had planned to make a football cake weeks ago. 

How ironic was it that they rescheduled his Flag Football Super Bowl game the night of his birthday?

Some things are just meant to be, right?

Since my first foray into fondant HERE, Bean boy has been insisting on a fondant cake for his birthday. He firmly believes that he likes to "bite" into his cake instead of icing.

Who am I to complain about being creative?

Here's what I came up with.

Football Fondant Cake

Supplies: 

Cake Batter (box or homemade)

Buttercream icing (about 2 cups)

Rolled Fondant (Wilton)

Food Coloring (Wilton paste)

Rolling Pins

Toothpicks

Cake Release

2 qt covered bowl (Pampered Chef)

Powdered Sugar

Pastry Brush

Decorating bags and tips

Squirt about a teaspoonful of cake release in the bowl.

Using pastry brush, spread the cake release around the bowl.  If you don't have cake release, you can easily use Crisco oil and then sprinkle flour.  I am really a huge fan of the cake release lately.  I bought it on a whim a few cakes ago, and am so glad I did!

Pour cake mix in!

I baked at 350 degrees.  However, it did take almost an hour for it to thoroughly cook all the way through.  I started checking on it around the 35 min mark and it just took a lot longer than I expected!

....................................

In the meantime, I prepared my fondant, icing, and cake board for decorating!

First I grabbed a portion of the Ready-to-Use fondant and set it aside for the laces of the football.

Then I grabbed my rolling pins, powdered sugar, and rolling mat.

And added brown gel paste with toothpicks.

I twisted and kneaded

And twisted and kneaded several applications of the gel paste to finally get the depth of color I desired.

A half a jar of gel paste and about 10-15 minutes of strong arm action and I finally had two balls of fondant.

Note: Use the powdered sugar to keep fondant from sticking!

My cake still was not completely baked at this point, so I placed them in Ziploc bags and let out as much air as I could to keep it from drying out.

In order to not waste time, I decided to get my green icing ready for the grass.

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It's not the first time I have used the green icing and it is messy.  You may have also noticed that I wear gloves when using the gel with the fondant and icing.  It stains.  Every single time.  I now keep a pack of gloves (non-powdered) around to keep my fingers safe!

Add the green gel to the icing to get your desired color.

Prepare your icing bag.  I buy a box of disposable decorating bags by Wilton.  I don't have to wash them and can have several colors of icing at the same time with different tips!

For the grass, I used Wilton's tip #233.

Place the inside plastic piece to the end.

Trim off the end so it is flush with the end.

 

Twist and tighten the coupler on the outside of the bag.

And add your icing. I fold down about a quarter to halfway down so the icing doesn't get on the outside of the bag.

All set to go!

What do you put the cake on? 

I sometimes use a platter if I am going "pretty", but if I am making a fun cake like this, I make a cake board.

I take leftover cardboard and wrap it like a present with Wilton cake board wrap.  There are also foils available.  Hindsight?  I would have split my fondant again because I had plenty of left over and dyed it green to cover the board. I plan to keep that in mind for my next cake!

And finally the cake was ready!!!!

Take it out of the oven and allow to cool for a bit.  Then flip the cake out upside down on your board.

Cut in half.

Lay the pieces down so that the larger ends meet in the middle.

Trim the puffed up parts so that they meet better and ice with buttercream.  I got a little excited and put it on when it was still warm....Had to re-ice after it cooled a bit!

Time to roll out the fondant large enough to fit the cake.  Lay it gently over the cake.

Press the fondant down at the edges and trim the excess with a pizza cutter.

Then use the smoothing tool to make sure it is secure to your cake.

Then roll out your white ball of fondant. 

Trim a  long line about 1 inch wide and 9 inches long.  Place it on the length of the football.  Use a knife to make a small line in the middle so it looks like two laces meeting each other.

  Cut two lines that are 1/2 inch wide and 9 inches long.

Cut them into approx 1 1/2 inches long segments to make the dividing lines of the laces.

Place them on the cake.  Then see if you have a tool that can make small circle indentations if you can.  I had a hole punch from my scrapbook tools that I used.

Randomly place circles on the cake to make the look of leather.

The boys made me use a knife to make cuts at the ends and along the sides to mimic the seams of the ball. 

 

Add grass with the green icing all around the bottom.  See?  I think green fondant would have looked so much better at the base. 

Oh well!

He was thrilled with his cake!

Did I mention that his wish came true and his team won their Superbowl game?

 Love ya Bean boy!!!!