From left over Frosting to Hydrangea Cupcakes

I always make too mush frosting. I am constantly paranoid of running out while decorating a cake. This results in the top shelf of my fridge being devoted to tubs of different colours and flavours of frosting. Sometimes I get around to using it up and other times it goes too hard and has to be thrown away. Most of the time the latter is the case.

With my recent Chalkboard cake, I had a little left of each colour used along with some white vanilla frosting from a previous project before that.

It had crusted over so a good mix and a little water was needed to bring it back to life. I mixed the white frosting in with the purple and had plenty to make a batch of cupcakes with.

One of my earliest pins was this.

I discovered Glorious Treats from this one pin and I have been a fan ever since! If you haven't already seen Glory's blog, check it out here.

I have wanted to recreate these for a while. Here is my version of Glory's cupcakes.

I didn't blend my colours like Glory, however, I used the same tip for each colour so that there was a little transfer on a couple of the cupcakes. I used Wilton tip 129 and filled my bag half way with frosting. Using a 90' angle (straight up) I began by piping a flower in the middle.

I then piped a couple more either side of the first one, and continued around to the edge.

This can be a very random technique and you can over pipe.

I filled the whole top of the cupcake with flowers to achieve the look of a Hydrangea.

I did the same technique for each cupcake. This is so simple and quick. They would make a lovely gift for a Mum, Grandma or friend. Perfect for birthdays, Mother's Day, or just to say Thank you!

Beautiful and bright!

They look equally nice if they are all the same colour.

I hope you like these and have a go! Have a great weekend!

Rose and Lemon Ombre Birthday cake

The Easter holidays ended on a bang for us! My son has been desperate to grow those few magic centimeters to allow him to ride the big theme park rides. On Sunday we headed to Thorpe Park for our first visit there. We headed straight to Nemesis Inferno where the queue was very small to try our luck. When I say 'our' I mean my husband and son! I do not do the big rides, even Dumbo in Disney has my belly doing somersaults! 

On this first ride they didn't even check his height! He must have looked the right size so he got to ride. The look on his face when he came off was priceless! One extremely happy boy! So we headed to another of the big rides, Swarm. This looked worse than the last one! Off they went again to try their luck. My husband could see in front that the attendant was checking heights, so he told my son to play it cool, as if he's been on it before. The attendant measured him and the bar touched the top of his head! As he was so ecstatic he forgot all about playing it cool and made a fist bump and screamed 'Yes!'. Needless to say this ride was an even bigger hit than the first. All I have been hearing these past few days is how he can't believe he went on them. When we measured him before we left he appeared to be just under the minimum height requirement but I guess we were wrong. I am glad we were as he has been waiting a long time to ride the 'proper' coasters and thrill rides.

On Sunday it was very cool and cloudy, not a hint of the lovely weather we have had lately. This week so far has brightened up a bit, so this makes it the perfect time to share with you this ombre birthday cake that I made for a dear friend.

A few years ago I attended some Wilton cake decorating classes. I finally learnt how to make buttercream roses. Before that, everything had been self taught, looking at the instructions in the back of Wilton books or just having a go! I had never attempted roses before and once I learnt I did them loads! However, more recently I haven't done them at all! I have made roses out of fondant but the buttercream skills I let slip. I decided to have a go for my friends recent birthday. I wanted her cake to be feminine but also bright for Spring. The cake itself was a light white sponge so I made delicate lemon flavoured frosting to complement it. 

The roses are not perfect, some looked a little cabbage like, however, seeing as I haven't even attempted any for about 3 years I was pleased that you could at least tell what they were supposed to be! The main thing I was disappointed with was the consistency of my frosting. It is supposed to be stiff for making the roses so that they hold their shape and so you can easily remove them from the flower nail once piped. However, my frosting must have been too stiff as the petals cracked as I piped them. Next time, use more water!

I followed the Wilton method for the roses which you can find in the back of any of their annual cake decorating books or here on their website.

I made the roses a couple of days in advance and left them in the fridge to firm up.

I kept them on their wax paper squares until it was time to place them on the cake. I do have a tool to remove the roses from the paper, however, as I had left them in the fridge for a couple of days I was able to gentle remove them by hand and place them directly onto the cake.

I went searching for some ombre techniques on Pinterest. Most ombre cakes go for just one colour, which of course makes sense! I decided I wanted to incorporate 2 colours in my cake, merging into one another somewhere in the middle.  I found this tutorial for an ombre cake and frosting by Java Cupcake here and decided to follow the basic principal for frosting the sides of my cake.

I started by crumb coating the cake and placing it in the fridge for a short while. When I brought it out I started at the bottom with a bright lemon colour.

I followed Java's instructions and spread on the frosting nice and thick. I then moved onto a slightly lighter lemon colour and frosted further up. I finished with a pink but left the top of the cake white for the roses to sit on.

I did take the pink up onto the edges of the top to blend into the white. As I was using 2 colours rather than one I decided I wanted a different finish to the sides. I used a comb that I purchased from Hobbycraft, and using a turntable, I spun the cake round carefully while holding the comb against the side of the cake to create the lined effect,

I did this once or twice to get a nice defined line going round the cake.

I then took a toothpick and marked out roughly on the top where the roses should go. I then piped a little buttercream onto the base of each rose before placing it on top of the cake.

I did start out marking a heart but decided the roses looked best in a round wreath shape.

Finally to finish off the cake, I piped a row of lemon drop flowers around the base. Whilst I don't mind that the cake had a rough finish to it I didn't want it to look 'unfinished' which is how it felt before I piped the border.

I left them plain rather than adding in middles so that the colours would continue to flow.

As you can see from the close ups I did cover my board with yellow fondant to complement the cake. I didn't like the gold edges of the board showing so I added a fun Spring themed ribbon to the sides. I piped the initial of the birthday girl in the middle of the roses to finish it off.

If you are looking for a quick and easy technique, you can't go wrong with buttercream ombre. Plus it was really fun to do!

Have a great week!

Last minute Mother's Day gifts

Mother's Day is bittersweet for me.

When my son was born we did a lot of family gatherings to include the Grandmother's in the celebrations. I got a little frustrated as time went by as I never really felt honoured on that day. Some times I think it was down to me not truly feeling like a Mother, and then there was this feeling that the only important people to celebrate were the Grandmother's.

Things changed and I started to feel more celebrated as a Mother. Life was good and we still honoured the Grandmothers with gifts from us and our son.

Then that all changed when my Mum passed away. It was shocking, horrible and the biggest loss of my life. I miss her terribly, we were a unique team and she was my biggest supporter. I miss her warmth, her chats on the phone, her love for my son, and laughing with her about times gone by. Mother's Day just isn't the same anymore. However, my son still has a Grandmother who loves him very much so we honour her with gifts from all of us. You would have seen the Mother's Day Planter that my son made for his Grandmother. It was still fun to help him with that, to nurture his creative side and to see the pride in his face from a job well done!

My family honour me greatly on Mother's Day and totally make the day all about me. I take great pleasure in that and focus on their love rather than feel sad on that day.

As my son loves to make gifts almost as much as I do, I thought I would share some easy gifts to make in case you are still lacking inspiration this close to Sunday! A homemade gift is such a special treat.

HEART HANGERS

These little hearts are a great way to say 'I love you' to Mums and Grandmothers! The first is made out of wood, painted in a bright colour, with the initial of the recipient. I showed how I made this in this Little heart hangers post.

The second is a plain fabric heart I picked up at a craft store (though you could sew your own), which I then glued flower sequins to and embroidered the word 'Love' in the middle. You could embroider the name of the recipient, or simply 'Mum'.

HEART CUSHION

If you prefer to work on a larger scale, you could make this heart cushion. This is totally no sew, so perfect for those of you, like me, who have trouble sewing on a button, let alone anything else!

I purchased 2 different coloured fleece blankets from Tiger (there's that store again!) and made a heart template out of paper. I then traced the heart onto both pieces of fleece and cut it out. I laid the 2 pieces of fleece over one another and pinned in place. I took my fabric scissors and cut a fringe into the edge all around the heart shapes. Once that was done I began knotting the 2 coloured fringes together. Leave a small area unknotted so that you can fill with stuffing before completely knotting up. This is so easy!

RESIN FLOWER EARRINGS

These flower earrings are by far the easiest 'craft' on here! I purchased a pack of resin flowers from Hobbycraft along with earring backs.

I used hot glue to glue the earring backs in place on the resin flowers. Boom! Job done! Easy, yet unique earrings!

ARM KNITTED SCARF

I am not a knitter, and I am currently learning how to crochet (with very mixed results!). I knew I wanted to have a go at something knitted and I had seen these arm knitted scarves all over Pinterest. After studying a few videos and not getting it AT ALL, I almost gave up, until I found Flax and Twine and her brilliant picture tutorial! It all just fell into place and I was able to whip up a scarf in about 45 minutes!  I was able to make 2 scarves from 2 balls of wool. Have a look at the tutorial here. I have even used it to start an arm blanket. I am not quite finished with it but hope to have it on the blog soon.

PERSONALISED NOTEBOOK

If your Mum or Grandmother loves writing, or uses notebooks on a regular basis, then how about a personally decorated notebook, just for her?

All you will need is a plain note book (yes this one is from Tiger!), some decopatch paper, PVA glue, paintbrush, small piece of ribbon and any other embellishments you fancy.

Start by measuring out your paper, leaving enough to wrap around the inside of the books cover. Take some glue and cover the back of your paper. Apply this to the front of the book and leave to dry. This can get creased but I have read that it is best to leave it to dry rather than try and smooth out the creases. I did try this and it worked for the majority of the paper.

Cut into the corners of the paper so that it can be folded over to the inside of the book. Glue down. I then took a piece of plain card and measured it to fit inside the book. I glued decopatch paper to this card and left it to dry. Next I took a small piece of ribbon, and cut 2 matching lengths,enough to allow it to be tied in a bow. I glued this down in the middle of the inside of the book. I then took the piece of card and glued it into place over the ribbon and edges of the front cover. I then did the exact same thing with the back of the book.

The book can now be tied together with the ribbon to stop it opening up inside a bag. I finished off the book with a little wooden heart.

I left the spine clear to allow easier application of the paper. Plus as the book was white and the dots are white it complements the design well.

There you have it! Any of these can be made before Sunday in no time at all.

I hope you enjoy Mother's Day, either as the Mum, Grandmother or the child.