Buttercup Lagoon

The Cross

This cake was made for 2 of my most favorite people: my parents. Mom's birthday is in October, and October is Pastor Appreciation Month. We always have a joint party for them at church, and there's always cake.

I decided to make the cake this time. It was an experience! We had to make a trip into town, so we didn't get started until late. We were up all night! I was working on the cake at the bar, then, at one point I decided to move it to the table. It broke in the middle and almost fell off the cake board, but we saved it just in time!

Despite everything, the cake was good, and I got GREAT compliments. That always makes it worthwhile.

Carol was a great help. She stayed up all night helping me. (She's the other half of the "we" I mentioned earlier.) It's great to have such a wonderful sister!

And such wonderful parents...I love my Mom & Dad.

Ian always ends up in the picture.

Me

I love cupcakes!

Cupcakes make me happy.

Cupcakes with sprinkles make me extra happy!

So, for my birthday last year, instead of a cake, I had cupcakes.

It was a Happy Birthday indeed!

Jake helped me blow out my candles since his birthday was the next day.

Shawn

This is my boyfriend, Shawn.

Shawn is one of my most favorite people!

He likes to fish. A LOT! It's his favorite thing.

I like to go fishing with him, but while he fishes,

I sit in the back of the boat and read (or sleep).

You know those fisherman...

they got to be out there at the crack of dawn!

I guess the fish are early risers, too.

Since Shawn had surprised me with a birthday party last year, I thought I'd return the favor. I had everything planned out. I was going to make him the cutest cake. I had been ordering stuff and planning for weeks. Then, Hurricane Gustav decided to pay us a visit. We were without lights for almost a week. Plans were ruined; time ran out, but we had the party anyway.

You think he's smiling because of the party?

Nah...I think it's 'cause he went fishing earlier that day!

Shawn, Me & Ian

Christmas Cake Balls

Bakerella makes the cutest and sweetest little cakes! She said it best when she said,

"They are super easy to make and even easier to eat."

They are also easy to make. Just bake a cake, and after the cake is cooked and cooled, crumble it up into a bowl. Then mix in a can of frosting. Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour (until they are firm). Melt chocolate or vanilla bark, and dip the cake balls in the chocolate or vanilla. Place on wax paper or cookie sheet and let chocolate harden. Eat & enjoy!

You can go here for more detailed directions on how to make these. You will also find many other ways to decorate these little treats on Bakerella's blog.

My Font

Go here to make your handwriting into your own personal font.

Fun & simple. Anyone can do it!

This is my font-Antoinette:

Sprinkles

I LOVE sprinkles! My boyfriend doesn't understand why I love them so much; they just make me happy! I'm always buying more, even though it will probably take me forever to use what I have. The only problem with sprinkles is that they take up so much counter space. It must be the round bottles. Ever since I saw Bakerella spice up her kitchen, I've wanted to do something similar with mine. The other day I found these at Michael's:

They come 6 in a pack, so I bought me a couple to get started. I'm going to get my Dad to build me a rack/shelf to sit them on (the preacher is a carpentar). Right now they are just kind of stacked on top of each other. But, soon....there will be order!

Seasoned Crackers

If you're looking for a spicy little snack, these seasoned crackers are the perfect thing! And you can make them as spicy or mild as you like. This batch was extra spicy because I used one box of PREMIMUM Minis Original Saltine Crackers (11 oz.). If you use these crackers, use two boxes. Unless you want some extra spicy little crackers!

Seasoned Crackers

1 (.59 oz.) pack Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix
1 cup Crisco Vegetable Oil
2 tbs. or tsp. crushed red pepper (depending on how spicy you want them)
1 (1 lb.) box PREMIUM Original Saltine Crackers OR 2 (11 oz.) boxes PREMIMUM Minis Original Saltine Crackers

1. Pour vegetable oil into a measuring cup.
2. Mix in ranch dip mix and crushed red pepper. Stir until mixed together.
3. Place ½ of the crackers (2 packs) in a Ziploc bag.
4. Pour ½ of the oil mixture in the bag; zip bag and shake to coat crackers.
5. Put the other 2 packs of crackers in the bag, and pour in the rest of the oil mixture; zip bag and shake to coat crackers.
6. Continue shaking the bag every 15 minutes for an hour until all of the crackers are coated.

Flower Headbands

I couple of weeks ago I discovered a blog called Design Mom. I enjoyed looking through all her past posts. She has so many great projects that you can do with your kids, or if you're like me, you can just do them because they seem fun and simple. (This is where I found the directions for McKenzie's tutu.) I really liked the headbands her daughter made for her sisters for Christmas.

These are the ones I made: