a LITTLE cake: Why?

I'm sure you're all wondering why I started this cake decorating nonsense...ok, maybe you're not, but I'll tell you anyway. I have two reasons......the two cute kiddos in the pictures below!! :)

Aren't they the cutest?

I wanted to be the kind of mom who made the cakes for my kids' birthdays. And I didn't want to settle for a Betty Crocker cake with some Betty Crocker frosting slapped on top. No offense to the Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, Pilsbury, etc. moms of the world.

When my daughter turned 1 I was just pregnant with my son....that should be read that I was nauseous and tired! :) That year Sam's Club cupcakes won out, they were easy and I could easily get colors that matched the decor. For her second birthday I was determined to make something, so I settled on cupcakes. I found out that they weren't quite as easy as they looked; they weren't quite as tasty as they looked either. (Side note: The buttercream recipe that Wilton provides is super sweet and doesn't actually contain any butter. Perhaps they should call it Crisco cream?) I also discovered that blue frosting is a mess! Who wants to walk around with blue teeth all day?

Here's what I came up with....real original, I know :)

My son's birthday is in November, so in October I decided I'd start taking the Wilton classes at my local Michael's craft store. I should be able to learn it all in a month, right? haha! I wanted to at least get some of the basics down so I could make his first birthday; I figured it couldn't be too hard. Because I stuck with a simple design it actually wasn't too hard. The hardest part was getting the icing smooth since I'm a bit of perfectionist. (To be honest, getting the icing perfectly smooth is still my biggest issue!)

Not too bad, right? Will I ever learn to calm down with the blue frosting?

I finally got to make my daughter a proper cake for her 3rd birthday. It was my first stacked tier cake. This time I frosted it in purple.....not much better than blue! :) Whatever the color, I was pleased with the results and she LOVED it!