DIY Princess Castle Cake

The girls LOVE princesses and they wanted a princess castle cake for their birthday.  I am no master baker - but when they ask for a castle cake, they shall get a castle cake LOL.

Turns out my mom had the Wilton Enchanted Castle Cake Pan, yay.  This is a molded cake pan, that if all goes well you just bake it and decorate it like a castle.  Easy Peasy.

Here is my semi tutorial.  I kinda start the photos after the cake was baked - lol.

What I needed:
ONE cake mix box (plus all ingrediants on the box)
2 Tubs of frosting
1 Tube of gel frosting
Food Color
Decorator Bag + tips
Tooth picks


Step 1:  Mix up your favorite cake recipe.  And, if you are like me, that means a cake mix box.  You only need ONE box for this cake.  Just make it according to the directions.  Make sure you really really spray your castle pan with cooking spray, and for good measure I dusted with some flour.

Step 2: Bake the Cake.  Of course there is no time listed on your box for a formed pan (lol), mine took 34 minutes to bake.  After you remove it from the oven, keep it in the pan for about 10 minutes to cool.

Step 3: PRAY that the cake comes out in one piece.  After praying and hoping that it comes out, flip it onto a cooling rack and let it cool for many many hours - I cooled it for about 8 hours.  Maybe even more.

Tada

Step 4: Transfer onto your serving plate.  I used a cutting board covered in foil.  It was nice and flat and served the purpose.  Use white frosting to cover the sides of the cake and all the void "background" spots of the cake.  You can kinda see it here, the space between the towers, and all along the sides.

Step 5: Outline the castle.  This is where I used the tube of gel.  I picked a color that would contrast the rest of my colors.  I used get, but you could use regular frosting using a decorator tip.

Step 6: Tint your frosting and fill in the roofs.  This is where I probably should tell you that you will use your decorator bag and your fancy tips to create little *stars* of frosting to fill in the spaces and it will look oh so pretty.  Yeah, that might have worked if I used a super stiff buttercream, or even added some powered sugar to my store bought tub o' frosting.  But, honestly - I was trying not to stress over this.  So, when my stars turned into blobs, I just went with it.  I did use the decorator bag and the tooth picks to fill in the spaces, and honestly I think it looks great.  No stress.

Step 7:  Tint additional frosting and fill in the rest of the cake using the decorator bag and the tooth picks to get in the small spaces.

TADA - Princess Castle Cake

Craft Fair Set Up

I have searched for Craft Fair Set ups, so I figured I would post some pics of a recent fair that I did.  This was a unique fair since 100% of the items were donated, and then 100% of the proceeds at benefit a child who was recently paralyzed.  So, there was a lot of variety on the table.

Our #1 seller was double fishtail rainbow loom bracelets, of all things LOL.

Here are a few pics of our set up - oh, and if you would like more info on Yesenia Parker (the girl who benefited from the sale), you can check out her info page HERE.

Cleaning a Microfiber Couch

When we bought our couches, we didn't have kids yet (well, we had Colin - but he was 11).  We heard that micro fiber was the way to go since it really didn't stain.  Well, when I find that person that said that - remind me to smack them upside the head.

Since having the little kids, our beige microfiber couches are gross!  Disgusting.  The worst is that if we do spill something, and then wipe it even with a baby wipe - we are left with a water stain.  It really looks so so bad.

We can't afford new couches right now, so I needed to find a way to clean them.  Off to pinterest I go lol.

I found a tutorial using rubbing alcohol.  You basically put rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and spray on to the couch and then just rub like crazy to clean the couch.  The rubbing alcohol evaporates differently than water so it does not leave the water stain.

Well, I must say - my couches look awesome!

Here is a little before and after.

Making a mid-year resolution

I feel like this blog has taken a back seat to the rest of my life.  That is not a bad thing - but I always loved writing on the blog.  So, I am making a mid-year resolution to write on this blog more often!

It will still have things about family, crafts, tutorials, and our adventures.

Stay tuned :)

Totally Looks Like

When I was doing errands today, there was a truck in front of me that had cut trees in it.  I thought one of the trees totally looked like a face.  At a stop light, I took a picture.  And, when I got home, I did some googling to see if I could find a face that matched.

I kinda thought it looked like a chubby child, and the thought came to me that it looked like a cherub. Google image 'cherub painting' and it was on the first page........I thought it was SPOT ON.  Kinda freaky spot on.

This is the original (yes, I flipped it and reversed it)

Shaving Cream and Listerine

Shaving cream and listerine - odd combo, right?  Well, that is the combo for a foot soak for cracked heels.

I love pinterest, and found this "recipe" for getting rid of dead skin on your feet.  I have horrible feet, which is why there will be no before/after pics lol

I as with most things on pinterest, I just HAD to try it.  And, you know what - I think I got pretty good results.  It might be fair to say that I MAY have gotten the same results if I just wrapped my feet in a warm wet towel.  But, my feet really did tingle, so I think it did something more than just water.

I used gerenic listerine in the original kind, the yellow/gold one.  I used cheap shaving cream, barbasol, because I sure as hell was not gonnna use the expensive stuff lol.

I will probably do it again :)

High School Graduate AND a Kindergarten Graduate

Wow, this year, I will have a graduate from High School AND a graduate from Kindergarten.  It is so crazy that Colin is graduating from High School.  I won't lie and say it was an easy road.  But, I am so proud of him.

His actual graduation is not until next Sat, so I will share pics then.

I will have a college aged kid soon.  Makes me feel really old!