Shop My Stores…With Cash!!

We had family over this weekend for the birthday party, and even some friends from our old house.  It’s always fun to sit and catch up while the kids play together for hours!  I was telling the mom about some of the stores I run online and her son immediately got on one of them and found something he wanted to buy.  Now I have to say, he just turned 11 so the chances of him having his own credit card is nill…and my sites don’t accept cash.  Yes, he could give his mother his cash and she could charge it for him…but that isn’t my point.  Think of all of the sales that are being lost because people doing their online shopping have to have a credit card!

There is a site out there, ebillme.com, and they have a set up where people can purchase anything online and pay with cash through online banking, with a guarantee of buyer protection. You can sign up as a shopper or in my case, I can sign up as a merchant and bring a whole new availability to my stores.

There is currently a CONTEST going on to see who can sign up the most people…so what are you waiting for…click it, and help us both win. I’m heading over now to see what I can do to get my online shops set up for these types of transactions. I’m so excited!

Barrett’s Chugga Chugga Car!!

This is the toy that we are trying to make!!

Before you marvel too much at my amazing scultping ability (it’s there…but I didn’t use it), this cake was made with a Wilton shape pan. The 3D cruiser to be exact. I did carve it to make it a convertible…does that count? The sheet cake that it’s going to be sitting on is just a yellow cake, strawberry mousse filling and a stabilized whipped cream frosting, so I made the car out of chocolate with chocolate frosting. Of course, with this much fondant on it…whose gonna wanna eat the car??

Any of the “architecture” you need on the cake has to be on it before you put the fondant down. In this case it was the wheel wells, the headlights, the window casings…anything that you want 3D. My husband hadn’t realized this when he came up the stairs and saw the chocolate cake with the pink outlines. I’m sure he was wondering what in the world I was thinkin’!

This is the fondant layer.  See how it covers all of the strange pink outlines?  It just gives it that finished look when it comes to the body of the car.  If you look at the cakes at the top of the page, the princess doll cake has logs of fondant in the skirt to make the ridges.  It’s very handy!  Not very tasty…but pretty handy!

Then comes the time to paint.  I’ve always wanted an airbrush set, and I just found out my hubby wants one too (see how cool it is to be married to a Chef??) BUT…since I don’t have one yet, it’s just a paint brush and straight red food coloring.  I used a burgundy for the shading, but a most important note…do not plan on getting your fondant the color you want it just by adding food coloring.  Your fondant will get to moist and go sticky on you.  So painting is the best, and it’s as dark as you could want it.

The convertible top (yellow) was strange.  I didn’t know if I should just drape it, or if it needed some fondant rolls underneath it as well.  But, after draping it and painting it…I was happy!


The cute little Wiggles signs were done with food coloring magic markers–they really do have great items to help get the job done these days!  Tomorrow…I will add a back license plate “Barrett 4″, then…it just has to wait to get it’s sheet cake…and we’ll call it good.

I will put the completed pictures up when it’s all together!

Barrett’s Birthday Cake!!

The “Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car” cake is in the oven!  How exciting is that??  I’m hoping when it is done, it will look something like this…

I am using fondant for the car instead of actual star drops–but I have the same cute Wiggle’s guys to put in the car.  The sheet cake is also just going to be sprayed in the four colors, rather than piped…but it should be pretty fun.

Currently it is a yellow cake, with a strawberry mousse filling, whipped cream frosting with a chocolate car on top.  Once it’s out of the oven, it goes in the freezer.  I’m hoping to get it decorated Thursday or Friday…so pictures will have to follow!

Helpin’ The In Laws

I was talking to my mother in law on the phone today. She’s been wondering about the weight loss pills I started taking a few weeks ago. I let her know that I’ve decided to go off of them for a bit (to take it slow…see below) and she asked if I thought they would help her.

Normally I’m not one to give advice on weight-loss at all. I’m still new to this, and finding success isn’t always easy. But I do feel that the pills I’ve been taking have been well worth it, and I would recommend them to anyone. There are so many choices out there, that sometimes, it’s just nice to have a personal experience before you have to make your own choice. I heartily gave her mine!

Missing Cables

My husband is not a happy camper at this moment! He came home to watch his hockey game and play a few rounds of Playstation, only to find that his HDMI cables are missing. We have SO many of these, that I’m actually amazed that he can’t find anything right now. I haven’t told him that his team wins the game (that might help), but honestly, once everything is in place and he’s settled in with his game…he’ll be much better, and ticked at me, if I ruin it for him. So my lips are sealed!

Jake’s Choice!!

Do you see that cute little (HUGE) guitar cake up top there?  That is the cake Jake would like for his birthday.  It’s one of the most fun cakes I’ve ever made, but it literally weighed more than Blake and Barrett.  I would probably do something a little different with the flames on top,  but on the whole, it’s a pretty darn cool cake!

Grayson is undecided about his cake.  I’m hoping for the sculpted Monster Truck.  If he doesn’t want it, I’m just going to have to make it for the fun of it…and who has the crazy time for that?

Healthy Weight Loss

I always find it funny to talk about weight loss on a cake blog! But it’s time for a fat burner review! I have felt the need recently to take my weight-loss slow. Mostly for the toxins in my body to have time to make their way out before dumping more on my system.

I do find it strange how far I’ve come! When I was younger and someone talked about “toxins” and “free radicals” in the body, I tuned them out immediately and nodded politely. Now look at me…blogging about toxins and cleansing the body of them.

I have so many pounds to go to reach my weight-loss goal…but slow and steady will hopefully win this race with my health in tact!

Working From Home

When I started this blog, it was because I loved to decorate cakes. I still do. I never intended for it to turn into a home based business, which for the most part it hasn’t, but there are times when a call comes in asking for a special cake. How fun is that!

I do have a cake to make this week. It will be a little VW Bug with all of the Wiggles inside. I can’t wait to get started on this puppy, if the truth be told, but it will have to wait until a little later in the week. I do have a couple of home based businesses that are taking up a few of my days this week. As much fun as they are, there is nothing quite as fun as decorating a really cute cake!

Jello Poke Cupcakes

Image via Wikipedia

For dessert Sunday my mother in law made cupcakes with Jello inside. Then she frosted them with whipped cream and sprinkles. They tasted like the red zingers with coconut, and they were so YUMMY! Here is the recipe if you are looking for something that your kids will LOVE!

1 package (2-layer size) white cake mix
1 cup boiling water
1 pkg. (4 serving size) JELL-O Brand Gelatin, any red flavor
1 (8 ounce) tub COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
Suggested decorations: red and blue sprinkles, JET-PUFFED STARMALLOWS Marshmallows

1. Prepare batter and bake as directed for cupcakes. Cool in pans 10 min. Pierce tops with fork.
2. Stir boiling water into dry gelatin mix until dissolved; spoon over cupcakes. Refrigerate 30 min. Remove from pans.
3. Spread whipped topping over cupcakes. Add decorations as desired. Store in refrigerator.

Almost Perfect

My husband has been working really hard getting our new home theater system (my birthday present) installed. We were looking forward to a night of popcorn tonight, but it turns out he needs a KVM switch in order to get our computer to do what he needs it to do. Bummer! Not really…I’m kinda tired tonight, and my birthday isn’t for a couple of days anyway. We even have a sitter for that night, so that will be even more fun.

Plus, it’s a school night, and I’m the one that has to get up early for the boys to get out for the bus. So staying up too late really is out of the question for me too! Friday will be better!