Multiple "Purse"onalities

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to do this project. I've been planning it for weeks now, and I finally started baking Thursday night. I cut and iced the individual pieces on clear rectangular plates from one of the local party supply stores, so I had cake pieces covering my counter top for a couple days!I finally had to pull my starter plants off of the island so that I had plenty of clear counter space to work. We had 4 flavors - yellow cake, strawberry cake, chocolate cake, and white cake.I'd decided long ago that each flavor of cake would be its own style of purse. I ended up doing 10 of each flavor for a total of 40 in all. Here they are all completed.This was the white cake. I covered it in white fondant and gave it a black ribbon and handle. This was one of my two favorites. This was the chocolate cake. I covered this one in light blue fondant, gave it a brown ribbon, handle, and a little latch/tie.

This was the strawberry cake. I marbled pink, white, brown, and black for the purse and gave it a brown and white twisted strap.

This was my other favorite of the bunch, the yellow cake. This was my first time making daisies for any cake related project. I finally got to use the gum paste flower set my mother found for me, though I decided to make the daisies out of fondant instead. I covered the cake in yellow fondant with a matching strap and flap.

I had fun getting this many individual cakes to the church. I was sweating every bump and turn in the road, but we only had two casualties that were easily fixed once we had everything inside. Overall I received many compliments for how cute they were, all of which were greatly appreciated! Many sisters suggested this idea for a bridal shower or birthday party for a little girl.

The Hadlers' Wedding Cake

So when I first talked to Mr. Hadler, he wasn't quite sure what he wanted. He would have preferred a small wedding, but family insisted on a church, etc. So we started out with quite a larger cake; three tiers of yellow cake with white buttercream icing. He asked for roses in pink and yellow and the sides of the cake to be "combed". Later on the guest list shortened some as a compromise between families, so this is what we ended up with...When I asked him about colors for the roses, he said something springy, but not bold colors, but also not washed out. I was worried that these might have been a little "Easter eggy", but they loved the colors. Right before the wedding when I confirmed details, he also asked that I put their names and the year on the cake. I thought it was a cute gesture, and from what I understand, these two have a long history together. Here it is, the finished cake!

Walker's Skate Park

OK, so this was a lot of fun! Not only did I get to make a rockin' cake for a cool little boy, but I also got to play with fondant and gum paste!

The little skateboarding dudes are out of molded gum paste. Mom gave me a set with a male and female adult, a 10 year old boy and a 6 year old girl mold (archaic Wilton you should see the book that came with it hehehe). I chose the boy and started molding. Once the little guys were molded, I posed them and let them dry before I put details like hats, helmets, skateboards and hoodies on them. Then I painted them with food coloring and let them dry. I baked two white cakes in a 1/2 sheet size, filled and stacked them, then carved the center of the park out of the top layer. I used the extra cake to build up the back side of the park, then covered it with grey fondant. I had fun with the graffiti! I graffitied his age on the far side and "Happy Birthday" on the flat part out front. Walker's mother gave me a picture of him (the one they used for the invitations to his party) so that I could make one of the little guys look like him.

I did get to talk to the birthday boy the next day at church. He said he really liked it! I tell you what, that made my day and all of the work put into this cake worth it!