Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail...

We were supposed to have a good sized group in on Sunday for Creative Kids but there is some nasty bug going around the area and we lost half of our crowd...we were disappointed that our friends couldn't make it and are glad that they are better now!

It's been awhile since we've had Creative Kids so my kids were eager to get started...we baked cupcakes and decorated them...
They are meant to be Rabbit Holes. The idea comes from "Hello Cupcake" a fantastic book I have! The kids decided to not ice them since they were chocolate but normally you would ice them and then dip them in Oreo Crumbs.
We made our feet and the black pads out of fondant because you can't find a lot of the candy they use here in Canada...the kids insisted on colourful tails! They were funny!
Then we made natural Easter Baskets. We got this idea from Roots and Wings Co. they have all sorts of great ideas for Easter and well, everything else! Definitely worth a visit!
The kids have been watering and waiting for their grass to grow! They are looking forward to trimming it with scissors! The girls also planted bulbs in theirs...Sean was happy with just grass.
Then we headed out for our Easter Egg Hunt...Sean was quite generous and found a number of eggs for the girls! In fact, because he found a second one before our friend found her first he gave it to her to get her started...wow! What a gentleman!

Well, if I don't make it back in time please have a very Happy Easter!

Enjoy!
Heather

Princess Pandemonium!

Well, according to the mother of my last birthday girl I was unflappable. Wow! Okay, so this morning when I was running a little behind and my staff didn't make it I kept thinking, unflappable, I am unflappable, I can do this! Well, thank goodness some emergency help was sent in and we recovered fairly quickly!

Without further adieu here is today's birthday girl...
In case you hadn't figured it out we had a Princess Party today...we made cupcakes with cute little toppers that the girls stamped, punched and coloured themselves (although the girls were much cuter than the toppers!)We decorated loot bags and made clipboards that coordinated with the cupcake toppers...
And we had fun! Getting a picture of these girls was not easy! But here they are...they sure were a lot of fun!
But I'm thinking you can tell that from these photos...
Another Buggy Birthday success story. Fun. And I have a new partially trained staff now too! Most excellent...a great day in all.

Enjoy!
Heather

Expectations...

My work, like everyone else's can be quite challenging...sometimes, I have a completely different vision than my clients...sometimes I get it right away...

When I was asked to do Dragon Cupcakes I was at a loss...I looked everywhere, my creative husband tried to do some sketches for me...none of it matched my vision...I called my client..."Please can I do a cake???" She was reluctant so I finally relented and shared the one idea I did have...She loved it! Her son loved it! Her husband loved it! Wow! My uncertainty was washed away and I planned and eventually set to work.
I'd like you to take an extra close look at the cupcakes that make up this dragon's feet, snout and the end of his tail. They look a little bit different. They are. They are gluten-free. Yep. Living with allergies and intolerances is not easy. I know this from experience with 2 lactose intolerant boys, yes I said 2...
I'm not going to drag this one out but I will tell you that the cupcakes are Chocolate, all of them. The eyes are made with marshmallows and the wings are made with Mercken's Chocolates.

Enjoy!
Heather

Ain't no mountain high enough...

Ain't no valley low enough...
Keep me from you!

Sorry, sometimes you just need to get it out of your system! When I was asked to do this cake for a friend of mine I was delighted! You know why? 'Cause she was one of my spectacular volunteers from my Creative Christmas Camp and she was totally fab! This ex-camp counselor had it going on! She came prepared with games and dressed to impress in her red sweater (it was a Christmas Camp afterall!)

So, her husband left me to my own devices..hehe...to come up with a cake! I love it when people trust me fully and completely! So fun!
My husband came home to the above cake and freaked! Went crazy, hog wild even...he was glowing...I was sad it wasn't for him...we met almost 9 years ago through a cycling club! Such adventure! We rode, we bladed (oohhh, I am terrible and terribly frightened of my blades!), we bbq'd it was a fabulous summer! But back to the cake...it was missing something...
Ahhh, yes...a little greeting...I was supposed to write on it. That was looking to be tricky until I came up with the sign. Then, I have to admit...I loved it even more!
Everything on this cake was edible with the exception of one Playmobile bicycle loaned to Liz for her birthday from my daughter. I don't often repeat cakes but this one has so many possibilities from dirt biking to road riding...it just made me happy! It's one of my favourites for sure (is it okay for me to have favourites?) I enjoy most of my cakes but certain ones really win me over!

The cake is Chocolate Sour Cream with Cookies and Cream Filling just in case you were wondering...

Enjoy!
Heather

Knock, knock.

Who's there?
Irish.
Irish who?
Irish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

HA! I got that one and a few other fabulously cheesy jokes in the mail from a friend yesterday! It's good to laugh about nothing! As it turns out this friend LOVES St. Patrick's Day! I wish she could have been here for the day...we had some real adventures...and there weren't too many crafts...really...just one...'cause building a Leprechaun Trap isn't a craft...is it? I don't think so...

We began with some food...but then the Lucky Charms Squares (sub Lucky Charms in for Rice Krispies) went missing! Look at that plate, empty! Oh but at least the gold at the end of the Rainbow Twizzlers didn't go missing...
So, there was a need...and a trap was built. The bait was Corn Pops...we thought it looked rather like golden nuggets...the kids did this themselves! I am SO impressed! Boy, I love those kids...they are so fun!
Thank goodness the squares returned just in time for snacktime! Whew! That was a close one! We didn't catch the Leprechaun but he did spill the bait everywhere and leave the squares behind!

Here are some of our lunchtime treats...green kool-aide, green popcorn, green pancakes, and of course our rainbow licorice and the squares...
Ahhh, and here is the craft we did...not super crafty...see? I think my friend could do it...it took less than 10 minutes...what do you think? I think they would be totally fabulous for our Summer Vacation Bible School too...we'll see!
Oh and here is Simon in his shirt...he was napping when I took the above photo...he wouldn't stand still for a photo (I guess that's why most of his photos are in the highchair!) He does LOVE his shirt though...he wanted to sleep in it.
Then again...maybe he was afraid of that Leprechaun coming to pinch him when he took all of his green off!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!
Enjoy!
Heather

Look out Hollywood...here we come...

Well, one fine Saturday afternoon I had a lovely bunch of young ladies join me to prepare themselves for Hollywood.
First we made sleep masks so they could get their beauty sleep...Then while those were setting we worked on making some strawberry and chocolate lip gloss...we all need a little sparkle...Then the lights went out...I always thought "Lights, Camera, Action!" meant turn the lights on!!! However, we lost power about 45mins into the party so please forgive my darker photos here!

We were very fortunate in that the cupcakes were baked in time. Each of the girls swirled some icing on their cupcakes and topped them with fondant stars! They loved that!And finally, here are the superstars ready to go!Strike a pose ladies!

Some really neat touches the mother of the birthday girl included were; the fab sunglasses, STARburst candies and Gingerale and Orange Crush in plastic wine glasses.

They were a lovely bunch of girls! We had a ton of fun even if we had to do it without the lights!

Enjoy!
Heather

Spring Fever!

With Spring just around the corner it was nice to make a cake that was a little different...a little springy...
The top tier is chocolate sour cream cake with cookies and cream filling and the bottom tier was lemon with lemon butter cream.The cake was for a young woman's mother...who is forever young I am sure. I hope they had a lovely celebration!

Enjoy!
Heather

The Gift....

After enjoying some cake at the party, we presented Mrs. Behnke with a gift. I spent an hour or so earlier in the week in the class so the kids could help put this together...
Here is what a few of the pages inside look like...They were so excited about the project...
Some of the comments included;

• You are graceful in gym
• You are a beautiful Sparkle Berry in a bush.
• Roses are red, Violets are blue, you are a cole (cool) girl.

It was a pleasure to put this together for such a lovely teacher...we could tell she thoroughly enjoyed her time in the class.
We'll really miss you Mrs. Behnke. Oh and we know that you WILL go places.

Enjoy!
xo
Heather

The Cake...

I was originally asked to do the cake for Sarah's teacher's party...not the scrapbook (that I volunteered for...yes, I am crazy!). We thought about this one a lot...First; Mrs. Behnke loves tea...second; she loves books. Alright, a teacup on a book...but what book?
Sarah asked what her favourite book was and Mrs. Behnke told her she loves all books. She eventually relented and said she likes Chester...that really wasn't doing it for me...Chester the Cat on a goodbye cake?
So I thought some more...maybe there was a goodbye book that would work for me...a goodbye book...mmmm...
Of course! Oh The Places You'll Go! Not only is it moving on type of book but it's by Dr Seuss!!! Perfect! Everything is edible on this delight...the teacup was filled with butterscotch pudding at the last minute. Oh how she loved it! We were delighted with her response!

Enjoy!
Heather

The preparations...

Sarah's teacher was on contract with the board covering a maternity leave. Her last day was yesterday so I have been busy this week helping prepare for a party we had yesterday. A friend wanted to make a scrapbook for Mrs. Behnke to enjoy so we decided that I would go into the class and do a little something with the kids...
Glue, glue, glue...
Stamp, stamp, stamp...
Write, write, write...

Stay tuned for more party fun!

Enjoy!
Heather

No babysitter? Call in the chef!

Our anniversary is in a few days time and we thought we might go out on Saturday to celebrate...well, no one was available so I talked with the 2 best kitchen helpers I know (besides DH of course!)

So the menu was set...

Jed's bed of shrimp...
Goose Juice, or was it Moose Juice??? Well, it was tart and sweet...whew! Green Eggs and Ham...are you getting a theme yet? You know I love a good theme, don't you???Dessert...these were done by my helpers...red velvet cupcakes with whipped cream topping...
Cheers Everyone! I would not normally use disposable cups but they were too colourful to pass up and they were just sitting in my cupboard...
Simon's not entirely sure about this one...Sarah on the other hand...not so shy to dig in...They may be blue for a few days but it was fun!After supper Sean immediately asked when we could do it again...maybe next year love. Did you know that Dr. Seuss' birthday was just this past week? Happy Birthday to a literary icon...at least in this house...I mean we dedicated a Hallowe'en to him as well! Check it out if you have time.

Enjoy!

Going Hollywood!

I am SO excited! In less than a week we will be celebrating some of the glamour of Hollywood at a birthday party! Ohhh, I LOVE a good theme and this is a great one! Here are the lanyards that we made to include with the invitations!
Hooray for Hollywood!

On another note, I was invited to join a Mom's Group for a few cards this past week. I tried to bring designs that would brighten their day...
I think I achieved that. I loved the creativity in the room! What a great bunch of ladies they were!

Enjoy!
Heather

Winter Wonderland!

The weather outside got a little frightful here...finally! You might want to get your hot drink of choice on hand for this post...I enjoyed this nice cup of real hot chocolate...yum! Who wouldn't love hot chocolate on a stick???
Here is Simon all geared up for the snow! He is a real trooper when it comes to being outside...he can't keep up with the other 2 yet but soon I would say!
Here is his first glance at a snowman all finished and decorated! He loved it! Just look at Sarah's mouth in the background! They are just so fun!
And here he is the builder himself with his snowman...the next day as you can see from the build-up of snow on his hat...it snowed for a couple of days...good packing snow...
One last thing to do while we have a decent amount of snow on the ground...
TOBOGGAN!!!
The kids had so much fun! Even Simon loved toboganning!!! Ahhh, the adventure.

Snow fun I say!
Enjoy!
Heather