Princess Party for Emma

I can't believe it... Emma is 4.  This year's party theme was Disney princesses and Emma requested a Princess Auwowa cake.  Despite the cake mishaps (2 failed batches of cupcakes, melting frosting and not enough cake and fondant for Princess Auwowa's skirt), the final outcome was good and the party was a success.

From this ...

to this ...

to this ...

to this ...

My niece did a great job with the decorations and the party games and craft activities and food.

Princess Emma had a great time ...

and so did the other princesses ...

And they all got to kiss the prince and princess frogs...

Noah's 1st Birthday

Noah is Emma's baby brother and he loves Elmo.  So for his 1st birthday party, his mom had to go with the Elmo theme.  

Below is the Elmo I made for the top of his cupcake tiers.

And here he is with all the cupcakes:

Oh I just wanted to show this picture my husband took.  Elmo had to stay in the fridge overnight because it was so humid.  So when my husband opened the fridge in the morning, he was greeted by this cute guest.

Welcoming Chuck Norris

Our nephew and his wife are expecting a baby boy (soon) and so my husband and I drove millions of miles away to visit them.  One of the things we brought them (which I made) was this diaper truck.  The back of the truck is loaded with more baby stuff (clothes, bibs, toys, etc.).

They won't tell us what they're naming the baby before the baby is born so for now we decided to call him Chuck Norris.

Happy Father's Day

I made this carrot cake for my husband for Father's Day with the help of my kids.  Here's to the master of the grill, a great dad and husband!  We love you very much!!!

The Nature of

My daughter Ana and her senior class had their final art show last Wednesday.  The title of the show was "The Nature of".  To go with their theme, I made this tree stump cake for their show opening.

Here are the graduating artists...

And here is one of Ana's installations "The Beach"...

Now we can cook

I bought a toy kitchen set consisting of pots and pans a few months ago so that Emma could play with it when she came to visit.  Since I could not afford to buy a toy oven, I obsessed for months about making one.  I finally recently found the right cardboard box to make into an oven.  With a little help from acrylic paint and silver duct tape I was able to transform it into this:

The oven door opens up too and is kept closed by the magnetic lock cleverly designed by my husband.

Total cost of materials = $20

Emma's delight when she saw it = priceless

Small is cute

I saw a fascinating exhibit of miniature paintings once at the Paper Mill Playhouse.  I was enthralled by them and I got inspired to make some myself.  Here are two samples I made as birthday presents for my two friends.

This one was for Debbie, my beach-lover friend.  I called it Heaven on Earth.

This one was for Robin.  That's her walking her dog on a cool autumn morning.