Little Man: Same Theme, Different Cake

When I had done my first Little Man diaper cake, I knew it was getting popular, but I can't say I expected to have another request for it. No, that doesn't make much sense, but, I didn't. I was excited for my new challenge on the theme, however. This new cake was to be white, grey, and black. While one may think this a dull color combination, it was fantastic, and with the use of pattern, I created one truly adorable cake. In addition, I got to pull out my new gadget, a die cut machine, to add some unique accents which you'll start seeing more and more evidence of as I continue to make cakes.

Some of the adorable tuxedo items I found for the cake as
well as some of the mustache cutouts decorating the cake

The cake started as most others as a spiral tiered cake. My customer requested a "naked" cake (one where the diapers are showing rather than covered by blankets) which made the color scheme much easier since the diapers are already white and finding black and grey baby blankets would have been a bit of a challenge. I found some adorable harlequin patterned ribbon in black and white and placed it a top grey and white ribbons. Next came adding the adorable accents. While my previous little man cake primarily gained its theme from the decorations, I was able to add a bit more in the way of baby items with this one. I had found some precious mustache pacifiers to go with the cake. In addition, my customer requested tuxedos along with bow ties, mustaches, and bodysuits to go with this theme so I was able to find some adorable socks and a precious bib with tuxedo patterns on them.

A "Little Man" badge, bodysuit cutout,
and bow tie cut out can be seen here among
the other baby items adorning the cake.

The top of the cake displayed the increasingly popular "mustache on a stick" that I made with my die cut machine. My previous mustache had been a crocheted one, which was adorable, but relatively impractical. This one was purely for decoration, and while it could be used for pictures and whatnot, it could easily be discarded after use or placed in a scrapbook for memory keeping. To finish off the cake, accents were added such as argyle printed "badges" that declared "Little Man,"  as well as bow tie, mustache, and bodysuit cutouts.

The final cake was adorable, and far from boring with the color scheme. The argyle and harlequin patterns as well as the tuxedo prints gave plenty of visual interest to what one might originally think was a relatively monochromatic cake. My customer loved it and I'm so happy to have gotten the opportunity to use my new little toy for adding accents to my diaper cakes. It's an exciting step to making my cakes unique and helping create my own style. With it, I can do an even better job addressing some of the more challenging themes when baby items aren't always available. I can't wait for future opportunities!

Stepping it up

For quite some time now, I've been wanting to add a bit of extra "umph" to my Noah Shoes. While I'm still looking into options for different styles, I first wanted to start small and make sure I had a quality product under my belt before expanding. Now that I feel I've got the shoes themselves relatively consistent, I wanted to add something. Lucky for little girls, ideas to dress up their shoes are easy to come by.

When I was approached for a review of my shoes from Renewable Mommy I thought this was the perfect opportunity to make an adorable pair of shoes for her to review. Not long ago, I had found some adorable material that I couldn't pass up for little girl shoes so I chose this material for the review and dressed the shoes up with some satin ribbon and a bow (sewn and secured so it wouldn't come undone).

Black, White, Red Flowered Shoes with Ribbon Embellishment

This pair was also part of the review
found on Renewable Mommy's blog

I love how the shoes came out and I received a glowing review on the blog. They are perfect and girly and everything I imagined they would be. I look forward to additional embellishments on shoes in the future as it's my next step before I move into new styles. Keep looking out for changes, updates, and new options available! And certainly, don't be afraid to ask if I can try something in particular. Sometimes, all I need is for the opportunity to present itself and I'm up to new challenges!

Halloween Cake!

Starting last December I began making holiday cakes. They are mostly for display and to show what is possible. No matter the theme of your shower, a cake can almost assuredly be made to match. Of course, if you are going to be welcoming a baby the same month as a major holiday, that can always be the theme of a shower. Or a cake like this can be a holiday gift for a baby that is celebrating his or her first one. In any case, I couldn't skip Halloween as it is one of my favorite holidays, so here it is, my Halloween display cake.

In true form, similar to several of my other holiday cakes, this mini cake was a 2-tiered cake. I cheated a little when I built it, because I didn't actually use baby items to cover the tiers. I simply used cotton flannel fabric. Since this cake was for display purposes only, I didn't go through the trouble of making actual burp cloths, but in the event that someone wanted to order a similar cake, that is most likely what I'd do. Holiday apparel seems readily available, however, other baby items like burp cloths and blankets are not seen as frequently with holiday themes. Luckily, they can be made if the occasion calls (and you happen to be crafty enough, which, fortunately, I am). I kept it very simple with this one with the accents. I used some adorable candy corn ribbon for the tiers. I also added some white wash cloths, a pair of orange baby spoons, and finished it off with matching Jack-o-lantern hat and socks. I added some tissue paper to decorate and separate the tiers, but I'm not sure I would employ this method frequently since that would be the only part of the cake I'm a bit unsure about.

I really like how this cake turned out and I'm excited about future possibilities with this theme. I was tempted to make a couple different Halloween cakes, but I restrained myself. I look forward to more cakes where I can test my creativity. The seasonal ones are especially fun. I already have my next one ready to go! Keep checking back to see what I've come up with!