Philidelphia Eagles Birthday Cake

When I taught, I had the opportunity to meet and teach with Colleen. She's been very sweet to get me to do birthday cakes for the boys sine then. This time around it was a Philadelphia Eagles cake for hear son Sean. He had been to an NFL-themed birthday party a little while before and the cake was of one of the professional football teams (I can't remember which one). He really liked it and wanted to do the same kind of thing with his favorite team, the Eagles. It worked out perfectly that his favorite player's number is 10 and this was to be his 10th birthday. I was able to incorporate the jersey into the design as part of the "happy 10th Birthday." I don't know, but I sensed there was possibly a little competition to see which of the cakes ended up being the coolest, Sean's or the other boy's... I wonder which one won?? Hope you had a great birthday, Sean!

Blue Hawaii Elvis Birthday

There's another Julia besides my own that I've been doing birthday cakes for, and this one's 15 years older than mine! This was a big deal for Julia-- her 18th birthday!! She LOVES Elvis. Last year I did a Jail House Rock Elvis themed cake for her. You can see that post here. This year she wanted and Elvis cake from the movie Blue Hawaii. People are difficult to do in icing, but thankfully Elvis has some distinctive features that make it a little easier to know that it's him. Happy 18th Birthday, Julia!!

Football Banquet for the Bulldogs

My friend Jill had me do a cake for her son's football team. The season was over in November and it was time for the banquet, so of course you need cake to celebrate! Their team was the Glenvar Bulldogs with a color scheme of yellow and green. Enjoy!

Baby Bear

In November my friend Lisa threw a baby shower for our friend Kathleen. Kathleen was expecting her 2nd child and at the time didn't know whether that would be a boy or a girl. The shower was teddy bear themed, with brown and cream as the color scheme. Polka dots were also incorporated. For the cake I also added a little yellow to the mix. Kathleen has since had the baby, a precious son named Jonah!! Thank you, Lisa, for having me do the cake. Kathleen, we are delighted for you!!

A Barnyard Bash!!

My little girl Julia turned 3 back in November. She had a "barnyard bash" for her party, so everything was farm-themed. She had such a great time and it was a really fun theme to use for planning games, food, favors, and decor. We had quite a few kids there and lots of their parents and Julia's family members, too, so I did cupcakes for the kiddos to look like pigs, ducks, and sheep. I did a cake for the adults that had cow print all around the sides and a barn on the top. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the cupcakes, but there is a picture of the cake. Happy Birthday, my sweet Julia! You are such a gift!

Rad in Plaid

Scottie from church celebrated his 21st birthday back in October. His fiance' Mattie got me to do a cake with a longboard on it. I did the sides in plaid. Scottie's almost always rocking a plaid shirt, so it seemed appropriate. Happy Birthday, Scottie!!

Mall Scavenger Hunt

Abriana turned 13 in October. She had a really cool birthday party for a brand-new teenage girl: a mall scavenger hunt! The girls split up into two teams and had certain things they had to do or find and capture them on a digital camera. I decorated the cake to look kind of like their path taking them around the mall to find all of the fun things on their list. Really cute idea I may just have to steal in 10 years for my little girl! Happy birthday, Abriana!!

Track Star Birthday Cake

Back in October, Mary Beth celebrated her 14th birthday! She's really become quite the runner and is on the Glenvar Cross-Country Track Team. She wanted a cake that encompassed this pastime and her favorite colors--pink and purple. I decided to play off of the traditional track symbol (a foot or shoe with wings) and make it extra girlie with the colors and style of writing. Happy Birthday, Mary Beth!!

A Birthday Brings Self Reflection

Several weeks ago I did a surprise 40th birthday cake for a guy from our church, Tony. Tony kind of has a reputation of thinking highly of his appearance and maybe being a bit of a pretty boy or primper... I'M not saying this, these are ways that his WIFE even describes him, so that's my disclaimer. Anyway, his wife Kelly asked me to do a cake with a mirror on it and write "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall..." (and it's implied that Tony THINKS he's the fairest of them all!!) The party was a big hit from what I gathered! Hope the cake was, too!

Pretty in Pink

A while back I did a baby shower cake to honor David, Lauren, and their baby Tensley Grace. There was not theme for the shower, more of a color scheme and lots of girliness! Pink, black, and green were my palette and just some simple, but very feminine flowers and writing with some black polka-dots on the sides. Sweet Tensley has since arrived and is absolutely precious! Congratulations David and Lauren!

Hokie Homecoming

About a month ago (I am soooo far behind on posting pictures!!) I had the privilege of serving a family in our church by bringing them dinner. The Anderson family has been through so much over the last few months. Two of their boys were very badly burned and they spent about a month at Wake Forest University Hospital. You can read all about how God sustained them through this ordeal here. Anyway, they are really big VT fans and the younger of the two boys had to spend his birthday in the hospital, so for my dessert I make them a cake all decked out in Virginia Tech colors. We are glad to have them home!!

Heads Up!!

My friend Molly threw a surprise party for her husband Jacob last Friday. It was to celebrate his 25th birthday. In honor of turning 25, she wanted the cake to look like a quarter. Unfortunately Jacob somehow got a "heads up" about the party, so that wasn't a surprise, but the cake was. Hope you all enjoyed! Happy 25th Birthday, Jacob!

A license to surprise!

Our pastor's son, Sam, turned 16 yesterday. They got him a used, red Ford truck as a surprise birthday gift. Gretchen, his mom, came up with the idea to have me do the cake to match his new license plates. She said the surprise went GREAT! Even when he saw the cake he just thought it was a creative idea for a 16-year-old's birthday cake and didn't actually think it was symbolic of anything. I'm glad the surprise went even better than you'd hoped! Happy 16th Birthday, Sam!!

Clever Birthday

I just did a cake for Margaret's 80th birthday. It was last week, but the whole family is getting together to celebrate this weekend. One of the many blessings of being given the gift of so many years of life is that she has so many roles and titles: wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother... So, instead of having to make a choice for which name to put on the cake, Margaret chose this clever design so she didn't have to include a name at all!

Hippo Birdie Two Ewe!!

Polka Dots and Ladybugs

This past weekend I also had the privilege to make a cake for Raven's baby shower. It was special because Raven and Lauren (who ordered the cake) and I all went to middle and high school together, and Lauren and I even went to elementary school together, too! Lauren wanted a smaller cake, just for Raven as the guest of honor. The shower was done based on the theme Raven chose for her bedding, which was brightly colored and had all sorts of crazy polka dots. They were incorporating ladybugs into the theme as well. You can see them hiding around the bottom of the cake! Thanks, Lauren, and Congratulations on baby Ava, Raven!!

Polka Dots and Damask

I made a cake for my friend Lauren's baby shower last weekend in honor of the anticipated arrival of her son Nathaniel (Nate). It was really fun to do... The shower didn't really have an over-arching theme per say, so they just asked for brown and blue with some polka dots. The design I came up with also included some Damask patterns on the sides. The Bible verse was really the focal point of the cake. "For this child I prayed and the Lord has granted me my petition..." 1 Samuel 1:27 I think it turned out great, but I don't think the picture really does it justice. Congrats, Lauren and Chris!! We can't wait to meet little Nate!

VT Old School

Recently I made a groom's cake for Marshall and Donna's son. He's a HUGE Virginia Tech fan! I did the cake in the shape of the older VT logo. It's hard to tell because the cake board is white, but the cake is just the letters. Hope the wedding went as smoothly as making the cake did! Congratulations!!

Turning 50 with a BANG!

My mom and my sister-in-law share a birthday on July 7th (Yes, this post is very late... I just have had a hard time making time for the computer lately!). This year we celebrated them when we got together for the 4th of July, so I did a red, white, and blue themed cake. This was the Big 5-0 for my mom, so since she was turning fifty, she got most of the attention on the cake. It turned out pretty well! Happy Birthday, Mom and Kendra!!

Another Birthday's Racing In!

Our friend Ashely got me to do a cake for her husband Zach's birthday. He shares a birthday with my baby boy! It was a racing theme--Zach actually does drive a race car! How cool is that?! The logo matches the one on his crew's shirts and stuff. I did the checkered flag look around the cake, but in navy instead of black so it would match. They were really pleased. Our family was part of the celebration, so we actually got to eat some of it, too! YUM!

Happy Birthday, Zach!!

My Baby's 1!!

It's so hard for me to believe, but my baby boy, Mason has turned one! We celebrated his 1st birthday a week early with a sports-themed party. I designed his cake based on the invitations I made. His daddy wanted to makes sure that having this kind of party didn't mean he HAD to play all of these sports when he gets older! I love this gift from God SO MUCH!!! Happy 1st birthday, Mason!

Happy, Splashy Birthday!!

Last weekend I made a birthday cake for my friend Meggen's son, Jaxson. It's hard to believe that our kids are growing up so fast, her little guy is 4 now!! They had a pool party to celebrate, so the cake was a pool scene. Hope the weather was great and that Jaxson enjoyed his big day!!

Party on the Farm

Our friends Adam and Amy just celebrated Adam's dad's 60th birthday. He has a farm and cows and loves tractors. It was a pretty big party, so I was asked to do 2 cakes. One with a cow on it, and the other with a tractor. There were a couple of quirks with these cakes, but everything turned out great! Apparently not all tractors are green... Luckily Amy emailed me a couple of days before I did the cake and let me know he wanted a Massey Ferguson (red) tractor, NOT a John Deere (green) one because he really doesn't like John Deere. GOOD THING SHE TOLD ME!! When I think of a tractor, I think green... That would have been bad! Also, I found a picture of a cow online that I wanted to use to guide my design. I had just finished it when my husband came it and said, "Do you realize that cow has horns AND an utter?". I went with the design on the picture, never even thinking about the GENDER of the cow!!! BUT, I had Nathan quickly go online and look up whether or not female cows could have horns, and THEY CAN!! Whew! 2 disasters avoided, and 2 cakes I was pleased with! Hope the birthday boy was, too!

Cowboy Birthday

My friend Courtney's grandfather just turned 80!! To celebrate they were throwing him a cowboy themed birthday party. I was asked to do a cake in the shape of a cowboy boot from a template Courtney's mom found and sent me. The colors and design were also straight from the template. Hope you all had a rootin' tootin' good time!!

Preschool Graduation

I did a cake for the preschool class at our church's Child Development Center. Today is their graduation celebration!! The colors for the party are black and red. I'm sure it's hard for their mommies and daddies to believe that their little ones will be heading to kindergarten in a few months! I know my kiddos are growing up waaaay too fast for my liking!

Nautical Baby Shower

I made a cake for Ben and Molly's baby shower on Saturday. The theme of their son Isaac's nursery is blue and yellow sailboats. The cake turned out great. I think the ones that look the best are those with simple designs and just a few colors.

The people at our church have amazing talents and have used them to honor this family. One lady made the bedding (which is STUNNING) and another painted a picture for the nursery to match the theme (also beautiful). Can't wait to meet little Isaac!!

Bieber Fever

Friday I made a cake for Jerica's birthday. She was having a Justin Bieber themed party. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the silver is actually sparkly--I got some Wilton pearl dust to try (completely edible, don't worry!) and it worked great! Overall I was pretty pleased with the cake... Doing a person in icing is very difficult. Hope you enjoyed, Jerica! Happy Birthday!

SPLAT!!

Thursday night I made a paintball themed birthday cake for one of Nathan's coworkers' sons. It was a special birthday--his 18th! Happy Birthday, Austin!

Sweet Briar Celebration

Last night I made a cake for a lady who has the sweetest occasion to celebrate. Margaret and her husband are traveling to Florida to have a mini-reunion with her closest friends from Sweet Briar College to celebrate them all turning 80 this year! What a blessing it is to be 80 and traveling that far AND to have friendships that have lasted so long. I hope you all have a safe trip and a great time of fellowship!

TYrannosaurus Rex Cake

Our friends Kristin and Darren's son Tyson celebrated his 6th birthday on Wednesday! He's having a dinosaur-themed sleepover tonight and I did the cake. His mom said the scarier, the better, so what better dinosaur than the infamous T-Rex?! It was perfect, too, because Tyson goes by "Ty," hence the title of this post. Happy Birthday, Tyson!

Tangled

One of my sweet little girls I teach at church, Gabriella, recently celebrated her 5th birthday. She wanted a cake to go with the newest Disney princess movie--Tangled.

Happy Birthday, Gabriella! You are definitely a princess to me!

Hampden Sydney Graduation Cake

Gail's son Marshall just graduated from Hampden Sydney on Mother's Day weekend. She liked the Naval Academy Insignia cake I'd done for our pastor, so she wanted to help celebrate with Marshall by getting a cake with HS's insignia.

What an honor it is as a mother to watch your children grow. I pray that I am given the grace to see my own children grow up and become God-glorifying adults as they celebrate milestones like college graduation.

Under the Sea

Our friend Amy is helping throw a baby shower for her sister-in-law today. The theme is "Under the Sea" to coordinate with the baby's room decor. The top matched the sea creatures on the invitation and the sides were polka dots in all the same colors as the rest of the cake. I think it turned out beautifully!

Picnic-Themed Rehearsal

A sweet young woman that Nathan and I have known for a long time, Carissa, and her fiance Keegan are getting married today. They did me the honor of asking me to make the cake for their rehearsal dinner. It was a picnic theme, and the bride-to-be requested daisies on top. I did the traditional red and white checked look and a pale yellow base color. We are excited to celebrate with you today, Carissa and Keegan!! 

Spring Has Sprung

Some family friends of ours were celebrating several April birthdays in the family as they also celebrated Easter, so they asked me to do a cake for them. They requested something springy with flowers and bright green, orange, yellow, and watermelon pink. Hope you had a great celebration!

Cotton Candy Clouds

This cake was designed by the 6-yr-old birthday girl, herself. They had a unicorn cake topper, so the cake was a unicorn's hangout. Cotton candy pink and blue stripes and fluffy white clouds... sounds like a unicorn's paradise to me! Happy Birthday, Makenna!

Bride-to-be

A sweet lady I worked with at school named Lori is getting married this weekend, and I had the joy of doing the cake for her wedding shower at school. I worked  with Lori my last year of teaching and so enjoyed getting to know her. She is a picture of femininity and sweetness, so I thought her cake should be the same. I was very pleased with the end result. Congratulations, Lori!

Now THAT'S my kind of cake!!

On Friday I had the pleasure of making a birthday cake for my friend Lee's fiance's birthday. It was nice to do a WAHOO cake! The top was the V and cross sabers, and the sides said Go Hoos and Wahoowa. So FUN!

Operation Air, Land, and Sea

My two most recent cakes are described by the title to this post. Sweet Piper picked a dumbo cake for her 6th Birthday accented with pink and green. Dumbo qualifies for "land" AND "air" for all of my non-Disney watching readers.

And for the "sea," I did a cake for our pastor's birthday with the Naval Academy insignia. 

It's hard to tell, but the lettering and border are navy and golden yellow.

Hokie Birthday

The latest cake was a Hokie football cake to celebrate Colin's 6th birthday. It's decked out in maroon and orange and has footballs on the sides of the cake. It turned out really well, but this cake was PAINFUL to do... Not really, but don't get any wrong ideas, my collegiate loyalties still lie solidly with UVA!!

Happy Birthday, Colin! 

The Big 5-0

A family friend of ours celebrated her 50th birthday today, and her daughter (who also happens to be my sister-in-law) had me do a cake for the occasion. She didn't want the typical "over the hill" or anything like that, but something girly with purple and black. Here's what I came up with.

She said it was just what she was looking for. Happy Birthday, Cathy!

Touchdown!!!

Last night I made a 30th birthday cake in the shape of a football field. The 'logo' in the middle of the field was a black circle trimmed in navy and white with the number 30 in the middle. The sides of the cake have footballs on them. Hopefully the cake will score some points with the birthday boy!

Little All-Star

Yesterday I had the privilege of throwing a baby shower for my friend Leslie to welcome her baby boy, Kolton. We did a little all-star theme with blue, red, and orange as the colors. The shower went great, and I think the cake was a home run, too!

Rubber Duckie

The theme for Leslie's second shower was rubber duckies. For her cake I did a rubber duckie sitting atop baby blocks that spell out her son's name.

1st of 3 and a birthday

This weekend I did the first of three cakes for my friend Leslie's baby showers! All of her showers are within a week of one another--that's a lot of cake!! This first theme was a baby in a pea pod. Precious. The sides had dark green swirls.

The other cake was for our friend Mary Lynn's mother's birthday. Simple and pretty. 

No Icing Needed

So, I thought I'd try my hand at making a different kind of cake... No flour, sugar, milk, or eggs on the ingredient list for this one! Instead I just whipped up some diapers, bibs, bath towels, and socks. No icing needed, just a little ribbon, hot glue, and a few sticky foam letters. Plenty of time, just no oven to preheat, and PRESTO! A cake certainly made for a special occasion, probably just not one you want to sink your teeth into!