A bit of caking for something different

Well, he's finally hit the big 60 ... my Dad that is ... it's weird how as I get older, ages that used to seem ancient...like really ancient ... just don't any more.  Like I remember when I thought 40 was soooo old, and I remember thinking how old my Dad was when he turned 40.  Yeah, well 40's not really that old huh!  My hubby will be there in a few years ... though he keeps telling me he's still in his mid-30's.  Ha ha!


Anyway, back to the topic ... so my Dad just turned 60, and decided to have a bit of a party last weekend.  With all the organising and about 65 friends and family coming along, my Mum asked me if she could leave the cake part of the day up to me.  Well, I'm always up for a creative challenge like that and instantly my mind started playing with colour schemes, and an overall theme for his cake.  I immediately thought of a beautiful photo of my Dad, with Bethany and my niece (who's the same age as Bethany) sitting on his lap.  At that stage, the girls were only little bubs and both looked so cute sitting there on Grandad's lap.  Well, there's now another 2 granddaughters, with Hannah and another little niece (yep , apparently we can't make boys), so I was thinking of a way I could recreate this little scene, and incorporate the girls at their current ages.

And, here's what I came up with.  It took me about 3-4 evenings of work all up.  A couple of extra Dad-heads, and some VERY blue hands later, it was all done.  I was so happy with how it turned out.

Bethany decided that she really needed to be wearing a "light pink" dress, so that's what she got, and she was adamant that I make sure her hair was very long ... she's a little obsessed with Rapunzel at the moment.  Oh, and the little dog is my youngest brother's dog, Newton (my youngest brother doesn't have kids ... YET ... so this is his family representation on Dad's cake.  Newton's a French Bulldog, and so cute, though my Dad does have a love-hate relationship with him.  Thought it was funny putting him front and centre on Dad's cake!!

Mum and I also decided that instead of a big cake and cutting it up for everyone on the day, we'd have just a small cake for him to blow out the candle, then everyone would get a cute boxed cup-cake to take home.  So keeping the same colour scheme, I made some simple little cupcake decorations.

Now I can't do a post on my caking efforts without giving you a link to my beautiful friend Jo of the Cupcake Gallery, who is responsible for my interest in fondant cake decorating over the last few years, and whose gorgeous books I often use for inspiration when trying to work on shapes ... especially little people figurines ... they're tough.  Anyway, Jo and her family have recently moved overseas as missionaries, so she's not doing cake orders at the moment, but if you're interested in her books you can find a link to them on her website.  She's amazing!!

Now as a bit of history of my cake decorating efforts to date, here's a little photo list of some of my most favourite attempts ... it really is so therapeutic ... I call it my Mummy Play-dough!

This was one of my earliest attempts ... Food Blogger cupcakes for my hubby's birthday.  He loves his food blogging.  This is the blog that he and some family do together.  These cakes took me forever, but I was really happy with the overall look, and the details on those tiny plates of food.

Blossom teapot cake made for my Hubby's Grandma for her birthday a couple of years ago, and the yellow rose cupcakes for her birthday last year.  With these cupcakes was my first attempt at embossing.

 

Birthday cakes from the last 2 years for our niece (a different niece to the one on my Dad's cake).  She loves gymnastics and Karate.

Fondant-decorated gingerbread cookies for Christmas one year.  Thought it was a cute idea to put them in CD envelopes.  We used these for Bethany's pre-school teachers last year, and they went down a treat!

Vegie Garden cake (this was my first try with Chocolate Fondant ... Yum).  This was a shared birthday cake for my Mum and I, as out birthdays are only 3 days apart, and we both love our vegie gardens.

Dibo figurine I made for a friend's little boy.  I had actually never heard of Dibo at the time I made this, so with google and some internet images, I did the best I could.  Was super happy with this one...and so was the birthday boy I'm told.

 Princess Birthday cakes for Bethany.  I designed the crown one for her third birthday, and the gorgeous Rapunzel and Snow White cupcakes (yes, they're cupcakes) come from Jo's Book Cupcake Charm.

The Octonauts birthday cake Bethany had this year ... this one was by far the most elaborate cake I've ever done, and took a long time, and lots of trials.  My favourite bit is the octopus holding onto Peso.

So, my fondant and cake decorating stuff has now all been packed away again until the next cake, and the sewing machine is back out ... and boy has it been used this week while this Mummy has attempted to stay sane in the midst of two munchkins with a vomiting bug ... yuck.  A post to come soon on my latest sewing exploits!