Penguins & Igloo Cake

I was invited to a "July in January" birthday party where we nibbled on summer hors d'oeuvres, drank fruity cocktails and wore Hawaiian leis.  We didn't let the Chicago snow get us down!

I thought penguins having their own little pool party would be a fun addition since they love partying in the winter too. 

 

On a bit of a side note, the birthday girl hosting the party adopted a shiba inu that my husband and I fostered last year.  We first got him when he was just 2 months old and he was from a rescue organization that saved him from a puppy mill.  Want to see how he looked when we got him?

Yup, quite the cutie.

How he looks now...all grown up and so dashingly handsome.

He and his owner are perfect for each other!

His girlfriend even came to play. They are just so cute.

Adorable dogs, witty interesting people and delicious food with refreshing margaritas made it a fantastic party.

Anyways, back to the cake!

I created the penguins ahead of time. Everything is fondant minus the black dots of the eyes (that was created using an edible black marker).

Then the igloo. If I needed a cake that served more, I would have created the igloo out of cake as well.  Since that wasn't the case, I just used a styrofoam base, covered it in a little frosting and then fondant.  I then randomly made "blocks" around the igloo with a sharp tool.

I then created the base.  Before icing and covering with fondant, I dug out a little bit of the cake on top so that I could make a "pool." 

I then added blue food gel for the water and placed the penguins and igloo on the cake. Once I got to the party, the little cocktail umbrellas were added to give it a bit of beach festivity. 

 

Chicago Bulls Hat Cake

I got a request for a Chicago Bulls Hat cake and boy was I excited! My two favorite sports to watch are football and basketball but football was something that I just got into a few years ago.  I fell in love with basketball and the Chicago Bulls when I was a kid during the Jordan era and even got my whole family into it.  We would watch all the games together and cheer loudly for our Bulls.  I remember how I would always doodle the Bulls logo and I finally got to put it into cake form.  This was too much fun.

I started off with one 6" round and half of a ball cake.  Since the half of the ball cake was a little larger than the 6", I had to shave it down a bit.  I added frosting between the two layers and over the cake and covered it with red fondant.  I also started adding some details and put a thin layer of fondant in front to start shaping the bill.

Finished the bill.  I also had one of my husband's hats next to it as well which helped me make sure the proportions looked correct.

Finished the top part of the cake (I'm sorry I don't know the actual parts of the hat!)

Then I started on the Bulls logo.

Added the red details plus a sliver of white around the eyes.

Added the logo to the hat.

Birthday message and some small details and it was complete.

Cakes for Charity: Peas in a Pod Cake

Happy New Year everyone! Like many others, I looked back at 2011 and it was a significant year filled with many blessings. Some of my favorite memories or thoughts that made me smile were:

Swam in an awe-inspiring cenote (underwater cave), visited a sacred Mayan pyramid, observed the fierce beauty of an active volcano, walked along the shores of black sand beaches, hiked a volcano crater, danced in my first luau, swam under a waterfall and then watched a Hawaiian sunset on the beach, made great new friends and laughed & cried with old ones, celebrating our one year wedding anniversary with my husband, got a dog that I love to death, started Sweet Kat's Creations, quit a job that I wasn't passionate about and spent time reflecting on living a fulfilling life.

In regards to the last part, I really did a ton of reflecting and I had one big epiphany.  I realized that at the end of my life, I'll like to look back and believe that I've done my part in leaving the world just a little brighter.

I'm hoping Cakes for Charity will be one part of that equation. Basically with some of the cakes made, the cake requester will be able to select a charity that they would like the proceeds donated to.  Sweet Kat's will ask for a minimum donation depending on design and size of the cake that the requester is asking for. Two stipulations: the charity must be a 501(c)(3) organization and the requester must provide a receipt detailing the donation amount.  I am super excited about this and what it can do for our communities.

The first Cakes for Charity creation was this Peas in a Pod Cake where the proceeds were donated to assist with disaster relief with the Iligan tragedy in the Philippines where a flood took away many people's homes and they were left with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. 

A little background on this cake: one of my girlfriends J wanted to give her sister a personal Christmas gift and had some adorable crocheted peas in a pod made to give to her.  Each pea represented each of her sister's 3 children. Btw, these peas in a pod were made by a talented college friend and you can check out her blog here: http://thetokicafe.blogspot.com/.  Her stuff seriously rocks.

My friend asked me to make a small cake that she would be giving in addition to the gift and it was pretty darn cute ...can't go wrong with anything peas in a pod related!

To start, I asked J to send me a pic of the crocheted peas in a pod so I could take a look at the details.

Then made the pink cake base.

Made the peas in the pod.

 Added the border.

Added the details: eyes, smiles and little bows for the 2 girl peas.

And some circles on the sides to jazz it up a bit.

Ready to go!