Piggy Cakes

We had a church baked goods auction and we let the kids decide what they wanted to auction for. The girls decided they really wanted the Piggy Cakes. We placed our bid, but sadly we lost. They were so disappointed that I told them no worries we'll make them ourselves!

How cute are these little oinkers?

And these little oinkers? That's Miss M and Miss S making a mess in Grandma's kitchen.

We used pink frosting on the cakes, chocolate chip eyes, a strawberry marshmallow for the nose (with chocolate frosting nostrils), and a strawberry Starburst candy that was cut in half for the ears. Not only did they taste fabulous, we had a lot of other goodies left over. Oink!

Canning

I have always wanted to try canning! When I was younger a friend's parents were avid canners. It was so fascinating to come to their house and see mounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, a tall pressure cooker steaming away and rows and rows of freshly canned beauties lining their pantry. It has taking me a few years, but I asked for canning supplies for my birthday. My DH, so excited to actually have a good idea of what to get me came through. I started with Strawberry Jam and let me tell you, now I am hooked! I have yet to get into pressure canning, but this so much fun.

Here is my first batch of strawberry jam. Isn't it gorgeous?
I decided that I wanted to give the jam to family and friends but definitely needed some cute labels to go on them. Here's what I came up with:


I found some free clip art online and came up with a little logo- ellie's jellies. I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

I made a mini label for the lid.


My next attempt was Raspberry Mango Jam. Wow, that is delicious! Mangos were hard to work with, but worth the effort.


Next I wanted to try jelly and pomegranates are the rage right now. I simply used Pom pomegranate juice.


Isn't the color divine?


Preparing food really should not be this much fun. Try it!

Maggie's 6th Birthday!

My little Maggie turned 6! We had a family party for her this year. Her party colors were yellow (her favorite color) and hot pink and the theme, flowers and polka dots.

I looked everywhere for hot pink and yellow fabric and found some bright, fun fabric at Wal Mart of all places! I made her a birthday outfit that she calls her Cha Cha outfit.


It's a twirly skirt that I finished with ric rac around the bottom edge. Oh how I adore ric rac!

A place setting. I've had to be a bit more budget conscience since we are still out of work right now. But found a pretty pink and yellow pattern that worked and a yellow polka dot tablecloth.

There is an incredible artist on Etsy who makes these cute clothespin doll cake toppers. I really wanted to order one from her, but I couldn't justify the price with DH, plus she needed time that I didn't have to make it. So...of course I had to try to do it myself. I think I succeeded! Maggie loves dogs and has her favorite brown lab stuffed animal, Brownie. I found this cute little puppy button that worked perfectly!

Now, the cake...I really wanted to use fondant but I have never tried it before and let's be honest, it's not tasty. So I used buttercream and smoothed it on as best I could. Then I put white melting chocolate pieces on to make polka dots. So here was the problem, I had to transport the cake in 110+ degree weather. Well, it melted! The middle frosting layer started squishing out of the middle and rest just started drooping. Waaaa! Oh well, that's life! She loved it and the party was great. Happy Birthday to my wonderful little Mags!