Holiday Wreath

Where did November go?
It just flew on by.
Here's a craft to gear up for the Holidays!
 

This is an idea that my sister-in-law, Jessica, saw on another blog. We kind of winged it and made this together, or at least most of it:

When I got home and finished it, I was anxious to get to decorating it! Now for those who don't know, I am a married college student that strives to be frugal. When it came to decorating it, I used what I had around the house. I'm sure those with money to spend can make theirs a lot prettier. Anyhow, I used some $.60 ribbon I bought from Micheal's previously and some scrap silver ribbon I have had for a while. This is what it looks like:

As you can see, my silver ribbon wasn't quite long enough to go all the way around, but I will fix that as soon as I can get to Micheal's again.

What you'll need:
Wire Wreath Frame
White Tulle (or other light-weight fabric)
Scissors
Ribbon or decoration of some sort

If you don't want this wreath to be used strictly for the Holidays, I would recommend using double-sided tape to place ribbon. You can't see it, but you can remove it.

Cut ribbon into 4-inch squares--play around with the length you like and feel free to modify.
Tie squares around wires. Tip from Jessica--don't do one wire on the section and then the second; instead, do one on each row and continue until section is complete. That way you don't have the fabric in your way while tying.

This will take about 3 hours, depending on how fast you tie. So, feel free to watch a movie while doing it but warning: it may take you longer this way, but at least you can have a good chick flick night, too!

If you want to do something like mine, the larger ribbon will need to be cut. I would give you an estimate, but it all depends on your taste. You can have it tightly and frequently wrapped around or loose and only 6 times around.

For my red ribbons, I took 8-inch strips (again, depends on your taste) and made a bunny-ear and pinched between index and thumb finger:

 Then wrap the longer tail around thumb:

 Pull through the newly formed hole around thumb:

 To create your bows:

I hope that helped? You will probably have to do it a couple times to get the lengths right.

Have fun and Happy Holidays!

Simplicity

 First, you need a clean surface. Simple.

I read in my Better Homes and Gardens "New Cookbook" (p. 163) how to prepare cakes. 

Grease and flour pan. Simple.

Turn pan sideways and tap out extra flour. Simple.

Pretty, huh?

The beginnings of my yellow cake batter from scratch (pg. 164). Simple.

In case you didn't know what the flour mixture is supposed to look like.

Mix the cake batter with mixer. Simple.

Leave in for designated time and stick with toothpick. Simple

Cooking them in an oven that does not cook evenly. Disastrous.

Greasing a pan that is already non-stick. Disastrous.

P.S. I don't know why this hadn't crossed my mind earlier.... :P

Leaving the crumbled cakes to cool. Simple.

Preparing to decorate the cake. Simple. And Fun!

Mixing the icing. Simple. 

I used the Creamy White Frosting found on page 185.

Piping the bags to decorate your cake. Simple.

Having fun decorating. Simple.

 

All in all, I was actually proud of myself. I made a cake from scratch with homemade icing. My shapes may have not all been the same size or close enough to each other, but I still walked away thinking I would try again. By the way if you are wondering what I did with my other cake that isn't shown finished, I used it to practice piping evenly and close together. It wasn't anything too special. My neighbors said that it tasted like a cake from the store. Which, sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing (hehe), but I'll take it. :)

Following Posts will include:

If you will notice, my ghost isn't quite centered. So, I am going to research how to better do that.

The supplies I chose and why.

How to pipe the bags.

 How to cook cakes more evenly in a rented apartment that you can't fix the oven in.

And I'm sure eventually I will make a full post of all my learning-enriched mistakes to pass on to those who are starting.

To Create

My inspiration for starting this blog comes from a life-long dream to decorate cakes! Even as a little girl, I went through a phase expressing my desire to be a cake decorator when I grew up. Well, realizing that it wasn't all too practical, I put my dream on hold. Now, I wish to start off this blog with my inspiration to start this dream--for real.





This video is one that I saw in my interior design class in Winter of 2010. It gave me hope and the realization that I could do it. What a beautiful blessing it is to be able to create! So, I hope to teach you what I learn along the way of starting my cake decorating skills.

I am so stoked about this. My plan is to:

Start off with just decorating with frosting (got to start small)
Add to my supplies and start fondant cakes
Grow in my understanding and become better!

Who knows, maybe even eventually, I will sell my cakes! I've got to remember baby steps! I am looking forward to the joy of watching my talents grow and to create something new. I may decide to do other creative things and post them here too, but for now I am planning on the majority of my posts to be about cake decorating. And I hope you all will enjoy the journey with me!