Tag: canon

5 Fool Proof Cake Tips – From one mom to the next!

Since becoming a mom I have loved making the boys their own special birthday cakes and enjoy decorating them. I’m by no means a professional or have any kind of training – but I have learned a few things along the way as the evolution of photos at the end of this post shows! I thought I would share some of the simple tips that have made a big difference in my cake game, from amateur mom baker to another.

Make it easy on yourself – I don’t make the entire cake from scratch… I’m all about jazzing up a box cake mix (using milk instead of water, butter instead of oil). If you want to try to do a fun decoration don’t feel like you have to DO IT ALL. Make things easier where you can!

Invest in a cake kit. The first few years I didn’t spend the $17 for a cake kit and I kinda wish I had. A turntable, a scraper and a couple decent spatulas can really make a big difference. This is the one I bought this year. They sell ones with dozens of more pieces but I opted for something simple.

Freeze your rounds – this was a tip I discovered last year. Freezing or chilling your cake rounds makes frosting SO much easier!! There’s none of that crumbling you normally experience and it doesn’t take away from the taste or texture. Just make sure to wrap them in plastic wrap tightly if you plan on chilling or freezing for longer than 30 min.

Start small and pick a design or style that you’re excited about – I get most of my ideas off pinterest & I try to pick cakes that feel doable. Over the years I have slowly expanded what I felt like was “doable” 3 years ago I would have never even tried this Cars cake. The idea of doing a fondant checkerboard bottom alone would have been too much. Even this year, I was fully prepared to scrap that detail if it wasn’t working out!

Stop by your local bakery! – did you know most grocery stores will sell you their cake frosting?? This year I went to Safeway and bought a bunch of white frosting directly from the bakery & then dyed it red! I’ll definitely be doing this going forward. Again, make things easier where you can! Maybe someday I’ll have time to perfect my own cake frosting but for now this is a short cut I’ll be taking!

BONUS: Have fun with it! Even if your cake flops it won’t be the end of the world. I have store-bought cupcakes as a back up & I focus on the fun aspect! Also don’t underestimate the power of crumbled graham cracker or Oreo cookie as a way to add texture and make the cake look more detailed!

Cars cake for Will’s 4th Birthday (2022)
Dino Cake for Will’s 3rd birthday (2021)
2021 “Wild One” for J’s 1st Birthday

“Two the Moon” Will’s 2nd Birthday (2020)
Smash cake for Will’s 1st Birthday… to show we all start somewhere!

Sunday Sunsets

Last night we spontaneously decided to head over to Baker Beach for the sunset and it ended up being one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve probably ever seen. This past week was so busy, Chris was gone Monday through Thursday for work, I worked 3 shifts including Saturday night. I celebrated a friends birthday & Sunday we went to Dim Sum for a red egg & ginger party. So Sunday was the first day Chris, William & I were all together for a whole day in a week!

Before having Will I used to take Juno to the beach weekly. It’s truly her heaven on earth but now days it’s a two person job. One to wrangle the dog and one to wrangle the toddler. I’m acutely award that we won’t live 10 minutes from the beach forever so I’m trying soak up all the beach days I can & even though it can be hectic I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Chasing Fireflies & other sweet things in the South pt. 2

Part 2 of our trip to Tennessee & Georgia! These photos are from the wedding we attended in Bell Buckle Tennessee. As you can tell by most* of the photos William had a blast. We got to spend some great time with family, we all stayed at a B&B together & were just a few blocks from the rehearsal & wedding.

Chasing fireflies, & other sweet things in the South pt.1

Earlier this summer we visited Bell Buckle Tennessee for a wedding on Chris’ side, but our trip started out just outside of Atlanta. Our first stop was visiting William’s Great Grandma Peggy! We got to go have lunch with her, we ate outside on a beautiful patio while Will played & explored. It was the sweetest. After our visit we spent the rest of the time relaxing at Chris’ Aunts home. That night we took Will outside to look for fireflies. Chris & his sister showed Will the ropes. I was a novice also, & got to experience fireflies for the first time too!

The next day we headed out to Bell Buckle, Tennessee!

Valentine’s Day!

    It’s Will’s first Valentines Day. We aren’t doing much to celebrate, but I snapped these pics when I was decorating our mantle. The days of getting Will to sit still for pictures are lonnng gone. In exchange for sitting still William this week decided he can give kisses, clap & wave. This morning he woke up and waved to his fur-sisters. Getting a kiss from this boy is the best Valentine’s gift ever!! Also, I tried to give him a tiny bouquet of carnations thinking it would make for cute pictures, but he only wanted to eat it…

    Happy Valentine’s Day!

    8 Months & Christmas Magic

    I figured it’s about time to post Will’s eight month photos, before he hits nine months. oops!

    I can’t believe our first Christmas has come & gone. We spent Christmas in California & went up to the foothills to visit my family. It was so nice to spend more than just our usual Friday – Sunday quick trips. It felt like we really got some down time. William got to spend time with his two cousins & his highlights were sitting in his high chair watching his cousins open all their presents & sitting on my parents deck watching Juno chase a ball around the back yard. I can’t believe January is halfway over! I feel like I’m going to blink & William is going to be one! I

    Curaçao continued

    I’m finally getting around to posting the remaining photos from our trip to curacao. Travelling has certainly changed now that we are bringing our little guy with us, but he was such a trooper. We were gone for 10 nights, took 5 flights, were in 2 climates & he totally rolled with the punches. He isn’t the baby that is just going to pass out on a flight & that’s okay, we just had to change our expectations that even if he’s tired the flight is probably just too stimulating for him to be able to nap for longer than 30-50 min at a time. Despite William not sleeping a ton on travel days, he was in such a good mood which made travelling with him a ton of fun. We booked this trip while I was still pregnant, granted it had a pretty flexible cancellation policy, but we figured if we waited till after we had him we may chicken out and not book it, rather than just planning on going! I think if travelling is something you enjoy than it’s completely possible to continue doing so with a baby. We may not have ventured off the resort as much as we would have, we have woken up far earlier than years prior, but we still had a great time & it was amazing getting to see our guy take in so many new things!! This week we are finishing up Christmas gifts, I’m working two more shifts & then we are heading to my parents on Friday for Christmas, I can’t wait! 

    Beach Babe – 7 Months

    I didn’t get around to doing our monthly letterboard photos with William this month & now we’re half way through December… oops. I guess you could say we’ve been busy. Will’s 7th month consisted of his first international trip! We went to Curacao for a friends wedding & extended our trip by a few days to enjoy the beach & warm weather before heading to Texas for Thanksgiving. In case you can’t tell by the photos William was a little unsure about the ocean despite the water being bath temp. He eventually came around & became a little more comfortable, I guess swim lessons will be part of 2019 ha! Along with travelling outside the US this month he also began eating a ton of new foods, learned how to crawl & still has zero teeth! I’m looking forward to Christmas because I feel like he’ll really enjoy the wrapping paper element. Onward & upward to month 8!

    Six Months

    Six months. Half a trip around the sun. I feel like all of the sudden my little baby isn’t such a little baby anymore (cue the tears!). Even though he’s still physically fairly little, only weighing in at 15 pounds. This month seemed like William took a huge developmental leap. He has figured out to army crawl around, he learned to whisper when he babbles – which to be honest, is hilarious. He started the journey of solid foods. One of the biggest changes I’d say is how much more cuddly he’s become. He’s never been a super snuggly baby, but now when he gets tired he’ll lay his little head on your shoulder and totally nuzzle in. As much as I wish time would slow down & I say it in every single one of these monthly updates, this month William has seemed to grow up so much & it honestly makes me so excited to see what this cool little guy is gonna be like. We have a big month coming up, William will be going on his first international trip, plus we’ll be heading to Austin for Thanksgiving, needless to say his seven month update will be here before I even know it.

    Pumpkin patch fun

    We took William to the pumpkin patch last week! He loved it!! There was so much for him to take in & he loved touching all the different textures of the pumpkins. Will is turning 6 months old next week, it’s so crazy to think he’s half a year old! He’s just getting more and more fun each day!!