Birthday Crafts
R's birthday was the 11th. But since we all had to work on that day, we decided to get together tonight to celebrate. (Sigh. Is that the way of things when you get older? You have to work instead of having a birthday party? Boo.)
First, I want to show you this cake I made. Here's the story: R wanted a cherry chip cake for his birthday. But 1) No store seems to carry a cherry chip cake mix any more. And believe me, I've looked. 2) The cake needs to be gluten-free so everyone is able to eat birthday cake. But good luck finding a cherry chip GF cake mix.
So I bought a yellow GF cake mix (and used Crisco instead of butter because Bre and M are both dairy-intolerant) and used egg whites instead of whole eggs because Bre can't really eat those and besides, the yolks add a yellow tint to the cake mix and with all the cherry I would be adding, the cake would end up being orange. And who wants an orange-colored cherry cake, right? Then, the thing that always gets me about GF cakes is that they are never moist and light. They're always so grainy textured and heavy and dry. So I added in half a package of cherry Jell-O to give it some moisture. And, since we needed some cherry chips in this cherry chip cake, I also added a 10 oz jar of maraschino cherries, chopped, with the juice (instead of the water the mix called for).
Needless to say, it turned out to be a bright pink cake. Which is fine, but I wanted to do something that reflected R's personality and I just couldn't think of what to do with a pink cake. My first thought was TARDIS. But nobody wants to eat that much blue food coloring. (I remember a certain Colts superbowl cake that made everyone poop blue for a few days.)
So I asked M. She suggested an Anti-TARDIS. It's not a blue TARDIS, it's white. We joked that it also stays in one spot and only exists in this time.
Don't mock my free-hand, from-memory cake decorating skills. It tasted great, at least.
T and I collaborated on the gift-making, too. I found this quote and Gallifreyan script (At least, the internet says it's Gallifreyan. I am not a Timelord, so I couldn't tell you for sure.) and Photoshopped it onto a starscape and had it printed on high-quality photo paper. Then T cut the mat and we framed it.
Haha. Pay no attention to the reflection of my hands taking the photo.
T also repainted this candle holder. I wish I'd taken a before picture. It was just a black metal frame, with visible silvertone welds. T first painted it copper, then added a layer of verdigris color. Then we added the 3 glass candle holders and 3 vanilla ice cream scented votives. I think it looks fantastic.
I also made another gift for R, but sadly didn't get a photo of it in its finished form. I guess I'll post that later. It's a hand-bound leather journal. It's the first one I've made and it turned out really nice, I think. (Although, the glue was maybe not quite dry by the time the party rolled around.) It did earn the comment of "Nice post-apocalyptic skills. This means we can still have books after the Zombipocalypse."
First, I want to show you this cake I made. Here's the story: R wanted a cherry chip cake for his birthday. But 1) No store seems to carry a cherry chip cake mix any more. And believe me, I've looked. 2) The cake needs to be gluten-free so everyone is able to eat birthday cake. But good luck finding a cherry chip GF cake mix.
So I bought a yellow GF cake mix (and used Crisco instead of butter because Bre and M are both dairy-intolerant) and used egg whites instead of whole eggs because Bre can't really eat those and besides, the yolks add a yellow tint to the cake mix and with all the cherry I would be adding, the cake would end up being orange. And who wants an orange-colored cherry cake, right? Then, the thing that always gets me about GF cakes is that they are never moist and light. They're always so grainy textured and heavy and dry. So I added in half a package of cherry Jell-O to give it some moisture. And, since we needed some cherry chips in this cherry chip cake, I also added a 10 oz jar of maraschino cherries, chopped, with the juice (instead of the water the mix called for).
Needless to say, it turned out to be a bright pink cake. Which is fine, but I wanted to do something that reflected R's personality and I just couldn't think of what to do with a pink cake. My first thought was TARDIS. But nobody wants to eat that much blue food coloring. (I remember a certain Colts superbowl cake that made everyone poop blue for a few days.)
So I asked M. She suggested an Anti-TARDIS. It's not a blue TARDIS, it's white. We joked that it also stays in one spot and only exists in this time.
Don't mock my free-hand, from-memory cake decorating skills. It tasted great, at least.
T and I collaborated on the gift-making, too. I found this quote and Gallifreyan script (At least, the internet says it's Gallifreyan. I am not a Timelord, so I couldn't tell you for sure.) and Photoshopped it onto a starscape and had it printed on high-quality photo paper. Then T cut the mat and we framed it.
Haha. Pay no attention to the reflection of my hands taking the photo.
T also repainted this candle holder. I wish I'd taken a before picture. It was just a black metal frame, with visible silvertone welds. T first painted it copper, then added a layer of verdigris color. Then we added the 3 glass candle holders and 3 vanilla ice cream scented votives. I think it looks fantastic.
I also made another gift for R, but sadly didn't get a photo of it in its finished form. I guess I'll post that later. It's a hand-bound leather journal. It's the first one I've made and it turned out really nice, I think. (Although, the glue was maybe not quite dry by the time the party rolled around.) It did earn the comment of "Nice post-apocalyptic skills. This means we can still have books after the Zombipocalypse."
posted by Patwoman | 11:00 PM
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