Frozen Buttercream Transfer Resource Page to make Awesome DIY Homemade Cakes for any Occasion!

I'm not a cake expert, I'm just a busy mom with a full-time job trying to make homemade custom "awesomeness" for my family. So don't expect to see cake perfection here.! The main reason I make homemade custom cakes is because my son has food allergies. I don't have the luxury of running to the local bakery for a child's birthday cake, so homemade is what it has to be for most of our special occasions. I had to find a simple solution for birthday celebrations and that's when I stumbled upon frozen buttercream transfers. The are safe, yummy, fun and easy to do, and the designs are endless!

Here is a list of my favorite resources that helped me learn how to make Frozen Buttercream Transfers for homemade cakes.

A wonderful step-by-step tutorial (complete with wonderful pictures) on Cake Central.


Great video by Kerry's Kakes that shows the motions (no words, just awesome ).

A video by Wiltoncakedecorating that take you through the process from start to finish. I couldn't help but laugh every time she said "wax," but it is a great tutorial.

"How to decorate a cake - Easy Cake Decorating Ideas and Tips" from BettyCrockerTV. This is what helped me learn how to work with icing.

My cakes. Not perfect, but fun enough!

  

Sonic the Hedgehog cake
for my son's 5th birthday.

My first
Frozen Buttercream Transfer Experiement.

Oilers Cake for my hubby.

Dollar Store Valentine Themed Gift Bucket

Great for teachers gifts!

Inspiration for this came from my kiddo's GT fundraiser this past Christmas. They were raffling over 60 different kinds of themed baskets, including color themes such as purple, black and white, and pink. I thought a pink, purple, and red would be fun to try for Valentine's Day.

I hit Dollar General and Just a $1 (luckily they are right next to each other here!) and found some really neat things. Everything you see in the photo was purchased at one of those stores (aside from the Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker, found that at Target). The kiddo picked out the bear, so I agreed to add it as his contribution to the bucket. :) Everything I bought are things that I know the recipient will like. I simply kept an eye out for the colors I had in mind.

Here are some other items to consider:
Nail polish
Nail files
Big Red Gum
Cherry Sours
Wild Berry Lifesavers
Small box of chocolate hearts
Colorful Jewelry
Flowers
Wine
Trinkets
Reese's Candy
Small Balloons
Pens, Pencils, Markers
Stickers (for teachers or scrapbookers)
Key chains
Shampoos and Conditioners
Bath salts, beads, bubbles
Candles
Books
Flower seeds

The list can go on and on really. Hopefully I have helped give a few ideas. :)
Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Skyrim Themed "Arrow In The Heart" Valentine Scroll

 Yes the whole “arrow to the knee” phrase/joke is overused, but Oxboxer over at Tumblr made several super-cute Skyrim themed Valentine cards and I fell in love with them! This one in particular is perfect for my husband. We've used the phrase so much that it's completely replaced the name of the game that you just lost by the way). We rarely mention or hear the word "Skyrim.

And yeah, I nerded the Valentine up to another level. I didn't want to simply print it on some dumb piece of boring paper and have it laying about the house or tossed in with the bills. I wanted it to be extra dorky special! Plus I was dying to try this new technique I discovered on the wonderful world of Pinterest from The Country Chic Cottage blog: transferring images on fabric using an ink jet printer. So I grabbed some spray adhesive, muslin, and card stock and started playing.

   

I ironed the muslin so that there were no wrinkles (unless you are going for the rough, imperfect look, then it turns out nicely). Then I lightly spray glued to the card stock and placed the muslin on top. After I smoothed out the fabric to get rid of wrinkles and bubbles, the excess fabric was trimmed off the edges of the card stock. Then the card+muslin was placed in my ink jet printer, ready to be tested (that's when the DIY Dork in me got really excited)! I was uncertain how colored images would turn out seeing how the tutorial I learned from only used gray scale, but the results ended up being really cool! I am in love with this technique! Can't wait to use it on Halloween!

The original dark pink color in the upper text of the original artwork didn't show up well on the the muslin. The words blended in with the background and made it difficult to read. I had to brighten the font color and reprint. Good thing muslin is cheap!

After I let the ink dry for a bit, I sprayed a few light layers of Mod Podge Matte Clear Acrylic Sealer and let that dry, too. Then I gently peeled the muslin off the card stock and it came off so easily! NEAT-O!

The muslin was sewn to the burlap using a regular straight stitch and then a tight zig-zag stitch around the edge of the burlap to keep the darn stuff from shedding. Hopefully this will hold!

   

I had some hot pink twine and fabric hearts just lying around so I decided to finally put them to use. I punched a hole in the heart and dabbed the edges with Dritz Fray Check. Then rolled up the burlap, wrapped it with the twine, slipped on the heart, and tied a bow.

And now I have a sweet Valentine made with love!

Valentine's Day "Heart Attack" For The Family!

A sample of a few I made for my kiddo :) Photo by Lainy @ Geek & things

Such a neat idea inspired by Bakersfieldmom.com! They were so much fun to make and very inexpensive. With the kiddo having peanut and tree nut allergies, most valentine's candies are off limits. Not to mention we still have leftover candy from Halloween and Christmas so he is in no need of more sugary junk. It's always hard to decide what to do for him so that's why I have to search for ideas. That's when I saw this on Pinterest (go figure!). I made about 20 hearts for the kiddo and they were so much fun that I went on to make 20 more for the husband, too! And it was hard to stop at 20, I could have kept going. 
The project didn't cost me any extra money because I already had the supplies and it left a smile on my face when I was finished. 

The plan: I will scatter these all over the kiddo's door and all along my husband's side of the bedroom wall this morning. And when they wake up...SURPRISE! A "heart attack" full of wonderful things about them!