Saturday, January 29, 2011

Boo Thomas

The "boo Thomas" cake is finished! Hope Brayden will enjoy celebrating his 3rd birthday with this cake! Happy birthday, Brayden!









Good Eats,
Jill

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Sneak Preview

I have lots of fun projects coming up in the next few weeks. One of my favorite projects is a "boo Thomas cake" for a sweet little three year old boy. His grandma is a friend of mine and said that his only request was "boo" and "Thomas". So, a BLUE Thomas theme it is! This is just a sneak preview of the topper and some embellishments that are drying.






I created a Thomas cake for my nephew last year and had a ball doing it. You can imagine my extreme depression when, after traveling with it in the back of the van for seven hours, Thomas fell apart. Yep, COMPLETELY apart. So...on the morning of the birthday party I was at Target buying up each and every pound cake they had in order to reconstruct Thomas. It turned out great and Joey was just as happy. However, I learned my lesson from that cake and decided to go a little different direction for this Thomas cake.

I have been inspired by an Etsy shop (www.etsy.com) that sells fondant cake and cupcake toppers. Fondant isn't necessarily my favorite medium, but I use it when I need to. This particular Etsy shop makes adorable toppers that just sit on top of the cake and are incredibly cute. I decided to echo that idea with this cake, so I've created a 2 dimensional cake 'topper' that will sit on the top of a 9inch square cake. The 3 and the stars will adorn the sides of the buttercream cake. I'm excited to do the cake in this way so that it is cost-effective for the family AND it will make it to the Kansas City party in ONE PIECE! Pictures of the finished product will follow soon!

I'm also currently researching a Justin Bieber cake (I'm SOOO excited about my idea for that) and a cake inspired by the movie 'Tangled'. Can't wait to work on them both!

I'm equally thrilled to be working on a BRAND NEW cupcake flavor. Cupcakes, hands down, are my favorite thing to do, so creating the Zach Attack flavor will be a ball.

Finally, I'm starting to work on my Valentine orders. I got to deliver my first Valentines Day themed cookies today. Valentine's Day is my absolute favorite holiday, so making people smile with my confectionary creations is a terrific way to celebrate the holiday! Have you placed YOUR holiday order yet? Don't be caught buying the tacky box of chocolates at Wal-Mart on the afternoon of the 14th!!!







Good eats,
Jill

Sunday, January 23, 2011

This is why I do what I do....




is there any better face?

My beautiful friend, Anna, ordered the black and pink cake from the previous post for her sister, Staci, who was turning 40. Staci has special needs and is the apple of her family's eye. The party was a complete surprise to Staci, as was the big cake.

I am truly blessed to be a part of something that evokes a reaction like this one.

I hope you're doing what YOU love....life's too short to do anything less.

Good eats,
Jill

Friday, January 21, 2011

Birthdays, Brides, and Business Licenses...OH MY!

This was one of my most fun creations to date...


this cake was for a very special lady who is turning 40! My dear friend has a sister with special needs who always requests a 'white cake with pink frosting'. For her fortieth, her family held a big soiree complete with gorgeous invitations, catering, and a BIG cake! I had so much fun designing this particular cake knowing that the woman who was to receive it had NO idea it was coming and would be so thrilled to see it!

The cake is all light pink buttercream with black royal icing accents. The pink ribbon is made to match the pink on the invitations. The black is a 'shout out' to 40, and is made out of fondant. This cake weighed a TON, so I hope it made it to and from it's location without incident! It's always a fear to send my creations out the door and hope they perform well for the clients! This order also had 36 super yummy cupcakes going out the door with it. I hope it was a yummy success!

I've been getting lots of calls from brides lately. When I first started the business I was dead set against having anything to do with weddings. As I've gotten more comfortable with my own skills and my product, I'm beginning to feel confident enough to take on weddings. Super Husband says, "Weddings scare the heck out of me!! You're a lot more brave than me!" Honestly, I'm not sure it's bravery or just a lust for creativity that leads me toward weddings! There are lots of hot trends in weddings these days. If you see an interesting idea for a wedding cake or a wedding cupcake tower, drop me a line and share it with me! I'm always looking for new and creative ways to make the day more special for the brides and grooms!

Finally, I've taken my last big 'leap' into being a REAL business! I have a MERCHANT'S LICENSE!! Whoo hoo!! I know it shouldn't sound as exciting as I'm making it sound, but it's a big deal! I can now legally charge sales tax and pay Missouri taxes! Well, wait, now that I think about it maybe having a merchant's license is NOT something to be excited about! Tee hee!

For anyone out there who is looking to start a home-based business, GO FOR IT! The book, Home-Based Business for Dummies has really helped me navigate the process. I'm now starting to really pursue advertising and other revenue generation streams. I'd love to chat with anyone else who is looking start a small business.

More creations to come!

Good eats,
Jill

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Girl Scout Cookie Inspired Cupcakes....need your input!

This week I have the opportunity to make a really special cake for a very special lady. My dear friend has a sister with special needs who is celebrating her 40th birthday this week. She's having a fancy party and needs fancy cupcakes and a fancy cake to go along with it! I'm very excited about making the three tiered pink 'fancy' cake for this special lady. Can't wait to show you the pictures of it all!

I'm doing lots of research lately on new cake techniques. I'm not sure I ever realized how much fun it is to research the melting points of pure buttercream versus buttercream/shortening blend...but it's important to know when you're working on wedding options for June! No one wants a melted wedding cake!!!

This week's experimental flavor is Das Sheeb (named after one of my 'sons' who insisted). 'Das Sheeb' will have chocolate butter cake and cookie dough combined and will also be the first cupcake I've ever shipped! Wish me luck!


The Girl Scout cookies have also come in this week so I'm looking to make some Girl Scout cookie inspired cupcake flavors. Tell me about YOUR favorite GS cookie flavor and perhaps it'll be made into the next cupcake!

Good Eats,
Jill

Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Best Part of My 'Job'

You know you've found the perfect job when one of your employment requirements is bringing a smile to the faces of very special people. I had the opportunity to do just that, yet again, today.

This was today's big project and delivery







This cake was part of the celebration of Raymond and Eileen Seipel's 65th (yes, you read that correctly) wedding annivesary. Wow. 65 years. Raymond and Eileen are about the sweetest little couple you'll ever encounter and I was so incredibly thrilled to be a part of this big day for them. When Eileen's daughter-in-law called me to order the cake I asked her to ask Eileen about her wedding colors, etc. so that I could match the flowers. Eileen told her that she thought the flowers were white. I found these gorgeous Chrysanthemums at our floral shop and I was instantly in love with the starburst shape. I also loved the organic color of the green mums and was really excited to get to use those as an accent color.

I absolutely love creating cakes out of buttercream. It's like working on a canvas that's just ready to be painted. I really enjoy working hard to make sure that the buttercream is smooth and ready for whatever I choose to do to embellish it. Lately I've been very excited about intricate scrollwork on cakes and the elegant way that it compliments the cake. All of the buttercream on this cake is exactly the same color, but I love the texture and class that the scrollwork and beading provide. I can't wait to really practice this technique and possibly begin to incorporate it into cupcake toppers, as well.

I'm not sure what the secret is to 65 years but I'm sure, somehow, it involves cake!

Good eats,
Jill

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Finally......back to the blog!!!

So sorry, dear and faithful readers, to have been away from posting for A MONTH! This is ridiculous. Does this get me off the hook? I was obviously unable to communicate via technology, what with all of the snorkeling, sunning, card playing, etc. I was doing!



Truly it was one of the best trips we've ever taken. Six days, just adults, and critiquing cruise ship desserts...it was HEAVEN!

I'm back in the swing of things and working on the business harder than ever. I have some wonderful orders coming up including several weddings! I'm so thrilled to be able to share my talents and passions with others.

You might have noticed that there is a new button on the right hand side of the blog. If you copy and paste the URL on that button into your browser's address bar, you'll be taken directly to my brochure link. You can feel free to print or download as many copies of the brochure as possible! I am very, very excited about having a more formal 'menu' for my customers and look forward to creating some very exciting goodies in the coming months!

I have many pictures of holiday goodies to share, so enjoy a little break from whatever it is you're doing and take some time to scroll through the pictures. After all, it's not breaking your New Year's resolution to just LOOK, right?

Good eats and HAPPY NEW YEAR to each of you! Tell a friend about Just Like Mom's, post a comment about it with your name, and I'll give you 10% off your order of $50 or less! Such an easy way to save a few dollars!

Good eats!