Thomas the Train Cake

Good Morning everyone! I am soo happy to be posting from my house!!! We have power and Internet, yay!

Today I need to go order cakes for my brother in law and nephew from the bakery that did our wedding cake. I won a gift certificate for $150 worth of cake for picking the name of their new mascot...Sweets the penguin. :)
Since brother in law turns 50 and nephew turns 21 and they are having a combined birthday party, I thought I would donate the prize to them. What am I going to do with $150 worth of cake?

It figures that I, cupcake/ cake baker wannabe, would win something like this. I swear when I typed sweets on the post on Facebook I had no idea it was a contest. Go figure.

But since I got cake on the brain, I wanna show you one of my first cakes that I made back in Feb.

This Thomas the train cake was made for my nephew, Charlie, for his 2nd birthday. Not bad for my first frosting job.
To make this cake I baked 3 cakes. 1 sheet cake 15x11 and 2 round 8 inch cakes. I mixed up some blue frosting using vanilla can frosting and Wilton icing colors. I frosted the whole sheet cake blue. I used one round cake for the face and frosted it gray. I made the gray frosting with vanilla frosting and a small amount of Wilton black icing color. I cut out the smoke stack from the other round cake.

Smoke stack was frosted gray. To get the face, I printed out a picture of Thomas the Train to fit my cake on   thin paper. I then took wax paper, turned my printed paper over so that it was upside down, put the wax paper over it and traced the outline of his face with black icing. There might be an easier way to do this, but I am new at this, bear with me. I laid the wax paper over my round cake until I had my outline, and then I filled it in after removing the wax paper. 

Charlie is 2 1/2 now. He still talks about the cake and that auntie Lexi made it for him. 

I will be linking up here

Red Maple Cottage Kitchen

Yay! for power. We got our power back this morning!!!! I was sooo excited, but unfortunately the internet is still down. :(

So, I am back at Red Maple Cottage to check in with you all. How is every one? I hope everyone is having a sparkling day!!

Today, let's take a tour of the kitchen at RMC. It is right off the living room. come on'.

There are so many mom painted pieces in here. This is were I learned to cook. I have been cooking since I was 8 years old. I love trying new recipes. I started baking (from scratch) at age 10. Enough about me, back to the kitchen. Lets talk about that island.

It's really a dresser! Yup, mom made it. Take ordinary dresser, paint it white. Buy multi-layered plywood at Home Depot (measured to fit dresser and hang about 3/4 of a foot off the back.) Screw plywood to dresser. Paint plywood black for base coat. Sponge on browns and beige colors until desired marble look.

Finish it off with a bar top finish ( available at Home Depot or most paint stores).









Add hooks for potholders.

And a magazine rack for cook books. I know you noticed the stools in last picture.

These were plain wooden stools. Mom painted them. Aren't they pretty?

She used the same marble technique on the beverage bar.

The microwave cart is different though.

She painted a rooster on the side and tiled the top.

These are the same tiles as the back splash.

The Garbage can on the right, was on outdoor garbage. Picasso the puggle used to get into the garbage and knock it over. He can't knock this wooden one over.

So she painted it red with a topiary tree. I am really surprised the isn't a rooster on this, but there is on the bread box.

If you couldn't tell, mom likes roosters, and sunflowers, and red maple trees.

This is the hand painted border mom did on one wall of her kitchen. Near the window that looks out over the red maples.

This window used to look out at the red maple trees. I say used to because the storm split both of them. :(
So let's just close the shudders and not look at the damage.

Yes, she painted these too.

That the kitchen at RMC. Thank you for stopping by. You can head out the back door, near the beverage bar.

What? You expected a plain wooden door?

One thing mom taught me : if you can jazz it up, go for it!

Red Maple Cottage Living Room

Day 3 without power! This roughing it thing is getting old. I need dinner ideas! Help!

Since Red Maple Cottage has power and internet and I was told to stay home from work today unless they really needed me (still checking the phone), I decide to come to Red Maple Cottage to do some laundry and cook dinner (I will need to reheat it on the grill at home tho).

While I am at RMC I can post here, Facebook and Twitter and keep in touch with all of you. I really do appreciate all the sweet thoughts and comments.

So....since I am at RMC, lets show you around. Today, we have the living room......Walk in the front door and we have the small entry way.

I love the stain glass look on the door. It is a special paint that my mom used on the regular door window .

Now lets enter the living room.

If you turn to the left, there is the wall with the red maple.

Again the letter were cut out using my cricut and the pillow was found at Savers with the house already on it. Mom added the maple tree and the words. Next to the couch you see a red lamp shade.




It used to be white; mom painted it Red.









Ok..Now turn right again. Don't trip over the coffee table.

This is another one of mom's works of art. It was a plain wooden coffee table. She painted it white and stenciled the red boarder on. She also painted the "M" on the the wooden box. ( "M" is the initial of my maiden name, but I'm sure you figured that out). The coffee table matches the window valences. You can see those if you turn around. 

These were also painted and stenciled by mom. That lamp shade was crochet by my grandfather (mom's dad..aka my wild Irish Rose).

 There is Picasso, the watch dog. Next to him is another table painted by mom.

All hand painted. (FYI  you will soon see some of her stuff available on my new Etsy shop... and there will be a grand opening of my Etsy shop with a giveaway..soon)

Now turn to the right, near the front door.

That cabinet is another of mom's painted pieces.
ok now turn around..back toward the stairs.

Head toward the stairs. Can you spot the other mom paint furniture piece?

Yup the video cabinet. Painted with red maple leaves. She has painted this one many many times. But this look is definitely my favorite. OOOhh I almost forgot, turn to the left.

See the brick wall. Yea its paint with another mom painting of a topiary tree. The runner on the stairs is painted as well.

The wood on the stairs was wood but not nice hard word flooring. That is easily changed with some paint.

Hope you had a nice tour of the living room. See you tomorrow, maybe we will take a look at the kitchen.

Linking up here:
http://todayscreativeblog.net/

Halloween Treats and Tablescape

Happy Halloween everybody!!!!

We still are in the dark today (posting from Red Maple Cottage, that is lucky enough to have power). I went to work this morning only to leave at noon. We got hit hard and they are saying maybe no power for a week :(

The worst part.....they cancelled Halloween. I didn't care I still went to work in my Halloween outfit.







I work in a Doctor's office.








I also made Halloween treats for my coworkers and family. I got the idea to make mummy wrapped candy bars from the Idea Room. She has lots of great mummy ideas!

Since I had no power, I had no printer and had to hand write the tags, but it still looked cute!

They looked great on the table setting for dinner.

Dinner is at Red Maple Cottage tonight, since my house is in the dark.

That black shadow in the background is my parents' dog, Picasso.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!


Linking up here: