2nd Day of Christmas // Floral Fairy Headbands

I have two little Second Cousins who are only 1 and 3 so I wanted to make them something easy and sweet for Christmas. They are such cute little girls!! While my Cousins and I don’t really exchange presents anymore now we are all grown ups it’s nice to still give something to their children.

I came up with this idea after eying up my cake decorating supplies while I was trying to think of gift ideas. Hence the florists wire and tape! (indispensible for making flowers in cake decorating!)

They are pretty cheap to make and look so much cooler than the ones I have seen for sale in the shops. I reckon I could have got another one out of my leftover hydrangea flowers plus one more stem of mini roses.

 You will need;

Assorted fabric flowers of your choice (Try for ones with a little stem attached to flower)

Florists wire – 4 pieces. I used 22 gage. My headband was still quite flexible, so you could use  18 or 20 gage for a firmer headband. (Try somewhere like Spotlight or a Cake Decorators Shop)

Green florists tape (same as above)

Ribbon for extra decoration

Pliers

Scissors

1. Select which flowers you will be using and trim at base of stems (near stalk not petals!) using pliers or scissors.

2. Take 2 pieces of florists wire and tape together to form one thick piece. Repeat. (So you have 2) Pull the florists tape tight, it will become sticky and stick to itself!

3. Tape the two thickened wires together to form a circle – I guessed the size of a little girls head for mine.

4. Begin taping flowers and leaves to the wires using florists tape. Face them all the same direction on the first half of the headband. 

5. Once you have done one side, begin on the other. Start from the front of the headband and point the two middle flowers towards each other, then work your way towards the back.

6. Tie some ribbons in a bow at the back of the headband.

7. A better view of the ribbons at the back.

8. The finished headband!! All done!!

I can imagine lots little girls own a fairy dress and wouldn’t this make a nice change from a plastic fairy crown? They would also be a perfect birthday party favour!

I think I might go make one for myself now too...there’s nothing wrong with capturing your inner child is there?

Like all of my '12 Days of Christmas' DIY tutorials, there is a PDF version of this blog post here. Simpy click on the link, print out the tutorial and get to work. Easy as that. Feedback appreciated!

Make sure to check out the rest of my “12Days of Christmas” posts for more awesome decorating ideas, recipes, and gift ideas!

Life Lately // NZCDG Conference 2011

 The venue where the conference was held - Malborough Convention Centre

I mentioned in my last post I was away at the National Cake Decorators Guild (NZCDG) annual conference over the weekend. It was the first one I have attended as I only joined up late last year so it was a bit intimidating/scarey not knowing what to expect!!

 My Dunedin group (me - bottom left!) - A few travelled up by themselves

There were 6 of us going together in a van from Dunedin, which was a long trip! We did it all in one day with quite a few stops, we left at 8am on Thursday and arrived in Blenheim about 5:30pm that night!

Because I was a newbie I got to be a delegate for my local club (I represented the Dunedin Sugar Craft Guild but I'm also a member of the Foveaux Cake & Sugar Art Guild in Invercargill!) which was so scarey! Me and another member went to the AGM on the Friday and had the responsibility of voting for the new President of the club and also voted on where the next South Island conference would be held - the options were my Invercargill Club or Nelson - unfortunately Nelson won by 2 votes!! So close.

My favourite berry of the lot - Rosehip. 
Demonstrator - Betty Debnam from Tasmania, Australia

 

 Wedding Dress Cake - Piping, brush embrodiary, pleating fondant

Demonstrator -Toba Garret from New York, USA

 

 The goodies I bought on Saturday - From the Trade Show

On Saturday I saw some 2 demonstrations, 1 on some berries which would make perfect fillers for floral arrangements, and a pretty wedding dress cake - the piping was so perfect and tiny!! I also got to go shopping - they have a whole lot of trade tables with people selling all kinds of cake decorating equipment. I didn't spend too much but I got some things I had been meaning to get for a while!! I also checked out the plaques some of the clubs entered and the competition flowers and cakes!

The plaque my club entered - The theme was "Through the vineyard window"

 A competition cake I liked

The cake that won the Peoples Choice - It was covered in tiny little fairies - including a 

Bride and Groom fairy!!

On Saturday night we had a formal dinner at the Malborough Convention Centre where the conference was being held. I sat next to a woman from the Whangarei club and it was really fun chatting to her all night! There was also a Cake Decorating Judge at our table and a few other women who had been to lots of conferences so they told me all about the ones they had been to in the past. 

 I absolutley love this little Elf - Strip cutter used for stripes (they sold out I missed out!)

Demonstrator - Raewin Kelly from Gisborne, New Zealand

 Butterfly Lily - She also showed us a ribbon rose (left)

Demonstrator - Pam Archibald from Victoria, Australia

Sunday was the final day of the conference that we were attending, and I saw 2 more demonstrations - 1 on a super cute little Christmas elf (I loved the tips for modelling little people its right up my alley!!) and the other was a pretty Butterfly Lily. 

 Bottom left are some seals on the beach!

A cute little road-side shop - Near Kaikoura

We headed home again on Monday, stopping briefly just out of Kaikoura to watch the seals playing on the rocks and to pick up some crayfish at a cute little road-side shop!

It was really cool being in the same place as a whole bunch of other Cake Decorators, learning heaps of new skills and tricks and remembering names and faces for the next conference I go to. We really need more young members like me to join so the older ones have someone to pass their skills and experience on to!! Definitely look up a local club if you're interested in Cake Decorating, I'm pretty sure there will be something similar all over the world. Next year I'm keen to attend the State one held in Melbourne, Australia too!!

Cake Day Monday // A Cakey Business

 Photo borrowed from here

Ah, the gateau - the beginning of my cake decorating journey! As a shy 17 year old working at a supermarket part-time during my first year of study, I was offered the opportunity to take up a position as a Shop Assistant at a French Bakery in Dunedin. 

As it was my first foray into the hospitality industry I was completely useless for a start, but after a while I figured it out and began to really enjoy it! I progressed from Shop Assistant, to Saturday Manager and Assistant Cake Decorator, churning out gateau's as fast as I could go on the weekends. I loved that job so much, but after the business changed hands the original staff were pushed out of their positions by the new owners so it was time to leave.

I mention all this as I am considering furthering my own little cake decorating adventure. There are monthly markets down here in Invercargill I'm thinking about signing up for, where I can sell cupcakes and have brochures and information on my cake decorating. I thought I could make some cake toppers and gumpaste flowers to have on my table as examples of what I can make as well.

What do you think? Do you have any advice for me? I've never sold anything at a market before, so what preparation should I do? Any thoughts on advertising, promotion, products to sell??

Cake Day Monday // Baby Shower Cupcakes

 

Red Blazer - Savemart Invercargill, Lace T-Shirt - Salvation Army Mosgiel,  

Black and White Skirt - Kmart, Black Tights - Won from NZgirl and Razzamatazz,  

Black Boots - The Warehouse, White Rose Earrings - The Warehouse

Hello Monday! I spent the weekend up in Dunedin, attending the monthly meeting my cake Decorating Club holds and helping out at my sisters baby shower!

I made these yummy cupcakes on Saturday and then iced them on Sunday morning. I used little blue fondant flowers as decorations as my sister is having a baby boy! It was a bit of a mission as there were about 30 people invited, so I made 32 cupcakes with only one 12 hole muffin tin...about 2 hours later I was finished!! It was worth it though, as most of them were gobbled up and the 20 or so business cards I left nearby had disappeared once it was clean up time. 

The shower was so fun, my sister got some amazing presents - people are so generous!! My little nephew is gonna be the best dressed baby in town! I made her a mobile with sea creatures, a palm tree and a surf board on it (she has a surf board and her favourite movie is Blue Crush) she loved it!

Hope you all had a great weekend! What did you get up to? 

Cake Day Monday // Purple and Orange

This lovely montage is via this website - I love the colour scheme! It kind of reminds me of Morocco - full of rich, spicy colours. I would love to make a cake with this colour scheme in mind!

Cake Day Monday is the first of a few new bloggy features I've come up with. I think it will help me keep a better routine for my blog and ensure I'm getting a good variety of content up on here.

The Rugby World Cup is in full swing here in New Zealand, there are colourful flags, people and camper vans everywhere! I've accidentally spent the majority of the weekend watching rugby actually! Of course I couldn't miss the All Blacks first game against Tonga on Friday night! I hope we get to the final. 

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends - what did you get up to?

Life as I Know it // Ch-ch-changes

 Roses at the Dunedin Botanical Gardens - Taken by Me

Woohoo this is it!! I've spent the last 3 or so hours fixing up my blog and this is the result! And THIS is my 100th post! All very exciting. And unplanned. But super exciting.

So for those of you who wanna know more about me - click on the Polaroid-style pictures over on the right. There you can find out all about me and why I started this blog, my outfits and style, my cake decorating, the dance reviews I do and why I love baking so much!

There is also a new little button down a bit further. Wanna be button friends? Let me know and I'll stick yours on my page!

Also to add to all this excitement, I now have 72 followers!! Who would have thought!! When I first started this blog I wasn't sure anyone would read it as it really is a mish-mash of all the different things I love. But I'm so happy all you guys stop by and read my posts and leave me nice comments! Thank you!

What do you think of the new layout? Do you like it? I'm no Graphic Designer but I'm pretty happy with what I've achieved with the limited knowledge I have!

Cake Decorating Class - Clematis

I'm so proud of myself - I did my homework for a change! I made a Clematis this week. We're getting into the more complex flowers at class now, including Gerbera's, orchids and Lilies. I need to make sure I get on top of all my homework as I'll be moving down to Invercargill soon and away from my weekly classes. Luckily the teacher is awesome and is promising to send me class notes so I can continue by myself down there! Pretty cool.

I mentioned in my last post I was going down to Invercargill to review the Stravinsky Selection. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well enough to drive all the way down there, watch the ballet, write the review and head home again the next morning, so I had to cancel. I wish I had been able to! A bit of bad timing. Oh well, I'm looking forward to Sleeping Beauty at the end of the year!

I hope everyone has had a fun weekend, I went to check out Dunedin's new stadium, a bird show where my Grandad had a couple of birds entered and went out for dinner with some friends. Bring on the new week! 

Outfit Post - Casual Friday

White Cardigan - Mosigel Salvation Army Store, Skinny Jeans - The Warehouse, 

 Motorcycle Boots - No. 1 Shoe Warehouse, Blue Knit Flower - Shop on Taieri, 

 "Love" Ring - Lovisa

 As it was my 25th birthday on Saturday, I shouted my work mates morning tea on Friday morning to celebrate! I was relieved it was Friday. It had been a busy week, with the bf away on holiday and me in sole charge of the puppy, in-between catching up with friends and family and baking a birthday cake! I found this cosy white cardigan the other day at the Mosgiel Salvation Army Store, perfect for a casual Friday combined with my favourite motorcycle boots, jeans and a blue knitted flower I found at Shop on Taieri the other day.

I spent my birthday on Saturday having hot chocolate with my family, shopping and had some friends around that night to celebrate - a bit of dressing up, a few drinks and some dancing in town - it was good fun!

Thanks to those that entered my giveaway!! I will sort out the winner in the next couple of days. I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends, I didn't watch the royal wedding as I was driving to Christchurch to pick up the bf, but I did see Kate's dress - it was gorgeous!!

All A-glow in Silver and Bronze

I was supposed to update yesterday, but after a long day at the show helping out and a dinner date with friends I was ready for a decent sleep!

The show went really well for the Sugarcraft Club, we had pretty good numbers through the doors and 20 new people interested in taking classes!! The woman who runs them is considering starting a new class just to keep up with the demand. Kids and adults loved decorating their own cupcake or biscuit and voting for their favourite piece at the show.

I arrived on Saturday morning to check out how my entries went in the competition. I knew my floral spray was slightly too large (I wanted to use all the flowers I had made!) and my wedding cake would have looked better with a larger board, and these were reflected in the judges comments. Overall she thought my flowers were "beautiful" and my Bride and Groom were gorgeous and had "character" I received a bronze award (73 points) for my floral spray, a bronze award (78 points - 2 off a silver!) for my wedding cake and a SILVER (81 points!!) for my pettinice entry. I had to be happy with that!!

Photos of all my entries are included over at Sequin Corner Cakes. A few other people from my class also entered, and almost all of them either received bronze or silver awards too. Our teacher was so happy with all of us!

I hope everyone has had a great weekend, I'm looking forward to a weeks worth of early nights!

I made a Wedding Cake

This is the cake I made to enter the competition being held by my cake decorating club. I have included my other entries on my other blog, Sequin Corner Cakes, but I am so proud of this one I had to post it here too!

I made all of the flowers from gumpaste, and the Bride and Groom are made from fondant with a hardener added so they set faster. I am so happy with the final result! I had to drop off my entries this afternoon and tomorrow morning I will head over there to see how I went. The other entries look amazing so there's some stiff competition!!

Have a great weekend guys, I'll update with the results tomorrow!

Got my Red Shoes on Honey

Shoes - Made from coloured gumpaste, with plastic sparkley diamantes attached. Roses also made from gumpaste. This was my first attempt at a pair of shoes, not bad right? The best bit is, you can keep them as they are solid as a rock, they will be fine in a dry cardboard box for as long as you like.

I have more photos of the cakes I made on Sequin Corner Cakes.

 

These are by far one of the coolest things I have learnt to make so far. Next I'm making a clutch bag - gotta love edible fashion!! ;)