Happy Thanksgiving!

Since we couldn't get back to Ohio for Thanksgiving, we decided to get together with some friends who were also staying in town and have our own little Thanksgiving dinner. It was very delicious and we had so much food!! I made some "turkey cupcakes" as well. They were kind of time consuming, but oh so cute! :)

Wilton Cake Decorating - Class 4, Course 4

My last Wilton class!! It's been a busy few months, especially since I've started working. I had a great time learning all of the Wilton decorating techniques, but I'm ready to take a break from the cake decorating for a bit.

Tonight we learned how to make the Fondant Favor Box. We used the large daisy cookie cutter to make 2 flower shaped pieces, cut a long strip of fondant, and used some gum glue (gum paste dissolved in water) to make them stick together. You can see the one I made in the picture of my final cake below.

We also learned some other techniques using the cut-outs. Last we learned different border designs, including the ball (fondant pieces rolled into balls and placed side by side along the bottom of the cake), embellished rope (a rope shaped piece of fondant with round ball-shaped indentations), and the punched strip (a strip of fondant with designs cut-out using hte decorative punch set). I used the Ball border for my final cake.

I also decorated my cake with some leaves and daisies from the first class. I added a fondant strip around the center of the cake and put some circle cut-outs on for added decoration. The cake is a 4 layer chocolate cake, and it was yummy!!! :)

Idaho, here we come!

Grant found out his assignment for his first operational squadron tonight. We are going to Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho!!! This was our first choice, so we are very happy and excited to be going there. Our choices were to stay here, Idaho, or RAF Lakenheath in England. We thought for a while that we wanted to go to England, but after more deliberation and thinking, we decided moving halfway across the world might not be the best choice for us right now. We didn't want to stay here because more than likely we'll end up back here at some point in the future. So, Mountain Home it was!

Grant is excited because the flying is really great out there. Otherwise, the town is small and from what we've heard, there is not much to do. It is about 45 minutes from Boise, which is where most people go to shop/eat/etc. We don't have official orders yet, but we expect to be moving out there sometime shortly after graduation in March. Most people say they are hesitant to go there but end up loving it. The common phrase we've heard is "You cry as you drive into town and you cry when you leave." I guess a lot of spouses have cried haha! I figure I'm from one of the smallest towns you can find...it can't get much smaller than that.

Look for more news on our move as we find out orders and the time gets closer!

Wilton Cake Decorating - Course 4, Class 3

Tonight we learned how to make different flowers using gum paste. We used the shaped cut-outs for each basic flower shape and then used the ball and veining tool to make details in the petals. First was the daisy, which is actually 2 daisy cut-outs, one placed on top of the other, with a small piece of yellow fondant rolled into a ball and dipped into the shimmer powder (basically yellow sparkles). Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of this. Edited to add: See this on my final cake in class 4!

The carnation was several pieces of circles cut out and crimped on the edges. You add each piece to the carnation base we made last week and push it down in the middle until you've reached the fullness you like. We also learned the carnation calyx, using the small daisy cut-out and forming it around the base of the carnation. To go along with the carnation, we made carnation leaves using the big leaf cut-out and cutting it into strips and curling them.

We learned the basic leaf, also using the leaf cut-out and using the ball & veining tool to line the center and edges to make it look more real. Edited to add: See these on my final cake in class 4.

The last flower we learned tonight was the Fantasy Flower, which I'm not sure I really like much. You cut out small and large hearts, crimp the edges, and overlap them into cupcake liners. After they've dried, you put the small pieces inside the large pieces and then add the fondant ball with stamens.

Next week is our final cake where we learn a couple more decorating techniques and decorate our final cake with our favorites!

Retirement

Today I officially began saving for retirement...I opened an IRA!!! Grant has been pushing for me to do this for the past few years, and since I've been working and finally started making some money, what better time to get started? I opened a Fidelity Roth IRA in two different mutal funds. I am hoping to open more next year! The path to retirement starts today. :)

Wilton Cake Decorating - Course 4, Class 1 & 2

Before our last course ended, our instructor told us that if we took the final course (this one), she was going to fit it into 3 classes vs. the typical 4 due to Thanksgiving falling on the same day as the last class. So tonight, we combined Class 1 and 2. It wasn't really a big deal because the first class would have only covered covering a cake with fondant, which I learned in Course 3, so we didn't need to spend an entire class on that again.

This class is Fondant and Gum Paste, so it's my first time working with gum paste. It's very similar to fondant, but it's very sticky and dries very quickly. It is used to make more delicate and intricate flowers and details, basically because you can shape it easily. So tonight we learned several techniques, including draping, handkerchief-style overlays, and ribbon garland and border. The student kit that we purchased prior to tonight included all of our cut-out tools (circle, leaf, heart, daisy), the ribbon cutter/embosser (to make wavy/zig-zagged lines), and the decorative punch set (to make different small shapes/designs). We also brought a cake pre-iced and covered in fondant, ready to decorate. You can see the different techniques we learned tonight on my cake in the pictures. I think my cake is super ugly, but I was just practicing all the styles and attempting to put them on the cake. I also tinted the cake fondant pink, which takes forever (as I think I mentioned in the posts from last course)!

Lastly, we learned how to make the carnation base. The basic method is to roll a golf tee-shaped piece of fondant and then flatten part of it, cut it out with a small circle cookie cutter, and crimp it on the foam with the veining tool. I think the carnations will be really pretty when they are all done. We are supposed to make more at home and bring them for the final cake.

Fall Adventures

The Saum Family came to visit and we stayed at Atlantic Beach for the weekend!

We visited Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia on one of the coldest days of the year, yet! We had a good time, but it's got nothing on Cedar Point. ;)

I decorated for Halloween/Fall.

Grant's B-course class volunteered at the Merci Center to help pack up clothing and food for people in need in Afghanistan.

We celebrated Halloween with friends as Mario and Princess Peach! :)