40th Birthdays

40 is the new 30!

Right?

Please say yes....(cause I'm beginning the downslide toward the next decade.... :(

These girls wanted to get their mom a cake with a "Paris" theme and of course you have to go pink when you go parisian on a cake!

Aged to Perfection - Like a Fine Wine!

Such a perfect theme for a 40th!

We had to combine zebra stripes and wine!

Made sure to give Missy her own "wine label" to top the cake!

Welcome to the "new 30's" ladies!

40 and....watch out...the grim reaper is coming to your party!

So my neighbor is turning 40 and her hubby came over to see if I could make a cake.

Uh....YEAH!

First question I ask is "you want to be the guy who praises her for being "40 and fabulous"?  or the grim reaper is knocking on her door guy?"

Yeah, well he um, picked dark. 

I hope you survive this dear neighbor!

Next thing, let me see what scrapbook paper I have around that is black. 

Ooooo, this is really nice with the concentric circles....I can totally use this!

I covered the cake board with the paper and since I'm pretty sure most people don't want a mouthful of black icing....we'll go with black on white instead of white on black. 

I think the contrast looks very nice from the board to the cake.

I'll add a cascade of black flowers too. 

Chris really wanted the grim reaper, but I wanted to go cute and not scary..... I found a good clip art and created him in chocolate!

He is pointing, so perfect placement for announcing how old Tracy is!

Happy Birthday dear neighbor!

Youth is Dead, and buried....under this tombstone of cake!

I'm not really sure your youth "dies" when you turn 30. 

But I guess it's always fun to make a jab at someone's age.....well only when they are OLDER than you!

(shhh...don't tell Michael I'm WAY older than he is!)

Michael's wife wanted to let him know how much she loves him on his 30th birthday, so she called me and this is what he got!

1981.....really?  You were seriously born in 1981?  Dude I was starting High School in 1981....I could have been your babysitter! 

Why does time keep ticking???

40 and Colorful!

Sometimes turning 40 isn't all that fun...

BUT, if your husband is throwing you a surprise party and getting a special cake for such occasion.... it might actually be okay turning 40.

So here is a picture of the plates/napkins they were using for the party.

LOVE LOVE LOVE! 

The things that jumped out at me right away...

1. the black with the multi colored circles....gotta do that!

2. the big 40

3. polka dots AND stripes

4. the COLORS!

So here is my cake version of the above plate.

Oh, I hope she was surprised!

16th Birthday....now you can drive!

Milestone birthdays are fun! 

I love that everyone has their own style and way of celebrating these.  You've all seen the 40th birthdays with grim reapers and the message that you are knocking on death's door.  Some people decide to go a different route and celebrate the greatness you achieve when you turn 40 (that happens right?) 

So 16 years is a milestone here in the States since it means you are now able to legally operate a motorized vehicle on roadways.

Cason's Mom wanted his cake to be all about this new found freedom he was going to have. 

I used colored chocolate (candy melts) to make different road signs and a truck. 

I took the traditional "Route 66" and made it "Route 16"

I put his name on the cake as a street sign.  And of course a fondant road around the base of the cake so he can get moving in his truck!

Hope Cason is a safe driver!

Happy Birthday!

Oh "Deer"!

I love when someone comes to me with a new idea! 

Don't get me wrong, I love doing themes to match invitations or party decorations, because there is some totally cute/awesome stuff out there! 

But to have an idea and then to create it is pretty darn cool.

So her hubby's turning 30 and he's a deer hunter....so....

Oh "Deer"!  Will is 30!

I love the expression I was able to get on this guy! 

Of course everything always looks better in real life....(I seriously need some photography skills and a new camera!) 

Not sure if you can see the shape of his mouth, but he is wide eyed and jaw dropped in his look!

Here is the side view to help you see how he is built.  He is made from RKT, then covered in buttercream and fondant.  I made his antlers from modeling chocolate hoping they would maintain their shape, but I did end up having to put a wire support in those.  I try to avoid putting non-edible things in/on cake, I worry about someone chomping down on something unexpected. 

So here you go....ALMOST 100% edible.

Thanks for checking it out!

Watch Out!!! 40 Looks Like CHUM!!!

A fun and unique 40th celebration. 

Shannon is the coach for the Lady Sharks and they wanted to get him a shark related 40th birthday.

Most 40th birthday themes play on the fact that you are OLD, or Over the Hill. 

So in the realm of sharks, we went with circling sharks and stating the fact that when you're 40....you're CHUM!

Here is a close up of "Shannon" in the water and the circling shark fins.  I gave them "trails" in the "water" to help demonstrate the motion.

This is a close up view of what the sharks look like!

This is another side view.





Everyone was delighted with the cake.

Hope it was a FABULOUS party!

Fisherman's 70th Birthday

Making the exact same cake more than once....not really what I would choose to do.

But then again, getting a chance to do something similar, gives me a chance to improve my technique!

I'm guessing there are a lot of dad's and grandpa's out there that like to fish, so when they see the first cake I did with this theme, they want one just like it.

Different size cakes, different details.....different cake!

(It just looks a lot like that other one!)

I love all these MILESTONE cakes!

Black and White 50th Birthday

Black and White is ALL the rage these days!  And I love it because it is such a basic color palette but you can create so many designs with it.

For a surprise 50th birthday, I was asked to create a tiered cake, black and white as the theme keep it classy. 

I hope the birthday girl was surprised and you celebrated all weekend long!

Happy 50th Laura Lee!

90th Bingo Birthday

90 Years

I mean seriously, living and loving for 90 years!

Amazing!

For Minnie's 90th birthday we went with a theme of Bingo, since it is one of her favorite pasttimes. 

This is a buttercream frosted cake with fondant accents.  I made a diagonal bingo with the birthday age to include the special color "free space" 90. 

Then I created the bingo markers from green jolly rancher candy that I melted and cut into circles.  I wanted to be able to see through the markers!

Happy 90th Birthday Minnie!  And many, many more!

Black and White Sweet 16

Ahhh, to be sweet 16 again!

(I don't really think I want to go back in time.., but it might be cool to have a sweet party!)

Molly's mom planned a very cool surprise party for her. Black and White with a splash of pink and silver. She gave me a plate and the invitation as inspiration and this is what I made!

When I arrived during set up, it was amazing. I love that it was a surprise party!

Hope your 16th birthday was SWEET!

70th Beach Birthday

For Pat's 70th Birthday, it was an all girl weekend at Tybee Island.

Her 70th "Beach"day celebration.

To commemorate we needed the Tybee Island Lighthouse.

Some palm trees, some beach sand with waves and of course a tropical drink!

Happy Birthday Pat and many, many more to come!

50th Birthday Celebration

When you have a milestone birthday like the big "5 oh", it's the perfect time to bring all the things that are important in your life to light.

Even better if you can do it with sugar!!!

A hard hat to represent his work, a soccer ball to represent his play, a fun stick family and home to represent those that are most important to him....all surrounded by the word of God.

Sounds like a good 50 years. Here's to 50 more!

80th Birthday Zebra Style

I hope if I'm lucky enough to reach 80....

that I'm lucky enough to be surrounding by friends and family....

and that I'm lucky enough to get a stylish cake at my party!

Happy 80th Birthday G-Peg ~ and many, many more!

40 & Fabulous!

Milestone birthdays are always fun to work on.

This one is for my nice neighbor Anita. She is turning 40! Woo Hoo!

Her friend designed a cool evite invitation that I just loved and used as my inspiration! (Thanks friend!)

Then of course it was located at the fabulous Savannah Quarters Country Club.
Beautiful location, lovely people....

what a great way to celebrate being 40 and Fabulous!
Happy Birthday Anita!

80th Birthday Bash

I have made this bass fishing cake design before, just not this big and not one that needed to include chocolate buttercream.

See Hollie had some of my yummy Hershey's chocolate buttercream icing on another cake and HAD to have more! So I came up with a two tiered cake that would allow for a "muddy bottom lake" effect! The whole bottom layer is iced in chocolate buttercream and I brought the water down on top of that for the wavy water effect.

What a wonderful and momentous birthday to celebrate! 80 years is an amazing life! "PaPa" must be an avid fisherman, so we gave him one he could eat....wait....you CAN eat fish.....okay, one you can eat that tastes SWEET! Hee Hee!

The fish is actually molded from Rice Krispie Treats and covered in fondant/modeling chocolate and hand painted with food color paste. The "water splash" is made from modeling chocolate made the same color as the buttercream icing.

I put a fish hook with a worm and then made the fishing line spell out the birthday message to PaPa!(See the fish's tail sticking out at the bottom of the top tier?....you gotta love it!)

Here is the complete design. With buttercream and fondant accents and chocolate rocks!Congratulations on 80 years of life and here's to many more to come!

Maxine....on turning 40!

Who doesn't know Maxine??? You have to love her sense of humor and when it comes to advise about aging....well I'm pretty sure she wrote the book!

I found this cute party picture of Maxine and her dog and decided that would be a good basis for the message that was requested for a turning 40 cake.

Here is a close up of Maxine and her dog. This was made using the FBCT method. It is a great technique when you want a very recognizable character or picture on your cake with a flat finish. I don't have an edible printer, so this is my best option.

Here's Maxine's wisdom:

"Life begins at 40...but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight and the tendency to tell a story to the same person three of four times!"

I love their party attitude!

Topsy Turvy 40th!

I had the pleasure of making a very special cake for a 40th milestone birthday!

Tonja was turning 40 and let me tell you, her family knows how to party in style!

A beautiful venue, balloons galore, ice sculpture, music and dancing....and of course who can forget the cake???
Tonja's mom and sister had a particular design in mind, and especially wanted a
"topsy-turvy" cake.

I was over the moon about this sculpture...all the words were fully encased inside of the ice....how do they do that?

Here's a view of the dance floor and some tables and chairs.

Here is the cake table.

And a close up of the cake. I used the colors and design of the napkins to inspire me.

I hope the 40th was the best one yet! Happy Birthday Tonja!

High Flyin' Thirty!

Soaring OVER the hill for your 30th!

(Hee~Hee, I don't think 30 is anywhere NEAR the hill!)

This cake is for an Aerospace Engineer who pilots in his spare time. Happy 30th!

(The propeller actually spins!)

Here is a close up of the plane I hand molded out of gumpaste.
Gumpaste is similar to fondant in it's consistency and it works well when modeling cake art....it dries a LOT harder than fondant...so while it is "edible"~ I wouldn't eat it!

Life Begins at 50!

The Red Hat SocietyI believe that a half century is quite an achievement! And apparently so do these Red Hat Society Ladies! When Judy turns 50 all her friends turn out to celebrate her.

Party on girls!