Pinatas...

Nicolas' party was this weekend, and he wanted a pinata.

He worked really hard to make one, layering paper mache on a balloon.

Unfortunately we learned that it is important to start way ahead of time as it wasn't drying well. ( I would recommend at least a couple weeks!)

I tried to speed the process up with my heat gun and ended up with a mushy lump in the bottom of the bowl as I accidentally popped the balloon. Oops!

However, once Nicolas shed a few tears over his smushed pinata, we regrouped and tried to find a new way to make a pinata. He decided on a box pinata. Luckily for us, we had several deliveries this week so we had lots of boxes to choose from.

He made this lovely boombox pinata. Didn't it work out beautifully?

After Nicolas found a box that would work, we cut out two circles for the speakers.
We also attached rope in the bottom of the box (which became the top of the pinata) so we could hang it later.

He then spray-painted that side of the box black as we didn't want to spray paint it once the foil was in. Nicolas also spray-painted two small squares of cardboard at the same time, that we used for the centre of the speakers.

We then cut a piece of cardboard out bigger than the circle, cut a small circle out of it, and covered it with foil. We use tape on the back to anchor the foil in place, and especially to reinforce the cut-out area.

After that we used duct tape to tape the black squares onto the back of the foil squares, and the foil squares on to the inside of the box to make a speaker front. We then filled the box with goodies and scrunched up newspaper (to keep the goodies from all gathering in one spot in the box) and secured it with duct tape. Nicolas then spray-painted the rest of the box. Each side took two coats, and he had to do a couple sides at a time so they could dry.

While the pinata was drying, Nicolas made the buttons from the leftover speaker circles as well as by cutting out rectangles. He and his sister painted these red with tempera paint.

 Amanda also decided this would be a good time to get a belly-button ring.

The pinata was a tremendous success. The boys were 10-14 years old and it took them about 10 minutes to whack it open. They certainly earned their prizes!

Magic Cake

We held Tanner's 13th birthday party this weekend. Hard to believe he's going to be a teenager already! He is totally fascinated by magic, so we did a magic theme for his birthday which, of course, necessitated making a magic cake!

Here is what we came up with and how we did it:

Sorry our picture quality is still developing. Our photography was a bit off this time as the boys decided they want to make a youtube video of this cake being decorated, and got so busy recording that they kept forgetting to take photos! I'll let you know once the video is edited and posted.

In the meantime, here are the instructions for the magic cake:
1)Base - 2 9" X 13" cakes stacked and iced with chocolate icing died black
2) The top hat is made by baking a cake in an empty tin can; we used a diced tomato can (apparently you need to make sure your can is not lined, so don't use one with a white inside). Set it aside for now.
3) For the brim of the top hat melt chocolate chips and spread them in  a circle on wax or parchment paper to form a slightly larger circle than your can. We traced a slightly larger bowl onto the paper then filled it in with chocolate. Freeze it to set.

4) Magic wand - I couldn't find plain breadsticks so I ended up using cherry Nibs. Pocky would also have worked but I couldn't find them at the time. Turns our I was in the wrong aisle! LOL Dip most of your wand in the melted chocolate and place it on the paper to set.  Put it in freezer to set completely before adding the white chocolate.

I found the wand melted when I picked it up, then melted even faster when I tried to dip it in the white chocolate, so I resorted to spooning the white chocolate onto the ends of the wands and that worked much better. Return them to the freezer.

5) Playing cards - dip tea biscuits in white chocolate then freeze them. Spread more white chocolate on the back to make a better looking and more even card surface. Return them to the freezer.

Pipe red or black icing on them to make the card faces. We used red icing and made aces and twos to keep it simple.

6) Dip mini ice cream cones in melted chocolate (we used blue) for the cups and ball trick. We couldn't find mini ice cream cones so we just cut sugar cones down to size then dipped them. For the balls we used mini gobstoppers, no prep required!

7) After assembling the cake base decorate it it with red buttercream icing to make it look like a magician's table. Tanner took the opportunity to practice his newly-acquired cake decorating skills!

8) Finally assemble the cake. I did this a few hours before the party but if I had it to do over again I would do it later. The brim of the hat softened too much (see how much nicer it looks here than in the first picture?) which made it change colour, droop, and eventually break. Also the weight of the top hat sunk that corner of the cake a bit - not badly, but not perfect.
Oh, and the bunnies were leftover Easter candy we found on clearance.

Tanner loved his party, especially the fantastic magician we had, Steve Dickson. Tanner also loved his cake, I love creating these memories for my children, and another successful party was had by all!

Creating Memories

My eldest son's birthday is coming up and that has me back into cake mode, thinking and planning his birthday cake. We used to do all ice cream cakes from Dairy Queen. Then one year I made one myself. The kids were so impressed, I have been making them ever since!
Overall, they are a delight to do. I really enjoy the challenge, and they love the memory of helping make it and of having it as a centrepiece.
Warning to those of you new to this: expect it to take a LOT of time, especially for your first few cakes. And some cakes are, by design, much more intricate and time-consuming. If you plan to make a theme cake, you need to plan accordingly!

This cake is the first homemade theme cake I ever made, and now I laugh at how simple it was. However, it was enough to impress my children, and it got me started on making homemade cakes. It is a space shuttle, in case you can't tell! I used liquorice strings to outline the shapes, and smarties to decorate it. Confetti sprinkles decorated the sky. The part that most impressed the kids was the sparkler boosters.

This cake is the first shaped cake I ever made. It is two crossed lightsabers for a Star Wars party, in case you can't tell. The kids were extremely impressed, I think mostly by the size of it. Each lightsaber is one 9 X 13 cake halved vertically, then lined up, making the lightsabers each over two feet long! I covered it all with white icing then used red and green liquorice strings to outline the different parts of each lightsaber, and gum drops for the buttons. I used spray-on food colouring to make the actual glowing part. Just be sure that you cover the parts around where you are spraying or you will find yourself scraping icing off and redoing parts of your cake! Can you tell that is experience is talking?

I have taken great pleasure in doing these for my kids and look forward to sharing more cakes with you in the coming weeks!

Creating a Treasure Hunt

Tomorrow we are hosting a Valentine's Party for some of our homeschooler friends. The kids used to say that missing the holiday parties was one of their biggest regrets of not going to school so we started doing our own. Of course ours are way better than school parties so it becomes another bonus of homeschooling!

Tomorrow our theme is focusing on the Treasures in our lives so we are doing a treasure hunt. Michael and I just had fun putting together our clue list. Most of ours, but we lifted a couple off the internet. I am sharing them with you, so SSSHHH! Don't tell my kids! LOL


Love is patient, love is kind,
Your next clue is right behind. (painting in dining room)

In this place we quickly heat
So we will have something to eat. (microwave)

Step by step walking I go,
Yet somehow nowhere I go. (treadmill)

While on your hunt for treasure gold,
You may be hot, but your clue is cold. (freezer)

Feeling chilled? You’d rather not!
Come get stoked! This clue is hot! (fireplace)

This box is mostly filled with things that rarely bring you glee
Like bills, and junk, and other stuff you'd rather never see. (mailbox)

You are doing quite a-MAZE-ing!
Find your way through, and I’ll help you! (Valentine's maze to complete and bring to me)

When you're feeling less than fresh there's just one place to go
To wash and get all squeaky clean and scrub between each toe. (tub)

When you need to have a rest
I am the place you love the best. (bed)

Wetter and wetter the more it dries,
Find it to find your surprise. (towel)