First Communion Cake

     I thought you might be curious as to how the First Communion for Matteo went. Well, it was awesome. It was wonderful to see the children so beautifully dressed up. The boys in their suit and ties and of course, the girls looking like little ladies. The children did a fantastic job and each had their own special part in the ceremony.

      Here is Matteo doing the first reading with Father Bill. He did a great job but I wouldn't have expected any less since he really is a great reader. (He wants to be an Author and Illustrator when he grows up).
     After Church we went back to the house to celebrate.
     I know that all children like cake but, Mattie LOVES cakes. He told me he wanted a stacked cake so I did 2 layers of yellow cake and 2 of chocolate. His little sister Cecilia has an extreme allergy to milk, butter, casein and whey so it makes it hard to make a dessert that is frosted and uses no butter. Thank God for the internet since I came across a recipe for wedding frosting that uses imitation butter extract and, rather than use clear vanilla, I used Almond extract. It was fantastic!
     I decided to try my Cricut cake machine again but this time I read all kinds to tips on line.The main tip was to freeze the fondant on your mat for a few minutes before cutting. Then after cutting, if you have trouble removing the pieces, to pop it back in the freezer for a few minutes before removing them. Success!!!! I also learned to roll the fondant really thin. I think when I tried it before my pressure was too high and the fondant was just a little too thick.You want the pressure at medium and a faster speed also helps.

     I used the Martha Stewart Elegant Cakes cart for the border. I think the cut resembles a little cross in the center of the scalloped circle. I even decided to use the little "crosses" to add to the layers. This was cut all out of fondant.

     Wow, I had a lot of little crosses, lol. In order to transport the cake I had to put a dowel down the center so I made a "Host" out of gumpaste to cover the hole. I had wanted to try making a cross for the topper but I just ran out of time.
     Of course, being a Floral designer, no party is complete without centerpieces, right? this is what I came up with:

     I used a 4" cube and cut a cross out of white vinyl to add to the front. I believe it was Indie Art and cut @ 2'. Then I used some blue water beads and a waterproof light. Everything was topped off with a white gerber daisy. This was so simple yet elegant. Not too girlie but just right to set the atmosphere for this big day.
     The crosses are now available for purchase here:
 https://www.etsy.com/listing/274689156/first-communionbaptism-vinyl-crosses-for?ref=shop_home_active_1
     I don't think there is a project that wouldn't benefit from using my Cricut, lol. Blessings to you all!!!

A Doll Of a Pocketbook

     Good Monday morning all you crazy crafters! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We had my grandson's First Communion. What a special week end for all of us. I'll be posting pics of all my projects for this special occasion in a few days. (Hint: I am gradually conquering the Cricut Cake Machine, yeah me!!!) Enough about me I can't wait to show you today's project. My youngest grand daughter is almost 2 1/2 and she is so crazy! Although she tends to be a little independent tom boy, she loves (some) girlie things. One thing she loves is to carry a "pockagook". Most of us call it a pocketbook, lol. I decided to make one just her size.

     Isn't this cute? I had purchased a package of these cute little canvas bags @ Michaels' and thought they were the perfect size of little girls. First thing I did was to pull out All Wrapped Up and decided to use the doll from page 12. I sized it at 3.5". Next I used Jacquard Injet fabric which I also got at Michaels. I used the best quality print setting and cut @ 2x, blade 5, speed5 and pressure 5.
     After it had dried for a few minutes I used an iron fusible web for the back of the image and heat set the front by placing paper on top of the image. I hand sewed a cross stitch around the outer edge with some embroidery thread. Since I know the ink is not waterproof I used some Liquid Laminate by Beacon to really saturate the image and cross stitching. This way it SHOULD be able to be hand washed.

     The laminate coating really helped to brighten these colors. Since I love dimension, I had to add some bling with my i-rock. If you haven't used this yet then I strongly suggest you do. A year ago I made t-shirts for the grandkids and used the i-rock to add bling and they have been washed repeatedly and these things will not come off! Now would be a good time to stock up since Erica has a great sale going on in her store. You can find all the details Here. I also used some liquid pearls for her cherry red lips!

     I needed to add a little something more so I decided to rummage through my stash and came across some fabric flowers I had left over from another project. You can use any flower pattern from a number of your carts but I wanted to tell you how I stiffened my flowers. After I cut them on my Imagine, then sprayed them with a product called Stiffen Stuff which is also by Beacon. You spray it on til it is really saturated and then scrunch it up just like you do with Glimmer Mist flowers. Then unwrap them and let dry. To finish them off I just added some stickles and a bow.
     That's my project for today. Now it's time to head back over to My Cricut Craft Room to see what other projects the Design Team has to share with you.