Train Birthday Cake

My son ABSOLUTELY (it seems from the minute he was born!) loves trains! My brother also loves trains and he loves that his nephew loves trains! Bro doesn't have his own kids so he enjoys taking J to train shows.

So, for J's 3rd birthday I thought it would be a great idea to make him a train cake and i must say that it turned out brilliantly! he was so excited when he saw it.

I thought i would blog some pics to show the process of putting it together.  I hope you get some inspiration!

I got the main idea for the cake from a kids birthday cake cookbook.

Step 1
I baked 1 large cake using 2 x packets butter cake and bought a large jam roll for the engine and assembled them as shown.

Step 2
I made some buttercream icing and tinted it with blue colouring and iced the cake.

Step 3
Then I decorated the cake. As i am not that confident at piping detail, I went to google images to found the face of thomas the tank engine and printed it on photographic paper as it is thicker than normal paper and put it on the front.

Step 4
Reveal the finished cake to the birthday boy!

The lollies i used to decorate the cake were:
Licorice straps
Nestle Smarties
Cadbury Flake
Oreos for the wheels

These are the licorice straps:

A recipe for buttercream icing is here:

250g butter - at room temperature

2 1/2 Cups icing sugar mixture

60ml (1/4C) milk

Beat butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add icing sugar in batches until combined. Gradually add milk. You can also add vanilla essence if you wish.  Add colouring and mix until combined.

I am linking this with these link parties here and here and here.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

N

Luv

Our Gorgeous New Room!

Well our main bedroom is well on the way to completion (apart from a problem with the lettering I wanted on the wall not sticking) and i must say i am LOVING it! I went to Kmart today and found some black cushions for $4 Bargain.  I was so excited cos i have been looking for cushions EVERYWHERE but they were all so expensive!

Here is a photo of our room so far.

I found the tutorial for the hanging ball decorations here. I think they looked great and had to try them for myself!

On my wishlist for this room is new blinds and curtains!

Thanks for looking!

Luv

I have a disorder

... And my disorder is:

I love to clean my house at night time.

It's frustrating as I have all day to do it, but always find something else to occupy my time.

It is a relaxing time tho. It's usually when the children are all tucked up asleep in their beds, the house is quiet, I have my music playing (usually a hillsong or another worship album), the husband is asleep on the couch, and I'm on my own with no interruptions!

Then i stand back, admire my hard work, go to bed ... the kids wake up in the morning ... and all that hard work is undone within minutes!

But I'm thankful for a house that gets messy, cos it means I have a house and I have beautiful kids who do the messing!

Luv

Things i cant live without!

The first thing i've decided that i can't live without is this:

A DISHMATIC!! haha

i decided that while 'trying' to wash up the dish out of my slow cooker WITHOUT  my dishmatic cos it broke last week :(

Whoever invented these things was a pure genius!

facts about me!

here's are some facts about me!

1.  first of all, i am a sinner. i know that. and i thank Jesus that He died for me, and His mercies are new each day. mine aren't ... but his are.  i want to be more like Him ... i am a work in progress.
2.  i dont like yoghurt.  i've actually never tasted it but i can't get passed the smell
3.  i love coffee a little bit too much and often dream about when and where my next one will be!
4.  i dont really like shoes all that much.  i only have about 3 pairs of shoes on the go at one time, wear them til they're dead and buy a new pair.  I have everyday shoes, sneakers (trainers) and slippers.  I do have the odd pair i wear every now and then but not often!
5.  i love makeup. sometimes if i'm at home and bored and have no particular place to go, i put my make up on like i'm a drag queen! i like watching makeup tutorials on youtube!
6.  i dont find it easy to talk to people i dont know. 
7.  in winter i like to drive in my car with the heater on and the windows down!
8.  if i need to make a phone call to a company or something, i always rehearse what i'm going to say before i get on the phone!
9.  i love the smell of petrol and nail salons!

Weekend Away

We went away on the weekend to a cute little place called Oberon, NSW.  It was absolutely beautiful. 148 acres of bush, streams, deers, ducks, chickens, peace, quiet, kangaroos, wild pigs and a VERY long driveway!  The house itself had 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3 fireplaces, 3 sitting areas, a HUGE kitchen, two dining tables, central heating, games room, you name it! I wanted to bring the house home with me, but unfortunately it wouldn't fit on our block of land. But since we keep adding to our tribe, i think we need a house that big! 

Looking at the stars when you're in the country is just amazing! It just shows you how amazing, powerful and BIG our God is and how wonderful His creation is! We stood outside in the freezing cold for ages just starring at the night sky and marvelling at the shooting stars that we just would not have seen had we been back in the city with all the street lights, house lights, car lights, etc.  We even found ourselves counting backwards like 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... and 'clicked' our fingers like we were trying to strike up a deal with God that when we 'clicked', he would send a shooting star for us! it didn't work! "Thou shalt not put the Lord your God to the test"! was worth a try!

One thing i discovered while we were away, wanting to capture the memories with our photos, i have a LONG way to go with my photography skills! More courses coming up i feel!

Luv

Mini Cupcakes

Here are the cupcakes i made recently for a high tea i went to.  they were mini white chocolate mud cupcakes with baby pink roses piped on the top with a pale green butterfly on the top.  i made the butterflies out of flour paste.  i had never used the flour paste before but it was quite easy. they were fun to make and super cute!  i also added a few drops of rosewater to the icing just to give it a bit of a 'rose' taste cos as i bit into my first one to 'taste test' it (haha) i kinda expected to 'taste' like a rose as much as it looked like one!

Crocheting

i am into all things hand made and crocheted at the moment and its really making me start to regret that i didn't listen more closely on those days way back when my nana and aunty tried to teach me!  There are so many beautiful things to be made but i'm just not that designed that way.  Give me a computer, a mouse, a few photos and photoshop and i'm all yours!

But as i have two beautiful little girls, who have a beautiful little friend, and also have a few beautiful nieces, i wish i could give them the handmade things to treasure.

You know what my solution is? YouTube! haha!

Seriously, you wanna know how something is done ... YouTube!

You wanna know how balloons are made? YouTube

You wanna get stupid songs stuck in your head like, "Hide ya wife, hide ya kids"? YouTube!

I once wanted to know how to fold fitted sheets with the elastic on them ... YouTube!

So off i go to learn a new skill!

luv

cupcakes

i think i have a new wanna-be hobby.  I haven't started it yet but i cant wait til i do.  I want to make cute little cupcakes and have been youtubing different piping techniques! I'll put some photos on here when i make some!

Weddings

so i had a girls night last night with my mum and sister and nieces to watch the royal wedding and it was so nice.  There is something about a wedding that brings out the romantic side in every woman!


My favourite part of weddings is seeing the face of the groom at the beginning of the ceremony when he sees his bride for the first time.  Just the look of excitement and love that comes across their faces, its special!


I remember Loren's face when i walked down the aisle and stood next to him on our wedding day.  He had tears in his eyes and a nervous smile and i just felt the love that he had for me and i for him!


Oh, it makes me want to get married again ... of course, to the same person!! i wouldn't change him for the world!

first blog

I've never really been a blogger, never even read other peoples blogs until recently.  So i thought i'd give it a go and see if anyone reads the thoughts that run through my head!  there are many of them; too many actually.

I am married to a wonderful guy who always encourages me to be better than i think i can be and sees the potential in me that i never even knew was there.  Sometimes i wonder why i deserve him! We have been married 7 years this year and have 3 beautiful kids, a boy who's 6 and 2 girls who are 3 and 4 months.  

Adjusting to life with kids is an ongoing thing for us and is an every-day challenge! Just when we think we've got it downpat, something changes and we have to navigate our way through the emotions and wills of growing kids!

It's a great adventure, which is going WAY too fast but we're enjoying it!