Fire Truck Birthday Cakes

This year we celebrated Doodle Bugs and Squeaks Birthdays together at a local fire station.

Doodle Bugs' Ladder Truck

Squeaks' Hose Truck

Fire Truck Tutorial

Supplies:

9" x 13" cake mix

Oreo or similar sandwich cookies

Shoe string licorice or thinned frosting for outlines

Shoe string licorice for hoses

OR Pretzel rods and regular pretzels for ladder

Gumdrops for lights

Mini candies for instruments

3 cups of your favorite decorating frosting, you may need a bit more if not using shoe string licorice

Bake a 9" x 13" cake using your favorite cake mix, with these modifications:

              1) Replace the water with milk

              2) Add 2T of whip topping MIX or meringue powder, if you have it

              3) Reduce recommended  temperature by 25 degrees

              4) Increase baking time 5 to 15 minutes

This results in a flatter, firmer cake.

Cook cake completely. If cake has a dome, trim it off until it is flat.

Freeze cake 2 - 3 hours.

Meanwhile make 3 cups of your favorite decorating frosting.

Tint 2 cups with the main body color (in this case yellow or chartreuse)

Tint 3/4 cup gray for the instrument panel

Leave the remaining 1/4 cup white for the front window

Mark one upper corner over about 1.5" and down 3". Cut it off, the slant is the windshield.

Mark two more spots 3" and 5" from the new top corner. Cut down 1.5" into the body of the cake from each mark. Carefully cut across and then remove resulting rectangle.

1) Frost the cut edges to seal crumbs

2) Using gray icing make a smooth wide stripe from top to bottom below the cut out rectangle. The stripe should be slightly wider than the cut out. Frost the sides of the cut out gray as well.

3) Frost the bottom of the truck gray.

4) Using the main body color, frost the remainder of the cake, carefully overlapping on the sides of the "instrument panel" in straight lines.

5) Use the white icing to make the window.

6) Add outlines and ladder/hoses.

7) Refrigerate cake until party.

8) Cut several cookies in half to place "under" the truck as wheels, top with a whole cookie.

9) Put candies on instrument panel. (This keeps the candy shiny and beautiful)

"Giraffe" my First Quilt

I made this Giraffe quilt for my grand-nephew, who is to be born this summer.

Here is the tutorial I followed:
http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2010/07/tutorial-road-trip-quilt.html

This was fun, and relatively easy. Because I used scrap fabric, cutting was more time consuming, and there is a larger variety of fabrics than the original.

For me, the most difficult part was creating a pleasing layout. Random goes against my logical nature! I suggest taking a photo of your layout before you start sewing. I ended up rearranging all along the way.

Giraffe is actually pieced, but not quilted. A technique to simultaneously quilt and sew strips together is described here: http://originateandrenovate.blogspot.com/2011/11/quilt-as-you-go-strip-quilt.html

It took all of my good sense to refrain from trying to use a variation of the block below.
http://www.equilters.com/library/techniques/slashstars3.html This style would really look like a giraffe! It is a good thing I stayed with the original plan, it was enough of a challenge for a beginner.

Aprons

Youth Apron,  approximate ages 8 -12 

 

Sunshine showing off side A                                      Sunshine showing off side B

                                               She wears clothing size 10/12

Child Apron, approximate ages 4 - 7

 Doodle Bug and Squeak

they wore size 4-5 at the time

Squeak and Doodle Bug, showing off both sides, (and their true natures).

They now wear size 7

18" Doll

Dolly in her apron, part of a trio.

 The long awaited trio pictures!