Fondant Fun

I decided to do Bree's cake all by myself instead of ordering one and it looked like fun to try and see if we could make fondant. It's not really that hard at all, and I'm excited to see if the cake part of this whole thing turns out as cute as it is in my head.

A cup of shortening and a cup of Karo...yummy.

Plus two pounds of powdered sugar...healthy.
We mixed it up a cup of sugar at a time until it got so thick that the mixer started making weird noises...
Then we kneaded it smooth...Carly was such a good helper this time. Look at that technique - get it, girl!
Hahahaha, maybe I'm a terrible mother, but these next pictures are SO FUNNY. Bree so wanted to be up on the table in the middle of everything and my little Leo was not at all happy to be stuck on the floor.
So...

Much...

DRAMA! Oh, Mommy! I can't take it!

So anyway, fondant makes a huge freaking mess. I rolled it out on the table because I have tile countertops and the thought of scrubbing fondant out of grout just doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun. You can see my color palette (the beach ball!) and I think we got pretty close. The pink and blue are struggling a little bit...next time I'll just order the right colors online.

I'm posting this picture for my friends Amy and Amanda. They used to make so much fun of me for my weird ice cream choices (pear basil, anybody?) when they have more "traditional" tastes, back when I was 22 and ice cream could be a regular part of my life...anyway, the cookie cutters I got didn't come small enough for the polka dot look I was going for, so I had to improvise and the lavender* lid was perfect. So friends, if your cuppycakes are extra delicious, this is why! =) *It's edible, don't worry!

Lotsa dots! The double dots are for cupcakes and the big ones are getting ready for Bree's smash cake. They sort of look like Necco wafers...but I'm still pretty happy with our progress so far!

Okay, I need to go. This house is SUCH a disaster! The air conditioner is dripping...which is kind of worrying me. Plus we got some birthday presents today that Carly helped Bree open...um, an emptied bookshelf, most of the playroom is in the living room...you know. Normal stuff. But, for the first time in forever, Paul actually came home when I called and said it was enough work for one day and he should come home. =)