Ninja Turtle Cake

I recently "traded work" with a gal.  She made some stellar artwork for my ebook, and in exchange, I made her a ninja turtle cake for her boyfriends birthday (further confirming my notion that boys never fully grow up...).  This was a really fun cake to make.  I only wish I could've eaten it, too!  I used this yellow cake recipe.

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As for the chocolate frosting, I have found a new favorite.  Seriously.  This is so good.  I made some minor adjustments to accommodate my love for dark chocolate.  This is probably the easiest and tastiest frosting I've ever made, so it will probably become a staple in my cake-making in the future.  Here's the recipe:

Dark Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:
*1 cup butter-softened
*4 cups powdered sugar
*1 1/4 c Hershey's dark cocoa powder
*1 T vanilla
*1/3 c milk

Directions:
*Cream butter.
*Mix in powdered sugar slowly.
*Add vanilla and cocoa.
*Slowly mix in the milk.

That's it!  Easy and delicious!

Here's how I put the cake together:

1 layer of yellow cake

cover with chocolate frosting

1 layer of yellow cake

cover with chocolate frosting

cover sides with chocolate frosting and smooth it out (if it's not sooth, the bumps will show through the fondant)

Then, the fondant.

This easy marshmallow fondant is SO easy to make and work with.  I've used it a number of times and always love the results.  It will be white.  Split it up into portions for the different colors.  For this ninja turtle cake, I rolled most of it into green, a small portion orange, and a small portion white.  I used Wilton's gel colors.  I stuck some white for the eyes, cut slits out of the orange, and placed the orange mask over his eyes.  I then used black squeeze frosting to dot the eyes.  Then the mouth...I rolled out the white, and used a knife to cut it into shape.  Then I used the black frosting to make the teeth.  

When working with this fondant, powdered sugar is your friend.  It will prevent sticking.  BUT, you'll end up with the white stuff all over your cake.  To get it off, get your hands a TINY bit wet and rub it over the powdered sugar spots.  This will clean up your cake.  You can also use a slightly wet rag, but I like the control I have with my own fingers.  Also, when layering fondant over fondant, if you rub your moist fingers between the layers, they will stick better.  And again, the key here is only "sightly damp" fingers (I wet my hands and then dab them on a dry towel first).  

From start to finish, this cake took me about 3 hours.  I LOVE how it turned out!

Through my 6 Year Old's Eyes

A couple days ago, my 6 year old asked to use my phone to take pictures of "interesting" and "important" things.  I of course said yes.  

Today, as I started scrolling through the photos on my phone and selecting them all to be deleted, I paused.  These were things she found important.  These were things she found interesting.  These were the photo-worthy things to my 6 year old.  So simple and so precious, and a beautiful reminder that the most important things in life are often the simple things.  Here are my (unedited) favorites:

Our dog, Higgins.

Her little brother building with blocks.

Her daddy carrying her other little brother (this one's my favorite).

A family photo on the wall.

Her brother running through the house.

Family photos from when she was little.

The piano.

The photo of me and Ben on our wedding day.

More family photos.

I didn't delete them, in case you're wondering.  I love them.  I love the glimpse it gave me of her and I love seeing what she values and loves.  Her pictures remind me to remember what's really important...my family. 

Cat in the Hat Craft

This simple Cat in the Hat craft is great for the littles.  It was especially great for my 2 year old, though my 4 & 6 year olds enjoyed it, too, and were especially interested in making the lines on their hats perfect. 

All you need is white paper, strips of red paper, glue, and a sharpie.  Trace the outline of the hat, and then give your child a glue stick and the red strips.  Let him glue each strip onto the hat. That's it!  Super simple.

To challenge older children, you could just give them scissors and red paper to cut their own red strips to fit their hat.

Rhyming Stick Sort

This rhyming activity is great for Dr. Seuss Week.  Simply write various rhyming words on craft sticks (I actually used foam sticks from the Dollar Store).

Have your child sort the rhyming sticks into piles on the floor, a sectioned off sheet of paper, or cups.

Use simpler rhyming words for younger readers, and more challenging ones for older readers. 

Enjoy!

St Patrick's Day Activity Pack

I am so excited to reveal my first activity pack!  My sweet 6 year old, Ellie, enjoyed helping me create this 20 page pack.  It is specifically designed for preschool & kindergarten aged children.  You will find activities for cutting, tracing, glueing, creative writing, coloring, counting, and more, all with a St. Patrick's Day theme!

These pages are copyright Mothering with Creativity, and feature graphics from mycutegraphics.com. 

This pack is for your personal home or classroom use only.  Teachers may use them as send-home or classroom activities.  Please do not sell, distribute, copy, or host any of these files on your own site.  If you wish to share this document, please direct people to my site to download their own copy.  Thank you for respecting these guidelines! 

Click below to download and/or print this activity pack!

St Patrick's Day Activity Pack

Dr. Seuss Week- Cat in the Hat Kabobs

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss' birthday.  For school this week, I will be doing several Dr. Seuss themed activities, crafts, and snacks with my kiddos.  

The first snack goes along with the book, The Cat in the Hat.  I love that our copy of this book is actually my childhood copy!

We read the book and then made "Cat in the Hat Kabobs."  I sliced strawberries and bananas, and gave each of the kids a skewer to create their own "hat."  And then, of course, they ate them!

13 Ways to Save Money on Birthday Parties

Whether you have 1 kid or 4, a big house or a small one, winter birthdays or summer ones, there are definitely ways to throw a fun, frugal party!

I'm over at Reno Moms Blog today sharing "13 Ways to Save Money on Birthday Parties."  Go check out the post and add your own money saving ideas!

In the past, I've been able to throw each of my children really fun and cute parties for under $100.  Here are some of my past party details:

Fairy Party

Train Party

Ladybug Party

Orange/Blue Boy Party