creative jewish mom

Simple Cake Toppers From Supplies On Hand

Having just posted about our challenge trying edible printable cake icing, I just had to share with you once again my take on the whole cake decorating world, which is go simple! There are those who just love spending hours making a perfect and amazing looking cake, but that is not me, I have neither the skills nor the time, so I prefer simple, cute and from the heart. Using supplies I already have on hand, meaning quick and likely made at the last minute, sigh. Nobody really needs a cake that looks like it was factory made, right, they just want to see that you spent time thinking of them, and them specifically! So dear readers, do not run to buy fancy cake decorating supplies, stock up on colored paper, markers and skewers, and I can promise you that the birthday cakes (or any occasion cakes) you make will truly be memorable!  Okay, lets have a closer look at some of my favorite cake toppers.......

DIY Cake Flowers From Plastic Straws

If you ever find yourself trying to decorate a cake in say ten minutes, you have come to the right place, as this is my quickest (and maybe even cutest) cake decoration idea yet! All you need are some plastic (or possibly paper) straws and some scissors and a few minutes, and voila, cute cake flowers can transform a simple cake into something gorgeous. I'm not sure how I came up wth this idea as I was literally sweating to get the cake decorated, but I think I must have been inspired by those little vintage style plastic flowers used to hold birthday candles! Now, as you may notice, I am photographing this cake after it was half was eaten, namely a full day after the party, so I put the flowers on the side of the cake for the sake of the photographs, when in actuality the flowers were on top of the cake, which looked a bit more sophisticated than this idea, so keep that in mind! Okay, lets make some plastic cake flowers that one could also use to decorate a fruit platter, or even cupcakes of course!

How To Make A Quick Plastic Straw Cake Banner

Introducing the cutest cake banner ever made in about 5 minutes, literally! I had to whip up some decorations as a surprise for my son's birthday, and with shabbos quickly approaching I literally had no time, and yet the results all in all where some of my best yet, go figure! Truthfully sticking with just one type of material, in this case plastic straws in specific colors gave a really nice consistency to the party table, and while it could have looked very childish, I actually pulled it off for a fourteen year old, phew! I love cake banners, and have made sweet paper and washi tape ones in the past, but this one is just a little bit unexpected and when paired with the drinking straw cake flowers, it is a winner! Ah yes, and of course make a bunch of drinking straw starbursts for the table to complete the look, and you'll be stocking up on straws for future parties, I have no doubt. This cake banner is pretty self explanatory, but I'll spell it out for you in case you are so short of time that you just need that extra push.......lets do it!

How To Make Quick Birthday Cake Decorations

Let face it, life is busy and simple solutions to acknowledge family birthdays, or any special occasion, in a fun way are always great to have on hand. Personally, I'm not into spending hours and hours on a birthday cake that then gets eaten anyway, and over the years have mostly relied on simple decorations that can be made quickly and generally at the last minute.....so it goes around here! All you need are some basic drawing skills, a bit of an idea regarding scale and proportion, and very simple supplies. I have used this same technique over the years to make a Lochness Monster Cake, An Underwater Castle Cake, A Penguins Cake, A Merry-Go-Round Cake and many more, so use your imagination and just a tiny bit of time to make something adorable and memorable! Check out this round-up that includes all the cakes mentioned, plus a King Kong Manhattan cake, my favorite, right here.

No Bake Popsicle Cookies Are Simply Adorable

With everything looking pinker than pink in blog land this week, I thought I'd contribute with these super simple and beyond adorable no-bake popsicle cookies! And I'll just add that these are courtesy of my 16 year old daughter who is quite the expert at these kinds of things.......her mother would rather be painting, or making something healthy! Regardless it is great to have a trick like this up your sleeve when another neighbor's daughter is having an engagement party and the desert bar needs to be beyond gorgeous! Ah yes, and with Purim coming up, some of these presented with a summer theme could be an amazing mishloach manot! In fact I think that is what we'll do, just need to come up with the rest of the presentation, like summer umbrella, fruit punch, sunglasses..... stay tuned for that, in the mean time let's learn how to make these cuties!

Big Clown Cake Topper For Your Circus Themed Party, Or For Purim!

What do you do when the Purim party is about to start, you've committed to some centerpieces and all you have are some stuffed paper hearts you made a few years back filling the vases that you need to fill with something new? Well, you decide to use those stuffed paper hearts to make the most adorable little clowns ever, and you can't really believe it yourself that you pulled it off, and came up with something that is perfect to share with your dear readers for Purim!

Yes indeed, this craft is another one from the archives as I've been under the weather this week and busy with other aspects of work and life, so new decorations for Purim will just have to wait until next week........as you can imagine in any case I really already have so many things to decorate my house with that spending time on crafting when there are piles of laundry and organizing to do really isn't time efficient, nonetheless Purim wouldn't be Purim without a few new creative efforts so stay tuned for some last minute projects! In the meant time, enjoy this one, it is a keeper!

Blue And White Marshmellow Skewer Party Favor For A Bar Mitzvah Or Hanukkah?

The other night I dropped by to wish the parents of a boy in my son's class mazel tov on their son's bar mitzvah, and of course I had to have a look at what the mother, who is the baking queen, whipped up for this special occassion. Truthfully I didn't look too closely as I am saying no to sugar, but I did love these blue and white marshmellow skewers, that looked great and are so simple to whip up, even a week or more before the special occasion.

As I have stated before, we don't buy candy generally but for a bar mitzvah, and we have one coming up in another six months, I would, and likely will, consider buying lots of different kinds of marshmellows and gummy candies in order to make some show stopping skewers! Ah, and of course, the label with the child's name on it, in this case Shimon, will be something lovely hopefully.

Little Crocheted Flower Bookmarks Are Perfect Hostess Gifts This Summer!

Aren't these little crocheted flower bookmarks made using zip ties just the sweetest? And they are so simple to make that I'm whipping up a huge bunch to give as gifts when we visit with family and friends during our summer travels. A bouquet of them would be fantastic, as one can never have too many bookmarks, and of course one can make bookmarks like this with other little crocheted items too, you name it!

Ready to make some of these cuties to enjoy this summer? Let's get started.......

Cinnamon Roll Cake Pops For The Dessert Bar Are Perfect In A Pinch!

Okay dear readers, I'm off sugar and flour entirely so I'm trying to post this fantastic idea for making cinnamon roll cake pops that look like lollipops without really looking too closely at the photos, and with the idea that while certainly I'm not encouraging folks to eat un-healthfully, sometimes you've just gotta bake that cake or make that special dessert for your child's birthday, a special event in school or important family occasion. If you're like me, and you're trying to mend your ways in the sugar department it may just be advisable to skip the baking and just assemble something from bakery bought items........and that is where this cinnamon roll cake pop idea really shines!

Of course if you love to bake, and especially if you can whip up a healthier version of cinnamon rolls using say spelt, why then go for it! The cinnamon rolls shown here were home baked by a friend of mine, and I just loved the idea so much I had to share it. Keep reading to find out how she made the display stand, an important part of the whole presentation!

Quick Cartoon Character Bundt Cake Is Perfect For Birthdays!

Introducing my ten minute cartoon character bundt cake for a guitar themed party. Of course you can use my simple formula to make a cute cake that works perfectly for you, and best of all less stress and more time to focus on other equally important aspects of the party, like decorations, which after all really make the party.

Quick birthday cakes are the best kind really, in my opinion, after all it does get eaten......okay it is true you have the photos to remember your efforts, but in my book going for a larger scale wow factor with decorations is time more well spent. It may be that is because I don't know my way around icing or fondant or ganach, (and hope to keep it that way) or maybe it is just that after all the years of making fun birthday party decorations for my kids I realize that the cake needs to be a cute element within the whole look, and that can be achieved quite simply, yippee! And I'll admit, last night when I came up with these decorations for the last minute cake my daughter baked for the birthday, it was a huge relief that simple just worked. Especially since the birthday boy was waiting outside to be let into the decorated house when all was ready! A true life story, though of course he knew that he would have to keep himself busy after school, outside of the house, and had even planned this ahead of time, assuming that we would do our usual birthday party routine of surprise decorations.