Oh my, is that a pink elephant I just saw?

Yep,  I’ve been seeing pink elephants and no it’s not due to a little too much to drink.  Although sometimes I could use a good stiff drink. Lol

I was recently asked to bake a cake for a Grandmother shower. I was given free range as to what the cake should be made to look like.  With this in mind, I took the invitation and decided to stay with that theme.  An elephant holding a little umbrella.  Little pink elephant to be exact.  It was my pleasure to do this particular cake since it was for my mom-in-law; whom I think the world of.  Her friends wanted to celebrate her newest adventure into grandparenthood.   Now this isn’t her first grandchild; she has two others, but it was the first time her friends gathered to meet her grandchildren.  I think everyone had a great time and it appeared that the cake was well like too; since very little of it came back home with me.  Which is always my goal.

So for those interested in just how did I make an elephant cake, here are a few snapshots…

elephant parts

To make the elephant parts; I baked a small round cake, made a templet from paper and cut them out with a serrated knife.  It is easier to use paper to get the size right first, trust me on this one.

test run of fitting parts

Then I placed all my parts on parchment paper so I could easily move them to make sure the fit was good and the sizes were right.  By the way, the feet were from the cutouts to make the umbrella.  Waste not, want not, ya know.

Completed elephant with umbrella

Frost the big round cake, aka elephant body, first so the parts will stay put then frost everything else.  I used two different shades of pink so the ear would stand out and give it a little more depth.

And there’s my first little pink elephant!

Here are a few of the other cakes I’ve made…

Tea cup cakes

These were made to look like little tea cups for a baby shower tea party.

I will try to post some others a little later… my photos have gone MIA.

Merry Christmas… a little late or early?

Well hello again!  This is my first post in a while but I thought I’d give you a little glimpse of what has been happening in my world.

We just finished up with all the holiday fun around my house.  I love the holidays but I must admit Christmas is my favorite.  Not because of the gifts or St. Nick and it is definitely not because of the snowy weather; since we rarely get that here.  It is simply the traditions that I love.  The gathering of family, the sharing of memories and the warm feeling I get from just spending time with my hubby; that’s what Christmas is to me.  The celebration of family, love and the ultimate gift of God’s son to all man kind.

I really love the new traditions that  started when I married my hubby’s.  His family always has a big family breakfast/brunch on Christmas day, although this year it was on Christmas eve.  My hubby, his folks & his siblings usually do all the cooking and there is a ton of food.  So basically we cook and graze all morning. We have so much fun and it is always wonderful to see all the cousins, aunts & uncles.  Then we have a gathering with just his parents & siblings.  My families get together is always a floating time since my siblings work in a glass factory, which never shuts down.  So we have to work all of our celebrations around their job schedules.

A new tradition that I have started is my annual Christmas cookie swap party.  A group of my friends bake cookies and gather at my house for a few hours of fun.  We chat, enjoy christmas music, eat some cookies and other snacks then exchange cookies and recipes.  At the end everybody goes home with a variety of cookies but each person only had to bake one kind.  It works so well and is a blast.  We have also started to include the men folks.  My wonderful husband sits outside with the other guys and usually cooks Cowboy beans over a big fire in the back yard.  They have their own traditions, such as smoking cigars or pipes and shooting the breeze.  lol Yeah, whatever it is they do out there they seem to have as good a time as the women do, so it works.

My other favorite tradition are Christmas lights.  No not putting them up, because I rarely get mine put up outside.  I’m talking the big light shows.  You know the ones that you drive thru.  We have two faves the McAdenville lights, aka Christmas town USA and the Tanglewood Festival of lights.  We always invite a friend or two, bake some cookies/snacks and make some coffee or hot cocoa.  Both of these lights are a little bit of a drive for us to get to so we like to make an evening of it.  We have a ton of fun and I have to admit I like the Tanglewood lights the best.  So if you’re ever in the Clemmons, NC area at Christmas time go check it out, but allow yourself plenty of time.  These are very popular lights and there is usually a wait to get in and then the drive thru all the lights will take another 30 to 45 minutes.

So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Giddyhousewife MIA

Hi!  I know it has been a while since my last post.  I apologize but I had to do some soul searching.  You see I may have accidentally hurt some feelings with a few of my posts.  I did not mean to hurt or upset anyone with posts I have made.  I apologize if anyone feels I have misled them or led anyone to believe that all the ideas I share are my own.  I have tried to always give credit where credit is due.  I have also been informed that I’m not a mom & therefore my mom like advise is not always good or welcome.  Again I apologize if I have in some way made your life hard, sad, or whatever other emotion it may have stirred.  I usually state that the story I am sharing is not my own but of a sister or friend or even my own mom and grandmother.

I had even debated discontinuing this blog…

Perhaps I will give it one more shot, but this time I will do my best to only include things I personally have done or am doing.  Please know that in this day and age I doubt I will come up with something that has NEVER been done, thought of or written about in the past.  However it is my life so it is unique to me and my own little quirks.  ” It’s my lot in life, it’s not a lot but it’s my life” from a Bugs Life.