By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
I’ve been invited to a private “lobster fest” and I’ve got nothing to wear!
Lobster Hair Clip
makes 1
What You Need:
Glue gun (use the low heat kind for this craft if you’re doing it with kids!)
Hair clip
Plastic lobster (we got ours HERE)
What To Do:
Using your hot glue gun, glue two daps onto each end of your hair clip. Press your crustacean firmly and wait a few minutes. Thats it! Easy and SUPER adorable!
By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
“But how do you cover an entire cake with sprinkles Libbie?” –so many people.
It’s really quite easy…you just have to know a couple of tricks!
How to Cover A Cake With Sprinkles
1. Build your layer cake on a cardboard cake round that is the diameter of your cake. Cut a second cardboard cake round smaller than the first and set aside.
2. Crumb coat the outside of your layer cake and place in the refrigerator until firm.
3. Pour your sprinkles (I ALWAYS use Yum Yum Smile Shop Sprinkle Mixes natch!) out onto a baking sheet. (a 9-inch 3 layer cake will take about a cup of sprinkles)
4. Remove cake from refrigerator (it should be firm) and add a thin coat of frosting to the sides.
5. Place the smaller cake round on the top of the cake. (so now you have a small cake round on the top and a large one on the bottom)
6. Holding the cake sideways with one hand on the bottom cake round and one hand on the top smaller cake round, roll the cake in the sprinkles.
7. Remove top cake round and add a light layer of frosting to the top of the cake.
8. Add sprinkles by hand to the top of the cake.
9. Don’t forget a cake topper!
By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
When I was a kid I was forced to go to Vacation Bible School every summer. I didn’t have anything against Jesus or the Baptist Church. Where my beef lay was with the questionable snack choices and unimaginative crafts that were not anything I would have chosen had I been on a real vacation.
Things changed the day I was saved a second time when Mrs. Bradley, our spritely art teacher, brought in the craft supplies needed to make snow globes (to be clear, she called them “Bethlehem Snow Globes”). What fun the class had filling jars with small nativity animals, angels, glitter and water! When I put a giraffe and cow boy boot from a Ken doll in my “Bethlehem story”, Mrs. Bradley giggled long enough for me to catch her before she realized she shouldn’t have.
I’ve since been obsessed with anything suspended in water and turned upside down. I thank Jesus for that.
Sea Globes
makes 1
What you need:
1 glass jar with a tight fitting lid
1 small plastic aquarium plant
Super glue
Small rocks (optional)
Glitter
3 small plastic sea animals
Glycerin (this will help suspend the glitter in the water longer)
Water
Bright blue food coloring
What to do:
1. Using super glue, attach the base of the plant to the bottom of the inside of the jar.
2. Add a few rocks to the bottom of the jar.
3. Add 1 heaping tablespoon of glitter to the jar.
4. Fill jar with water (leaving a 1/2-inch gap at the top).
5. Add a heavy squeeze of glycerin.
6. Stir in the SMALLEST amount of food coloring.
7. Screw on lid and shake!
Watch me make a Sea Globe!
By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
Three layers of delicious cake colored in an ombre of “country club” blues. Butter cream frosting, sides covered in Yum Yum Smile Shop Country Club Sprinkles, white gum balls and miniature pool floats. Quite possibly the most adorable, delicious and easy to decorate cake in all the land.
Pool Party Cake
serves 20
What you need:
2 cups cake flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla paste (can substitute extract)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Blue food coloring gel in three different colors (I used a turquoise, cornflower and royal)
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (recipe to follow)
Yum Yum Smile Shop Country Club Sprinkles
White gum balls or other white candy balls
Small pool float toys (I bought mine HERE)
What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three 9-inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar. |
4. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
5. Add flour mixture alternating with the milk JUST until smooth (don’t overbeat).
6. Stir in the extracts.
7. Divide mixture evenly between 3 bowls. Add a little of the different food colorings into one of each of the bowls (each bowl will only have one color in it). Stir until well mixed. Add additional food coloring as needed to achieve the color you like. I liked mine super saturated, so I added enough to achieve that.
8. Pour each color of batter into one of the prepared pans and bake until tester inserted in the cake comes out clean (about 20-25 minutes). Allow to cool before removing from pans.
9. Frost cooled cakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and decorate with sprinkles on the side (watch video below for sprinkling the sides of a cake and final decorating), gumballs on the top and pool float miniatures floating on the sea of gumball bubbles!
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
yields about 5 cups
Ingredients:
2 cups (4 sticks) butter, room temperature
6 to 8 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla paste (can sub vanilla extract)
4 to 8 tablespoons milk
copper colored food coloring (or any color you like!)
Directions:
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add 6 cups of the confectioner’s sugar. Add the salt, vanilla paste and 4 tablespoons of milk. Beat for 2 minutes. If the frosting is too thin, add more of the sugar (1/2 a cup at a time). If the frosting is too thick, add more of the milk (1 tablespoon at a time). Stir in a little food coloring at a time until you get your desired color. Refrigerate the frosting for a few minutes before using.
*Vanilla sugar is sugar that has been with a vanilla bean in a jar for a few weeks imparting a mild vanilla flavor
Watch the video here for easy decorating!
By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
Whether your pool is blow up, bath tub or Olympic-sized, it’s the perfect size to celebrate summer. I love this simple cake decorating technique for the centerpiece for any summer party…especially one pool side.
