Craftfully Made

Today was the first day of class.  A local Austin cake shop, All in One Bake Shop http://www.allinonebakeshop.com, offers all three levels of Wilton cake decorating classes.  I learned how to make frosting (no low-fat version), proper way to frost a cake with no crumbs, and a few borders and flowers.  In only 3 hours I made a decent looking cake.  Hope next week goes this well too.

To find a cake decorating class near you visit http://www.wilton.com/classes/local_classes.cfm.  The instructors will teach you the technique to get a Craftfully Made cake every time you bake.

Growing up my mom always made our birthday cakes and decorated them herself, well most of the time.  I can still smell the sweetness of buttercream frosting.  Mom would also do cakes for friend’s special occasions and get paid for it.  I was always so impressed that she could manage to make such beautiful creations in a house with 5 kids.

Here are a few cakes from my childhood:

The biggest challenge was when she made a wedding cake for my grandparents’ 50^th anniversary…and I got to help.

With Mom as my inspiration, I decided to sign up for a cake decorating class so I am prepared for many children’s birthdays in the future.  It starts next week and I am so excited.

For those of you wondering how I came up with the website name, here is the story.  In all my crafting, I never seem to create anything as beautiful as nature.  We live in an amazing world that is filled with beauty and creativity.  Everywhere you look, God has created something marvelous for us to enjoy.  I am constantly reminded of this verse: Psalms 139:14 – I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  The God that created the universe made me and he gave us all lots of gifts.  My gift is crafting and I want to share it with you.  I hope this site inspires you to be creative and notice the beauty that surrounds you each step of the day.

Get Crafting.

Isn’t it funny that you are never happy with the gifts God has given you?  I always wanted to be artistic…in a traditional way like painting and drawing.  I have tried with no luck, and the end result wasn’t pretty.  Finally I found a creative outlet I was good at, scrapbooking.  I love the process of taking my memories and making them even more fun to look at and share with other people.  I got really ambitious and made my wedding centerpieces and then this crafting monster was born.  I am cheap and hate paying full price for stuff which has driven my desire to craft.  I see lots of great ideas around me and love the challenge of figuring out how to make it cheaper than buying it.  In my search for ideas I was bombarded with ads and mediocre ideas that was unorganized.  So, this is my attempt to help others find good ideas, get inspired, and learn to make treasures to share with the world around you.  If you ever thought that you couldn’t be creative, you have found the right place.I have a page dedicated to new crafters (Newbies).  This page will walk you through the basics and give you courage to take on a project of your own.  Feel free to browse my site and share your ideas.  If you have a project that you need help with, send me the details and I will add it to my projects.