DIY Boot Storage Idea

I love boots, I hate how they fall over and get crumpled in the closet. I am not the kind of girl that has a huge shoe collection, I own one pair of shoes and they are runners; however, I am a boot loving girl I only own about 5 pairs though and of those 5 pairs only 1 has any sort of heel. Flat footed boots are sooo comfortable like wearing nothing on your feet at all.



Normally my boots get thrown into the closet and fall over and the kid throw stuff on top of them and they get squashed, then I end up with wrinkly boots which well surprise surprise you can't iron boots (not that I own an iron).

I came cross this idea on Pinterest that is great and it works well. You buy a pool noodle or a few depending on how many boots you have. I got mine from the dollar store. Cut the pool noodle to the height of your boot and then insert it. It's that simple!!!

http://pinterest.com/pin/207306389068824352/

Dog training

This is my rant for the day :). Dog training is extremely important, not just for the dog/puppy but for you as well. Every dog is different and every dog learns differently, learning yourself and how to be confident with your dog but not confrontational is very important.

There are a lot of people that call themselves trainers out there; however, you need to be choicer about the trainer you pick. You need one that is right for you and your dog. Dog training has come along way from the 1990's everything is now positive reinforcement and positive discipline which are both great tools when use properly. Positive reinforcement and positive discipline are very important when working with rescues as they have been through enough. It also creates a positive bond and experience between you and your dog. When training becomes a positive experience it is far more enjoyable to you and dog.

When looking for a trainer you want one that has experience, know what they are doing, are confident and also certified. A good trainer will also be open and honest with you, they will asses your dogs needs as well as yours. They are good at reading body language and very knowledgeable about a wide range of breeds and what the breeds needs are. They will have dogs of their own that they have trained. Also they will require vaccine information for the dog you are enrolling in training. They do not want to risk the spreed of illness through training.

You want training to be a positive experience for both you and your dog.

This is a trainer I fully recommend, she is awesome. I worked with her with Ace, my Akita/Husky. I wouldn't trust anyone else with my personal or foster dogs. Her name is Nicole, she is easy to talk to, open to answering all your questions and helping in whatever way she can. Nicole is about the dogs and knows that a well trained dog and well informed owner make the best pair. She has personal dogs that are very well trained and socialized!
The Pack Way

This site is for Canada only, but it lists all the trainers that are certified and you can search by your location. They also have great information on how to choose a trainer.
Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers

When in doubt when looking for a trainer take a look at the Petsmart training courses.

Spiderman cupcakes

A friend from high school contacted me and asked me if I could make basic cupcakes for her sons birthday. I decided that they needed to have something a little bit special on the tops of them.

12 chocolate 12 vanilla with fondant spider webs!

Everyone loved them according to his mom!!!!

Hello Kitty Cake (#3)

My best friend Kristal's daughter seen the Hello Kitty cake I made for Keira and decided she just had to have it. So I of course made it for her. Her kids are not a big fan of cake so its just vanilla.

The bottom keira is pink and purple swril. The top is just vanilla

Wedding Cake

This is my second wedding cake order, but my first formal wedding cake order. I was so nervous about this cake. About a week ago we did a taste testing at their home. I brought chocolate, vanilla, marble and coconut. They tried them all and out them they choice to go with vanilla, chocolate and coconut. They decided on heart shaped and fondant instead of icing.

The top tier is chocolate with chocolate ganache. The middle tier is coconut with coconut cream. The bottom tier is vanilla with vanilla butter cream.
The flowers and ribbon are not edible. 

Tractor Cupcakes

I got a message on our facebook page asking us to make 40 cupcakes with tractors on top of them. I thought it a little odd of a request for a little girls birthday. I have never made fondant tractors and neither had my business partner. We are both pretty good at bringing ideas to life using fondant and creativity.

With all the cakes order that we have been having lately my partner has been handling 90% of the fondant work and I have been doing the baking and the icing work. We make an awesome team and its great that we have been busy and the orders just keep rolling in.

These cupcakes were cherry chip with yellow and green butter cream icing. To top it off a little fondant tractor on the top of each cupcake.

The mom let us know tonight that "everyone loved them and there are some left over but that is okay because they were so delicious!" I love hearing comments like that makes me feel great about what we do. The main reason we love baking is because of the joy it brings others.

Blue TMNT Cake

I am taking a quick break in between working on cake stuff to have a bite to eat and to blog about the cake I made last night.
Yes I know it is 9:45pm and I am just eating, its been busy to say the least which is an awesome thing!!!

I had an order for a TMNT cake the blue guy. I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a child I remember when they first came out it was awesome. I had fun making this cake and it turned out very good if you ask me. You can see cake shadow but that is because they asked for very thin butter cream.

Top layer inside of the cake

Bottom layer inside of the cake

Tie Dye Cakes

I LOVE this technique!!! I tired it out last week for a Tinkerbell cake and it turned out "okay", this week I did it for a turtles cake and I am much happier with the way it turned out. Her favourite colours are Pink, Blue, Green and orange.

In the first layer I did pink, orange and blue in the order to prevent the pink and blue from combining and turning the cake purple.
The second layer I did pink, green and blue, again I did it in that order to prevent the pink and the blue making purple.

I think I did a good job at the trying to prevent that as you can see in the following pictures. This is a very simple technique, you just have to play with it a bit to get the pattern that you want.

Yes my cakes look like I could have banged them on the counter a couple more times lol.

DIY Fondant Sprinkles

I found this on Pinterest a while ago, but this is the first chance I have gotten to try it out.

I made 500 petals for a wedding cake and the flowers were not turning out right so the bride decided on just roses. I had all these petals and I didn't want the fondant to go to waste so I decided to try out making my own sprinkles. It was fun. Right now they are all the same colour because that is the colour I had done the petals for the orchids. I made dots using the icing tip #3. I made hearts using the small Wilton heart shape cutter. I made the leaves using the Wilton leaf cutter. I made the the tear/rain drops using the using tip #104. I made the flowers using the smallest Wilton flower cutter.

I think all the sprinkles turned out awesome!!! Can't wait to use them, no more using store bought sprinkles.

I am storing them in old washed icing containers that have lids.

http://pinterest.com/pin/169025792236733369/

Wallaceburg PAWS adoption event April 2013

This year Wallaceburg Animal Shelter was invited to have an adoption weekend during the Pet Valu Paws event. We had a great time, we met a lot of people and got $160.00 in donations for the shelter.

We were there both Saturday and Sunday it was long days standing but worth it. Manny, Casi, Bossco and Annie were there both days and got a lot of attention. Not only did we get donations to help the shelter, the dogs had "facetime" and "PAP" from the shelter got adoption by a wonderful women. He is going to be spoiled and very well taken care of.

We can't wait to do our next event!

Some photos from the event:

Bossco

Casi

Manny

Annie

Pap

Garden/Jewellery cake

A few weeks ago I was asked if I could create a 50th birthday cake that had gardens, flowers, purses and jewellery on it. When I was originally asked I was not sure what I was going to do. I sat down with my business partner and she made a picture of where things should go on the cake. I made the garden, the bunny, the veggies, the flowers, the cake and the icing. Krista made the jewellery and the purses. Together we made the garden tools and the put the cake together.

The cake is a carrot cake with a cream cheese butter cream icing, which tasted AWESOME!

I like how the cake turned out and the family seemed really happy with it.
Things I would have done different with this cake are; I would have done the fence all around the base of the cake and the flowers along that fence.