Cakes Over the Years

My oldest turned 7 (!!!) last week. How is it possible that this cute little red head baby just keeps growing. And growing. He amazes us everyday with his kind heart, creativity, and eagerness to help. I am no Pinterest party thrower over here but I have tried since my kids were little to personalize their cakes with what they love that year. On my own accord that is. That means no professional bakers are involved, just a mama doing her best to give the kids something they will love in the moment and (maybe) remember as they get older! We talked about all his past cakes this year and I loved going down memory lane so I’m documenting this for myself to have them all in one spot to reference back to over the years, because nothing disappears on the internet right?!

Year 1 - He received the nickname Bear, maybe for his brute strength at that age, or because I loved all things Mama Bear and Baby Bear, or because it started with a B. Either way, I created a forest with pretzels and dyed white chocolate to make shades of green pine trees. Finished off with chocolate animal cracker bears and a mini cake just for him to attempt to eat in one bite and then almost nod off to sleep. We’re going for slightly more than a normally frosted cake here people, the kid is 1 and does not care what his cake looks like so long as he can eat it.

Year 2 - A few of the grandparents love German Chocolate cake and the kid will eat anything so we opted for that. Penguins were and continue to be his favorite animal so it only made sense to have them on his cake. Mounds are my favorite so it also made sense that they were on the cake, I’m the one making it after all. So these cutie penguins were a Mounds body, M&M feet and beaks and sugar eyeballs (store bought), and a little white frosting for their bellies. Once again a happy kid. I guess I’m going to have to keep this up!

Year 3 - The year the kid fell in love with dump trucks, diggers, paddle wheel scrapers and all things construction. Next thing you know he was hooked on Blippi and random construction You Tube videos. I love a cake in a 9x13. Easier on the baker, tastes just as good. This one was covered in the real deal, Tonka truck toys and smushed up Oreo’s for the dirt. leaving a “3” clear from the bulldozer’s path. Yum!

Year 4 - Here’s where things started snowballing. In the past I chose what to add to the cake that Chase liked at the time. Birthday #4 though, I asked what he wanted and ever since then that’s the norm. This year the cake wasn’t anything difficult, the request was “Dinosaurs and Numbers” so Dinosaur figurines and letting him pick the numbers to put around the outside made him one happy camper. And honestly that’s all that matters on his day!

Year 5 - I surprised myself with this one. Veering away from the normal round/rectangular cake though, shoot, now the kid knows that anything is possible! I found this great tutorial on Parents.com and subbed in a few things here and there. He loved his dragon cake, so keep those crazy requests coming!

Year 6 - His BFF had a Pirate Birthday earlier in the year so he wanted a Treasure Chest cake, naturally. This one was basically a sheet 9x13 cake with a boat load of candy on top (which the kids LOVED), fruit roll up cut outs for the straps and keyhole. The trick was getting a lid for this chest to stay on. But I managed and he and all his friends were super impressed and that’s what keeps me going.

Year 7 - Here we are. This year his request was a “Magic Cake and Cards you can Eat”. Kids. I made a four layer cake and sat those on top of a three cardboard circles cut slightly larger than the cakes to act as the brim. Used M&M’s for a special ribbon look and used this sugar cookie recipe for the cards and stars. Whipped up some good ole powdered sugar icing for the base of the cards and added some card details. I got “WOW, you made that?” from his friends and once again he loved it.

I am always so hard on myself in hoping people love the end result when I put in so much effort for something. Cakes, gifts, design plans, you name it. I worry, worry, worry, but in the end, the excitement and joy I get in return is always worth it. Oh and side note on the cake side of things. Anyone worrying like me about making your things look Pinterest perfect for kids, forget about it. They want cake, that is all. So I’m glad they let me have a little fun and truly enjoy this extra special something no matter what it looks like in the end. We’ll see how long I can keep this up, I have a feeling teenagers are harder to please!

Life is Good...

…and it’s going to get better in 2023. Last year I was busier than ever with design work, we were able to spend lots of extra time with Keith off work, and I got off social media for awhile to enjoy every moment in real time.

I love the fresh start feeling I get after the New Year. My mind goes in to overdrive thinking of what new goals to have, how can I do more, reach higher, eat more vegetables, etc.???

In the past month my husband and I have spent lots of time dreaming, honing in on what is important to us as a family and how to make sure we build a life that revolves around that first and foremost. I love the dreaming phase, we both do I think. Our conversations are all over the place… like have my own design business (check), open up an ice cream shop, travel the country in an RV, etc. And in my 30’s I’m just realizing this is what it means to look forward into the new year, with excitement, not expectations or goals of what you should be doing, or how you can be a better you. This year I’m going to do all the things I love and build my life around that, not build myself around what I think I’m supposed to be.

Things that are inherently me: Wife, Mama, dreamer, love to try new thinger, active outsider, and not great at just winging it’er.

So this year I came up with a list (I love lists!), not a list of goals, or expectations. But a list to work from to make sure I don’t lose sight of me this year. So I’m not stressed, not reaching, not saying yes to all the things every time.

2023

• kids activities (crafts, school, hands on) they love it and so do I!

• have concrete work boundaries

• creative projects for myself to explore (quilt, paint, embroidery, beading)

• 10 year anniversary trip, see my brother, family trip

• simplify meal plans/routine/groceries so I don’t lose my mind every Sunday.

• enjoy the outdoors!

What do you think? Can you make a goal to be yourself this year? How are you going to fully embrace YOU in 2023?

It's Always Something

After a round of flu shots, one sick kid, and one kid who won’t sleep, I told my husband I should start a blog (or TikTok or whatever the trendy thing is these days) and call it, “It’s Always Something” because then I would never run out of content. We laughed it off in our sleepless state and the month continued…. Continued with one kid getting better and the other getting sick back and forth for the rest of the month. The timing and coordination those two must have worked out was impeccable. For brothers who have a hard time working together sometimes, I was truly in awe of how they managed to figure out the concept of sharing (albeit germs) this month.

Days before the great sick streak 2022

So here we are on December 3rd, the second day of everyone in our house being healthy for the first time in a month. And here I am starting up the blog again (because let’s be real, I don’t know how to TikTok), ready to write about whatever life throws at us…. silly things our kids do, projects we tackle around here, crazy things we never saw coming, you name it because you know…. there’s always something.

In the past I’ve kept this mostly projects that will showcase my design work but honestly the thing I love about my design business is that it’s mine, and when you hire me, you actually get the real me. So here’s me, designer, BUT ALSO jeans loving, crafty mama, oreo eating, iphone pictures only, me. Come along for the ride, I just don’t know where we’re headed yet!

❤❤❤ Justine

The Happiest Hallway in All the Land

Before 2020 ended some amazing women reached out to see if I’d like to join them in documenting and completing one project, any project, in the month of January 2021. It was going to be a New Year and what better way to get the creative juice flowing than with a new project right from the get go.

I absolutely love the mountain mural (see it here) wall I painted in the boys room a few years ago and wanted to bring that joy out into the rest of the house. Color makes me happy and we could all use a little (or big) dose of happy right about now. So this dark hallway got a MAJOR dose of happy (as well as finally painting the walls and trim to match the living room) for my New Year, New Project Challenge. Here is the before…. dark tan paint, wood trim, old light, wrapped door for Christmas, the works!

First up, paint the walls and trim to match our living room (Walls-SW Neutral Ground / Trim-SW Greek Villa). Then on to visualizing my color swatches in their new habitat.

It looks easy because they are straight lines, right?! Oh no, after drawing pencil lines with a level and then taping off at least 24 lines to paint in between this was no quick project. As tedious as it was, it saved my January (quarantine was rough and seeming like forever at that point) and gave me something to look forward to working on and those tape peels just kept coming back for more!

Check out what 1 month of naps, 3 rolls of painters tape, 14 colors, and a group of friends to cheer you on can do! This was truly a labor or love and boy do I LOVE it.

A few of you have already asked for colors so here is a list from top to bottom of what I used. They are all Sherwin Williams paint and I just used their quart size color samples for the paint instead of splurging on the full price quarts!

Pinks -SW Framboise, SW Rose, SW Demure

Yellows - SW Frolic, SW Lively Yellow, SW Moonraker

Greens - SW Grandview, SW Aloe, SW Fleeting Green

Blues - SW Georgian Bay, SW Vast Sky, SW Moonmist

What do you think? Do you want to add a splash of color to your home? I’m not saying it has to be 12 all once, but it kind of sounds like a party when I say it that way so why not?!

Board and Batten Bathroom Remodel

Everyone loves a good before and after so here goes… this was my clients guest bathroom before. It served them well and was loved for many years but it was time for a total overhaul. The sweet little boy and pup were the only requested things to save so I used him for color inspiration and will be adding him back in during the accessory phase!

I loved the board and batten look for this bathroom. It gives the bathroom instant personality and allowed for a deep color (SW Retreat on bottom, SW Alabaster on top) on the lower part of the bathroom and the ability to keep things bright elsewhere since there are no windows in here. The cream quartz counters and hand made subway tile reflect the light beautifully and I love the way the mirror is trimmed out to work as part of the board and batten.

The sky blue niche is the perfect accent color pulled out from little picture. The whole palette is very natural and inviting, the perfect atmosphere for a soak in the tub to reset after this year that is 2020. 😂

What does the bathroom of your dreams look like? Are you still on board with the board and batten? Tell me in the comments below!