Rain Dragon's Lucky Destiny Birthday Party!

Have you just moved? Do you need incentive to unpack and clean your house?  Do you feel like you just want a challenge? I have the solution for you! Have a party!

Yes, even though we were still in boxes, I decided (I take full responsibility, the Sasquatch agreed under protest) that we should have a party to celebrate Rain Dragon's first birthday!  Even though it was a belated birthday party, I was afraid if I waited until we were "ready" she'd be a teenager. 

So we had Rain Dragon's Lucky Destiny Birthday Party! It was themed in red, for luck:

As well as dragons:

first time I baked in the new house!

It was a mad scramble getting the house in order. The Sasquatch's mom very kindly sewed the curtains and pillows for the living room:

it's still a work in progress

But what got the most comments was how I color-coordinated the books on the shelves!

I did this for effect, but it's actually a really great organizing system. Easier to reshelve than the alphabet and I always remember cover colors!

Old friend and new neighbor Alissa brought the red balloons:

And old friends and neighbors-no-longer traveled the distance:

with new baby!

and needed immediate nourishment:

The swingset was a big hit:

it came with the house and distracted from our rather sad landscaping!

And Cousin Lily played "Happy Birthday" on her flute:

I feel like it was just yesterday when we were celebrating her birthday!

But the big event  was when it was time for Rain Dragon to choose her destiny!

If you've read my book Year of the Rat , you'll remember how one-year old Max chooses his destiny at his birthday party. That is a real Chinese custom!  A one year old is presented with a variety of objects, each one symbolizing his/her future vocation.

We had Rain Dragon choose from money (finance manager), wrench (contractor),  computer mouse (computer programmer), book (author/librarian), thermometer (doctor), paintbrush (artist), ball (athlete), spoon (chef/baker), solar lamp (new energy engineer!).

After much hesitation, she chose....

she was a little overwhelmed by all the attention

The spoon!

maybe she will fulfill my cupcake dreams!

Yay!  Rain Dragon is going to be a chef!

Well, even if her lucky destiny isn't quite accurate, at least we know she had a very lucky  birthday party!

everyone clapped, so she clapped too!

Thanks for coming! Happy Birthday, Rain Dragon!

on my desk monday

Cupcakes and a brownie, the only dessert left, from Rain Dragon's belated birthday party!

pink cupcakes

I decided a while ago that I was going to start taking better records of my cupcakes, it is my back-up career plan after all. But so far, thanks to career plan #1 working out okay (crossing my fingers that is stays that way!) I have not really done much baking and what I have done hasn't really been photography-worthy. But last weekend's girl weekend with the Blue Rose Girls was a good excuse to take a break from writing and make some pretty cupcakes.


These were a bit inspired by my recent reading of The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan: An Enola Homes Mystery by Nancy Springer. I love those books. This one features the villains throwing a pink tea party, described in gruesome, very pink detail. I admit, even though it was suppose to sound hideous in the book, I kind of liked the idea!

These are gluten-free chocolate ones (Libby is gluten-intolerent) with Martha Stewart's Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting, which I highly recommend. I've always used cream cheese frosting, which I love, but the Swiss Meringue is what really helps give the cupcakes that rounded top (vs the flat top of most my previous cupcakes). I also kept the tradition of using the Teacupcake Holders I received for my birthday long ago!



Aren't they pretty?

happy happy

I got a chance to use my birthday gifts for a little get-together with some of my friends.
There were so many things to celebrate: 2 birthdays (Alvina & Libby's), a upcoming baby (Anna's)and my first draft completion that I decided instead of "Happy Birthday, Happy Baby, Happy Book!" I would just make the cupcakes say HAPPY HAPPY!:

Which we were!
Alvina, Libby &Anna

my wedding things (on thursdays)

If you are like me, and you love crafty, girly things, weddings are not only a celebration but an opportunity to do fun art projects. So I thought I'd put up a series of posts that show my little wedding craft projects from "sketch to finish." I thought, as not to overwhelm people with to much wedding-ness, I'd do this on Thursdays to kind of space it out. And it gives me something to do while I eagerly wait for the professional photos to arrive...

So, today's wedding thing is the my beloved cupcake display! If you remember the initial idea:


This was a many-layered project. First you had the doll toppers (carved from wood by Squatchie, painted by me):

Then you had the stand (made by Squatchie):

And then I wanted to do something really special for the cupcakes. At ALA, the lovely children's book illustrator Jeannie Brett gave me a surprise and completely great gift:

It was a cupcake candle holder!

As soon as she gave it to me, I knew I wanted to make something similar for the wedding. I decided that I would make personalized decorations for the wedding cupcakes--each little head would be one of the wedding guests.

Squatchie indulged me and made the heads while I painted them. We made the kids' heads smaller than the adults...some likenesses were better than others:

But after baking & decorating cupcakes (red velvet with cream cheese frosting!), it all came together:




Next Thursday I'll post more of my wedding things!

cupcake portfolio

I've decided to start documenting my cupcakes. It's going to be my portfolio for when I start my cupcake business (everyone needs a backup plan). These are some of the cupcakes I made for my friend Anna Alter's wedding. It was an outside, country-ish wedding which is why we went for the bee and flower theme.