Even though Tysen's birthday isn't until Oct. 18th we planned to celebrate it the 9th when Grandpa and Grandma Davies would be visiting from London, ON, for Koen's Grandfriend's Day at school.
 |
| Thomas the Tank Engine |
 |
| Last May -- Koen's 5th Birthday |
And now a bit of a backstory...when Koen turned 5 last May I told him I'd make him a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake. A friend told me she had a Thomas cake mold that I could use, but when she brought it over I saw that it was one where I was supposed to decorate it with "stars" of frosting and I just wasn't sure I was up for that. I went online and found a Thomas cake design that I thought I'd be able to make and a fondant frosting recipe to use (
Instructions for Thomas the Tank Engine Cake). I'd never used fondant before (seriously...I'd never heard of it), but the recipe said it was as fun and easy to use a play-doh...I"m not sure that's the truth, but it worked. :) Koen was THRILLED with his cake, and he and Ty began planning at that point what kind of cake I should make for Tysen's birthday...Percy, James, etc.
Back to this month when suddenly Ty decided he wanted a Toby the Tank Engine cake instead of Percy or James. I was very excited about that idea as Toby is probably the easiest shape to make! Unfortunately, I was quite sick at the time I needed to make the cake for him. Fortunately, Seth's mom was still in town and helped me out! I would not have been able to do it without her, but I really wanted to make Ty's cake for his birthday party!
 |
| Tysen's 3rd Birthday |
I used a picture of Toby as a guide. Working with fondant the second time was super simple. I used some cocoa to make a brown color for Toby, we cut it into 1 inch strips and layered them to make the wooden slats. With both Thomas and Toby, I used a tube of black frosting for outlining the face and adding details like the name. (Notes: To color the fondant, use gel food coloring; to get a black color, start with a brown -- like adding cocoa).
 |
| Toby the Steam Tram -- (Sorry-I couldn't rotate the picture) |
Though I feel like both of these cakes were a success, I think I'll take a break from fondant frosting for a while. It's not the tastiest (though the recipe I've used and included is supposed to be better than most), so for Brielle's upcoming birthday, I'm hoping to return to the tradition of getting a yummy Costco cake for the celebrate!
Marshmallow Fondant
recipe from Recipezaar.com (now Food.com)
makes enough for one cake
16 oz. white mini-marshmallows
2-5 Tbs. water
2 lbs. powdered sugar
1/2 cup (plus) Crisco shortening (you will be digging into it so place it in an easy-to-reach area)
- Melt marshmallows and 2 Tbs. of water in a microwave or double boiler. Put the bowl in the microwave 30 second, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open and stir again, and continue doing this until it's melted.
- It usually takes about 2 1/2 min. total (not as long in my experience). Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.
- Grease your hands GENEROUSLY - palms, backs and in-between your fingers, then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of the marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle.
- Start kneading like you would bread dough. You will immediately see why you have greased your hands.
- Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more.
- Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant is sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is too dry, so add water (about 1/2 Tbs. at a time--then knead it in). It usually takes about eight minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
- It's best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). (Having done this both ways, I'd recommend using it right away.)
- Prepare the fondant for staring by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic-type wrap, and then put it in a re-sealable bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible.
- Marshmallow fondant will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks.
- Notes I ran across while originally researching fondant:
- Roll out black fondant on plastic wrap or wax paper so it doesn't stain your counter -- though I personally didn't have trouble with this.
- If it gets too dry, sprinkle it with water.
- If you did make the fondant ahead of time, microwave for 20 seconds before working with it.
- Use shortening to thin the fondant after kneading.
- Add cocoa for chocolate/brown fondant. Do this when you add in the powdered sugar.
With my parents living in Holland, MI, I've driven past Deanna's Playhouse numerous times, but never really noticed it. I wasn't aware of what it was until I discovered the link on grkids.com (one of the best sites!). Deanna's Playhouse is a FANTASTIC place! Grandma Smits met us there to explore the 15,000 square feet of toys, music, crafts, snacks, and so much more. I was so impressed with the different areas of play and so were the boys. They even had an area for infants/young toddlers with age-appropriate toys. Of course, my boys immediately found the trains, but shortly after we arrived they had a story time. The book, Mouse Paint (I think that was the title) was about three mischievous mice mixing paints to create different colors. Koen and Brielle were the lone listeners (Ty was playing trains), and Koen received his own book to create at home (which he did soon after we arrived home). 
We were one of two groups there that morning which was so nice. The kids could run and play wherever they wanted and I could easily keep tabs on them. Of course, the staff said the weekends and winter days tend to be much, much busier. 
Last year, about this time of year, Koen began asking how many days until Christmas. After a few days of him asking, and a few days of me not satisfying him with my answer of, "We need to celebrate Thanksgiving first," I decided he needed a visual reference. So I pulled out my scrapbooking stuff and we put together a paper chain. It worked beautifully!!! Anytime he asked about Christmas I could tell him to go check his paper chain to see how many days were left. So last week when he asked, "How many days until Christmas?" I reminded him of the paper chain we made last year, and we decided to make another one for this year.
The competed chain now hangs in their bedroom draped over the closet doors, and each night they remove one more ring, then watch and wait until Christmas.
I still wasn't feeling well at this point, but the boys wanted to do a project and these seemed do-able. I'd purchased this kit on sale from Jo-Ann Fabrics a while back that included four Styrofoam airplanes to paint. We used two and saved to for another day (the boys decision). I also decided that we'd use our own washable paints rather than the paint they included. 
My work was minimal. I put the planes together (which consisted of sliding the Styrofoam wings into the plane's body), gave each boy a paper plate with his choice of paint colors, a paint brush, cup of water, and away they went. Both Koen and Ty were very serious about this paint job and it took probably 20 minutes to complete. After giving the planes a day to dry, I added the plastic tip and the boys had their airplanes to fly. They keep talking about trying to fly them outside, but whenever they think of it, the weather is uncooperative or it's dark. Maybe someday...
On this particular day, I was beginning my bout of the flu, but Seth's parents were in town and Grandma Davies came to the rescue. I had checked some craft idea books out of the library, and Koen had found one craft he wanted to make -- a paper basket. (Of course, without thinking, I returned the book to the library so I don't even have the instructions or the name of the book to credit for the idea...oops). The book was all about recycling materials when crafting. I've been trying to check out some books about recycling, taking care of the earth, etc. when we go to the library so I can teach the boys more about these things. They always help put our recycling out, but I'm not convinced they really know what that means. 
Koen and Grandma Davies set out to craft a paper basket. This craft used newspaper (only one or two sheets, I believe) and after folding it in the directed fashion, you had an incredibly strong paper basket. And it was strong! The boys carried around multiple wooden Thomas trains in their baskets without the baskets breaking! Koen took pride in decorating his basket by coloring it with markers, and Ty followed suit (even though Ty was outside playing, Grandma made a basket for him as well). A month later, we still have both baskets in tact, though a few minor repairs have been made.
Tysen carefully placed each chosen leaf on the waxed paper which I had laid on top of a towel (thinking ahead for using an iron!) Prior to inviting Ty to make his new mat, I shaved some broken crayons so he could add some extra color to his mat. He had fun spreading the crayon shavings around, although he wanted to cover the leaves with the shavings rather than put the color in the "blank" spaces. Once he was finished designing his new mat, I placed the second piece of waxed paper over top, covered it with a towel and began ironing. 
