My baby is a TWEEN!!!

Yes, she is 10 going on 11!!! I am unable to get over it, she's growing up.. or has she already?!!

We had a big family party to celebrate 3 birthdays that fall in August. So her actual birthday was a very low-key at home celebration.

I had a very adventurous experience baking her birthday cake. V's order was quite simple - a basic vanilla sponge with strawberry frosting. I had everything planned out perfectly and had the vision of a perfect looking cake. Now "Man proposes God disposes" right - so my perfect plan was not to be!! I started the baking quite early. A few minutes after the batter was in the oven I could smell something burning - of course it was my cake!! I realized only 25 minutes too late that I had started the baking in microwave mode and not in convection mode!!! Silly, stupid, **##@@** me!!!! So, I started from scratch all over again. This cake was just the perfect sponge
Next step - the frosting. My brother had got Wilton stamp set last year and I wanted to try that. But by this time I had run out of patience and did not work enough to get the smooth finish that is required for neat stamping. So, the stamping did not look neat. But all that matters is the taste - that's what I tell myself. My dad who's quite tough to please actually said "It is yummy and had 3 pieces" and V and her friend loved the cake too.

That's it from me today friends.. Till next time.. Take care.. Be happy.. Keep crafting.. Au Revoir

TUSAL and a loooong update

Hello dear friends, beware this is going to be a loooong post, considering the number of days of silence here. I have been quite busy, what with DH away, me managing everything at home front alone and of course the work. But I have been crafting whenever I could.

My Tusal is a make-shift one, as I am away from home at the moment and could not wait till I take a picture

All the Orts are from seashells

I attended this baking workshop a few weeks back. This was an eggless one.

We were taught to bake brownies, vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, strawberry crush filled cupcakes, apple cupcakes with streudel topping, hazelnut swirl cupcakes.

On the decorating front - chocolate ganache, buttercream frosting, rose decoration techniques. These 2 were decorated by me :)
 It was great fun. We took away a lot of tips.

Here's the October cottage, finished and ready to be put up when I go back home.

Just 2 more to go

And finally, I can show you some progress on seashells

It's festival time here, with the start of Navrathri and time to get dressed up, go visiting people. There's a whole lot of positivity and cheer in the air. With this festive note I sign off today

Till next time.. Take care.. Be happy.. Keep stitching.. Au Revoir