Tuesday, February 17, 2015

3D Basketball


Thank you Sandy Swart for the great blog post for today!

Got a call late on Thursday night for a 3D basketball cake for the beginning of the next week.  I panicked.  I've never done a 3D round ball.  I tried talking the customer into half a 3D basketball but the daughter had her mind set on 3D.  They only wanted 15-12 servings.  After debating and deciding that the 6" sports ball pan was just too little.  I opted for using the Wilton Soccer Pan for my cake.

Wilton cake pans were designed for 1 cake mix.  I forgot about the cake companies' downsizing their cake mixes a few years ago. After I baked the cakes, I realized I would not have a round cake if I stacked them.  To get a sphere, I baked a 2" high 9" round cake pan to place in between to get the spherical shape that I wanted.  I did not want to have to carve a round sphere and opted to give the customer lots more cake (lots more---- like over twice as much cake as they needed.)  I just wanted to take the stress off myself.
Here is how I stacked and filled the cakes:

For supports I used a 3/8" dowel through the foam core and down into the triple thick cardboard on the bottom.  I also used 3 regular size straws for supports to hold up the foam core.  I didn't use bubble straw this time because they are so big they would weaken the cake and may cause it to split since they were in such a small space. I trimmed the bottom of the cake so that it was sitting on about a 3" diameter circle.  I didn't want my ball to roll away. 

I crumb coated the cake and allowed it to set overnight just in case the cake decided to settle.
The next day, I covered the entire cake with a crusting buttercream tinted a basketball color.   After it crusted slightly, I used the Texture Mat Lg2 - Football/Basketball Texture to texture the entire surface of the basketball.  Here is a close-up of the texture I achieved with the mat.


Any questions?  You can contact me through Sandy Swart Cakes on Facebook or at sewsweet2@hotmail.com
Albums of my decorated cakes can be seen at:  http://flickr.com/photos/sewsweet2/sets

DTC Products Used:


Tuesday, February 3, 2015

A little relief for some dry skin!

A huge Thank You to the best sister ever, Brenda Thomas, for the great blog post today!

Lotion Bars
Freezing temperatures, low humidity, and furnace-blasted dry air can leave your skin dry, flaky, itchy and in need of a little TLC.  Try using DTC molds to make these wonderful lotion bars to help keep your skin in great condition or use them as a great gift idea.



First get all of your supplies collected. 
  • The DTC molds of your choice
  • Beeswax
  • “Butter” of your choice (I used a combination of equal parts Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter)
  • Good carrier oil (I used Avocado Oil as I like the color and Avocado oil applied topically helps relieve dry and itchy skin. Once applied, avocado oil is deeply absorbed by the skin)
  • Essential oil of your choice (I used lemon and eucalyptus)
  • Digital Scale
  • Stir stick
  • Double boiler (I made one with the glass measure / pot of water with towel in the bottom)

Begin by melting equal parts by weight of beeswax, butter and oil.  You want as low heat as possible, stirring frequently to avoid burning the wax and butters.



This part might take a while so it might be time to pour yourself a mimosa!



When everything has melted (took mine 30 minutes) remove from heat and add 20-40 drops of essential oils and mix well.



Pour the mixture into the molds you have chosen.  



Once the bars are completely cooled you can pop them out of the mold!



Be sure to keep your lotion bars in a cool place. If they get too hot they will melt again.



DTC Products Used: