Showing posts with label handmade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label handmade. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

No-Bake 3D cake for less than S$50

Friends and family will know that I recently made a 3D dino cake for Vera's 4th birthday party a week ago. I am not one that bakes much given my crazy schedule and lack of ability to follow cooking instructions. Tell me to add 2 cups of flour with 5 eggs and I will be bound to somehow mess that up in the name of improvisation. How did I manage to make this 3D dino cake you may ask....well I will tell you my secret...Sara Lee!

Yes! my secret is Sara Lee! By gosh I did not even have to switch on the oven to "bake" this cake! I came upon the idea of using Sara Lee cake blocks. I read somewhere that you need a really dense cake to be able to construct a 3-D cake, least it will crumble in your hands and leave you in tears and desperation. I was not sure about being able to "produce" a dense cake so I came up with the idea of using Sara Lee's cakes. (post note...I might have thought about this idea from a friend who casually mentioned this before but I cannot be sure where the original inspiration for this came from. So I will not take 100% credit for coming up with this "Sara Lee" idea.)

Any way, from my own experience with Sara Lee (the plain favour is the densest and easiest to work with), you can easy construct what ever it is you want to make as if you were building with lego. It is really easy....and everyone loves Sara Lee cos it is tasty, rich yet light

For the dino, the first thing I constructed was the body which consisted mainly of 2 cake blocks with the corners rounded off. Then I cut 4 smaller stumps for the legs and begun working down the head and tail. The good thing about buying Sara Lee off the supermarket shelf is you can also mix and match favours for different parts of the cake.

After I was satisfied at what looks like a dinosaur, I began applying whipped cream. You can easily get whipped cream from any regular cake store and all that needs to be done is the whipping and adding of colours. In my case, I chose pink for my girl (what else?). It was fun slapping on the whipped cream which also acted as the "glue" to hold the blocks together. The key here is to have fun with the whipped cream and get a bit of texture out of it instead of trying to achieve a smooth flawless surface. It is a dino after all!

After applying the whipped cream, I decided that what I had originally intended to be the head of the dino looked more like the tail portion so I added a longer tapered portion to complete the body.
Now there it is...body, head tail, legs.....
I completed the finishing touches by cutting up triangular pieces of pink fondant (also available in any regular cake store) for the spikes on the back of the dino. The toe nails ,nostrails, name were also all made from fondant.
Then I sprinkled M&Ms (kids love these) around the base of the dino for some added colour and some chocolates for the dino eggs/poo. and viola! My 3D- dino cake is completed in less than an hour...And the best part is, I spent less than $50 for this cake. Compare this to the hefty $200-900 price tag you would have to cough out if you were to buy a professionally made 3D cake....of course, it may look nicer if you spend more but I think nothing beats letting your child know that you "made" this cake with love (they will probably better appreciate this effort when they are older).Hope you will give this easy no-bake method a try and let me know how it turns out! If this method works for you, it will be nice if you can link back to this tutorial post.

Have fun and be creative!xoxo
Su Ling

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Truffel Tree

I was really excited when Xin of Truffel Tree contacted me a few weeks ago to tell me about her lovely handmade plushies. I fell in love instantly with the simple aesthetic and whimsical nature of her soft toys. Xin is a Singaporean mom living in the UK and she had bought a beansprout pillow from Pupsik Studio previously.

Ever since I got Alexi last year, I have been searching for suitable friends to join him and the rest if the gang on the shelf. I hence asked Xin if she could make me a toy to be named after my one year old, Nadya. I happily sent her a picture of Nadya as a "design brief" for the soft toy.
Immediately after sending the pic, I wondered if I was asking too much of Xin in sending her the photograph of a human baby and asking her to "make a soft toy out of it". Anyway, to cut a long story short, an envelope arrived from the UK 2 weeks later with a cotton sleeve and I literally squealed in delight when I saw what was inside!
Xin had transformed the picture I sent her of Nadya into a thumb sucking elf in a bear suit. She had also sewn a magnet in the paw of the elf and the mouth so you can actually detach the hand from the mouth. How clever!
The elf, named Plum, came with this note: " Look who's fallen under the truffle tree!...Plum has been a very busy elf, playing hide-and-seek with the big scary bears. Good thing she has her magic flying cape with her - having an imagination can be exhausting".
Plum even has a back pocket that is designed to hold little memories. I am printing a small picture of Nadya in the bear suit and sticking it in the pocket together with Plum's little friend.
And Xin was so sweet to send me another of her beautiful creations called "The Anonymous Rabbit". This gorgeous rabbit is made from soft, plain white calico cotton and firmly stuffed with new polyester filler. It has a simple fine embroidery thread running along the entire edge of the rabbit. I love how simple this rabbit looks with all its thoughtful intricate details and how soft (yet firm) it feels and stands on its own. Xin also embroidered the butt of the rabbit with my daughter's name!
So here is is, the new gang on the shelf! Looks like there is space for at least 2 more friends up there! Thanks Xin for these wonderful creations! xoxo

"Plum" and "The Anonymous Rabbit" are now available on Xin's etsy store, Truffel Tree. Do visit and support her beautiful creations!

ps: Xin and I are working together on a new toy that I hope will be available under The Fair section of Pupsik Studio soon. Stay tuned!

Friday, May 30, 2008

Handmade special edition pillow covers and nursing ponchos

It has been a week of sewing for me. The Pupsik beansprout pillows are almost there so mommies who ordered and are waiting eagerly for them, thank you all for your patience! Here is a sneak preview of your pillows!
Elaine (of mein-inspiration) and I also spent the whole afternoon and evening yesterday sewing a few designer edition nursing covers for Mon Petit Jardin! It was so fun and we were both really happy and proud with the outcome of our creations. We only managed to sew 18 pcs this time and will be launching them as a special limited edition.

If you are interested in pre-ordering these limited edition nursing ponchos or beansprout pillows, please email me at hello@pupsikstudio.com soon!