my sweet sweater birthday cake!

hello, friends!
i've been enjoying my sabbatical over the past month and a half,
and have made a MAJOR dent in my very long and very overlooked 'To Do' list!
(such as: get my truck running again✔  get some appliance repairs done✔   
get some yard work done✔  buy a new mattress to help my back pain✔ )

since it's March 1st, the beginning of my birthday month,
it seems a perfect time to return to the blog and share a recent project with you!

* this post was created in mid-February and scheduled for March 1.
given the world events that transpired in the last week of February,
 i actually thought very seriously about not publishing it, 
 seeming too frivolous a subject to focus on in light of reality.

 i have decided to publish it, in the hope that anyone who sees it
will be reminded that there are still things to celebrate in this world
even in the midst of darkness and conflict. *

as much as i love to bake (and eat) sweet things,
i decided that my birthday cake this year needed to be a bit different...

you know it wouldn't be a birthday cake for ME unless it was made of sweaters, right?!

(my waistline and thighs appreciate the total lack of calories in this one ;) ) 

continue reading to find out the unusual way this fun decor came to be...

this whole project started with a triangle-shaped box that i had saved from a gift basket.

i was cleaning the pantry, found it, and was about to toss it in the trash

when a light bulb went on: "this looks like a slice of cake!"

so after the pantry cleaning was done, i headed to my studio...

and as i sat that box on one of my white plates, i knew exactly what to do next:

grab some sweater scraps!!!

i played around with the bits of sweater fabric and some sewing trims,

and in just a few minutes, i had created a yummy yellow treat:

here's my 'recipe' for how it all came together:

and wouldn't you know it, as i was working on the slice, another idea dawned!

i was thinking about fake cakes, and diaper cakes came to mind.

as i thought about how to get that effect without using diapers,

the dryer buzzer went off and i went to empty the dryer - which was full of TOWELS.

as i pulled them out and folded them, i saw the possibilities!
(my muses really crack me up - they connect things in the weirdest ways!)

a few of those towels came into my studio,

where after just a bit of trial and error, they became the structure of my faux cake.

i simply folded them into thirds lengthwise, then rolled them up,

and wrapped some sweater scraps around them.

here's how they looked during the process:

i played around with the height and width of the towel rolls

until i came up with three slightly graduated sizes that would stack together into a cake tower.

tip: i 'built' this cake on a white plate exactly where i planned to photograph it,

but if i had planned on moving it at all,

i would have poked long bamboo skewers down through the layers as i stacked them.
the skewers would slide through the spaces in the rolled-up towels easily.

that done, i moved on to decorating! always my fave part ; )

grabbing some trims - yarn, rickrack, and pom poms - and sweater scraps,

i created 'frosting' ruffles, swags, and flowers on my cake:

NOTE: i did NOT actually light the candle shown in these photos!
i added the flame in photo editing. 
DO NOT USE REAL CANDLES ON A CAKE MADE FROM SWEATERS!

here's my 'recipe' for the cake:

these yummy yellow sugar-free, gluten-free, no-calorie treats just make me smile!

(i've created many other fake food projects - which i refer to as 'foofoo faux food'!

check them out here)

 

more 'truth behind the images':
 the bubbly in the champagne flute was fake food, too - it's just sparkling water.
there will, however, DEFINITELY be real bubbly in my glass on my birthday!

•

i spent a happy hour or so creating these two whimsical projects,

dancing around my studio to 'golden oldies' music from the 1960's - 

which seemed fitting, because i am also from the 60's!

i'm celebrating my 60th birthday this month (SIXTY! how'd THAT happen?!!!)

my recent sabbatical has given me an opportunity to reflect on those sixty years
and how to best reflect all that i have learned & experienced in my life...
because we are never too old to learn new things, try new things,
and experience the wonder of life around and within us.

i'll be back on the blog soon with another recent diy decor project,
and i'm working on developing some new ideas for Easter decor, too!


links to previous related content:

 foo foo faux food creations


shared online:

funky junk interiors | new upcycled projects to make #616

thank you for featuring my project, Miss Donna! 


creatively beth | creative crafts linky party #83

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