Cakes!

I think I might be a bit too proud of the birthday cakes I make. But here's the thing – I haven't the foggiest idea what I'm doing when it comes to cake decorating, so I always just wing it. If the cake actually ends up looking like the thing I was trying to make it look like, my head swells, and I begin to walk with a bit of a swagger. And, since I am a complete failure as a domestic goddess, I feel like I owe it to myself to bask in the glow of making a cool cake from time to time.

Like this one, for Clara's 5th:

Or the microphone cake last year (who knew that black food coloring existed?):

For her 8th birthday party (the one with her friends–not to be confused with the "This-isn't-really-my-real-party" that we whipped up on her actual birthday), Clara had requested a soccer theme. She went to town on little handmade invitations and everything:

I was relieved that the cake wouldn't need to be any freaky shape, but I had never once, in my entire life, drawn a soccer ball that looked anything like a soccer ball. Luckily, Chad knew the trick, and I will share it with you: Don't worry about the hexagons; just make the pentagons. So that's what I did:
Isn't that awesome???? It looks good enough to kick!

We rocked the decorations, too. Frugal, funky, and thematic:
Yes, we actually tacked jerseys and whatnot to the walls. Don't worry...I washed them first.

Okay, I'm done bragging now. Back to self-deprecation.