Planning for the big O-N-E!!!

My baby girl is turning one soon. Well, in about 4 months...and I am already in full blown planning mode. One thing that was really important to me was to have an awesome cake for her. I also wanted to have super cute customized cookies to give out...

Being the cheapskate that I am, I decided to channel my inner Martha Stewart once again and actually learn how to decorate a cake and cookies rather than just paying someone entirely too much money to do something I knew I could do myself.

So...I signed up for Wilton Cake Decorating School Classes. 12 weeks of classes to be exact. I even learned how to bake a LEVEL cake! Oh the secrets...so many little tips and tricks. Here is my cake from class number 2. It is not super cute, but it was part of the assignment to put a goofy cupcake on top. I do have to say...my cake was by far the best looking one in the class. The instructor told me so. Also, frosting a cake with buttercream icing is HARD! I felt like an artist, all the smoothing, and spreading, and adding, subtracting, leveling...seriously hard! I totally get why a nice cake is so expensive. Also, each week is pass/fail. If you fail any class, you will not become a certified Wilton Cake Decorator. I am the only one in the class that has not failed! WooooEEE! I still have 9 classes left, but I am loving every minute of it and cannot wait to make Lauren's Big Cake and her Smash Cake...I have so many ideas!

This cake was photographed in bad light and was 6 days old...so forgive me...It was a lot cuter on day 1 before it got dry and crusty.