My Little Pony Birthday Cake

Yes, it's kitch. Yes, it's a myriad of grotesque colour. But gosh-darn if I am not proud of this little work of art! Two nights before Fern's birthday, I sat down with some paper and crayons and came up with this design for a My Little Pony cake.

Why My Little Pony? Well, Fern LOVES ponies, like most little girls. Her cousin has one, so she gets to get up close and personal often, and drives us all insane nagging us to go see the 'Nays!' every 3 minutes while we're on my parents-in-laws property, which is where the horses are kept. She also loves her My Little Ponies collection (I wish I'd kept my vintage ones from the 80's!) and and I'm always tripping over them strewn about the house. 

So. My Little Pony it was! Dan and I baked a round vanilla, strawberry and chocolate marble cake the night before Fern's birthday. Dan then got up early to ice the cake with scary Royal icing and surprisingly (to us both) it turned out beautifully! We then decorated the top with Smarties, decorative glitter gel, candles and of course a little My Little Pony!

Fern adored her cake, and went to bed with her pony with a smile on her face..... unfortunately I didnt get any photos of her blowing out the candles. Here it is:

Dan and I have made a pact to one-up ourselves every year now in making our kids cakes. This is Fern's birthday cake from last year, hmmm tough call I reckon! Which do you prefer?!?!

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2010, My Autumn & Winter Months

Afternoon sweets!

I thought I would share with you some of my highlights of 2010 here on Torie Jayne. Here are my favourites from the Autumn and Winter of 2010:


In September I finally finished my garden. I am so looking forward to enjoying it this year. I envision lots of tea, cake and ice cream soirees in my garden lounge!




I was also one of ten blogs picked to be a "favourite blog of The Conran Shop". Thank you.



In October, Halloween was pretty low key for me this year as I was traveling with my day job. However, I did make and decorate a Halloween cake and tried my hand at Candy apples.



November saw me prepare for my Winter Woodland Christmas with lots of lovely inspiration in Scrapbook Dreams.



December, of course, saw me put my dreams and ideas into action with my Winter Woodland dessert table. I was overjoyed when my cake won the Christmas Yule - Blog bake.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful sponsors: Simon at Tonic Studios for sending me an endless supply of cool craft equipment. Anurag at Hotel Chocolat for providing lots of yummy chocolate. Sarah at lifestyle publishers Ryland Peters and Small for providing me with gorgeous craft, interior and baking books to review. Clare and Alex at Camel and Yak for my beautiful Christmas deers and Amy at we are social for her cool link ups.

Also a big thanks to Liam McCormick, a wonderful guest at my Winter Woodland Christmas party who took some of the photos.

Have a sweet day!

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Ms Nosybella: Help me out a little...?

Dear knowledgeable ones

I have questions. There are all these niggling little questions at the back of my mind and I feel my new-year life might be easier if I could find the answer to them. I figure that the readers of Maxabella loves... are a diverse and interesting bunch, so why not put my questions out there and see what comes back! So, if you know, please, you know, let me know...

How can I fix a sewing machine that sews a normal stitch on the 'right' side, but a jangly, jumbled mess on the 'other' side? It started happening when I mucked around with tension and some other stuff and I freaked out and left it and it's been about five months now. That's how freaked out I was.

Is there any way I can deter the cockatoos that roost in the gumtrees out the front of our house? The noise is a given but they also poo all over my front path - WELCOME to our home.

Why are our strawberries rotting on the branch before they ripen? I was so proud that we grew an actual strawberry and now... not so much.

How can I prevent outdoor cushions / soft furnishings from going mouldy? They are under cover, but I guess they get wet sometimes. I am too lazy to bring them in every day (there are just so many) and even if I wasn't I would have nowhere to put them.

How can I clean the outside of my windows that are reeeeeally high up, double-hung sash with panels and have fly screens on them? It's been three years now and I think it's time...

Is there any way to reinforce the toes on boy's shoes? It's amazing how quickly they scrape through them!

So, if you could help me out with any answers to the above questions, I would be... amazed!

'Til next time

[Image by Florencia Delboy]

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