Wipeout Birthday Cake

So do you watch the television show Wipeout? It is one of our favorites mainly because our son thinks that it is hilarious...well we do too! Basically a bunch of ridiculous obstacles in which you expect the contestants to "wipeout" on and commentators that make it even funnier! One of my son's favorite things to do is to make-up "Wipeout" courses for his Fischer Price Little People including replays, screams, and even some of the witty commentating! He has been doing this ever since this show started...something like 2 years or more. So why not make a "Wipeout" cake for his birthday! So first I asked him what obstacles were some of his favorites and then decided from there what I thought I might be able to actually make. My husband even helped me make one of the obstacles. So without further ado, here are the Wipeout obstacles!

This is the Starting line for the course...where the contestants let out their Wiepout cries! I learned of a technique to mash cake crumbs with some frosting to make a "meatloaf" type consistency and then use that to make into shapes. That is how I made the ramp.

Next up is an obstacle that I cannot remember the name of, but basically the checkered wall has doors that open as the contestants are trying to run past them and then the sweepers are there to make it that much harder (and that much funnier when they wipeout!). My son later told me this was suppose to be a mud obstacle...whoops!

The Banana Hammocks! A fun mud obstacle made from Laffy Taffy formed to make the shape and set on Tootsie roll posts.

The Big Balls...gotta have the Big Balls! I made the big balls with that "meatloaf" combo I mentioned above and coated them in red chocolate. I did not coat the bottoms of the balls though so they kind of sank down on their posts.

The Giant Swings...they have done many combinations of the giant swings on the show, but we just went for the basic one. This is the obstacle my husband put together. The sticks of Pringles Honey Sticks and it is held together with white chocolate.

Here is the top view of the cake. The Starbursts mark the path between the obstacles. I also tried to add some little grass accents around the course and around the bottom of the cake.

It ended up being a lot of cake for us and the little mini party we had for my son, so my husband had to take a huge chunk of it into work. Again a very time-consuming cake, but I will admit it was a lot of fun to make! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

Super Mario Cupcakes

I'm back! Last week was a rough week like I anticipated...well actually a little rougher than I thought. I knew I was going to have late nights with the decorating that I was planning, but I didn't realize that my daughter would be sick (and hence not sleeping well) at the same time. So it was fun dealing with a cranky, tired, feverish little girl when I was pretty tired and cranky myself (no fever for me!). But it is done and the cupcakes and cake turned out great! First I will show you the cupcakes I made for my son's classroom...the cake will be in a separate post.

My son loves to watch his Daddy play Super Mario Galaxy. For some reason he refuses to try and play the game himself (anyone else have a child like this...I swear he can be very odd sometimes!), but he LOVES to watch Daddy play, talk about the different Mario worlds, and even draw new Mario worlds. So I thought it would be fitting to make him some Mario themed cupcakes to take into school.

Obviously the Mario and Yoshi ones were the hardest, but since so many colors were used, it was a long night of decorating! I need a couple more of the same decorating tip or something to avoid having to constantly wash the tip everytime I want to change colors. I was smart enough to buy a couple extra decorating bags though which brought me to 4....probably could use some more since I still had to wash bags too while decorating! You can see individual images of the designs below. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

Happy Rainbow

Happy St. Patty's Day all! I have my green on today...do you? My son went to school this morning hoping that one of the Kindergarten Leprechaun traps (which was definitely a more parent intensive project!) caught a Leprechaun! Excited to hear what he finds at school when I pick him up. We made some cute little shamrock treats for dessert last night cuz tonight the kids and I eat early due to my son's gymnastics.

Anyway, I am not one to send St. Patty day cards, but I thought this rainbow theme went well with today! Personally I like the cupcake better than the card, so I am showing it first! I made these last year for a Rainbow Party at my son's preschool class. Isn't it awesome! I found the directions in a couple of spots: Family Fun and The Idea Room (she did a Rainbow cake). It was time consuming, but to bite into one of these is so fun with all of those colors!!

The card I made last year as well (obviously forgot to post everything) for a submission to Paper Crafts magazine. A fun card, but I think there is too many clouds or something! And since it was so long ago, no supply list for that one, but I think you can pretty much figure it out.

Well here's hoping for a lucky day (in other words my daughter's cold magically disappears, I somehow get a nap, and my cupcake and cake decorating goes well tonight...oh and that my son caught a Leprechaun...hehe)! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!