One Little Beefer

My littlest turned one on Saturday. Oh my. What that does to a mommy's heart. I was reminiscing all day long as to where I was in the process of labor (my midwife had me walking around Lowe's Home Improvement store until my contractions were about a minute apart) and shed some tears as I wrote in  his journal that morning, while the house was still quiet.

I had been preparing all week by making miniature hamburger and hot dogs out of fondant to place on top of his cupcakes. I was inspired by his nickname, Beefers, for the theme of the party. It took me weeks to figure out what I wanted to do. He's too little to love any type of Disney character or for me to know that he loves fire trucks or zoo animals, (but I'm pretty sure he loves himself and so do we) so it was settled. We would have a Backyard BBQ themed 1st birthday party.

Back to the fondant. I've never used this stuff in my life. I've eaten, liked it, watch people on Food Network battle it out for $10,000 with it, but never manipulated it. Now, back in the crafting days of the early '90's my mom and I did our fair share of polymer clay sculpting. Everything from Christmas tree decorations to piggy earrings...yes, pig earrings were somehow considered cool back then. I think that training gave me an edge.

I had a blast creating these edible, sugary faux foods. It was an assembling  line that couldn't have been cuter. I love mini things. I was actually bummed when I was done. I wanted more to do.

So here's the run down if you want to make your own little cupcake fondant toppers:

1. Go to your local craft store and buy a box of white rolled fondant, I use Wilton brand.
2. Use the gel paste, not regular food coloring, to color your fondant. Use tiny amounts to start off with. Colors like red and brown required more color than yellows and greens.
3. Mix them with gloves on!
4. Keep fondant that you are not using wrapped up. It dries out quickly.
5. Use cornstarch to keep it from sticking you your board.
6. Use tiny amounts of water to adhere one piece to another.

But I had plenty to do in getting ready for the party, so I did these a couple days ahead and they keep perfectly, most likely, indefinitely.

Those are my rookie tips. I would definitely do it again. I find tedious work like that relaxing, but for some it would equal bald spots...from ripping their hair out. I made 12 hot dogs and 12 hamburgers. Totally Beefer-licious!

He was so excited to check out the cake he put his foot in it. I don't think anyone ate that one.

He refused to wear his hat, which I figured would happen, so his brother and sister gladly helped out in that department...they are still wearing the hats, three days later.

We had a great time and after he figured out what to do with the cake, he was happy for about 3 minutes and then decided he'd had enough.

Happy Birthday, my precious baby boy!