Winter Wonderland Cakes

Since I enjoy cooking and baking so much, I often receive gifts related to these hobbies for Christmas. And last year I received this cute little cake pan from my husband...

What a great way to make a winter wonderland cake centerpiece! I pulled out this pan today and got a box of cake mix out of the pantry. Yes, today was more about the prettiness of the dessert, not the actual baking. I made the mix according to the box directions, but I only baked the cakes for about 30 minutes. I made sure to grease and flour the molds to try and prevent the cakes from sticking. When they came out they looked like this...

I had enough batter to make two batches. In my two batches I only lost one chimney. Success! I cut of the bottoms of the cakes, so they could sit flat. The bottoms also make for a delicious snack. 

Next step was to top with powdered sugar. I decided sifting the sugar would be the best way to make it look like the houses were dusted with snow.

This is what it looked like when I put it on the table...

It still seemed like something was missing, so I removed the middle house and added a Christmas tree candle.

Pretty cute! And I got to use my cake stand again!

Fall Centerpiece

I love fall... the colors, the scents, the food. Since I don't have kids, I don't really decorate for Halloween. Instead I try and add a bit of fall flair to my home. One of my favorite things are those adorable mini pumpkins and gourds. They are a great way to add some fall color to your home and they last through the whole season without spoiling. Plus they are so darn cute!

After visiting a fall themed bridal show, I was even more inspired to decorate my house for fall. I also saw some talk show that used a cake plate to hold fall decor and knew instantly what I wanted to do. So here is a simple way to use those cute little pumpkins in a decorative way...

Start with a simple covered cake plate. This idea gave me an excuse to go out and get one of these.

Next I went to the store and bought a hand basket full of these little pumpkins. I love the striped one!

I always go a bit overboard at the craft store so I had these leaves from a previous trip that I didn't have a use for until now.

After taking all the "leaves" off the "stems" I was ready to assemble my centerpiece. It couldn't be simpler... Just take the cover off the cake stand and fill it up with the pumkins and gourds. Throw some of the leaves into the empty spaces and put the stand on top of the cover. Invert and you have a really pretty centerpiece!

I had a few pumkins left over that didn't fit, so placed them around the stand along with some of my craft store flowers. I love this simple idea. And I already know what I am going to do with this stand for Christmas!