here’s the cake.

Posted on 9 July 2017 by what sandra thinks

My nephew’s birthday cake.

It’s really not very exciting… but a couple of you asked me to post…

I don’t really know what possessed me to volunteer to do this cake. Yeah, I enjoy it mostly, but there are always moments of anxiety when I realize that I am not, in fact, Duff, and it’s not going to look like a professional made it.

So.

When my sister told me my nephew was into Ben 10, I chose the simplest design possible. [Ben 10 is a Cartoon Network animated show. The kid has this watch thingy called an ‘omnitrix‘ that he uses to turn into various aliens so he can fight evil. (There have been, like, five different incarnations of this show. My son was into one version about six years ago, thus my extensive knowledge of the character.)]

Anyway… take a look at the watch on the cute kid’s wrist.

Like I said, simple design.

Voilà.

   

Gifts have become a problem. Kids have so much these days… it’s nearly impossible to figure out what else they could possibly want. So… I went with the universal gift… money. But I’m not just going to shove some bills into a card. That’s just not me. I made a little boat. Isn’t it cute?

The party (at my Mom’s like always) was nice… It was a gorgeous day and the pool was wonderful. Aside from a few snarky comments from my husband, one of my sisters (the mom of the birthday boy), and my now-8-year-old nephew, it was a good day. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I take things the wrong way. But sometimes, there seems to be only one way. Especially with a kid… one with no filter.

Now… what the hell am I going to do with all that extra black and green frosting in my fridge?


©2017 what sandra thinks

About what sandra thinks

Sandra is a writer, sometimes blogger, poet, artist, emotional disaster. She thinks far too much and sleeps far too little. Sandra lives in the Northeastern U.S. but dreams of an oceanfront home in Italy, but she would settle for a non-oceanfront home in Italy. She loves books, brutal honesty, coffee, and the color black. She hates insincerity, beer, whipped cream, and facebook. And she is uncomfortable talking about herself in the third person.
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47 Responses to here’s the cake.

  1. rallisblog says:
    9 July 2017 at 11:47 pm

    Make another cake 😄 while it’s basic it looks great. Well I think so anyway. A lot better than what I can do. At the end of the day it only gets eaten.
    I’m glad you ended up having a good day. 🤗😎

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  2. supernaturalsnark says:
    9 July 2017 at 11:57 pm

    Give yourself some credit – the cake is awesome! The effort alone is something you should be applauded for. I’d get halfway through and be like, ‘well, you know, I chose to modify the design because I’m lazy’ and it would be a non-decorated cake with a slightly wonky candle that wouldn’t be lit on the account of my aversion to fire.

    Anyway, well done and I’m glad that the day wasn’t too bad. 💜

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    • what sandra thinks says:
      10 July 2017 at 12:12 am

      Thanks,,, 🙂 I put way too much pressure on myself with creative things… which is so stupid because I tend to be good at those things. I guess maybe it makes sense… if I know I’m good at something, I’ve got to live up to that. But if I suck at it, I expect nothing of myself. Does this make me messed up? I mean, more than usual? 🙂

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      • supernaturalsnark says:
        10 July 2017 at 12:23 am

        I don’t think it makes you more messed up at all. If anything it makes sense.

        When you know you’re good at something, the pressure is there to at least maintain the level that you’re already at. So like when someone writes a story, the next one has to be just as good or even better. Or the need to do better on a test even if you got a good grade on the last one. It’s normal, I think. I’m probably the wrong person to ask. I panic over everything, but two words usually get me over the finish line – f*** it. Lol!

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        • what sandra thinks says:
          10 July 2017 at 12:44 am

          Oh, I panic over everything, too. Like, waaaaay too much. But yes, even worse when I know there’s a certain level of expectation. That’s huge for me with writing. Every poem, every story has to be better than the last. And I know it doesn’t happen. My best poems (in my opinion) are from many months ago… My best fiction… not the one I’m currently writing. So I beat myself up a lot. Psychologically, I mean.

          Fuck it does come in handy, too. 🙂

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          • supernaturalsnark says:
            10 July 2017 at 1:01 am

            I hear you on the writing! I am the worst writer ever when it comes to actually being proud of what I write. These days I can write something and know that it’s good but often it’s a battle between knowing that it’s good and needing other people to just confirm that it doesn’t suck.

            So I now ‘forget’ (basically never looking at or thinking it again) the last thing I’ve written when I sit down to write something new. That way I’m not constantly comparing one story to another.

            I’ve stopped asking myself if what I write is good and these days it’s more ‘if someone else wrote this, would I read it?’ and if the answer is yes, I’m happy. If it’s no, I know that need to work on it.

            That being said, I do still have moments of doubt, but that’s life. Always making things hard for us.

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            • what sandra thinks says:
              10 July 2017 at 11:42 am

              Your first paragraph — that’s totally how I am. Sometimes, I think it’s good but I still need someone else to think so before I believe it. But even then, sometimes, I still don’t believe it’s good. I really lack confidence and then there’s that whole unworthy thing.

              It’s really hard not to compare what I write to things I’ve written before. I’m not even sure it’s about “better” or “worse”… sometimes I just have favorites, you know? But I think in my head, if I like it more, it must be better… which is crazy because someone else may like another story better.

              That’s a good idea thinking if someone else would read it. I go back and read things I’ve written and I enjoy them. I need to believe that other people do, too.

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              • supernaturalsnark says:
                10 July 2017 at 9:53 pm

                That’s interesting. I don’t think I have favourites when it comes to my writing. These days I write what I like anyway, so I sort of like it all without preferring one over the other. I basically compartmentalise each story so that I can move on and write something else. Obviously, some stories will be better than others but I tend to look at it from a writing perspective. So instead of saying this story is better, I’ll say ‘my writing is better here’.

                The best advice I’ve ever gotten is ‘write for yourself’. If you like it then your job is done. If other people like it, that’s a bonus. 🙂

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                • what sandra thinks says:
                  10 July 2017 at 10:07 pm

                  I think it is a “writing is better” thing sometimes. Maybe most of the time. I mean, stuff I wrote in my teens is pretty embarrassingly bad… those are not my favorites. 🙂 I know I should be writing for me… and I do but I also have that need for approval or encouragement or something. Too needy… 🙂

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                  • supernaturalsnark says:
                    10 July 2017 at 10:14 pm

                    The way I see it, writing for yourself is the process of actually writing the story and completely exclusive of the need for approval. Purely because you never know when people are going to actually read what you’ve written. That’s not guaranteed, but you liking what you’ve written is easier to achieve. That’s just my take on it, though, because writing is a huge part of who I am but if I think too much about other people’s opinions, I start to dislike writing and I get stuck with a block. I think that’s the case for so many people who don’t write. They worry that people won’t like it. I always say, write write write and forget about everyone else.

                    Encouragement is good, though. It’s always nice to have some kind of helping hand. I’ve gotten used to just doing my own thing but having people read your work and push you to write more etc is one of the best parts of writing. It’s one of the things I miss about my fandom days.

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                    • what sandra thinks says:
                      10 July 2017 at 10:32 pm

                      I barely shared any of my writing before I started this blog. I always thought I was the only one who would enjoy my writing. I didn’t know if it would be considered “good” by anyone… even though I liked it. I always kind of thought I was just this hack and ‘real’ writers and normal people would just laugh at me. Imagine my surprise when they didn’t. I’m still surprised every time. Of course, people could be laughing and just not tell me about it. 😀 😀

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  3. MoJo says:
    10 July 2017 at 12:20 am

    How did you do the black lines so evenly? I get that we can use actual tools but I still can’t get it totally straight like that. It’s like I’m in a frickin earthquake whenever I try to do clean lines. I think it looks awesome girl! Did it taste good? Are your teeth and tongue still black??? 😉

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    • what sandra thinks says:
      10 July 2017 at 12:39 am

      I just used a pastry bag with a flat tip. I’ve found that if I go too slowly when making lines, they look more like I’m in an earthquake. 🙂 A little faster is better. Of course, faster also makes me more likely to screw up. I expected black teeth/tongue but it didn’t happen! 😀

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      • MoJo says:
        10 July 2017 at 1:14 am

        Ok so what I hear you saying is that you think that you would run circles around me in a cake decorating contest. No need to show off Sandra! Normally I would be offended but I totally agree. (I’m so teasing!) (But you actually would kick my butt because I seriously suck at anything requiring fine motor skills.) (No really. It’s like I have tremors but I don’t!)

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        • what sandra thinks says:
          10 July 2017 at 11:51 am

          LOL! Sometimes, I feel that way, too. I don’t even attempt to write on cakes anymore. It always ends up looking like a 4 year old wrote the words. And I never think my work is as good as other people think it is. I see every flaw… they don’t. On this one, I hated the black border around the top. The border at the bottom came out so much better. But I couldn’t remove the top one and try again so I had to live with it… It bugged me the whole time… until we cut the cake!

          Oh, also, I’ve been doing this for a long-ish time. I am ‘self-taught’… there’s so much I wish I could do but I can’t. When I had kids, I started making them cakes or cupcakes for every birthday. They’re 12 and 9 so I’ve had a lot of practice! I posted some of the other cakes once a while back, if you’re interested. I’m NOT trying to show off by mentioning that!! Just thought you might like to see. I love looking at that sort of thing. 🙂

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          • MoJo says:
            10 July 2017 at 12:26 pm

            I was 100% teasing you about showing off but I am still certain that you would grind me into the dirt in a decorating contest! Writing on a cake??? Ha! I can barely read what I write on paper! And the little details make me crazy, too! I have made two really gorgeous cakes (or so I thought). When I finished the first, my daughter said it looked like a plant. If she was just giving me crap, I could have handled that. But she was making an honest observation and of course she said it seconds before everyone showed up. The second was better but it was also covered in real flowers. Why? Well they are pretty. Also it might have to do with my totally effing the icing roses up. They looked like weeds. That had been mowed. But it tasted damn good (as long as you remembered to remove the thorns before you chewed). Lol

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            • what sandra thinks says:
              10 July 2017 at 2:46 pm

              Oh, see? I cannot do the roses… not at all. I tried once and tossed the little blobs (into my mouth). You’d definitely beat me there even if yours look mowed!LOL 😃 But the roses would look SO cool if I made them with black!

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  4. The Indecisive Eejit says:
    10 July 2017 at 2:51 am

    I think you did a great job.
    Keep the icing and use it to make a Wicked Witch if the West cake for those with the snarky comments! Lol

    Liked by 2 people

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  5. sonofabeach96 says:
    10 July 2017 at 7:51 am

    Turned out great! And money is never a bad gift! Extra icing? I smell cupcakes coming on. 😃

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. Meghan Tregellis says:
    10 July 2017 at 7:59 am

    It’s awesome! And you totally can’t waste that fabulous icing, I think cupcakes or even cookies are in order! I can’t remember the last time I bought an actual gift for a kid, it’s always cash now. 😀

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  7. Eric says:
    10 July 2017 at 8:13 am

    Sandra that’s a wonderful looking cake and I know it’s not easy to do. Very awesome thing you’ve done here.

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. gigglingfattie says:
    10 July 2017 at 10:01 am

    ooo awesome job on that cake!! And you should do what everyone needs to do with extra frosting: eat it! haha

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. D. Wallace Peach says:
    10 July 2017 at 10:10 am

    Awesome cake, Sandra. I’d like a slice right about now to go with my coffee!

    Liked by 1 person

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  10. ladieswholunchreviews says:
    10 July 2017 at 2:48 pm

    That cake is so cool — and nicely done. Cash or gift cards is almost all we do any more. One year I taped dollar bills end to end and rolled them inside a box where they had to be pulled through a slot. The kids thought it was a riot. I may do that again for Christmas this year! 🙂

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  11. Peter's pondering says:
    12 July 2017 at 6:44 pm

    Iced dollar bills – now there’s an idea!
    Dollar bills in a cone shape, filled with icing?

    Liked by 1 person

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