That experiment was FAIL! Sort of....

Back in August I started getting rid of 105 things every day and was blogging my progress. I managed to make it 80 days (well almost, I missed a few days) before I gave up entirely. It was not a loss though, that's nearly 1200 items gone out of my house!

Going through this activity was a real eye-opener. I knew we had a lot of stuff, but WOW we have a lot of stuff! I have also learned where my areas of weakenss are with respect to getting rid of stuff.

1. Sentimental: This is the hardest stuff to get rid of. Even if it is something that is broken, or no-longer used it is hard to get rid of because of the memories.

2. It is worth something: I hate getting rid of something that was costly. I've sold a few items, but that is a lot of work. I just have to keep in mind that when I give items away I am blessing the people/charities that are receiving the items. (PS. If I offer you something, only take it if you need it, want it or love it, otherwise it is not a blessing)

3. I don't know what to do with it: I have odd slippers, parts of games, etc. which are particularly frustrating. I have been trying for years to mate these items without success. Generally I can't remember where I put them or the kids have gotten into them before they can be reunited. I need to be ruthless in getting rid of this stuff.

4. I start, but don't follow through: Particularly when we work on the basement, we end up gathering items to give away or throw away and then they sit there. So next time we do a purge we end up finding stuff that should already have been dealt with.

Having my Cake and Eating it too!

I've want to learn to decorate cakes for years. Before I was married I bought a piping bag and tips from a kitchen store, but it took me a couple of years before I got around to trying them.

I got my first instruction on cake decorating from a friend who had taken the Wilton course. She helped me to make my daughter's cake for her 4'th birthday. A ballerina bear in a VIBRANT pink tutu.

As our family has expanded and my kids have gotten older I have continued to make and decorate cakes as a less expensive option to the store bought cakes.

This one was made using a mix, canned frosting,
sprinkles and candies, and fruit roll-ups. 

Also from a mix and pre-made frosting.
I made this for my second daughter.
I always wanted a Barbie cake as a kid. 

My eldest daughter has been helping me decorate cakes for a couple of years now. Most we have used mixes and pre-made frosting, but have actually made our own fondant. (Mainly because I couldn't justify the cost of the pre-made)

Perry Cake -- based on the pet platepus from
Disney's Phineas and Ferb. 

Finally schedules aligned so that I could take the course and my eldest is taking it with me. We've learned a lot on our own, but I thought it would be nice to learn some tips and tricks.

One is mine, and one is my Daughter's. 

Can you tell whose is whose?

She didn't take the second course with me which was making sugar flowers. 

But she did continue making and decorating cupcakes on her own. 

Tonight we start the fondant course. We'll be working on more sugar flowers, but using fondant instead of royal icing, and learning how to work with fondant. 

I'm starting to get asked to make cakes now, and have three cakes to make in the next two weeks. On top of that I am going to make a cake for Mother's day and a pot-luck in two weeks. 

I'm going to try out a new frosting recipe today. My husband finds the decorator buttercream too sweet. After the first couple of lessons he asked if I could take a pie course instead. I told him if he found a place offering one, to just sign me up!