It’s fun to get little glimpses into the lives of our friends, so I wanted to give you one into mine!  Did you know I used to be a cake decorator?  I ran a small biz creating sugary confections, and I’d love to share a few with you and talk about what led me to that random blip in my career pursuits!  Long before I was “Cotton Stem,” I was all about cakes.  😉  Let me show ya some of my faves!

 

Loved working with fresh flowers, and creating this wedding cake for my sister’s bestie was so fun!  

Birthday cake made for a Cubs fan.  Did you know you can add shimmer to fondant icing by mixing edible shimmer powder with vodka, paint it onto your piece, and then the vodka dries leaving you with shimmer!  

 

When my husband and I were newlyweds, we had just moved to a new town where we knew not a soul, and he decided to go back to school at night to pursue a different career path.  I was all for it!  But…what did that mean for little ol’ me to do after work while he was in school?  Lots of evenings spent alone in a new town with no real solid friendships yet.  I was very bored and very lonely, so I signed up for cake decorating classes!  Random, but it beat being bored!  I had always loved school and learning (nerd alert….🤓), so I thought the cake classes would be a fun way to pass the time until my new husband returned from night school.  I spent my evenings elbow-deep in butter cream icing, and my classmates were all at least 70+.  It was awesome.  They were my little adopted grandmothers in a town of strangers, and I had such fun chatting away with them while we decorated our sad little beginner cakes.  😉

 

Loved using lots and lots of dragees (edible pearls) on this rustic glam farmhouse style wedding cake to mimic the style of the bride’s dress! 

 

As time went on, I decided I might actually not be too terrible at this skill, so I continued signing up for the next higher level class and the next and the next.  When I was finally finished, I had learned a whole new skill set, and I’d found a way to pass the time while getting involved in my new town.  Through word of mouth, I began selling cakes and cookies to friends and family, and the people in my life were so sweet to funnel business my way.  I blinked, and five years of decorating cakes and cookies went by!  I had built up quite a little business of sugary concoctions, and I found myself having to turn down clients because I was too busy.  Who would have thought?!  Looking back, however, I realize just what a blessing signing up for those rando cake classes had been to my family…..

 

Cowboy themed birthday party calls for a cow hide/kerchief/blue jeans cake complete with edible ropes and cow bell!

It’s a (fondant) jungle out there, guys. 😉

 

After I had my first daughter, I knew that I would finish up that year of teaching high school, and then I desired to stay home and raise my little baby.  It was QUITE a roller coaster of emotions as I tried to find my place in this new world of mine.  One day, I was a working woman, and the next, I was staying home with a baby. Identity crisis, anyone?!  😉  And, to tell you the truth, my little cake decorating business really helped bridge that transition.  I still had something to do that wasn’t “just” about being a Mom 24/7, not to mention it really did help us pay the bills and have some money to use for guilt-free fun.  Having a husband seeking his doctorate degree while the wife pops out babies and quits her job was not cheap, folks! 😳😂  Also, decorating cakes helped me continue to flex my creative muscle.  Every single cake was different, and every single client wanted something new, original, and creative.  It was stressful at times, but it was oh so very fun.  Y’all know how I always say, “I must create or burst!!!”  That was me, only with buttercream instead of nailing books on a wall….😂

 

One of the most out-of-the-box cakes I created for a bride who was a little bit boho-farmhouse before that was a thing! 😉  Rolled up sheets of fondant until they were dried firm, and I used varying heights to create a super-textured wedding cake topped with fresh flowers coordinating with her bouquet!

Braided pastel fondant pinwheels for my daughter’s bestie for her birthday.

 

Once baby daughter #2 arrived, it was time to pack up the spatulas and buttercream as it became too much to manage with two daughters under two years old.  Creating and designing cakes was such a pleasant and encouraging endeavor, and I really do believe God used it for good in my life during that five year season.  Earning an income while being creative and meeting new clients helped bridge the gap between full-time working woman with no kids to full-time Mommy of two.  😊  Now that I have four daughters 7 years old and under and run an interior decorating biz/blog/IG….you better BELIEVE that I pick up my cakes pre-decorated from the local bakery.  Ain’t no body got time for that no more.  😂  But you know…it sure was fun while it lasted and provided for my family and my creative soul in just the right ways. ❤️

 

Simple elegance for this black and white wedding cake, accented with fresh red roses.

On the job doing last touches before the bride and groom came in.  SO STRESSFUL transporting someone’s wedding cake, let me just TELL YOU. 😳  But so fun, too.

 

Anyway, there ya go!  A little glimpse into my past and the seemingly random (but so perfectly timed from Him) way to get to know people in a brand new town, to express myself creatively and challenge my goals and to provide for my little family financially just when we needed it.  Designing cakes was certainly a sweet season of my life…pun intended. 😉
❤️Erin