Welcome with cake, a pool party and wobbly bikinis.

Well, here goes something. I'm jumping on the bloggercoaster, and I feel like I have no safety harness, haha, just the way I like to live. So I'm going to dive right in, got to start somewhere right? I want to start with cakes, because they are yummy and fun to make (sometimes).

My man (the Sneaky half of madnsneaky) decided on our son's 5th birthday that we would make his cake, which would be in the shape of the number five. My son was having a Numberjacks birthday party that year (DIY Numberjacks decoration post coming soon). That was the beginning of our cake making adventures. The Numberjacks cake was quite easy compared to what we attempt now.

What I will share is the issues we faced along the way and how we solved them, and sometimes didn't. We like to keep it cheap too, so I will share any tips I have on saving dollars.

First cake I'll start with is the pool cake because it is extremely popular with kids and adults alike, this cake idea comes from "The Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book". We also use "30-minute kid's cakes" for info and inspiration. The rest comes from trial and error and Google (love all the sharers out there, you inspired me to do the same).

We made our version last year for our boy's 9th birthday, we also had a pool party and stupidly my 40th birthday party straight after aaaargh. 
Now I have to confess, Sneaky does most of the cake making and decorating, I generally do all the research, shopping, calming down, advising and some small decorating jobs. 
         
Oh and all the cleaning up :(



Most of what you see is self explanatory, the BBQ is from an old Barbie doll set, Tiny Teddies with bikinis piped on, green coloured coconut for grass, cocktail umbrellas, the striped towels were some type of sour strap, Jubes for inflatable rings, the steps were made from cake. 

The cake was made in a large rectangular roasting tin using 2 cake mixes. Two cakes were made this way then jammed together with icing, the pool was cut from the top slab. Sneaky says he didn't have many issues with this cake, but he wouldn't use wafer for the decking as it flexed and warped once dampened with icing.

 This design was was based on the swimming pool at our house where we had the pool party. It was a huge hit with our son and all of his friends. The day was fantastic, but stressful, watching 15 kids in a pool at once is terrifying, even with helpers. 

Those wobbly bikinis are my work :)
Anyone have other suggestions for decking?