itty bitty cakes made from antique candy molds

What are these you ask? They're antique candy molds that were sent to us by our sweet friend Lisa. Lisa collects some of the best ephemera and vintage bits, and she was kind enough to send these our way! To make use of them as candy molds you can press them into a tray of packed brown sugar, pull them out, and then fill the recess with melted chocolate or liquid candy and let cool. 

I totally love them as-is, and I'll be keeping the majority of the collection this way. But I had a few doubles of the same exact design and I thought they would look amazing if they were painted to resemble tiny cakes. 

Some are super elaborate, and these ones looked like tiny bundt cakes. So with acrylic craft paint I painted one a buttery yellow, and the other chocolate. 

To create the transparent glazes I mixed some paint with Liquitex Gloss Fluid Medium and some water until I achieved a consistency that would drip ever-so-slightly down the sides. 

And then just kinda dabbed the glaze around the top of the cake ring until it dripped.

Right away I had the idea to paint this one to resemble lady fingers topped with cherries.

I love how the crosshatch of golden cake peeks through the aqua glaze on this one. 

This is one of the fancier shapes. It was destined to be chocolate with a dark chocolate glaze. I love how the gloss of the glaze makes it stand out against the chocolate cake.

I think they turned out super cute! I can imagine turning them into brooches, or rings! 

What a perfect fit for our little cast iron chef!

This was a fun little project to work on while orders were drying today. I love projects that really only require a fraction of your attention. That way you can craft and make things while still accomplishing your daily work goals. I think I did them all in about 45 minutes while doing a bunch of other stuff at the same time. 

It's still super cold here in Jersey but Aaron and I have our hearts and minds set on thinking Spring. When those sunny warm days arrive we'll be waiting with open arms and hearts brimming with inspiration. We are really looking forward to making and debuting our 2015 Spring collection! 

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Love from the Jersey Shore!

xo, Jenny…and Aaron says hi! 

ps. Thanks SO much Lisa!!

Friday Favorites

As I type this, me and Aaron are doing a little baking here at home. Trust me, what we're making is not even in the realm of the wonderment you're seeing above and below. Tonight's baking sesh is simple and basic…nothing fancy…but it's a fave recipe of ours….muffins for two. Yes, the recipe only makes two muffins…baked up adorably in two pink ramekins. 

But oh jeeez, forget about our common everyday muffins…let's feast our eyes on the work of  the incredibly talented Katherine Sabbath.

I found her on Instagram, and fell hard for her fantastic whimsical cake designs. And isn't she so cute?

 I'm so into the signature shape of her cakes. I love when someone has a specific vision…a particular way of designing their art. I know I've got my own signature shapes when it comes to painting or art journaling. And Aaron, he's got a certain size canvas that he feels very comfortable painting on. 

It's very apparent that Kat Sabbath's chosen cake shape is a tight, tall cylinder. And her style marries so well to this shape. Just look at how perfectly those drips cascade all the way down to the plate.

Can we rewind the summer just so I can do 4th of July all over again??…only this time I want to have a party with this cake as the honored guest.

I came across these photos of a 4th Birthday party and swooned. As far as themes for Birthdays go, I think Vintage Puppy Party belongs way at the top of the list. This sweets table seriously made my heart flutter! Based simply on these pics, I could totally be friends with these awesome parents. Just look at that backdrop of vintage wallpapers and wrapping papers, hung with framed vintage puppy prints! And having all of those pastel candy colored sweets atop a super rustic table is right up my alley. They even put little part hats on all of the puppy figurines! And seriously…besides having so much style…can you even handle the sheer amount of sweets?!?! That is cake heaven right there.

And then the party table itself…wow! All set and ready for the little party guests. I can't even handle the cuteness! Make sure you click the link above…you have to see the rest of the pics and these pics blown up larger.

For a little while now I'd venture to say that Pinterest and Piñata have become synonymous. Go on and take a short stroll through Pinterest and you will encounter piñata galore…taco piñatas, mini piñatas, donut piñatas…I love that piñatas have made a big come back as a party game and as decor. They are just so much fun and so festive. 

I came across some of my current faves in the piñata universe. For instance…how adorable is this cotton candy piñata?! Ahh! the eyelashes! 

...and this carousel horse! I don't know if I'd be able to whack this gorgeous girl…that's another reason  why the blindfold is required. What little girl could look this beautiful creature in the face and swing a stick at it?!

...and c'mon, this is cute overload…French toast!

Me and Aaron are so grateful and honored to be included among these 9 Great Books on BlogHer! I'm such a big fan of BlogHer, and Jennifer Perkins is an endless source of fabulous blog posts…so many awesome projects, DIY's, makeovers, and how-go's. I love her style, and I'm thrilled that she found inspiration in our book! 

I'm always excited to try new paints and mediums. Aaron and I have some history with milk paint…when we started our career together we were first furniture painters and antique furniture restorers, so we were using milk paint over 20 years ago. When I saw this new collection, Milk paint from Imaginisce, I got super excited! 

There aren't a ton of colors, but they've got the classics. I'd really love to get my hands on some of these! And I love that I found them on Scrapbook.com! 

And while we are talking paint…I'd love to work with this set of patterned brayers! They're a perfect tool for art journaling, and mixed media canvases. So much of the artwork that me and Aaron make is rendered in a fairly traditional style. But when we create for ourselves and our only focus is to have fun, we work much more freely with the paint. Sometimes with paint you have to think outside the brush. You almost have to think of paint in an entirely different way…imagine that you're sculpting with it. And brayers like these are awesome for that type of thing.

Ok, thanks so much again for checking out my Friday Faves! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

xo, Jenny…and Aaron says hi!