Boy 1st Birthday : Standing Owl Cake, Smash Cake & Owl Cupcakes

Well, I didn't mean for it to be nearly a week between posts, but due to cake orders, plumbing problems, exhaustion, dramatic weather, busted water pipes and a host of other things, I just haven't had time to sit down and write a full post.... until today. I'm sharing Boy 1st Birthday: Standing Owl Cake, Smash Cake & Owl Cupcakes.

I did manage to share quite a few pics and fun things over on Facebook this week, but that was it! But hopefully this week (or next few weeks) will be less eventful and I can get back into a regular groove with posting.

So... as promised on Facebook, here are  the details and pics from the owls I posted last week!

I've done more owl cakes than I can count (scroll through them here), but this was my first and only (so far) owl cake for a little boy... and it was blue and oh-so-cute! And goodness did I have fun with it! For Joseph's 1st birthday, I did a Standing Owl Cake, Smash Cake and Owl Cupcakes!

First, I'll tell you about the Standing Owl cake. Oh, and I need to tell you that this design is not mine. My customer sent me a picture from Elegantly Iced and that's what I used as inspiration.

And if you're wondering about how to do it... I've got good news!! I'm working on a two (or possibly three) part tutorial for this cake. Part 1 is already finished and part 2 (and 3 if necessary) will be finished up this week!

I can tell you that it was almost a foot tall and it was made from 6" round cakes and cakes baked in the Wilton Sports ball pan. The hat on top was made from rice cereal treats then covered in fondant and all other decorations were done with homemade marshmallow fondant.

Here are some more close ups of the big cake (scroll down to see details and pics of the smash cake and cupcakes...):

I used this Jem Tool to do the "feathers" on the owls' belly, and a "1" cutter from this number cutters set.. and of course, my funky alphabet cutters for the lettering.

The wood grain fondant on the board was made with Satin Ice brown (chocolate) fondant and I did the rings with a gum paste tool. I promise lots more details and the step-by-step tutorial will be posted soon... if you have questions in the meantime, leave them in the comments!

Now, for the smash cake. This little guy was super popular when I shared him on Facebook the other day (look at all these likes and shares!!).

This little bird was made with two 4-inch round cakes and a small half-ball cake baked in a small Pyrex dish for the top part of the owl's head. I covered him in white vanilla buttercream, then used a 1M tip to pipe on the blue "feathers" after putting on his eyes. The beak and feet were orange fondant. He was probably 5-6" tall when finished.

The cupcakes were well... just precious! I could've just made these all.day.long!

I bought the Autumn Carpenter Cutie Cupcake Flutter Friends set for the owl also used the mini accent cutters to the eyes, beak, and wings. I used the Jem tool again for the feathers. They were done with homemade marshmallow fondant except the black center of the eyes - they were Satin Ice black fondant.

I cut out the white circles with a fluted edge cutter and the "1" from this number set over at BrownCookie.com.

The big owl cake and the cupcakes were confetti cake with cream cheese buttercream and the smash cake was blue & white tie-dyed cake with cream cheese frosting.

And that's all... do you love it as much as I do (please say yes, please say yes)? I really hope so... this theme and design are one of my all-time favorites and I really put my heart into these. Well, I feel bad saying that because I put my heart into all of them, but this one was just special, ya know?!