Let Them Eat Watermelon Cake!

Today is my son's birthday.  He's not a real "cake" fan so for his special day today I decided to try something new.  I saw some watermelon "cakes" on Pinterest, where they cut the watermelon into a cake shape and then decorated it with whipped cream and fruit.   Sounds easy, right?  Well, it was.  Although there are a few things I'll do differently next time, this one is pretty rough, but I'm happy with the way it turned out for a first run!

Time was a little short today, but next time I'll load up a few more "roses" and flowers!

You start with a seedless watermelon.  I used one of the smaller round ones, but I imagine you could use a larger one as well.  I cut a cylinder out of the center to form the "cake".

OK, I've been taking the photography class and one thing I need to note is to wear my glasses when taking photos!! I thought this was as clear as a bell! :)

Yep, thought this was clear as well...

I just eyeballed the cake, but for you type A's, you can certainly use a cut out circle on top as a guide and a level if you want it perfect!

Next I started making the flowers.  I tried to make the watermelon rose smaller by only using a portion of the watermelon instead of the whole thing.  Guess what?  It worked!  I did the same thing with a cantaloupe although I did have to cut it a little more shallow because the cantaloupe is hollow in the middle.

I made a few other flowers using the cantaloupe and some strawberries, then used the rind of the watermelon for some leaves.

Time to assemble!

OK, definitely I will use proper whipping cream next time and not the pre-made type.  I need it to be thick to hold up on a watery base like a watermelon.  I also recommend assembling right before serving and using a few toothpicks to keep the heavier flowers in place on top (I used them for the three roses).  Other than that, it has potential and more importantly, my son loves it!  I also made him a cherry pie which is his favorite pie evah!

Can you smell it??

 I can't tell you how good my house smells right now!  We're off to dinner so we can hurry home and dig in! :)  Happy Birthday Bobby!

Back Deck Furniture and Decorating!

Ah, my little back deck!  When we first moved into our house there was nothing leading out into the back yard.  Not even steps! There was a make shift gate nailed across the back door so no one would accidentally open it, walk outside and fall the three feet to the ground! The house had just been built recently and the couple that lived here had a newborn baby to take care of.  Back yard living was likely not on their to do list!  Better for us because we could do exactly what we wanted!   We immediately had a screened porch put in, which we love.  Last summer though my hubby and son's built a small deck leading off of the porch to make a nice transition from the screened porch to the yard.  It has sat bare ever since...

 Fast forward to a few weeks ago when my sister and I helped our dear friend Kimmy hold a yard sale.  Kim's neighbor joined in as well.  As usual, we had waaayyyy too much fun together!

Me "helping" the yard sale effort by wearing Kim's son's bathrobe and slippers..

Like most multi-family yard sales, half of the time you wind up selling to each other!  Kim's neighbor, Lisa, graciously sold me this World Market porch set for $20!  It was in pretty good condition but had been outside for a while.  I brought it home to see if I could make it work on my little back deck.

A good cleaning and a LOT of spray paint...and I mean A LOT OF SPRAY PAINT!!

And it turned out like this!!

Now for the fun part - decorating the porch!  I took some of my plants from the garden and put together a few window boxes and voila!  A lovely sitting area to enjoy the outside.

Being such an amazing gardener (not), I found these pansies growing under another bush in the front yard.  I had thrown them under there last year after they had bloomed because I thought they were dead - I had no idea they would come back!

I had started some herbs from seed for the first time a few months ago and shock surprise!  They grew! There's the basil, lemon herb, lavender (hasn't made it past the top of the pot yet) and parsley...I'm feeling very Martha!

I just love our new deck and we've been sitting out there every night, talking to each other.  Anything that can bring my family together is wonderful in my eyes!  Worth all the carpal tunnel from spray painting so much!  I hope you are enjoying your spring and are finding some excuses to get outside and relax with your friends and family!

Watermelon Rose!

Since the watermelons are starting to make an appearance again, I thought I would share my video of how to make an easy watermelon rose!  Enjoy!

Just click on "Watermelon Rose" below to see the video!

Watermelon Rose

Happy Mothers Day!!

A little Mother's Day drawing for you today...Happy Mothers Day to all who are or have a Mother!