Birthday Baking Traditions + A Zebra-Print Cake Almost Too Cute to Eat

Ecclesiastes 11:8  NIV

"However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all."

It's that time of year for us! The month of May. This year we have two birthdays, Mother's Day and a high school graduation.

When I first became a part of this family, I wanted to incorporate all sorts of my own traditions into it. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Now I see importance of making new traditions when you're part of a blended family. So, when it comes to celebrating Grace's (now almost 14) and Sarah's (just turned 18) birthdays, that's exactly what I did. Every year, I ask them what kind of cake they want me to make them. It can be absolutely anything. We've done basic cakes, rainbow cakes and a few different cheesecakes so far. I do it because I love them, but I would be lying if I didn't mention how much joy baking brings me too.

Sarah's birthday has passed (I made her a chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake and will save that for another post), but Grace's approaches. Tonight she has six of her closest friends spending the night. In fact, they've painted designs all over their faces because they're about to play flashlight tag in our backyard. I believe this is the part where I hear their joyous high pitched screams. Anyway, this birthday, Grace asked me to make her a zebra striped cake. So I perused Pinterest, as I almost always do, and came across this.

I usually bake everything from scratch, but I must admit that I was nervous about this one. I was worried my cake would turn out marbled rather than zebra. I didn't want to put the extra effort into a scratch cake if I wasn't going to be 100% happy with it. Plus, it's a great time saver! A couple of boxes of cake mix and an unbelievably delicious Martha Stewart frosting recipe later, I got this!

Let's just say, not only did we celebrate a sweet young lady's birthday, but we celebrated the zebra surprise inside this teal beauty. The gasps from the other girls made me giddy. It actually worked!

Baking a Zebra-Print Cake

1. Take a box each of white cake mix and devil's food cake and mix according to the directions on the packages. Put each mix in a separate pourable container. I used Pyrex liquid measuring cups.

2. In two greased round cake pans, starting from the center, pour a bit of white cake mix into the center of each pan. Next, pour the chocolate cake mix into the center of the white you just poured. Keep doing this until your cake pans are half full. They will appear to have rings in the alternating colors.

3. Bake (according to directions or recipe) and cool your cakes. Once cooled, I level them with a serrated knife.

4. Now it's time to decorate your cake. I used Wilton's gel icing colors in blue and green and the above mentioned recipe to create this teal frosting.

5. Slice and be amazed! It really is that easy!

Well, I should go finish my slice and there's more celebrating to be had.  Remember to enjoy each day that God has blessed you with and maybe do a little something for someone else to help them enjoy theirs.

Bake a cake. Share a slice.

Through His Eyes {Natural Eye Shadow Tutorial}

Psalm 139:13-16  NIV

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

It is so comforting to know that God knew every detail about us before we were born. He knew the count of every hair on our heads, the color of our eyes, the curves of our noses and the emotions of our hearts. It's important to know that God loves each of us and through His eyes, we are all beautiful.

As women, we're notorious for spending a lot of time putting on makeup, getting our hair done and shopping for the latest outfits. We love that stuff, but we are also the hardest on ourselves when it comes to our appearance. That's why, when you're having a bad hair day, or obsessing over the size of your thighs, you need to remember this:

This is the way God made you. You are beautiful in his eyes. Magazines and the television are not the definition of beauty. God's love for every detail of you is. That being said, it doesn't mean we shouldn't do things for ourselves that boost our self confidence.

Grace is turning 14 years old next week. She loves looking on Pinterest at the latest eye makeup tutorials and is always asking me to help her. Hank and I let her start wearing makeup last year, but we had limitations. She was only allowed to wear powder, mascara and lip gloss. Today, I decided it was ok for her to start wearing eye makeup, as long as it's appropriate for daytime. The below tutorial shows you an every day look that's perfect for school, work or a walk in the park.

Products: Wet 'N Wild Coloricon Trio in Walking on Eggshells, Covergirl Clump Crusher in 805 Black, and any eyeliner of your choice. Since Grace is blonde, we chose a deep brown.

1. Apply the browbone color(off white) from the Wet 'N Wild set under the brow bone and in the inner corners of the eyes.

2. Apply the eyelid color(pink brown) over the eyelids and into crease.

3. Apply the crease color(dark brown) on the outer corners of the eyelid and in the crease. Blend with a fluffy brush up towards brow bone.

4. Add brown eyeliner on the top eyelash line. With a skinny brush(eyeliner brush will work) line the lower lash line with the crease color. Do not line with eyeliner.

5. Apply mascara to the top lashes only to make them look big and gorgeous!

That's it! Enjoy your easy new look and remember that YOU are beautiful inside and out!