a visit with Wilton

Last week I had the opportunity of getting to visit the headquarters of Wilton [1] for a peek inside their operations, a bit of cake decorating instruction and a look at the frenzy of the annual Wilton tent sale. It was pretty neat. The first thing I learned? I'm not so great at wielding a frosting tip. It's going to take a great many more hours of practice. We learned stars, rosettes, zig-zags, shells, vines, leaves and buds. I am only confident at leaves. We learned how to do that nifty basket weave! It's more simple than you might suspect and is therefore worthy of showing off and pretending like it was a lot of work. This is the camera crew who was around all day. At first I found it disconcerting but by the end of the day I might or might have not have been looking straight into the camera while wearing a tablecloth tied around my neck like a giant bib and saying "I like my dress more than I like my dignity." You may never know. One of the new-to-me things from the day were these shaped rubber bands that easily hold the end of your pastry bag. So easy to use! So smart! I also learned that I'm not a natural when it comes to working with fondant. I'm supposed to have a whole bunch more finished objects on that yellow square there. My final flower had a lot of assistance from the instructor. As in: she did it for me. We got to take a tour of the props rooms, the photography studio and the studio space where the designers create camera perfect cakes (we weren't allowed to take photos in there since they were getting ready for future things, but oh my gosh I wish I could show you what their cake closet looks like, it's amazing.) Then we had a short cake decorating competition! We had an hour to come up with a theme and decorate some pre-made papier mache cakes. Our team went with what we knew how to do, basket weave (learned about three hours earlier, mind you) and making use of the many pretty sugar flowers offered on the tables. You know what seems easier and faster than it is? Cake decorating. Know what's worse? Cake decorating with a film crew in the room. We barely finished in time. I have heaps of new respect for those people in the cake decorating competitions I see on television. I have to admit, though, it was a lot of fun. We took a tour of the official Wilton School where they hold all the classes, and there was a class going on so it was really cool to get to see works in progress. They have a great setup with overhead cameras and giant screen so you can see the instructor's hands. I intend to return and learn how to blow sugar bubbles next year. The picture above is the only one I grabbed, it shows foam hair curlers propping open pieces of a fondant bow while it drives. Clever. Afterward we took a tour of the test kitchens were Wilton assures that their recipes will turn out the same in your kitchen. They have a two sided kitchen, one with a gas stove and the other side with an electric stove. We were all crowded into it so I don't have a decent photo, but it was reassuring to see that they use the same household appliances we do. One of my favorite things was the wall of Wilton history. Apparently the company was started to teach people how to decorate with boiled and pulled sugar! This black and white photo shows off decorated cakes that one must actually crack the surface of to get inside. (I so badly want to do this! A pinata cake, how fun!) Later they joined forces with frosting decorators and formed classes closer to what we'd think of today. In the Depression they practiced using mashed potatoes instead of buttercream since sugar was rationed. We happened to be there during the annual Wilton Tent Sale. (Did you know this was a thing? I did not!) It was enormous, like visiting a Costco on Saturday afternoon full of nothing but cake decorating supplies that are 75% off. The best sellers? Clear vanilla and parchment paper, smart shoppers those. Not shown: the giant whoopie pie pans, and a whole stack of my personal favorite, the skull cake pan [2]. I talked two casual browsers into buying the skull cake pan while I stood there. Seriously. Then it was off to dinner where all our cakes were displayed. And our cake won an award! Ok, everybody's cakes won awards! We got "Most Contemporary". Go team contemporary! Huge shout out to Nosh With Me [3] and Mommy Hates Cooking [4] for being quick with the frosting and having quite the eye for flower placement. These awards were made from real fondant and frosting and somebody put a lot of work into making about thirty of them, so thanks, they were lovely. You know what I didn't get? A lot of photographs of all the awesome people. Here is everybody I met (some in person at long last, some for the first time, everybody was amazing): Thank you Wilton! One last note: if you're ever going to take a cake decorating class don't wear a mostly-white dress. Trust me on this one. [1] http://www.wilton.com/ [2] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2010/09/07/three-words-skull-cake-pan/ [3] http://noshwithme.com/ [4] http://www.mommyhatescooking.com/

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Papier-Mache Easter Eggs

[1] For Easter I made papier-mache polka dotted eggs. [2] I made small pinatas using water balloons and tissue paper. [3] I filled them with candy, then sealed them shut. [4] You can also put toys or notes inside. [5] They have to be ripped to open them, which is way fun. [6] Click here: Papier-Mache Easter Eggs [7] to find (much) more detailed instructions on how to make them. [1] http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/papiermacheeastereggs/ [2] http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/papiermacheeastereggs/ [3] http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/papiermacheeastereggs/ [4] http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/papiermacheeastereggs/ [5] http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/papiermacheeastereggs/ [6] http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/papiermacheeastereggs/ [7] http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/papiermacheeastereggs/

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May Birthday Giveaway: Embroidery Companion

What?s going on here? My site started ten years ago this month and to celebrate I?m giving away something each weekday. Because I like you. Today I'm tickled to have a copy of Alicia Paulson's second book Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living [1] to give to one lucky winner. Alicia is one of those people I've known online for almost as long as I've had an internet connection, and whom I'm happy to say is just as awesome and warm in person, and I adore the love and care she puts into all her work. Her take on embroidery shows a fondness for the past but has a modern and cheerful way about it. She also has a delightful blog, Posie Gets Cozy [2] where she talks about food, dogs, gardening and the joys of hammocks. And she produces patterns for sewing, crochet and embroidery as well as offering the occasional carefully compiled craft kits which sell out crazy fast, her latest was the Daisychain ABC Sampler [3], and I love her felt Christmas ornaments [4]. You can find everything at her online shop Rosy Little Things [5]. If you'd like to win the copy of Embroidery Companion please leave a comment with this post and, if you'd like, answer this question: What is the first craft you remember doing? Though my mother has evidence of earlier creations the first thing I remember was using cut fruit as stamps to decorate t-shirts on a rainy afternoon during a vacation. Your turn, you've got until Friday, May 27th at 10 a.m. PST to enter, the fine print [6] applies. Good luck! Closed, thank you so much for entering! [1] http://aliciapaulson.com/books.html [2] http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com [3] http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/2011/04/daisychain-abcs-c... [4] http://www.rosylittlethings.com/snowdaypattern.html [5] http://www.rosylittlethings.com/ [6] http://www.notmartha.org/the-fine-print/

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May Birthday Giveaway: jewelry from Dave Sheely Designs

[1] What?s going on here? My site started ten years ago this month and to celebrate I?m giving away something each weekday. Because I like you. Today I've got two pairs of earrings and one hilarious ring from Dave Sheely Designs [2] for one lucky person. Dave knows his resins and uses only the highest quality in his jewelry, they don't discolor over time, don't shatter, and are scratch resistant (which means a bright orange ring I have of his has stayed as lovely and shiny as the day Scott gifted it to me!). Each of his pieces is hand colored and polished, and since Dave is a friend I can tell you a whole lot of care goes into each one. His designs combine bright colors and a sense of humor and often incorporate beach glass or tiny objects meticulously placed, take a look at his Floating Red Gemstone [3], or the Crystal Esther Ring [4] to see some of my favorites. Today I've got two pairs of textured earrings, one set of orange discs and one set of teal shapes (these earrings are super lightweight, I've held some), and one "Ring Finger Ring" (size 9) which is made to flip and point on it's own. Oh gosh that is so weird, I want one. If you'd like to win this fabulous set of jewelry from Dave Sheely Designs please leave a comment with this post and, if you'd like something to talk about, answer this question: Have you ever lost a favorite piece of jewelry? I have, in high school I had a favorite chunky silver ring that held a particular sort of teenage symbolism for me. I lost it in the dressing room of a TJ Maxx while trying on prom dresses. I was heartbroken. Ever since then I tend to obsessively check to make sure my jewelry is in place (and it's also one big reason I didn't want a real diamond in my engagement/wedding ring). Ok, you've got until Wednesday, May 25th at 10 a.m. PST to enter, the fine print [5] applies, good luck! Closed, thanks so much for entering! [1] http://www.etsy.com/shop/davesheelydesigns [2] http://www.etsy.com/shop/davesheelydesigns [3] http://www.etsy.com/listing/18091186/flame-red-gemstone-floats-in-clear-resin [4] http://www.etsy.com/listing/18702698/the-esther-ring-crystal-tinged-with-blue [5] http://www.notmartha.org/the-fine-print/

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May Birthday Giveaways!

Hi, hello, hi there. This May marks the tenth year of Not Martha, ten years! A whole decade! To celebrate I'm holding giveaways each weekday in May filled with stuff I love from people I know. It's gonna be fun. Looking back at the archives I see the first post was on May 22nd, 2001 and I only posted six things that month. The very first post to this site was about a kit that helps you put gifts inside of balloons [1] (sadly, a dead link), the second post was about a long time love of mine the Meathead [2] (miraculously it's still there [3], it's a plastic skull covered with red jello then layers of cold cuts to be served at Halloween and the reason I called my meatloaf hand the Meat Hand [4]), my third post was a list of stuff I liked [5] including retro video games, cookbooks and dishes made of sugar. Posts four [6], five [7] and six [8] are regarding Fluevog shoes that leave hoof prints, gasses that preserve a half empty bottle of wine, and the article in Salon that mentions a magazine that would be published sometime later that year, it was called "Readymade". Taking just the first six posts into consideration I'm gonna go ahead and say this here site hasn't changed much in the past decade. It really doesn't seem like that long. Each giveaway will take entries for about 24 hours and the first one will be tomorrow morning. Good luck everybody! [1] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2001/05/22/3748413/ [2] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2001/05/22/3756879/ [3] http://cascade.mit.edu/halloween/meathead.html [4] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2009/10/27/meat-hand/ [5] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2001/05/23/3764482/ [6] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2001/05/29/3847111/ [7] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2001/05/29/3847974/ [8] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2001/05/30/3859563/

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