A Flower Cake.

Hello! A bright and cheery hello! So sorry to be absent yesterday, my usual blogging time was spent visiting my Sister-in-Law, Tamsin, because it was her Birthday, and we wanted to deliver her card and gift, and ended up staying for a glass of celebratory bubbly, something I can never say no to.

I hope you all had a good Halloween weekend? My only experience of Halloween this year was the night before Halloween.

Every year we get opportunists ringing our doorbell before Halloween night, (it used to be up to a week before). The little blighters will be wearing a mask which they have bought, and made no other effort to dress up. They'll do the 'trick or treat' thing. Well, we get sweets in for Halloween, to give out, not the night before, and certainly not a week before. And not to some lousy chancer who's made no effort.

So, my Halloween experience is this.

Last week, the night before Halloween, the door bell rings. I think it must be the postman with a late delivery, thoughts of Halloween do not cross my mind. I open the door. There is a boy, of about thirteen, standing on his own, in jeans, and a hood pulled over his head, and the most SCARY mask on. He mumbles something. But I'm in shock, and also taken unawares, and scared. I have to admit, a shocked expletive came forth from my mouth, and I slammed the door shut. Just like that, not thinking, just reacting.

So there you have it, my Halloween experience. I'm just not used to seeing a hooded lad in a bloomin scary mask on my doorstep, that's all. 

Anyway, back to the main theme of my post for today, my Flower Cake.

A few months ago, I was passing my favourite florist, The Flower Room. Julie, who runs it, has a wonderful eye, and is very creative, and I just love going into her shop, (but try not to do it too often, it can end up being draining on my purse). The next best thing to going into her shop, is to gaze at the window displays. And the  picture above shows one of her displays I particularly loved.

When I saw the flowers, made to look like a cake, I rushed home to get my camera.

Julie was tremendously accomodating with allowing me to take photos. While I was snapping away, and thinking, "how WONDERFUL is this!" I was also wondering how Julie had done it. I thought I was fortunate enough to be allowed to take photos, and that asking how she'd made the flower cake would be a bit cheeky.

I was desperate to ask, but didn't!

And actually, I didn't have to ask, because Julie volunteered the 'how to'. Wasn't that nice of her? I'm thinking you might like to know the 'how to'? Would I be right?!

O.k. here you go: Take your block of florists foam, and cut it into a block smaller than your cake stand, or whatever you're going to put your flower cake on. Whilst it's still dry, you need to shape it, round off the edges, to get a domed effect, (keeping it flat on the bottom so it sits on the cake stand). Now you want to soak it in water, so just put it in a bowl of water for a few hours, or overnight, untill it is all soaked through. Julie used Chrysanthemum's for her display, and I chose to use them too, because they are long lasting. Place your wet florists foam block on your cake stand, and start cutting the stems of your flowers. I think I cut them to about five centimetres, but see what suits you best. Now start pushing the trimmed flower stems into your foam. You'll want the flower stems to stand out from the foam, and the idea is to keep pushing in flower stems to create a domed effect, or whatever shape it is you want. I was a little paranoid about my florists foam drying out, so I think I watered it too much over the following two weeks. I think that foam can hold a lot of water, so it doesn't need watering every day.

And that, dear readers, is your Flower Cake done!

I chose to go for BRIGHT in my Flower Cake, surprising hey?!

Thought I'd show you the other little arrangements Julie had in her window. She'll have used the florists foam for this little number.

I imagine there's a small bit of florists foam in this gorgeous tea cup too.

I like the idea that you can apply the big flower cake making principles to the smaller scale creation above. It would be a lot cheaper to create this one, but still be splendid.

I must admit, presenting this as someone's Birthday cake could be a mistake, unless you were presenting it to a die-hard lover of flowers like me. Can you imagine the looks of disappointment, as faces full of expectations for something edible and yummy, had this very inedible creation placed before them?!

It would make a lovely table decoration at a wedding though, don't you think?

Oooh! I forgot to mention the weekend. Saturday was sunny, so I ventured out in to our neglected garden/jungle, and started trimming/hacking back. Gosh things have grown this year. This summer, I did very little gardening. There were very few sunny days on weekends. Oh, and we were very busy visiting other people's gardens, as part of the open gardens for charity scheme, as I recall. And there were all those country fairs too. My poor garden. Well, I'm paying for it now, because there is a HUGE amount of tidying up to do. And what about Sunday? Ah-ha! Sunday! Well, that's something I will reveal another time, as part of another post. To give you a hint, I've started another hobby, and I've been doing a course, to learn how to do it, and you will never guess in a million years what it is. (It is crafting, that's all I'll say). Oh, and I'm loving it.

Dear readers, I have to go now. Thank you so much for popping by, and thank you so very, very much for all the lovely comments you've been leaving me.
Ta-ra! Love Vanessa xxx

Comments

[Lucille]

Please say it's quilling!

[lucy]

quilting?

[lucy]

or felting?

[Natalie]

needlepoint?.. tatting?... batik printing?!!

lovely pics as usual, it's nice to see some summery colours in such glum weather so glad I can always rely on you :o) but what cheeky kids you have near you! we didn't even get any children knocking on the door on halloween itself let alone before! Have a lovely evening xxx

[Hen]

Oooh, love the flower cakes, right up my street. I. like you, would be thrilled with a flower cake and I should think it would be much kinder to my ever-expanding waistline! It would be a joy to have a florist's shop like that nearby.
I think I remember you telling me about the course, I'll look forward to hearing all about it.
Hen xxx

[SNOOPYDOG]

Those flower cakes look particularly delicious! Hmm, wonder what the new craft is. I'll pop back soon to find out! :D Ros

[Isabelle]

Beautiful beautiful beautiful pictures!
I'm very curious to know what hobby you've started! I will be there tomorrow to read more about it, that's for sure!
Isabelle xx

[Cath W]

Hhmmmmm.....is it pottery?
We had trick-or-treaters the night before Halloween as well. Cheeky or what?
Lovely pic's as usual!
Cath

[Heather]

Oh those cakes are amazing! What a gorgeous way to add cheer and beauty.

[Petit Filoux]

Oooh I'm intrigued! Tell us more!!! Loving the flowers, they're beautiful!

[Janice Perkin]

what a good idea to use a cup and saucer for the flowers - makes a few go a long way - you are a tease - hurry up and explain!!!!!!!!!

[sue]

The flower cakes are beautiful,I'm hopeless at flower arranging but I think I might have a go at one of those.Can't wait to find out what the new hobby is.

Sue xxx

[trudette]

Lovely creations , beautiful pictures , thanks for sharing .

[Kymm]

Vanessa, your tale of the Night Before Halloween was so--soo--funny! Made me laugh out loud, though I can see how you would have been taken aback. I think an adult word or phrase would have popped out of my mouth, too!

[Jane]

I love this post -- I am going to have a guess at your new hobby........ rug making??? I have been making clippy/hooky rugs with the children at my little boy's school and funnily enough I thought ' Vanessa would love these - the colours are so bright and uplifting'.

Jane x

[Pipany]

Oh I know hwat you mean about the garden Vanessa and now ours is sopping wet to boot. Yuk! Love the cake. I trained as a florist many moons ago and this took me back x

[Penny]

That's very tantalizing! Can't wait! Your flower cakes put me in mind of those hats the dear old Queen Mum used to wear!

[maggie]

Goodness, it's years and years since I did a display like that, but never thought to call it a cake, or anything other than a bunch of flowers prettily arranged!

[Carla]

What amazeing arrangements. They are beautiful and so enjoyable. Thanks for sharing them with us.

[Bertie Meadows]

Hello Vanessa, oooh I like that flower cake a lot, such a lovely idea. I think I might give it a go, but on a smaller scale. Thanks for sharing, thank your florist too.
Bertie x

[Calico Kate]

Lovely flower arrangement idea ~ will have to try to remember it, things like this have a habit of falling out of my ears!
CKx

[Philippine flowers]

Well, I was really fascinated by this post. I love those cake. I also wanna learn arranging flowers. Anyway, I'm been looking for topics as interesting as this. Looking forward to your next post.

-fern-

[Erica K]

I love your flower cake! Such a fun thing to have on a table...and actually, it's given me an idea! You know those edible flowers you can buy in the grocery store? Why not frost a cake with some yummy white icing (cream cheese is my favorite) and scatter some edible flowers on it! How fun!

I think I'll have to do that soon, if the flowers are still being sold this time of year...

[philippines flower]

"Flower cake" what a cool idea is that! I will try to make something like that this weekend seems interesting. Thanks for sharing!

-pia-

[Gucci Shoes]

Find this topic very interesting. Thinking of going into that profession. Found this site to be very informative.

[Jordans Sneakers]

Through the earth, and that is love is the treasure!

[Jordans Sneakers]

Through the earth, and that is love is the treasure!

[send flowers to germany]

You are so generous! I just love finding beautiful and artistic freebies like this. They really brighten up my day, thank you!

[NFL Jerseys]

Those flower cakes look particularly delicious! Hmm, wonder what the new craft is. I'll pop back soon to find out!

[Replica jerseys]

I like your suggestion for preparing sound bytes.

[jason]

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[Steelers jerseys]

That's fine, it's her opinion and I accept it. I have no choice as she spins around the internet writing mulitiple paragraph comments about me spewing her brand of garbage at me.

[Utah Leather]

I posted the article because I felt a good discussion about it was called for. As you will note at the intro, I cut out several paragraphs that I felt were over the top and not substantiated, and some images that were not originals and could not be sourced.
20110217pilipalagaga

[cheap flowers online]

Thanks for finally talking about >do you mind if i knit: A Flower Cake.