Since Cody isn't a cake-eater, it only seemed appropriate to make him a "cake" out of something else. This is what I came up with.
The entire thing is pretty self-explanatory. I made it up as I went, mostly with supplies I had lying around the house.
The cardboard "cake discs" we're cut out of old moving boxes, & I used various sizes of "rounds" found in my kitchen. Pretty sure mine are from an old frying pan, a Pampered Chef tool turnabout, & a salad plate. Whatever works. I found actual cake baking discs at Pat Catan's, but they're only sold in packs of at least 6 & cost anywhere from $5 to $10 for each set. Not happening. You're not actually going to be baking quality cake on them,.. So they don't have to be fancy or anything. I slapped some brown & green paint on mine just to keep it interesting (& because I'm a perfectionist).
At midnight on Cody's birthday Mama, Dad, Taylor (my younger brother) & I took Cody out for his first beer at Wolfeys - the local hangout (what most people in this little town refer to as the "highshool-reunion" spot.) I planned on making his cake after, so on the way home I stopped across the street at Speedway to pick up the beer. I'm not a beer drinker, & I think I've purchased it maybe twice in my life, so I'm sure I looked suspicious as all get out walking into the "beer cave".
To make matters better, I was only shopping for my favorite LOOKING can. I settled on Busch, which had awesome looking hunters orange cans with silhouettes of bucks & ducks around them.
A 30 pack was the perfect amount.
THAT AWKWARD MOMENT WHEN: the cashier reminds me to drink responsibly as I'm paying, & I have to explain to him (&; the 5 gentlemen in line behind me making a 2 am beer run) that I won't be drinking them.. They're for a craft project.
Looking back I ALMOST wish I would have played it off as the little blonde girl that was going to drink the entire case by herself.
Next time.
I ended up assembling the entire thing in the morning when I woke up, in bed. It only took about an hour for the whole thing.
I assembled the cans on all 3 of the discs the way I wanted, then individually hot glued them in place.. Both on the bottoms of the cans & on the sides where necessary.
Once all in place, I stacked them up & glued them the best I could to each other.
The 2 inch camo ribbon on the top & bottom tier is from Pat Catan's & cost about $6. I had already purchased it to make a hair bow. The burlap on the middle tier is "accent burlap" from Pat Catan's as well, & costs about $5. It was left over from my door wreath project. I know they make a camouflage burlap accent as well, but it was sold out the last time I made a craft run.
I placed other small pieces of black and orange ribbon & some raffia where necessary.
The small wooden leaves cost $0.19 each (Pat Catan's... duh). And took the same acrylic paint I used on the bases, a Sharpie & voila! One for each tier, two for the bottom.
To finish it off, I stuck some accent grass pieces in the top. I tried picking real ones while I had my bow out practicing earlier in the week, from my own backyard, but I ended up liking the artificial ones better.
I was more than pleased with the final piece. I think it's awesome, & Cody did too. And since he doesn't really drink beer either, he can keep it for a long time to come. It even matches his bedroom which has an entire middle-of-the-woods full wall mural.
UPDATE: if you were wondering, he didn't keep it. Our other 2 brothers disassembled it to drink the beer. Mom insisted it "shouldn't go to waste".
UPDATE: if you were wondering, he didn't keep it. Our other 2 brothers disassembled it to drink the beer. Mom insisted it "shouldn't go to waste".
The only thing I would do differently next time,.. Maybe,.. Would be to punch a hole in the bottom of the cans & drain the beer out (disclaimer: but not waste it) to use empty cans. The full 30 made it AWFULLY heavy.
