Canvas Cake Studio: From Conceptualization to Cake Perfection!

I don't know how many times I've blogged about Canvas Cake Studio (formerly Midnight Snacks), but I'm letting loose another one!

Except this time, I'm doing a step-by-step --from Conceptualization to Cake Perfection. Wouldn't that be neat! This way, you can take a complete walkthrough on how you can order your personal, ultra-creative cakes from Canvas. It's really super easy.

STEP 1: Squeeze out those creative juices.

Think of what the celebrant wants. Make your cake idea as personal as possible --from the design to the flavor. Taking my boy Kenji's birthday cake as an example, Miro and I went for a Mr.Bean/Peanuts Crossover design inspired by Kenji's very own Go Animate channel, Can of Beans Productions. He does Mr.Bean and Peanuts funny video edits. How personal can you go, right?
For the flavor, we went with Kenji's all-time love, Oreos and Cream.

STEP 2: Send visual pegs.

This can just be the OC in me, but I'd like to scour the internet for visual pegs that would bring out my idea all the more. It helps the chef, too --especially when I have a tendency to be all over the place when I'm explaining in an excited fashion. You don't have to lay it out, but I do so when my design idea tends to be a little complex. That's mostly my fault. Haha!

STEP 3: Incoming... Canvas Cake Studio brainstorming session.

Canvas Cake Studio will email you back with a price list and a flavor chart. That's the challenging part. All of Canvas' flavors are to-die-for! That's the part where I usually take forever to decide. Canvas chief baker, Larisse, will also send you inputs that can make you cake design even better. That's the amazing part! That level of teamwork hits me all the time. :)

STEP 4: Wait with bated breath until the magic is ready.

Depending on the gravity of difficulty your cake design has, Canvas can finish their masterpiece for a minimum of two weeks. Sometimes even less. They can deliver your cake at your doorstep or you can arrange a pick-up point. See how flexible that is? All for your convenience. Let me warn you now that the first time you see your cake idea as a full-on reality, the emotional impact can be quite severe. get tissues ready for uncontrollable tears of joy. Hehe...

STEP 5: Serve the awesomeness!

What's absolutely cool about Canvas' cakes is that they are centerpieces on their own. Even when you have a too-plain set-up, the whole room just lights up with excitement with the cake sitting there. For example, Kenji had his birthday at his school canteen --his special day falling right smack into a school day. Even with very minimal decor, his cake (and HIM!) became stars of that mini-party.

STEP 6: Save (and Savor) the moment.

I'm big on surprises. So Kenji had no idea what his cake would look like. I'm also big on catching that expression my kids make when they first see their cake. And here is that perfect moment. Look at that smirk! You can tell he's all giddy inside but hiding it in a fluffy blanket of smugness. Haha! He's my boy alright!
I would've taken a picture of the kids eating the cake, too, but that never really happens when I'm serving Canvas cakes. They're so delicious, they disappear waaaay too fast!

There you go! Was this post helpful? I bet it was. Reading through it and it makes me want to order another cake for no apparent reason. :D

If you want it personal, if you want it special, get in touch with Canvas Cake Studio!

Papier Macheniacs: The Chubby Atari Episode

Stand back, people! I'm doing a vintage post!

My little boy --whom I'm pretty sure is a reincarnated ancient soul-- has a thing for old stuff. His latest subject of fancy are old gaming consoles. Obviously, hitting the top of that very short list is the Atari. While I'm still looking for a local museum that actually showcases one, a little Papier Macheniacs just has to happen.

TA-DAAAH!

To shake things up a bit, we decided to go with a Chubby Chibi-type Atari. That, and the fact that we only had chubby household boxes to work with. Teehee…

So how did we get from here…

…to here? Sit back down and I'll tell you.

Perpetually running with the recycling theme, we got drinking straws and folder clips to make our console switches.

And another box, a plastic dome, and an empty Push Pop for the joystick,

Oh! And coins for buttons. Shinyyyy...

We slathered those babies up with PVC glue and paper towel strips. Then, we twisted the clips through the holes we made on the switchboard. The console won't be working for real, so the least we could do was make the switches toggle. :) Ah, simple joys.

The same manner of folder clip sorcery was applied to the joystick. We slipped it through a hole we bored through the dome. So when you move the stick, it toggles, too.

Then, we went on to add the killer details to our soap box game cartridges. My boy chose the games himself. Not that he's played any of these games in his young life… but yeah.

Next was just a whole lot of painting and nitpicking. The operative word being 'nitpicking'. And quite possibly 'a whole lot of'. But then, that would already be an operative phrase. Hmm…

And before you can say 'PONG!', we were done!

We even had the time to work the back features. Family Fist Bump!

Now, I wouldn't know if you'd like to make your own paper mache Atari console. I don't think half the population is as nuts as my brood. :P But if you do get the itch, just follow this step-by-step DIY, get messy, and have fun!