Category: cakes & cupcakes

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Incredible Minecraft Party Crafts & Patterns to Amaze Your Friends

Last week we celebrated the birthday of my youngest son, who at this particular moment in time is somewhat enamoured with Minecraft. It’s not a new game; if you’re not familiar it’s kinda like digital Lego. There’s more to it than that, but there’s definitely room for a lot of imagination, which I like. Here are a couple of photos of the cake and the pinata we made.

This cake took me so long and it still turned out a little slumpy. The kids loved him though and were totally impressed. No one even mentioned that he looked like he’d been punched in the mouth. It was entirely too much cake though. At the party, we ate about 1/4 of it.

While we were brainstorming for his cake, my son had come up with the idea of a TNT block. I was still thinking cake, so I suggested that maybe we could get some popping candy and put it in crispy rice treats and make that look like TNT with an explosive effect. Then he had the idea of exploding the TNT and thus, the TNT piñata was born. We scavenged around the house for materials that we about the right size and came up with a couple of old pop boxes, which we taped together and then paper machéd over that and then painted it. They had a great time smashing it to pieces, while my husband repeatedly commented that we had over-built it. I thought it was just right.

I didn’t make any Minecraft knit or crocheted items as gifts or favours, but I certainly wanted to see what was available out there (and maybe get some Christmas-making ideas!). Check out this great collection of Minecraft-themed patterns and party ideas I’ve collected for you (and me!).

*Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links, meaning if you click on them and buy something, you don’t pay any extra, but I may get a small commission.*

What kid wouldn’t love to snuggle up with a blanket like this made from this Minecraft Creeper C2C Crochet Pattern from Quizzical Crochet? Corner to corner crochet is such a great option for a Minecraft blanket because it has the squares all worked into it. This is a great way to use up a bunch of different shades of green and even use grey and white in the mix for a scrappy-looking afghan. Get the pattern here.

Of course, your kids are going to love Minecraft creatures, so here’s a bunch starting with this Blocky Wolf Crochet Pattern from LHC Patterns. If you’re a beginner crocheter, this project is ideal because it only uses single crochet stitches. It’s made of individual blocks that are sewn together at the end for a really great block-y look! Get the pattern here.

You can also crochet one of these adorable and cuddly pigs from Jayda In Stitches‘ Minecraft Plush Pig Crochet Pattern. Such a fun, blocky little pig. Even older kids would be wild about this fun little toy. It will sit nicely beside their computer or on their bookshelf and makes a great gaming companion. Get this fun pattern here.

We can’t forget a TNT block! Make your own from this TNT Block Plush Amigurumi Crochet Pattern from Jayda In Stitches. My kids don’t sew, but I also think this would make a great pin cushion, don’t you? Your kids/grandkids would think you were the coolest if you pulled out your TNT block pin cushion while you were sewing. Get this fun pattern here.

If you’re more ambitious, you might embark to make a whole bunch of adorable Minecraft buddies. Check out this set of 5 Block Amigurumi Patterns by Nisse Handcrafts. This pattern set comes complete with a little Minecraft guy (I think his name is Steve), a sheep, cow, chicken, and pig. Get the set of patterns here. You can also buy them individually in Nisse Handcrafts’ Etsy shop if you just want to make one.

Nisse Handcrafts has another Set of 5 Amigurumi Patterns which includes Creeper, Enderman, Zombie, Spider, Skeleton. These are definitely the more villainous characters in Minecraft, but these little patterns make them so loveable and cute. Get this set of patterns here (they’re also available individually in the shop).

Create your own Minecraft Bee with this Minecraft Bee Crochet Pattern by Amy Crochets Amis. It comes with instructions for 2 different sizes, so you can have a mini-bee as well as a full-sized cuddly one! Perfect for the Minecraft lover or a bee enthusiast! Get this 2-in-1 adorable pattern here.

I don’t want to exclude the knitters from the party. So, for you, I’ve found this beautifully constructed Creeper Minecraft Hat Knitting Pattern from Handmade By Smine. Go take a look at the perfect boxy crown decreases. This hat is sized for teens and adults (my kids could wear it though because they’ve all got giant heads), so if you’ve got a grown Minecraft lover in your life, this would make a lovely Christmas gift to get working on. Get started today by picking up the pattern here.

For an even more subtle Minecraft hat, try making this Minecraft-Inspired Dirt Block Beanie Knitting Pattern also by Handmade By Smine. It’s the kind of hat that gamers will recognize, but won’t jump out at everyone else that you’re wearing a gamer themed hat. I love these kinds of references, more for people in the know. The construction on this toque is beautiful: this is a high-quality pattern with great photos! Find the pattern here.

I usually stick to knit and crochet patterns here, but I enjoy crafts of all kinds. And there are many great tutorials and kits to find if you need some help making your own Minecraft inspired crafts, costumes and party favours. Check out this great tutorial for Minecraft Steve and Creeper Head costume masks. This tutorial includes complete instructions and pdf guides for how to make these fun costumes to make a really fun Minecraft costume. I love homemade costumes for Halloween. They’re so much more interesting than store-bought!

With all this pandemic stuff going on in the world right now, many activities for kids just aren’t running quite the same as they were before, so home activities are a great way to keep your kids busy. If you’d like to encourage your kids to step away from the screens and try something a little different, why not introduce them to latch hook? You can get this Minecraft Creeper Head Latch Hook Kit from Mini Boss Crafting as a gift or just for fun.

I hope you’ve got some ideas for some Minecraft crafting for gifting or partying! Enjoy this time you have at home with your kids to make some fun crafts together. Pick up one of these patterns or kits today and get making! Or Pin it for later!

Super fun collection of Minecraft themed patterns and crafts to make and give for gamers! From hats to blankets, stuffed toys, even costume heads and latch hook! #minecraft #knittingpatterns #crochetpatterns #latchhook #minecrafts #amigurumi #minecraftamigurumi #blocktoys #diyminecraft #patternroundup #craftevangelist
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Birthday-Zilla and the Birthday Cake

Daisy flower cake

So, my daughter turned 8 the other weekend. Crazy, but our friends have a 9-year-old, so I sort of feel prepared for it. Y’know, their kid turns 8 and then I have a full 14 months to get used to the fact that our kid is going to be 8. Helps soften the blow.

And maybe I’m a bit biased, but she’s the sweetest eight-year-old I know. Normally, she’s a very accommodating child. She’s our first-born and she has always loved people so much. So much so that I used to wonder why they even had toys for babies, because she was never very interested in toys, other than to chew on them. She was much more entertained by people. When her brother came along, there wasn’t a moment of jealousy. It was almost bizarre: she just loved him so much and was so glad to have another person along with her all the time. Z’s definition of a brother: permanent friend.

She’s usually pretty quick to offer solutions when there are disagreements over things and many times it’s: “You can have that, Simon, I’ll just use this.” It’s not that she’s never selfish, demanding or stubborn, but her usual way is pretty accommodating.

But I don’t know who told her the rules all changed for her birthday, but this year wasn’t the first year that she turned into something of a “Birthday-Zilla,” demanding that everything had to be her way. She had to have the biggest balloon “because it’s MY birthday.” SHE was going to help make lunch because it was HER birthday. Fun. Still, all in all, it turned out to be a good day.

There’s a lot of birthday party talk for a few months before the event around our house. It starts in earnest after Christmas. I remember the birthday party being quite the commodity as a child of Z’s age. I guess it’s one of the few things that a child really has much control or say over, so whom they invite and what they do and what the cake looks like is all a pretty big deal. Z described her cake and then she drew a picture of what she wanted it to look like. I wish I could find that picture; it was great. The kids helped with the flowers. I found some great fondant punches at J. Wilton Distributors which is a great little cake supply place not too far from my work. I make my own marshmallow fondant, which is easy and yummy (if you like super sweet marshmallows) and makes a lovely soft workable fondant.

Flower birthday cake

 

 

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Beauty Cupcakes

The following cupcakes were inspired by Beauty & the Beast, made for a bridal shower a few weeks ago. They were chocolate ganache filled chocolate cupcakes topped with a vanilla whipped buttercream and sugar pearls.

 

 

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Heffalump Cake

For my son’s first birthday, I made him this cake. S has a stuffed Ty elephant that Z affectionately named “Lumpy” (after the Heffalump from Winnie the Pooh), so while I thought at first that I would model the cake after S’s stuffed toy, it was infinitely easier to use the Heffalump from Winnie the Pooh. Here was my inspiration:

I printed this picture off the Internet and took a picture of it.

Then I traced the cake pan, and sketched the picture onto the paper. I had some help because I copied and pasted the picture from the Internet into my Paint program and drew a rectangle around the main part of the body, so I knew about how much to sketch onto the main part and how to make the leftovers work for the rest of the pieces.

The taped-on pieces are “leftovers” from the rest of the shape being cut out. I placed this image on the cake and cut the cake around it.

I decided to use the rounded top of the cake (that I had cut off to level the cake) to shape a 3D nose for Lumpy because the cake just didn’t seem challenging enough (ha ha ha). Here is a picture with all the pieces pasted together before icing. Just about every edge was raw (a cake decorator’s nightmare).

Then, I iced the cake. I used a buttercream icing flavoured with peppermint extract instead of vanilla (mint chocolate cake…mmmmm…) and coloured it light blue (like S’s stuffie instead of light purple like the Heffalump).

Not too bad. It’s hard to get a smooth finish on a “Lumpy” surface (pun intended).

After putting the main coat of icing on, it was time for finishing.

So, here he is all drawn on and outlined.

And here we are posing with the cake, before or after singing to S at the park.
That’s my sister holding S.
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