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Becoming Better, Creatively: Decorating Cakes & Cookies

Hey Sweeties,

Its week three of the 5 Things to Help You Become Better, Creatively.

If you’ve read the first post >>CLICK IT>>5 Things to Help You Become Better, Creatively<<READ IT<<, and the second post >>CLICK IT>>Becoming Better, Creatively: Baking & Understanding It<<READ IT<< you’re in the right place.

If you haven’t, don’t spoil it for yourself, go back and check them out before finishing up here.

Decorating Cakes

This is my favorite part. The best part of the things you love to do, is your favorite part. Especially when its your day off, all other chaotic things are out of the way. You get in the zone.

You might ask, Thelisha, why didn’t you talk about the brainstorming, planning and getting it done before this? That’s because we’re not ready for that. There is a time and place for everything and now ain’t the time or the place. You have to know for sure if you want to love this or not. We all see things that look fun and say, “Oh, I want to try that!”. We go out, get all the stuff, start it and be like, “Nah uh.”

You then ask, “Well isn’t this doing the same thing?” No, its not. When you put yourself in a space to take your time, you use what you have to practice. Before I started decorating cakes, I always had flour, eggs, salt, granulated sugar, powdered sugar baking powder, butter, milk, and vanilla. Thats because I was always a baker and there are other uses for a majority of these things. I already had cake pans, a hand mixer, and so on. All I needed to do was learn to make icing and decorate cakes. I had a lot of practice working in a bakery, but I wanted to make my own stuff. I wanted to step away from the store bought icing. I didn’t want to buy boxed cake and I didn’t really want to buy my kids cakes from the store anymore.

It’s a thing now. I bake and decorate cakes and I’ve been doing so for some time. That’s where The Sweets by Thelisha came from.

Decorating Cookies

I never wanted to decorate cookies. My mom tried to convince me for two years. She even bought me a beginners book. I looked at it and put it away. Two people asked me to make cookies for them, I tried it and I hated it. Not only was I horrible at it, but royal icing was the worst thing I ever touched. More time went by and I never thought about cookies again.

…some time later…after that more time going by…

My mom then found Julia Usher on YouTube or Pinterest. She showed me a baby rattle video made from cookies. She bought me the mold, I binged on Julia’s videos, I joined cookie groups, and I made the rattle. I got the hang of royal icing and started loving what I saw other cookie decorators do. Not long after that, I started selling cookies. I even got a call to audition for one of the Christmas dessert shows on Food Network. I didn’t make it, but it was fun to make cookies and do the interview.

Conclusion

Cookies, cakes or something else you love. The point here is to take it on. There are many things I want to try or have tried. Many of those things stuck with me or I left it alone. Don’t be afraid to make changes and try new things. You don’t have to like everything, you don’t have to master everything. Everything is not going to be your cup of tea. Don’t lose your focus. Learn from it. You can always take something from. Never think of it as a waste of time.

Check out some of my videos in the Thelisha Bakes Playlist on my channel. Soon I’ll have videos up on my new The Sweets by Thelisha channel. I won’t stop posting on the Where Baking & Craft Meet Channel, but the more detail videos will be posted on the other. All baking and decorating, all the time.

Join me next week for the next topic, Where Baking & Crafting Meet. Subscribe to the blog if this is your first time here and be sure to check my YouTube channels to see how I use my creativity in different ways.

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Notes-vember Day 27

Hey Sweeties,

It’s day 27! It’s chilly and a little rainy today. That didn’t change or make any unwanted moods. I felt good and I always feel good when working on a cake or cookies. This is something I love doing. I’m in my happy place when in the kitchen.

From not knowing a thing about cake decorating or holding a piping bag, I went from a grocery store bakery to my own business. There are people I thank every time I touch a bag of flour or sugar. Without them, I may have gone down another path with different hobbies. Who knows?

Motivation

Hobbies have this way of allowing you to hold on to your sense of identity and your sense of self, even as you age.

Elizabeth Segran

Reflection

As you sit back, take a deep breath, and relax, think about the hobby or hobbies you have. How long have you had these hobbies? Which one identifies you the most? Which do you enjoy the most?

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August Peach 🍑 Cake For Breakfast Live

Hey Y’all,

Today I went live winging it with a cake for breakfast. I had no idea what to do with this cake. It was a planned live, with no clear plan. Before I went to bed, I thought about the Blog Activity for this month. This is what I came up with:

Check out the replay here!