Better Late Than Never: Happy New Year!

I guess technically I *did* wish y'all a Wreckalicious new year back on the 1st, but so many late, great New Year's Wrecks have come in that I figured an encore was called for.

Let's kick things off with some of the most creative letter cramming I've seen:

To err is human, and to arr is pirate - but to kill the "r" by stomping on it with a "yea" is allll Wreckerator.

Speaking of creative, I didn't know we could write 2010 as a fraction!

May your 2010 be at least 2% better than 2009.
And may all your zeros have squishy yellow handles.

Something tells me this martini was shaken, not stirred:

And aren't you glad you have me here to tell you that was supposed to be a martini?

This year, let's remember to celebrate all of the punctuation marks:

Yep, here's to you, "!"! Next week we'll raise our glasses to the semicolon.

And, of course, I saved my favorite for last:

It's hard to appreciate a Wreckerator who's this far ahead of his/her time.

Jami R., Berry D., Hannah, Jamie P., Pam S., & Katie C., since the new year has already started, I'm just going to wish you a happy new "yea." So. yeah.

- Related Wreckage: The Elephant in the Room

Sunday Sweets: Baby Showers

Over the past few weeks we've seen plenty of ways to do it wrong, so here are some sweet ways to do a shower cake right.

(As always, if you recognize a cake that's not credited please let me know.)

(By Cake Lady Cakes)

Hey, we haven't had one of these in while - so how about a mostly fondant-free Sweet?

(By Cake Central member dinkadoo)

Basket weave is a tricky technique, so to see this much of it (and done that consistently!) is super impressive. I also love the flowers, and the fact that the baker didn't feel the need to put a creepy baby doll in or on it. Heh. (Yep, that's a little foreshadowing for my next shower post.)


Here's another mostly fondant-free beauty:

(Made by Megan Blackburn. See more of her stuff here)

Proof that you really can get buttercream that smooth! Oh, and those pink ruffles are fantastic. (Hey bakers, which tip do you use for those? Just a simple flat one?)

I pretty much love everything there is to love about this next one:

(Baker Unknown)

And this one:

(By JaneBK)

This could very well be the most gravity-defying shower cake you'll ever see:

(By Cakes By Roselyn)

That's an engineering feat right there - and so many great details!

Which isn't to say that simple can't be gorgeous, of course:

(By Latrells25)

And lastly, I thought this was a clever way to hide columns, in addition to being adorable:

(By Patisserie Ganache)

Ah, you just can't go wrong with buttons and bows. :)

Have a Sweet to nominate? E-mail it to me at Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com!

Today's "Feature"

Lookie what I found when John and I actually left the house last weekend:

Orcward Pie!

Yep, I figure it's fine in small doses, but you really shouldn't make it a "hobbit."

[snicker]

(Yes, I *am* still taking Saturdays off - sort of. This is just something from my Twitter feed I thought you might "enjoy." So no griping about it not being a cake, hear?)

The #2 Way to Ruin a Cake

Step #1: Take a perfectly decent-looking cake

Step #2: Add random poo piles - just for giggles.

C'mon, everybody, sing it with me: "Chain chain chaaaaain! Chain of poos!!"

Eh? What's that? You think those are simply palm tree poos? Ok, I guess I could see that. But, can you explain...[dramatic pause]...THIS?

?!?

Actually, this isn't too much of a leap if you figure the customer asked for a "Princess and the Pea" cake. [wicked grin]


Then there are the stock designs with poo built right in:

Poor Wall-E. I bet right about now he's wishing the humans had stayed in space.

And to think: this is what "passes" for "cake decorating." But hey, maybe the designer was wiped out after a hard day logging too many hours, and got a little lax? If so, let that be a lesson to us all: don't push too hard; you'll only strain yourself producing crappy results.

:D


And finally, a classic for the ages:

Beauty and the Feces.

Many thanks to my #2 wreckporters Kelli N., Wendi P., Stacey B., Jenny, & Sara B.

- Related Wreckage: Who Ordered the Poo Poo Platter?

Ever Feel Like ----Thing's Missing?

Ah yes, it's Mike & Louisa of the Perpetual Merriment.
(I bet they're morning people, too. Blech.)

Forget missing words - that "t" is a work of arT!

Also, do you pronounce "Rubye" kind of like ribeye? 'Cuz that's how it sounds in my head. (When the pink Snickers bar says it, anyway. The other voices haven't reached a consensus yet.)

"Welcome N J Bell to Virizan and"

And...?

And what? What?!? TELL ME!! I MUST KNOW!!!

Arg, this suspense is killing me! Why don't you just send Sheppard out on another suicide mission and make me wait six months to see if he lives or not? Huh? How 'bout that, funny boy?*

Oh, and speaking of suicide missions:

Who wants a slice of Adam's ca-aake? [sing-song]

Anyone? Anyone?

Sure, it's nice to know that "Kaun" and Jerry are happy, but I imagine this kind of word omission could lead to some rather, shall we say, misleading, inscriptions:

[shifty eyes] Er. Yes, kinda like that.

(It's short for RICHARD, people - and I'll leave any remarks about the (in)appropriateness of the decorations to you guys.)

*Yes, I do realize that cliff-hanger was 5 years ago - I just never fully recovered, is all.

Tracy H., Shelley A., Lori & Mary S., Chris Z., Bethany G., & Jennifer H, Good!

- Related Wreckage: Insulting Inscriptions 101

Help For Haiti

As the news continues to pour in about the shocking loss of life (estimated in the tens of thousands now) and wide-spread destruction following the quake in Haiti this week, I hope you Wreckies will consider donating to one of the many relief organizations providing aid there.

Unfortunately there are a lot of scammers popping up, though, so do be careful where you give. Charity Navigator has a great list of trustworthy organizations here, which includes our previously featured Doctors Without Borders.

For an easy way to donate to the Red Cross, you can text “Haiti” to 90999 and $10 will be added to your next phone bill. (Over $1 million raised this way as of this writing.)

I know a lot of you can't afford to give much. That's Ok! As we saw from the Charity Countdown, it only takes each of us giving a little to accomplish a lot together. So let's give what we can, spread the word, and say a prayer for this poor country and the heroes working there on the ground.

(Our Doctors Without Borders First Giving page is still up, and there's no minimum donation required. Only have a buck to give? Then please, give it here.)