Holiday Baking

This weekend I tried out my new Lekue silicone molds.

Mini hearts mold allowed me to bake the nice biscuits cakes as on the photo below. Before filling the mold with a white dough I drew some designs with cocoa dough in the mold bottom.

The Imperial Queen mold inspired me to making a multi layer cake. Each layer contains different fruits and berries like apples, citrus and red bilberry. For cream I used condensed milk whipped with butter.

The molds are 100% platinum silicone made by Lekue company. It is a 15 years warranty product.

The mini heart mold and the Imperial Queen mold 

(100% platinum silicone produced by Lekue)

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Cookie Parade

Linked to Cook for Valentines Event

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Penguin Family. Fruit and Vegetable Carving Demo at Christmas Crafts Exhibition.

More Christmas crafts and displays:
Be Magical! Pumpkin Snowmen
Christmas Fruit Platter With Candles
Handmade Christmas Tree
Candy Bouquets Gallery

There is hot time before Christmas and New Year. I have public carving demonstrations and classes every week. Today I'd like to share some pictures from a live demo I made at Christmas Crafts Exhibition. 

There were many handmade crafts presented at the exhibitions. They were jewelry, toys, new year decorations and handmade trees, scrabbooking cards and boxes, candy bouquets and crafts made with natural materials. Some artists showed a piblic demonstration on their arts as making patchwork, 3D origami, scrabbooking, quilling and fruit carving (of course :)

A theme of my class was making fruit and vegetable toys. My idea was to show how to turn an usual vegetable into a character of a fairy world to display at your Christmas and New Year family party for making a special atmosphere.

We had a couple of green marrow squashes and carrots to make a cute little penguin. I made a penguin for a sample and then enthusiastic visitors made theirs. At the end we got a penguin family. Each penguin has got an uniqe image.

Penguin Family made with vegetables

(click photo for a closer look)

Penguins living their own life.
Let them have fun at your table among your Christmas dishes ))

Penguin Daughter (my work) and Penguin Papa (made by a visitor)
I asked people to think on an accessory for penguins. Papa got a hat.

Penguin Junior goes sled riding.
Junior is made by a 6 years old boy with a help of his mom.

Young Penguin has got a delicious icicle. Made by a visitor.

Visitors and participants

While the carving demo

During the exhibition time I was talking to people, answering questions about carving tools and making edible crafts. I also presented new russian books about carving.
For my work and classes I use carving tools made by Triangle company (Germany).  

More works form the exhibition

Flowers carved in apple and a rabbit made with oranges

Apple garnishes carved with tools

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Be Magical. Christmas Crafts

Well, it's time for Christmas crafting.
I hope you remember the pumpkin snowman I made in November? At that time I said it was a long-play craft. Now I am going to dress him up for a New Year costume party (in Russia we use a word 'masquerade' for a new year costume party. In all other cases we say a "costume party" :)). I made some accessory for my pumpkin buddies.

Pumpkin Buddy is Back in Town!

The pimpkin snowman got a Santa Claus look.

Can you see the yellow pumpkin a floor down at the photo? He is still alive!

Christmas craft. Snowman wearing a Santa hat

I had more pumpkins left from my Halloween crafts. I've decided to make more snowmen with them.

White pumpkins stored in the box

Apply some sewing skills and imagination

And Voila!

Snowmen brigade

Be Magical!

Pumpkin snowman in a costume of a Magician

Magical Snowman in a tophat and a cape

Countryside Snowman

The Snowman will be OK in cold winter nights.

Snowman in a hat and scarf

I am looking forward for Christmas to set them down by our new year tree!

Linked to:

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Fruit adn Vegetable Classes and Live Demo

This week I was travelling to some neighboring towns with carving demonstrations and classes. I had fruit and vegetable carving activities in schools and in a new trading center for its opening ceremony. Many things were showed. They were new and old ideas like a fruit snowman, vegetable and fruit mini arrangements and sandwich decorating ideas. 

Sandwiches decorated with cucumber.
Crhistmas tree, butterfly and ornament made with cucumber slices.
Check up Cucumber pictures

Baby Penguin from a marrow squash

Fruit exotic flowers arranged into a bouquet
See the downloadable tutorial how to make flowers with fruits

It has been snowing for several days. I would like to share an image that looks fabulous. 

Mounting ash barry tree in snow. The berries looks like bells. Cristmas bells made by Nature.

View of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, my native city.
There are lot of  mounting ashberry trees  along the city  streets.

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