Mom's 60th

For my mom's 60th birthday, my dad ordered a cake. He wanted a family tree kind of cake--with all of her kids and grandchildren represented. My mom's birthday is really close to Christmas, so I opted not to do a tree design. I was afraid it might look too holiday-ish. So, we went topsy turvy and bright, fun colors. I made my parents, my siblings and all the grand kids out of royal icing a week in advance. I forgot my brother's goatee..Sorry Ben! This was my first "real" topsy turvy cake (aside from my bro's wedding..see previous post) and I had nightmares all night that it was going to fall before the morning, but it did great! I was pumpkin cake with cranberry buttercream on the bottom, and almond cake with peach buttercream on the top. (They are my mom's favorite) The hair on my mom's topper was brushed with platinum luster dust. It turned out a little more metallic than I planned.
This was a surprise. My parents returned home from a vacation on my mom's b-day and the kids were all there. I made soups (corn chowder and Mexican chicken) and my siblings brought salad and bread sticks. Yum!
My cute mom and her cake. She was so surprised when I brought up the cake from the basement. She wouldn't cut it, and when we finally did, she saved all the royal icing people (she kept them on a plate for about a month!)

I Love these extra long, slightly thicker candles from Tag!