Dino-mite!

In addition to celebrating my mom's Christmas birthday when we're all together for the holidays, we also celebrate my nephew Declan's January birthday, and for his cake I go a little nuts. (you can witness the crazy by looking at last year's cake, and the year before's.)

This year he's turning 6 and wanted a dinosaur on top of a blue cake, and since I am in the business of being the best aunt ever that's exactly what he got.

Chocolate cake, buttercream frosting and a T-Rex cake topper made from some left over gingerbread dough.

It was so easy!  I found an image online, cut the parts out and baked them.  Then I "glued" them together with royal icing, added a couple of bamboo skewers to the feet, gave him some teeth, sprinkles and licorice claws and I was done!

Speaking of gingerbread.... We were making gingerbread houses at the same time I was making Declan's cake.

I got a little slap happy from eating much too much candy and pretty soon T-Rex became Godzilla threatening to take out the town.

But the town was spared because the gingerbread houses were pretty great this year. (and because I am not in the business of making my nephews and niece cry.)

The weird marshmallow "milk catchers" that both my nephews have crack me up (no idea what that was about). And for some reason the giant marshmallow on the front of my niece's and her flattened trees make me laugh out loud.  

The clock tower is always set at 9am ("because that's what time school starts") and my sister in law's shingles and gold fish pond are great.

The one on stilts, with the dock and sailboat is mine. I'm thinking of running away to a tropical island never to be seen or heard from again... or I would be if I weren't afraid of fish.