One of the most wonderful things I get to do these days is make pretty things for a sweet little girl named, Nina. She’s the daughter of my very good friend, Ramona. You may remember the dress I made for her last summer.

Nina is turning one on February 1st! Where has the last year gone? Seriously?

But what a year it has been! Babies! (not mine, Ramona’s). An engagement (that would be mine)! And a wedding (also mine)! A move! A house sale! Oh my!

When Ramona asked if I would make Nina’s cake for her cake smash photo, I said yes right away! The request was for a simple 8 inch cake that had some height and was covered in sprinkles.

Seemed easy enough! I have the perfect cake pan (I use the 8 x 3 inch preferred Wilton pan for so many things). And I bought sprinkles. Lots and lots of sprinkles!

I baked the cake the night before and set it covered with plastic wrap in the freezer to chill and firm up over night.

That morning I assembled the cake. It turned out being almost a full 6 inches in height. Perfect! I smoothed it out but didn’t worry about making it perfectly smooth because I knew the sprinkles would make up for that.

I bought two containers of little multi-colour sprinkles.

Have you ever tried to use sprinkles?

The top covered fairly easily. The sides. Well… that was a lot of fun. I tilted the cake on it’s side and use the bottle to sprinkle the sprinkles onto the cake as I slowly worked from the bottom up. It took over an hour to cover completely (and there were still a few touch up spots to complete before the shoot) but for the purposes of the shoot it came together well. I worked over a large 9 x 12 cake pan so all the wayward sprinkles would be collected. Although I still ended up with many, many sprinkles throughout the kitchen. Thankfully the boys (my bassets) make an effective clean-up crew!

All of that work was quickly forgotten though as I got to witness Nina’s cake smash first hand!

Nina’s Mom, Ramona, is a very talented photographer and she took all the cake smash photos that you see here (the ones with the beautiful pink streamer backdrops). Between Ramona’s skills and Nina’s photogenic smile, this little one has a beautifully documented first year!!

And just look at this sweet face… I mean seriously – how can you not want to make her whatever she asks for?

Did Auntie make you a tasty cake?

I think the sugar was starting to kick in for this last photo but I had to include it because it makes me smile every time I see it. Look how happy she is!! And so confident in standing on her own.

Happy birthday, Nina! I can’t wait to celebrate with you on February 1st. It’s been such a great year getting to see your little personality develop. You always make me smile and you are such a gift to your family and to everyone who meets you.