Sponge Bob Squarepants is NOT Bob the Builder...got that?

Sorry for the long absence! First off, I had two birthday parties to prepare for last weekend (one of which was a slumber party for five seven year old girls...yes I may well need my head looked at). Then I managed to leave my laptop up in Sydney last Tuesday...so I've been pretty much incommunicado since then :-(. I have my laptop back now...I missed it sorely.

It is probably a good thing that I left my laptop up there, because it has given me time to calm down about an incident that left my blood boiling! I will now calmly explain the bizarre title I used for this post!

As I was getting ready for the two parties, with my 8 week old baby in tow, I decided that this year I would out-source the whole cake making circus. I ordered one cake from a local cake-maker that I found via the internet, and the other through a well-known cake store chain. Mr almost 5 was having the cake store cake, and earlier in the week we hiked up to the shopping centre and spent a while looking through their cake design cards (and ordering their very-expensive-for-what-it-was cake...[almost $50]). Mr almost-five settled on Bob The Builder, and the store assistant took my deposit and asked me to carefully read through the order notes (which I did)...you can see where this sad tale is going, can't you?! ANYWAY...on Friday, I rocked up to the aforementioned cake store outlet and requested my Bob the Builder cake. Off they went, to find the cake and eventually returned and opened the box with a flourish for my inspection. I was gobsmacked! If it didn't actually say Happy Birthday XXXXX (insert my son's name), I would have just indicated that they'd picked up the wrong box...but NO...his name was staring back at me in not-very-neat black lettering, alongside a large picture of Sponge Bob Squarepants. I was lost for words. The only thing I could say was "NO. No, no, no....that is NOT our cake". I then managed to squeak out "Bob the Builder....we ordered Bob the Builder!!!!!!!".

At this point the store assistant consulted her notes (which I could see clearly from my side of the counter, and which clearly stated BOB THE BUILDER...NOT Sponge Bob Squarepants). She excused herself and went around the corner of the shop (maybe for a few deep breaths...something I needed desperately), and then returned and apologised, and told me the baker had made an error...with all the sympathy of a 'talk-to-the-hand' type gesture.

The manager then came out and repeated a similar story with more talk-to-the-hand attitude. Obviously they had not made an error, it was the Baker!!! I am only hearing 'DOLLY DID IT' going through my head and started to hyper-ventilate. I managed to explain that this cake was for a five year old, who had hand-picked his birthday design...and the fact that the 'baker did it,' wouldn't really cut it (I was also feeling immensely guilty for having tried to outsource the cake in the first place now...this was my punishment for my poor parenting sins). The manager kinda shrugged and proceeded to tell me that I could buy one of his other cakes instead if I liked. GOBSMACKED does not adequately explain my feelings at this point. This guy really took the cake!!! I told him "NOOOOOOOOOOO, NO...I would not be buying another one of his cakes" ( I was thinking he'd be lucky if I EVER purchased anything from his crumby store again...I'm like an elephant this way...I will NEVER forget ;-).

I held myself together and in no uncertain terms told him to "GIVE ME MY DEPOSIT NOW...PLEASE!". He looked at me calmly and said, but then you won't have a cake...at which point I almost yelled hysterically "NO, NO I WILL NOT...AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT!" Didn't he know?....you don't mess with the breastfeeding mother of an 8 week old baby, who was sleeping peacefully through this whole farsical episode, warming himself up to be awake for 90% of the night...AGAIN?!

Deposit in hand I left the counter in a hurry, walked for a few minutes, found one of those seats in the middle of a busy walk way, say down and promptly burst in to tears. I've never seen so many horrified looking shoppers in my life! I almost burst out laughing as they all studiously watched their shoes as they walked past the sobbing mother with 8 week old baby in tow. I tried to call my husband at work to vent, but he...QUITE INCONSIDERATELY was off at lunch, and I got his assistant instead who sounded quite worried about me (I was probably still sobbing at the time).

That night hubby and I knuckled down to the business of cake making. He did some last minute running around purchasing the bits and pieces while I baked and shaped the cake, then he helped me ice it. In the end, it was a good thing that cake store outlet stuffed up....our cake was MUCH nicer than theirs, and it was the cake Mr Almost-five had originally wanted (before I gently let him know I wouldn't have time to make it for him).

WOW...if you made it this far...thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Here are some pics of our cake:

We used the Wally Whale cake from the Australian Women's Weekly Kids' Party Cakes book (our cake-making bible for the last seven years) as our inspiration. We re-drew the template though, as theirs was way too big for our needs. My kids ADORE this book. They will literally lie on the lounge room floor for HOURS choosing what cake they will have for their next birthday. I love it!

It was my husband's idea to crack out some of my coloured cardstock and make waves and sky for the background! Isn't he a clever cookie? I think I ended up using Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise and Soft Sky (all SU).

Here are a couple of pics of the party bags too. Because Master 5 had originally wanted a whale cake, I went with the whale theme and cracked out my lovely Fox and Friends stamp set again. It is getting a good work-out Di...thanks again!

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Whisper White and Vintage Violet (all SU)
Ink: Vintage Violet Classic Ink (SU)
Stamps: Fox and Friends (SU)
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch (SU), 1 3/8" Circle Punch (SU), 1 1/4" Circle Punch (SU), Black Polka Dot Washi Tape (Pretty Tape on Etsy), Dimensionals (SU), Large Cello Bags (SU), and Tombow Mono Adhesive (Penwa).

Japanese Washi Tape is my new LOVE. Beautiful, colourful designs, easy to apply and reapply and reapply again and easy to tear off. Check out some of the beautiful designs at Pretty Tape on Etsy!

I have another cake story to relate...but that one is a 100% positive story, so I'll post it separately!
Thanks for visiting,

(Blogged to: Ça Plane Pour Moi - Plastic Bertrand).