Monday 11 April 2011

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).

11 comments:

jaki said...

Wow! Despite all the stress that the Mum of an 8 week old doesn't need your whale cake it so great!!
And I can see that it will be a birthday story that will be told over and over way past the 21st birthday :)

Lou Spiden said...

OMG you poor thing! The cake turned out awesome in the end :)

Lou

Karen said...

Holy cow sam!! I'm reading this in the car at school!
I can't believe anyone would make such a stuff up- clearly the baker doesn't have kids or watch kiddy tv! Lol

You're cake turned out so lovely in the end- Go U AND HUBBY!!

Karen

Diane Barnes said...

Sam, Glad mister's birthday turned out great in the end. You're such a good Mum & your cake looks awesome....& of course the matching treat bags too.
Hugs, D
PS: name & shame the baker! what a terrible place.

Patrice said...

OMG Sam, I'd have sat down for a good cry too after all that.

Absolutely love the Whale cake you guys came up with instead. Mum of the year award to you for sure.

So glad to hear it all turned out okay and Master 5 was a happy chap.

Unknown said...

OMGosh, how rude of the shop, that is disgusting of them!!!! Funny how the baker was blamed, what about the decorator, and what about the final check. Well your cake looks fabulous, you did a great job, well done!! So much better than a shop bought one anyway!!!

KimB said...

Having heard the short version it was definitley an interesting read to get the long. Sam - my heart went out to you when you said you just sat down and cried!! The cake looked fabulous I don't doubt it made Mr 5's day :)
Kim

RedGem said...

I'm sorry about your situation, I don't blame you for being mad and upset. I think your final cake came out just beautiful and I just love the theme favors you made. Great job Mom!

Paula Dobson said...

Sam, you had me laughing and wanting to punch his lights out for you, all at the same time!! You WILL look back and laugh........eventually! YOUR cake however, is a masterpiece. Tell Hubby, I think his cardstock idea was brilliant!! Deep breath, count to ten.......

Jocelyn aka JoBear2 said...

Oh you POOR thing Sam! I would bawled my eyes out too. How could they possibly mix up Bob the Builder with Sponge-Bob?!!! Duhhhh!

But I have to say that your whale cake looks awesome and I love all the sparkliness. Great idea with the cardstock 'sea'. Fab party bags too - LOVE the design and colours.

Gail Kirby said...

oh your new cake was beautiful! I totally agree name and shame the store! Their attitude is really disgraceful and Spongebob might give some kids nightmares (it does me)which they obviously didn't take into account! You should have called a non-breastfeeding-mother-of-an-8-week-old to go back down and give them a piece of their mind on your behalf! xGail