TIE:
First I started with the tie. I knew the backdrop was going to be green and blue, so I wanted a tie to match. I also didn't want to go spend money on a tie that was going to get destroyed during a cake smash! So I went to Pinterest, of course! I found a super easy tutorial and some old scrap fabric. Perfect! It took me literally 15-20 minutes to make. You can find the tutorial here. The only change I made was that instead of doing elastic I added a band of fabric with velcro on the back. I've made a bunch of other ties for church and I used elastic on those because they would be cover by the shirt collar. With the cake smash I knew he wouldn't have a shirt on so I wanted the tie to look as much like a normal tie as possible. The tutorial recommends using interfacing. I had some left over from a project, but you can also do it without the interfacing and it works just fine. The interfacing just makes it a bit more stiff.
BACKDROP:
I wanted the backdrop to be colorful and fun. I took a white piece of fabric (I used some duck cloth that I had, but you can use whatever you have, such as a white sheet) and taped it up on the wall. (Actually it was taped to my bookshelf. Whatever works, right?!) I went to Zurchers and got two rolls of streamers, one blue and one green. They were $.77 each. Can't beat that! I also got five balloons that were $.27 each. For the floor I have some wood pieces that my friend gave me. I'm assuming they came from Home Depot or Lowes. You just snap them together for the shoot and then take them apart for storing when you're done. If you don't have something like that you may have to get creative. If you wanted to go buy one I think they're about $20 for a package of flooring. I prefer the flooring over a vinyl faux floor. If you want to get closeups you can sometimes tell that the flooring isn't real if you're using vinyl. The flooring is also cheaper that most vinyl.
CAKE:
The cake was pretty simple too. I made a box cake mix and poured it into two 6-inch cake pans. When the cakes were done cut the top off so that it's no rounded at all. You want both sides to be flat. Then I put them in the freezer. This is my favorite trick. Not only does it help make the cake easier to frost, it also makes the cake more moist! I made the cake frosting out of shortening, almond extract, milk and powdered sugar. You could also buy frosting, but again, we're going for a DIY session here. If you make you're own frosting make sure you're using white shortening. Butter flavored shortening is yellow. Take the cakes out of the freezer. I put my cake on an oversized spatula so I could slide it onto a clean plate after it was all frosted. Set it on the spatula (or plate if you don't have a spatula that would work) with the flatest side on the bottom. Put a large dollop of frosting on and spread it around. Put the second layer on top with the flatest side facing up.
Now you're going to put on a crumb layer of frosting. You'll notice when you frost the cake you'll see crumbs in the frosting. It doesn't look very good. It took me a long time to discover this trick. Just don't worry about how it looks. Try to get this layer smooth and make sure it completely covers the cake. Then stick it back in the freezer to harden. After about ten minutes or so you can take the cake out and put the final coat of frosting on.
There are a few methods for making the frosting smooth but I used a knife and hot water. Dip your knife in a cup of hot water. Using the flat side of the knife start spreading the frosting . There are a number of youtube videos you can check out if you're having trouble. Keep dipping the knife in the hot water. This helps make a nice, smooth surface. Mine's not perfect, but I still think it's adorable.
For the dots I used Sixlets. You can get them at Winco in the bulk section or Zurchers. You don't need many so even though by the pound they are a little pricey, it shouldn't be more than $.50 or so. You also need to determine the the child will be okay with sixlets. I was using my son for this session and I knew he would be fine with them (and I'd be keeping a close eye on him anyway), but if it had been someone else's child I would have either checked with the mom/dad or I would have found something else to use. If you decide to use Sixlets or something similar you will just put them on randomly. Viola! An adorable cake that's pretty simple and cheap. Way better than paying $20 for something that's not nearly as cute!
After taking the pre-smash pictures I make sure I got a few good shots of the cake. Then I stuck a sparkler in the cake for some extra fun! Don't worry, my son was still in his high chair watching his mother in all her madness. I love the sparkler pictures. They're so fun! Just make sure you the the before pictures of the cake first because the sparklers leave black ash on the cake. After the sparkler pictures I took the Sixlets off the top, scraped off the frosting and added new frosting.
THE STUDIO SET-UP:
Here's what I did for the set up. I have my flooring and my backdrop. I set it all up where I knew I'd have the best lighting. I happen to have an umbrella and an external flash so I used these for extra light on the opposite side of the window. You'll also see a reflector on the left side. I had that leaning against a chair to bounce a little extra light onto my son.
I purchased my equipment from Amazon and this is what I used. (prices based on time of posting 4/27/2015)
Flash- $35: Neewer TT560
Wireless Flash Receiver- $21: Cowboy Studio Wireless Flash Receiver
Umbrella Stand Bracket- $7: Neewer Umbrella Stand Bracket
Umbrella Stand- $15: Light stand for studio or on-site photography
Umbrella- $9: LimoStudio 33" umbrella reflector
Reflector- $10for the 24" or $15 for the 43": Etekcity 24" 5-in-1 or you can get a larger one here LimoStudio 43" 5-in-1
If you'd like to see more of my work, please visit my page at caylybascomphotography.blogspot.com
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