So all my cake practice is for a real reason…

I started a little charity thing where I bake my cakes–donating everything, including materials, time and talent (ha ha)–for charitable causes.  I’m going to let organizations sell them at bake sales or bazaars or silent auctions or whatever.

I do have limits… the charities must really help people in need (not just a fund raiser for a school field trip or something).

So far I’ve made a couple of cakes to help a local woman with cancer (and no health insurance).  I believe the cakes were sold at a bake sale.

I’m glad and grateful to have this opportunity to “give back” to the community.  Now that I have a child, I feel it’s more important than ever to set an example of charity, love and compassion for our fellow human beings.

I admit it:  The holiday hustle and bustle has really slowed down my blogging.  And in addition to all the Christmas cheer, I’ve been working super hard on my cake decorating skills.

Here’s a cake I did for a charity:

And some cupcakes I made for my neighbor’s daughter:

Last year at Thanksgiving, we started a new tradition with Hubby’s family.  Instead of buying gifts for each and every adult in the family, we all drew one name.  It was a much more economical–and eco-friendly–way to go.

This year we’re doing the same, which is a relief to my pocketbook.

Even so, our budget’s going to be hit hard by all of our Christmas shopping.  Oh well… the holidays are only once a year, right?  As long as I don’t go into debt–I hate to be paying off Christmas bills in February–I’m happy.