I cannot tell you how excited I am about this post! Not only does my weekly Monday post fall on May the 4th, but I also have a new love and appreciation for Star Wars.
I have never really been a Star Wars fan. In fact, I hadn't actually watched any of the movies in full until recently. My husband and his brothers are fanatics. I mean, they played the video games, read the books, and can quote any of the movies. So I always kind of knew who some of the characters were and what some of the quotes were just based on things I heard from them.
It wasn't until the announcement of the new movie coming out in December that Kyle really started getting on my case. He sat me down and made me watch the new trailer. I don't recall exactly what question I asked, but whatever it was made him look at me in horror and declare that we needed to begin the Star Wars movie marathon as soon as possible so I would be ready for December.
I didn't argue with his logic. To be honest, I was surprised I'd lasted as long as I had in our relationship without seeing the movies. So I agreed to a marathon. However, his next decision caused a little bit of a disagreement between him and his brother.
Kyle decided that I needed to watch the movies in order, Episode I through Episode VI. His brother disagreed and insisted that I watch them in the original order, by release date, starting with Episode IV. I didn't really have any input on the issue so we ended up watching them in order, because Kyle wanted me to understand the story line as a whole to best prepare me for the new movie.
Most of the characters and quotes that I'd picked up over the years were associated with the original cast. So during the first three movies I kept asking about Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Darth Vader. I was constantly guessing how all of the characters were related and trying to figure out who everyone was. I just couldn't accept that the adorable little kid from Episode I was destined to be the horrible antagonist I'd heard so much about. Not Anakin!
We just finished Episode IV last night, and I was a little appalled. Luke Skywalker is making googly eyes at his own sister! His twin!!! I see now why Kyle's brother wanted me to see them in the original order. I was not supposed to know that these two characters were siblings. It was never intended to be an uncomfortable "Game of Thrones" situation.
Whether Kyle did me a disservice by making me watch the movies in order is still up for debate. However, at this point, I do appreciate knowing the relationships between all the characters. It might ruin some of the surprises, but let's be honest, I already knew the biggest surprise of all. So no harm done.
At this point, you might be wondering what my Star Wars marathon history lesson has to do with the picture of the cake shown above. I'm getting to that.
Back when I was making and decorating cakes on a regular basis, one of Kyle's coworkers asked him if I would be willing to make a birthday cake for his son. I gladly accepted the task. I try to use any opportunity that I can to practice different techniques. Apparently his son is a HUGE Star Wars fan, so that was the theme he wanted.
Since my Star Wars knowledge at the time was limited to what I'd picked up from conversations, I enlisted the help of Pinterest. You wouldn't believe how many ideas there were for Star Wars cakes! I was overwhelmed. I sent a few ideas to Kyle's coworker to narrow down my choices. Once that was done, I sketched out my idea.
I needed the cake to be immediately recognizable so I knew the words "Star Wars" needed to be on it. However, I didn't want that to be the main focus, so I decided to put that on the side.
I have never really been a Star Wars fan. In fact, I hadn't actually watched any of the movies in full until recently. My husband and his brothers are fanatics. I mean, they played the video games, read the books, and can quote any of the movies. So I always kind of knew who some of the characters were and what some of the quotes were just based on things I heard from them.
It wasn't until the announcement of the new movie coming out in December that Kyle really started getting on my case. He sat me down and made me watch the new trailer. I don't recall exactly what question I asked, but whatever it was made him look at me in horror and declare that we needed to begin the Star Wars movie marathon as soon as possible so I would be ready for December.
I didn't argue with his logic. To be honest, I was surprised I'd lasted as long as I had in our relationship without seeing the movies. So I agreed to a marathon. However, his next decision caused a little bit of a disagreement between him and his brother.
Kyle decided that I needed to watch the movies in order, Episode I through Episode VI. His brother disagreed and insisted that I watch them in the original order, by release date, starting with Episode IV. I didn't really have any input on the issue so we ended up watching them in order, because Kyle wanted me to understand the story line as a whole to best prepare me for the new movie.
Most of the characters and quotes that I'd picked up over the years were associated with the original cast. So during the first three movies I kept asking about Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Darth Vader. I was constantly guessing how all of the characters were related and trying to figure out who everyone was. I just couldn't accept that the adorable little kid from Episode I was destined to be the horrible antagonist I'd heard so much about. Not Anakin!
We just finished Episode IV last night, and I was a little appalled. Luke Skywalker is making googly eyes at his own sister! His twin!!! I see now why Kyle's brother wanted me to see them in the original order. I was not supposed to know that these two characters were siblings. It was never intended to be an uncomfortable "Game of Thrones" situation.
Whether Kyle did me a disservice by making me watch the movies in order is still up for debate. However, at this point, I do appreciate knowing the relationships between all the characters. It might ruin some of the surprises, but let's be honest, I already knew the biggest surprise of all. So no harm done.
At this point, you might be wondering what my Star Wars marathon history lesson has to do with the picture of the cake shown above. I'm getting to that.
Back when I was making and decorating cakes on a regular basis, one of Kyle's coworkers asked him if I would be willing to make a birthday cake for his son. I gladly accepted the task. I try to use any opportunity that I can to practice different techniques. Apparently his son is a HUGE Star Wars fan, so that was the theme he wanted.
Since my Star Wars knowledge at the time was limited to what I'd picked up from conversations, I enlisted the help of Pinterest. You wouldn't believe how many ideas there were for Star Wars cakes! I was overwhelmed. I sent a few ideas to Kyle's coworker to narrow down my choices. Once that was done, I sketched out my idea.
I needed the cake to be immediately recognizable so I knew the words "Star Wars" needed to be on it. However, I didn't want that to be the main focus, so I decided to put that on the side.
I also wanted to make sure that Evan's name was on the cake. Though I didn't think the traditional "Happy Birthday" was really necessary. The "May the Force Be With You" seemed more appropriate.
Lightsabers were a must. Even as someone who had never seen the movies, I knew what a lightsaber was. The Death Star was another story. I recognized the shape, but I had no idea what it was. I didn't really know what it was even as I was putting it on the cake. For something so recognizable, I was surprised to find out that it was only in one movie. But I guess when it is the original, people take notice.
I made the cake from two boxes of vanilla mix. The icing is homemade buttercream (recipe) covered in black fondant. I sprinkled some corn starch on the black letters to make them stand out from the background and appear to be cut from the galaxy landscape. The lightsabers, stars, letters, and Death Star are all made from fondant. I used small drops of water to get the pieces of fondant to stick to each other.
Knowing what I know now about the Star Wars series, I probably would have changed one thing, but I am still rather pleased with the result. I don't really like the red lightsaber. I probably should have made it green. Or at least turned both of them inward to look like they were at odds. Oh well. Next time I will just use a TIE Fighter and an X-Wing.
Looks like my Jedi training seems to be working. May the Fourth (and the Force) Be With You!
Lightsabers were a must. Even as someone who had never seen the movies, I knew what a lightsaber was. The Death Star was another story. I recognized the shape, but I had no idea what it was. I didn't really know what it was even as I was putting it on the cake. For something so recognizable, I was surprised to find out that it was only in one movie. But I guess when it is the original, people take notice.
I made the cake from two boxes of vanilla mix. The icing is homemade buttercream (recipe) covered in black fondant. I sprinkled some corn starch on the black letters to make them stand out from the background and appear to be cut from the galaxy landscape. The lightsabers, stars, letters, and Death Star are all made from fondant. I used small drops of water to get the pieces of fondant to stick to each other.
Knowing what I know now about the Star Wars series, I probably would have changed one thing, but I am still rather pleased with the result. I don't really like the red lightsaber. I probably should have made it green. Or at least turned both of them inward to look like they were at odds. Oh well. Next time I will just use a TIE Fighter and an X-Wing.
Looks like my Jedi training seems to be working. May the Fourth (and the Force) Be With You!
FUN FACT: In my attempt to be accurate, I consulted Google on the spelling of some of the Star Wars words. Did you know that there is an entire Wikipedia out there dedicated to Star Wars??? It's called Wookieepedia. AWESOME!!! I have never seen so much information dedicated to a fantasy object. Lightsaber