Madison joined 4-H for the first time this year. Ellie joined Cloverbuds, a group that meets at the same time, but has less responsibility.
Madison decided to do Cake Decorating as her project. We had no idea what to expect. Our three books arrived, and we looked them over. It seemed a bit intense – 2 learning experiences, 3 leadership opportunities, 5 cakes/cookies/cupcakes decorated, budgeting, an essay, a final judging cake, poster etc. But we did it! We were working on 1) level cake, 2) smooth frosting, 3) stars, 4) rosettes, 5) dots, and 6) making a good frosting.
Her five projects included a chocolate frosted cake, a cake for Easter, a cake for Camp Luz outdoor service, cookies for MCC cookie corner, and cupcakes to share with MCC Volunteers. Here are some of her experiences:
Her final project was done on a Styrofoam cake mold. As we started to decorate this, we realized that frosting doesn’t stick to Styrofoam as well as an actual cake. So, it was a bit more challenging than we expected, but it turned out well.
She went to judging on Tuesday, August 6. She had to register all by herself, which was a little scary for her, but she did it. She also had to go into judging all by herself, answer questions, and present her poster and cake.
She did a great job based on the judge’s comments. She was awarded an Outstanding! the highest level of achievement. It was pretty cool.
I was very proud of her. She didn’t really love this project like she thought she would. I think she wanted to just be able to do whatever she wanted, but she felt confined by the learning process. I am not sure if that was me pushing her to practice her star and dots and know the basic tips or just trying to follow the directions. But she persevered through budgeting math (what did we already have, what did we buy, did we make a profit – the answer is no), multiple practice sessions, and more. In the end, she was proud of her work.
She said next year she will do another project, maybe scrapbooking…
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