Must make it clear:

This cake is filled with real chocolate,

but it requires No Baking,

it’s Gluten-free, and it contains

No added sugars,

No Food-colorings,

or Preservatives.

It’s a particularly special cake,

It stays fresh for a long, long time (years even!)

The kind of cake you just don’t meet everyday.

 The kind of cake you send a girl way across the sea.

I’ve got the type of daughter who has always loved birthday celebrations.

As early as two months before the actual birth date, she could be found making lists of party games, outfit choices, invitation designs, guest lists, and what would go in the all important goody bag.

The preparations were an important part of the celebrations themselves; it gave us a wonderful excuse for quality time and joint projects.

All our birthday parties { except for the Bat Mitzvah Extravaganza } were always celebrated modestly at home with friends, not anything over the top: a little art project, old fashioned party games (the ones we used to play at my own birthday parties), goody bags, refreshments

And of course-

Cake!!!

The cake was always homemade (I would rather know what actually goes into the treats I serve the kids), usually filled with lots of real cream and decorations, and very importantly, CHOCOLATE.

Because what exactly is a birthday celebration without a little a lot chocolate involved?

And sometimes I broke my own rules and broke out a little food-coloring,

because it is a birthday after all,

and it comes around only once a year.

My present girl

For my twenty-fifth birthday I received the most wonderful present I could have asked for: motherhood.

And since then we’ve always celebrated a joint birthday.

My little present grew up beautifully, a caring sister, a good friend, any parent’s dream, happy and healthy, just as we had wished.

And at the end of high school she sailed across the sea to volunteer for a year.

Far, far away.

Very, very important.

And I miss her so much it hurts.

But the magic of technology helps,

Phone, WhatsApp, Facebook, email, Messenger – we’re together,

And we even manage to stretch our arms for far away hugs when we need it – – –

Typed words.

Written advice.

Links to songs.

Near and far get mixed.

And it’s all great and dandy—

Until the birthday rolls around.

(A breaking point. Well, almost)

The question stands: What about a cake?

With a little creativity we overcame this obstacle.

With a takeout cake, one that could survive suitcases and plane rides:

Chocolate Cake Filled with Missing Ingredients

Ingredients:

•  The best chocolate (in your opinion, ours comes in purple wrapping)

• A round box with a lid, made of cardboard, tin, or wood

• Chocolate-colored acrylic paints
• Tacky or plastic glue in a squeezable bottle
• Paintbrush

• Colorful aluminum paper, or just plain silver foil

• Washi Tape in uplifting patterns

• Paper flowers
• Pearl stickers (or any other decorative sticker)

Instructions:

Write out and decorate your “cake” by squeezing your glue in the designs or letters that you wish. If you wish, you can just scribble-scrabble across and around with the glue, and it will look amazing too!

Let dry overnight

Paint over with your chocolate acrylic paint—Two layers is best, waiting an hour in between each coat.

In the meantime cut your chocolate into bite-size pieces.

Cut out your wrapping paper into squares (3×3″)

Wrap each chocolate square with the paper
{ don’t worry, there’s a how-to video at the end}

Enlist all family members in the wrapping factory line, and wrap each with a piece of Washi tape (don’t get to alarmed if it doesn’t stick to well –  it’s mostly there to look pretty)

Fill your “cake” box with the chocolates and plenty of hugs.

Decorate with the paper flowers and “icing” stickers

Right before you close the box, add in cards and notes from the whole family

Wrap up in cellophane to impress, and also protect the cake.

 Send in the mail { or with friends that happen to be going to visit their daughter as well, who is also her BFF }

Then you wait a few days for the surprise and joy screams

That travelled across land and sea

And which came all the way back to us – – –

To

The

Deepest

Place

In the heart.

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Want to settle in for THE MOVIE? Get the popcorn!

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What else is new?

I’m proud of my new logo for the English version of my blog:

Rock! paper+scissors.
DIY, designs and thoughts

I’m in the process of translating all blog posts into English.

Subscribe now to be the first one to know about new blog posts, DIY ideas, DIY+K (Do It Yourself + Kids) tutorials, and more!
You are more the welcome to tell your friends and share on social media!

, Big Thank you to Adnana from Skokie Public Library, the wordpress and web expert, who spelled some magic words and helped me get this done!

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Photo-Galleries on my blog

 I also created some photo-galleries, so you can see what (else) I’m doing {beside blogging }

 Personalized wall art for kids – English

Personalized wall art for kids – Hebrew

Personalized wall art for kids – Russian

Bulletin boards

Body pillows for kids

Paper Mache Pomegranates

Pomegranate paper napkin rings

Leaf paper napkin rings

Heart paper napkin rings

Star paper napkin rings

Pomegranate decorative pillows