Cake Hunting: Custard Cakes

I've got another short post for you guys again today.

One of my good friends from college is visiting from Kansas City this weekend, so we took her out to Ted Drewes! 

I can't caption these pictures because I'm posting from my phone, but this picture is Emily (my friend from KC), Bri (that's me!), and Kiley (another friend from college who lives in St. Louis). 

I highly recommend stopping by Ted Drewes soon, because it is amaaaaazing. I got an All Shook Up concrete with hot fudge mixed in and it was perfection. 

Maybe don't go on a Friday night at 7 like we did because it was ridiculously crowded. 

Happy caking!

I can't wait to show you guys what's goin on tomorrow!

Bonus picture: Jason and my sister at Ted Drewes two hours after me!

Fake Cakes: I Think I've Cracked

I'm seeing cakes in my dreams. Clouds in the sky even look like cakes. There are shirts with cakes on them covering my counters. Cakes cakes cakes cakes cakes. I don't think cake is even a real word anymore. Am I spelling that right? C-A-K-E? Seems wrong to me..

Today I went to go get a hard-boiled egg from my fridge. Maybe I'm hallucinating, but I think there was a cake on it.

Is... is that a cake?

Oh, wait. Not hallucinating. There is a cake! 

Does this count as Cake 21? Probably not.

That's all I've got for you today, folks. Perhaps there will be a real cake tomorrow? Perhaps.

I can't wait to show you guys cake #21 tomorrow!

Fake Cakes: A DIY Post

Today was not a day suited for geocaking, but that doesn't mean the day was wasted!

Last night after dinner, my mom, Kelby, and I decided to take a trip to Jo~Ann Fabrics to pick up supplies to make CAKE SHIRTS!

Pictured: Kelby in a Cake shirt

I spent part of last night and all of today making nine cake hunting shirts (two of them are for me). By the way, if you're only interested in the actual STL250 cakes, turn back now. This post contains none. Join us again on Friday night to see more real cakes.

Not Pictured: Heat'n Bond

Now, about the supplies. You're going to need:

• an iron/ironing board
• plain t-shirts (look for sales!)
• the fabric of your choice
• Heat'n Bond
• puff paint
• the sharpest scissors you own
• a pen
• thin cardboard
• and stencils

The t-shirts should be a cotton blend, in whatever size(s) you may need. Your fabric can be whatever pattern you want, but make sure it'll look good with your t-shirts! I recommend picking out the fabric first, actually. It's easier to find shirts to match fabric than the other way around. I used a pack and a half of Heat'n Bond, but if you're not making nine shirts, one pack is more than enough. With the puff paint, black is my favorite to use because it hides your mistakes the best, but any color will work. The glitter ones are fun, but cut the end off just a little to make the opening wider because the glitter always clogs it. If your scissors aren't sharp, your hand is going to cramp, so fabric scissors would be best. I recommend a ballpoint pen. As for the cardboard, I used the top to an old donut box. I've also used an empty box of pasta. That should give you an idea of the material you want.

On to the step-by-step instructions, with pictures!

Before you do any of the fun stuff, you have to make your cardboard stencils. You can trace whatever you want onto cardboard and then cut it out. For mine, I printed out the STL250 letters and traced those onto cardboard. It was a pain. The bigger the letters, the easier it is. The cake, I drew up myself. Cut these as neatly as possible, you'll be tracing them later.

Now, the real fun begins. To start, turn on your iron to the recommended setting, and be sure you're not

How To: Adhere Heat'n Bond

using any steam. Our ironing board has disappeared, so I just laid a towel down on my counter. It works just as well. Now, have your fabric with the bright side face down on your ironing board. Then put the Heat'n Bond on top of the fabric, paper side up. Iron. I usually only need a handful of swipes around the material for it to sufficiently bond. When you're done, be sure to turn off the iron! Please don't burn down your house.

How To: Trace Stencils

Now you're going to trace your stencils onto the paper part of the Heat'n Bond. Do the tracings backwards, so when you cut them out, they'll be facing the right way. 

Pictured: Letters!

Then you'll want to cut out your fabric letters/designs, which is kind of a pain in the butt. Luckily for me, when I woke up this morning, I found my mom had cut out all my letters for me! Which is great because there were 48 individual letters that needed to be cut out, and I was less than excited to do that.

How To: Peel the Paper

Once your letters are cut out (and that part takes the longest), head back to your ironing board. Peel the paper backing off the fabric. Arrange your letters/design/whatever on your t-shirt. Make sure everything's all centered, then iron away! Be sure you really focus on the edges when you're ironing.

Pictured: Thin, Precise Lines

Pictured: Thin, Precise Lines

If you're satisfied with your ironing, now it's time to puff paint (or if you know how to sew, you can sew the edges down instead)! Again, be sure to turn off your iron! Puff painting will look the best with thin, precise lines, so that's your goal.

Let that dry overnight, and then you're good to go!

Guess we can't use this counter  for a while...

I hope this tutorial was helpful! If you like the shirts but don't want to make your own, I am selling these (custom ordered). E-mail me for details!

PS: When you wash these, wash them inside out on the delicate cycle. 

Cake Hunting: Dizzy Over Cakes

My mom came into the living room while I was watching Bridesmaids and asked, "Hey, Bri, do you want to go to Kelby's neurotologist appointment with us at 3?"

"Uhm, why would I want to go to the neuro... Wait. CAKES?" It clicked as I was responding that we would be able to track down more cakes after the appointment, so of course I agreed to go with!

Neurotologist Time!

Now, I won't say I regret my decision, but ugh. I waited in that waiting room for over two hours. Thank cakes I brought a book with me, since my phone doesn't hold a charge very well.

After leaving the doctor's office (who was incredibly helpful figuring out what was going on with my sister's inner ear problems), we began our cake-finding journey of the day.

Bri and Kelby

United Hebrew Congregation Cake

Up first, for our sixteenth cake, was the United Hebrew Congregation. As soon as we pulled up, a woman was walking out of the building and said, "Are you here to take a picture of our cake?" Duh! Cakes rock! I know you can't see it in either of the pictures, but the back of this cake has several different-colored triangles, making it a very geometric and colorful cake.

Bri and Kelby

Handstanding Cows!

Bonhomme Old Stone Church Cake

We took a left out of the parking lot and headed over to Bonhomme Old Stone Church. Be forewarned, this building is on the right side of the road, with more of a driveway than a parking lot. It came up on us very quickly, and we almost died turning in to the parking lot (exaggeration, but it was still scary). This cake made my mom squeal with delight because there were cows all over it! On the left side, there were some cows doing handstands, which we all found hilarious. On our way back to the car, we saw an empty bottle of Fireball Whiskey, so I guess someone was having a fun time cake hunting before us.

Bri and Kelby

Butterfly House Cake

Then Mom took us over to the Butterfly House, where our first cake-hunting related injury occurred. I scraped my knee climbing onto a stone caterpillar. Tragic, I know. Unfortunately, the Butterfly House had closed at four, so there we couldn't go inside and marvel at the beauteous butterflies, but I'll definitely be returning over the summer because I love the butterfly house. (PS did you know you can get married there?!)

Bri and Kelby

Kemp Auto Museum Cake

Our last two cakes of the day (cakes nineteen and twenty) were both painted silver! Cake #19 was at the Kemp Auto Museum, which was also closed. Good thing, too, because if we had gone without Jason he would have been pretty livid. We took some pretty good pictures out in front of the museum, though, so that's always a plus.

Bri and Kelby

Spirit of St. Louis Airport Cake

The cake at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport was much easier to find than we made it out to be. My mom didn't believe me when I said it was probably going to be in the parking lot right in front of where our car was, but instead she drove all over the place trying to find it. Then I, being the genius I am, pulled up the STL250 app on her phone and used it to locate the 'virtual cake icon' and directed us to where the cake was located.


It was a great day of finding cakes, especially since we ended on a good number, bringing our total cakes to TWENTY!

This will be our last cake hunt until Friday, but check back to see some cool things on the days in between.







I can't wait to show you guys what I've been working on! xoxo Cake Hunter

Cake Hunting: Close To Home

Welcome back, cake stalkers! I spent a lot of time today plotting out future cake scavenger hunt trips with my mom, which gave us an intense craving for some Vitamin Cake! So after dinner, my mom, Kelby, and I took off on a mission to find some giant layered desserts.

Kelby and Bri
Fort Zumwalt Park Cake

Our first stop was a repeat cake. Like I mentioned yesterday, the app was giving us trouble. So we headed back to Fort Zumwalt Park to see if we could collect the points on the app. Success! We also ran into some more people that were taking pictures with cakes and we chatted with them for a bit. They were unaware that there were 250 cakes to find!

We had our mission planned out for us, thanks to my mom's superb preparing skills. We stuck close to home today, just enough cakes to get in our fix. With four cakes planned out, we drove to Historic St. Charles Main Street.

Bri and Kelby

Lewis & Clark Boat House Cake

The cake at the Lewis & Clark Boat House was easy to find. I always park in that parking lot when I go to Main Street. Unfortunately, the Boat House museum and gift shop closed at 5 p. m. and we didn't get there til about an hour after that. I've never been in there, so of course I'll have to add that to my summer list of places to visit. We took our picture with the cake (and I took my standard photo for my Snapchat story), then my mom and sister took off to go look at a canoe while I checked out the cake. My favorite part, and probably yours too, was the eagle face at the bottom. Nifty.

Bri, Debbie, and Kelby

St. Charles Old County
Courthouse Cake

We then drove a few streets down to the St. Charles Old County Courthouse, where we had to climb at least half a million stairs. Then we realized there was a much shorter flight of stairs ten feet to the left. Irritating. We ran into yet another cake hunter (and her son), and found out they've tracked down over a hundred cakes! Not fair! She was kind enough to take a picture of all three of us with the cake, which was painted beautifully.

Bri and Kelby

First Missouri State Capitol Cake

Then a real hunt began.  The First Missouri State Capitol was difficult to find, because the cake isn't actually by the building itself. But it is indeed on Main Street. While the three of us were searching for it, we saw a couple looking around the building and I assumed they were looking for a cake. So I asked, "Oh, are you guys looking for a cake?" They looked at me like I was insane. "A cake? Like a cake to eat?" Crap. Not cake hunters. That was definitely the most awkward encounter of the night. We finally found the cake and immediately ran back to the car to avoid further embarrassment.

Bri and Kelby

Shrine of St. Rose Philippine
Duchesne Cake

Our final cake for today was at the Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. Mother Duchesne built the first free school house west of the Mississippi in 1818. The cake was right next to her shrine, and it was my favorite for the day. I love when the artists highlight the 250 on the cakes, because I think it really pops.

Today was a good cake day, and I'm pleased that we've brought our count to 15 CAKES!

I can't wait to see where we go next! xoxo Cake Hunter

Cake Hunting: Days 1 and 2

So the first two pictures I have that feature STL250 cakes are from a day I wasn't traveling with my cake hunting team. Like I said, we didn't know it was a thing yet, so these pictures were just taken for fun!

This picture is from MARCH! March! Can you believe it? My mom, Jason, Kelby, Emily, and Zaach hit the Magic House for a day of fun and happened across our very first cake! The Magic House is full of exciting exhibits and is tons of fun for kids of any age. It also has a little bit of history with my family, since Kelby took her first steps here fourteen years ago! First steps, first cake... This place is pretty important! If you're looking for a good place to start your own cake hunting journey, this is the place to go.

Another day where my team took off without me. Okay, really I was just annoyed with the children and I was glad they left the house. But we'll pretend I was upset that they went to Lone Elk Park, not that my mom hasn't been dragging me there against my will for years anyway. When I was a kid, driving around in a car with my mom and my younger sister to look at animals I couldn't pet was not my idea of fun. Now, however, I get excited about any animal that is within eyesight. And since Lone Elk has plenty of elk, deer, and BUFFALO to stare at, I'd love to spend a day out there now that the weather is warmer and the animals are out to enjoy the sunlight. Just remind me to bring bugspray. Animals are cool. Bugs are not. (More on that later.)

Fort Zumwalt Park Cake
brilongg on Snapchat

Emily, Zaach, and I

After dinner last night, we really started looking into the cake thing. My mom pointed out that there was one less than ten minutes from our house (we actually live a little outside of St. Louis), so the five of us piled into Jason's car, with Jason driving, and headed to Fort Zumwalt Park. I had never been to Fort Zumwalt Park, so not only was I seeing a new cake (my first cake!!!), but I also got to see a new park, which is full of history and is also really pretty, especially in the summer time. I wish we could've stayed longer, but it was close to closing time, and Zaach really doesn't like doing anything that doesn't involve swimming, roller blading, or games on his phone. Fortunately for me, I will get to go back, because the STL250 app wasn't working for us at this location, so we'll have to return to get the points for this cake! Perfect!

After our first official cake stop, I had plans at a friend's house, so I went over there and spent the night. Then in the morning, my mom texted me asking if I wanted to participate in today's cake hunt. Of course I agreed, not fully understanding just what today would entail. I headed home and had a quick lunch of Ramen Noodles (it's like I never left college), and then our day began.

Zaach, Bri, and Emily
Zaach and Em look so happy 

Sappington House Cake

Our first stop of the day was The Sappington House in Crestwood. The Sappington House may be the oldest brick house in St. Louis County, and it is absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately they were closed to tours today since it was Sunday, but I'm out in Crestwood a lot to visit a friend from college, so I'll probably check it out sometime soon. This cake was definitely the most colorful of the day. We headed out after my mom took some pictures of the house and surrounding areas, and then we moved on to stop number two.

Zaach, Bri, and Emily

Grant's Trail Cake

We decided to skip the Grant's Farm cake for today since we wouldn't have time to actually spend there, and instead opted to head out to Grant's Trail to visit that cake. It was interesting to get to, since we had to drive through a neighborhood, and there were signs everywhere saying that people for the trail couldn't park there. But no worries, we found the proper parking lot eventually, and from there we could see the cake! When we see a cake, my mom and I just start chanting "CAKE, CAKE, CAKE, CAKE, CAKE," until it's not even a word anymore, and then we take a picture. I guess for this cake stop, my mom forgot we were on a bike trail, and she was standing right in the middle of it. She only almost got hit about four times, but she's fine. Probably irritated some bikers, though. Sorry!

Zaach, Bri, and Emily

St. Anthony's Hospital Cake

After running away from the scariness that is people exercising, we checked out our list to find our next cake point. Maybe it's just me, but this stop was the weirdest of them all today. St. Anthony's Hospital. Hospitals are obviously very important, but it still felt weird running out of the car to go take a picture with a cake and then immediately leaving. We did also see the St. Anthony statue, since the cake was right behind it. Also, did you know they have valet parking? That's beside the point. Back to the cakes. I really liked the color scheme on this one, it was very pleasing to the eye. Very soft and pastel-like, unlike our fourth cake for the day...

Zaach, Bri, and Emily

Gateway Harley-Davidson Cake

...The Gateway Harley-Davidson Store! Another place closed for Sundays, which I was extremely upset about because they had coupons out with their cake! If you buy ten dollars worth of merchandise from the store, you get a free shot glass! I love free things, so hopefully that explains the exclamation points for this one. At this point in the day, we had dropped Jason off to do his weekly radio show, so the team was down to just my mom, Emily, Zaach, and me. It was nice having shotgun, so I won't complain.

Zaach, Bri, and Emily

Missouri Civil War Museum Cake

Bri, Emily, and Zaach (and a bug)

JB Park Visitor's Center Cake

Following a short drive, we ended up at Jefferson Barracks County Park. There are actually three cakes in this park, so after visiting here we felt incredibly accomplished. The first cake we stopped at in JB Park was at the Missouri Civil War Museum. The patriotic cake looked right at home outside the museum, which we would have toured if we'd had the cash. But like I said, this is supposed to be a free summer activity! It was nice to stop in the airconditioned building for just a second, though. It was a very hot and humid day. Then we piled back into the car on the hunt for cakes two and three (well, technically nine and ten). On our hunt, we also saw four little deer! The one on my side of the car was eating leaves off a tree, and like I said earlier, animals are great, so I was squealing the whole time. The next cake was at the Visitor's Center. Of course, there was a bug on it, so Zaach and Emily were petrified and didn't want to stand anywhere near it, which is why they're pretending to like each other: the bug was on the other side of the cake, so they had to share. The cake after that was just one road down, and we could have walked but we didn't know it would be so close. The cake at Jefferson Barracks Trail was my favorite of the day because of the color scheme. I really like that teal.

Zaach, Bri, and Emily

Jefferson Barracks Trail Cake

That concluded our day of cakes with Zaach and Emily, but we had them til 8, so we stopped on the trail and had a picnic lunch while Emily and Zaach complained about being hot and bored. I, however, enjoyed my PB&J and cherry Kool-Aid. My mom and I spent most of lunch reading the list of the other cake locations while the kids played on the nearby monkey bars. Then they convinced us to drive over to the playground/splash pool, so we did. It. Was. Awful. Screaming children, bugs crawling all over me, and mosquitos treating me like their dinner. Ugh. We were there for two hours, my phone was dead, and I hadn't brought a book with me. It was a long wait.

Bri and Jason

Spellman Center Cake

But, after we dropped the kids back off at their mom's house at 8, we made an unexpected cake stop at Lindenwood University at the Spellman Center! I love Lindenwood's campus; it's all brick and very pretty. I spent a lot of time there when my cousin was a student, plus it's really close to where I live. I also took prom pictures there last year. The cake was decorated in Lindenwood's school colors, which looked amazing. And while we were there, we ran into some other cake hunters! A couple and their baby were taking pictures with the cake, and we got to talking. They've found forty cakes already! I'm jealous. We did only just start yesterday, so I guess we've got time to catch up. After getting our cake count up to eleven this weekend, I'm pretty proud of our team.

I can't wait to see how many cakes we find next week! I'll keep you guys posted! xoxo Cake Hunter