OWL Always Love You Birthday Cake!

I have three best friends from college.  The four of us are you know, the FAB FOUR?  One-third of the DIRTY DOZEN?  The MAGNIFICENT SEVEN minus three?  Okay you get it.  We are pretty awesome.  We chose different sororities in college, different paths after college and even different states to live in.  But we still share the same brain, and I'm pretty sure at some point in the future we'll be living together like the GOLDEN GIRLS.   This summer, they all came to visit and we decided to celebrate Jenny's birthday while she was here.  Now Jenny and I were Chi Omega sorority sisters, and our mascot was the OWL.  When I saw the idea for this owl cake on Pinterest, I knew exactly what Jenny's birthday cake would be.  Until Barbara caught wind of it and said, "That owl had better have IVY in his beak and an ANCHOR on his arm."  (Symbols for the Alpha Phi and Delta Gamma sororities.)  Of course she was teasing, but hey, I did not want Barbara or Amy to feel left out, so that's exactly the cake I made.  a CHI OMEGA OWL, sitting on a branch of ALPHA PHI IVY,  dressed up with DELTA GAMMA ANCHOR buttons!

This should make Chi Omegas, Alpha Phis,
and Delta Gammas everywhere HAPPY!

I made a cake using a chocolate cake mix.
I have to admit, I'm not much of a cake decorator,
and I did not have the patience to make a cake
from scratch, frosting from scratch, and
decorate all night. 

I baked the mix using two round pans.  One full
cake became the owl's body.  The other round
was cut into ears, wings and feet.
Again, I'm not a cake decorator so I just
"winged" it.  Pardon the pun.

I made a big batch of buttercream frosting. 
I separated it in bowls, reserving some of the
white for the eyes and belly.  Then I tinted a
small amount yellow for the beak. 
The rest I tinted chocolate and EXTRA chocolate
using cocoa powder. 
His eyes were two mini Reese's cups.

Here's Jenny with her birthday cake!

 

Credit for this darling idea goes to:Leave Room For Dessert
I only wish my owl was as cute as the
one she created.  Please visit her
blog and share her talent!