lee-ann dunton's
photo blog & journal.

it's been quite a while since i've "really" decorated a cake... probably 2+ years. monica & jennifer asked me to make a cake for their baby shower & they're decorating duke's room with an owl theme, so i went with this ( originally posted here).

this cake is 100% vegan. it's a chocolate layer cake with blackberry preserves & buttercream frosting, covered in fondant. after baking the cake & letting it cool, as well as colouring the fondant, it probably took me about 2 hours to decorate. not too bad, as i'm really not all that good with fondant. i screwed up in a couple places, but i think i covered them up pretty well. ;)



aly made matching vegan cupcakes in the same colours that i used for the cake. it turned out really cute.

( +2 more )

tom mix monument :: (just south of) florence, az :: 'arizona curiosities'

( +2 of the tom mix monument )

about tom mix: born in 1880, tom mix was a western star who made 336 films during the course of 25 years, with all but nine of them being silent features. during his heyday, mix was known as the "king of cowboys", influencing individuals such as john wayne to become western stars. (mix actually got john wayne a job moving props.) at the height of his career in the 20s and 30s, tom mix was making approximately $20,000 a week. after leaving the acting business, mix traveled with a circus performing tricks with his horse tony.

the tom mix monument marks the place that mix died in 1940 just south of florence, arizona. while coming upon construction, he had to brake fast (going approximately 80mph) and crashed. what actually killed him was an aluminum suitcase filled with money & jewels, as it flew from behind his seat, broke his neck, and smashed his skull.

note: this can be found in 'arizona curiosities' by sam lowe.

rex allen memorial :: willcox, az :: 'arizona curiosities'

( +5 of the rex allen memorial & museum )

about rex allen: rex allen was born in willcox, arizona, in 1920. at an early age he started singing & later became famous not only for his singing but also for acting in b-westerns. his song "streets of laredo" sold over 3 million copies & through-out his 30 year career, allen starred in 19 westerns, 39 episodes of "frontier doctor", narrated more than 100 nature films for disney & did voice acting for many commercials.

although he had surgery to correct the defect before his singing career took off, the arizona cowboy was born cross-eyed, and this is quite predominantly mentioned on a memorial erected in his memory at railroad park in willcox. the memorial also mentions his famous horse koko, who is supposedly buried onsite. in addition to the memorial statue, there's also a rex allen museum across the street & willcox holds an annual "rex allen day".

side note: while visiting willcox & writing this up, all that i could think of was "rex manning day". haha. :)

visit the rex allen museum web site.

note: this can be found in 'arizona curiosities' by sam lowe.

the lavender pit :: bisbee, az :: 'arizona curiosities'

( +4 of the lavender pit )

about the lavender pit: the lavender pit is an open pit copper mine located in bisbee, arizona. it was named after phelps dodge corporation's vice president harrison m. lavender. during its 24 year lifespan from 1950-1974, the pit produced 86 million tons of ore for a total of around 600,000 tons of copper. gold, silver & turquoise were also found in the mine, although at much lower concentrations. in order to start the mine, 191 homes and businesses had to be re-located to make way for the eventual 1.5 mile x .75 mile pit (covering 600 acres of land).

note: this can be found in 'arizona curiosities' by sam lowe.

pinal county historical museum :: florence, az :: 'arizona curiosities'

actual nooses used to put arizona inmates to death, along with a chair used in the gas chamber.


eva dugan, the only woman executed in arizona history. she was killed instantly, as the noose decapitated her.

( +17 of the museum )

about the pinal county historical museum: also known as "the arizona state prison collection", the pinal county historical museum boasts a large amount of execution-related paraphernalia. this is because the museum is located in the same town as the arizona state prison, in florence, arizona. while also owning a great deal of other historical artifacts, including furniture made from cacti skeletons, miscellaneous medical equipment & a slew of tom mix-related items, the museum's most popular (and assumingly controversial) collection is a set of 25 nooses. the nooses were used by the state to execute 28 individuals, each having a mug shot on the wall inside the museum, surrounded by the noose that executed them. the most well-known story on the wall is that of eva dugan. dugan was the only woman to ever be executed in arizona history, and she was decapitated during her execution due to a weight miscalculation.

take a virtual tour of the museum here.

note: this can be found in 'arizona curiosities' by sam lowe.

prison arts store & trade outlet :: florence, az :: 'arizona curiosities'

( +3 of the prison trade outlet )

about the prison trade outlet: across from the state prison in florence lies a prison arts store & trade outlet, a small building filled from floor to ceiling with the art & crafts of current arizona inmates. after the dept of corrections takes a small cut for overhead, the rest of the money is given back to the prisoners who contributed. depending on the situation, the money can be used to buy items at the prison store, sent to support families, or used to pay restitutions. the type of arts and crafts varies greatly from metalwork, paper creations, clay models & drawings/paintings.

note: this can be found in 'arizona curiosities' by sam lowe.

the thing? :: dragoon, az :: 'weird arizona'

( just what is the thing?, you ask? +7 more! )

about the thing?: the thing? is probably the most hyped-up roadside attraction in all of arizona. driving along interstate 10, you encounter billboards urging you to stop for the thing? as far as 100 miles away from dragoon, arizona, where it's located. for a measly $1, the filling station will let you enter a doorway that leads you through some large sheds filled with antiques, vintage cars & rare oddities. at the end of the pathway, you reach the thing?… a mummified mother & child, enclosed in glass. story has it that the pair were found in the grand canyon (nobody knows if that's really true) & were later sold for $50 to thomas & janet prince. they opened their first the thing? attraction & curio shop around the same time before re-locating in 1965 to the current location.

this was my second time visiting the thing? & i'd have to say it's definitely worth the $1 if you're driving by. :)

read about the thing? on wikipedia.

note: this can be found in 'weird arizona' by wesley treat & 'arizona curiosities' by sam lowe.

biosphere 2 :: oracle, az :: 'weird arizona'

( +24 of biosphere 2 )

about biosphere 2: the biosphere, at conception, was a re-representation of all the earth's biomes (called biosphere 2, as earth is biosphere 1). this ecosystem included an ocean with coral reef, wetlands, a tropical rainforest, savanna grassland & fog desert. in 1991 (and again in 1994), a number of individuals were sealed inside the project to see if they could live sustainably for two years. during that time, the individuals raised animals, grew their own food & conducted experiments throughout. they had no physical contact with the outside world & managed to last the entire two years, even with a few system hiccups. the second experiment only lasted 6 months due to management issues, and since then the compound has been used by universities for research purposes. biosphere is currently owned by the university of arizona.

i originally visited biosphere 2 during my undergrad degree when it was owned by columbia university. not much has changed since, but this is something that's definitely worth visiting if you get a chance!

visit their web site.

note: this can be found in 'weird arizona' by wesley treat.

amanda fucking palmer :: 10.28.11.
birch north park theatre :: san diego, ca.

(i think i actually posted this one picture previously.)

( +18 more )

back in october of last year, neeley, monica, jenn & i took a road-trip to see amanda (fucking) palmer in san diego, california. the show was mind-blowing & we had such a great time. for some reason, i put off editing my photos from the show & then just forgot about them. a post that adam_0oo made the other day reminded me that i needed to get these posted.

the pictures aren't great by any stretch of the imagination, but in my defense, we were pretty far away & i didn't have a tripod. ;)