Instead of cooking a medieval feast as a culminating activity for a medieval unit study, why not bake this simple shield cake? You can have fun creating a coat of arms with candy on the top of the cake.
Begin by baking a rectangular cake, preferably chocolate. Cut one end of the cake into a triangular point. Then tape some foil to a piece of cardboard that is larger than the cake. Upend the cake onto the prepared foil.
Grab two tubs of white frosting, and tint one of them to be the background color for the shield. You can choose any color you want. Frost the entire cake, including the sides.
Now comes the fun part. Divide the second tub of frosting into different bowls, tinting them whatever colors you want to create your coat of arms, dragon, cross, or any other shape. Place the tinted frosting in a plastic Ziplock bag and snip off the corner. Draw whatever you want with the tinted frosting.
We used white frosting to frame the outline of the shield. We also outlined a Peppermint Patty and drew a cross in the center of it. You can now use whatever candy you want to embellish your shield cake. We used colorful M&M’s to go around the entire cake.
For my son Stephen’s 14th birthday, I made him a Star Wars cake–or to be more precise, a Darth Vader cake! I started with a simple rectangular cake. I baked it the previous day and cooled it overnight in the refrigerator.
I googled “Darth Vader” and tried to find a simple silhouette of his head so that I could cut out the shape with a knife. I cut the cake little by little until it was the perfect shape of Darth Vader’s head.
I found a piece of cardboard in the recycle bin in my garage, and I cut it slightly larger than the cake. I taped foil to the cardboard to make a base for the Darth Vader cake.
Next I grabbed the chocolate frosting. Since I didn’t want a black cake, I thought brown would be fine. I opened the frosting container and frosted the entire cake, including the sides.
Finally, I used a tube of black frosting to outline the details of Darth Vader’s face. First I outlined the outside of the cake. Then I did the forehead and eyes. Last, I did the mouth. My husband proclaimed that this Star Wars cake was one of my best cakes of all time!
We decorated the dining room table by throwing a dark blue sheet over it. Next we crossed two toy light sabers in the middle of the table. Last, we scattered star confetti and Star Wars paper chain links that we got at a party supply store.
While watching a movie marathon of Star Wars movies on DVD, I braided my daughter’s hair like Princess Leia. She looks so cute, don’t you think?
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During our study of modern history, we decided to throw a 1970’s party. I wanted our kids to experience what the American culture was like in the 1970’s. We read about the 1970’s in the book All American History, Volume II, so the kids were able to learn about the major events from the 1970’s.
Preparing for a 1970’s Party
We began preparing for the party by collecting 1970’s costumes from a local second-hand store during October. We found enough costumes for our whole family, including bell-bottoms for me and an afro for my husband. He was a good sport and looked incredibly crazy, as you can see from the picture. My 13-year-old son wore stick-on sideburns from a local party store.
We played 1970’s music in the background of the party, and we set up a refreshment table with a punch bowl and snacks. We bought some old-fashioned records for ten cents each, and we used packing tape to tape them to the wall as decorations. (See video demonstration to see how the snacks were arranged, along with the records on the wall.)
The decorations in the dining room were simple: we threw a dark blue bed sheet on top of the table, threw down some sparkly star confetti, and plugged in a lava lamp that we bought at Walmart for $10. The lava lamp looked like red lava bubbling out of a volcano and was groovy.
1970’s Cake
Speaking of groovy things, here is our 1970’s record cake! I show you how we made this cake in the demonstration video at the bottom of this post. It was super easy and fun to make, but we needed an extra large cake pan. We personalized the information in the center of the circle by printing it out as a green circle with the words on it. We laminated the circle with packing tape so that the icing wouldn’t soak through it.
An Old Picture of Me in the 1970’s
We interrupt this party description to give you a real photo from the 1970’s. Yes, I was alive during the 1970’s. (I know, right? There’s no way I’m that old!) I’m the red-head on the right. That’s my gorgeous mom, wearing those bell-bottoms, yes, the genuine thing. Notice the 1970’s hairdo on my mom. My mom is holding my younger sister, and by big sis is posing in her 1970’s kid clothes.
1970’s Disco Ball
We resume our party description by adding a disco ball, which we attached to the ceiling. It was mesmerizing to watch the ball spinning around after turning off the lights. My daughter and I were lying down on the floor watching the cool patterns on the ceiling, like a kaleidoscope of colors.
How to Throw a 1970’s Party
1970’s Couple
My husband posed with me in this cute picture:
We had so much fun posing in our 1970’s costumes! Why not throw a 1970’s party of your own?
If you are studying modern history, you might want to throw a 1950’s party! You will want to grab some poodle skirts from a local costume shop (or at a yard sale!) Match those pink poodle skirts with white or pink shirts, and you will have a 1950’s look. The men can wear white T-shirts and jeans. They can slick back their hair with jell, while the women can wear a pony tail or two. Ribbons can be wrapped around the pony tails.
If you have a 1950’s diner where you live, you can go out for a hamburger and a malt. Back when I lived in California, I took my dad to the local 1950’s malt shop. Unfortunately Eastern Washington does not have a 1950’s diner, but you could create a similar ambience in your home.
If you want to make your dining room into a malt shop, that can be fun. Back when I was in college, my friends threw a 1950’s-themed murder mystery party, and the entire downstairs was transformed. Use your imagination.
How to Make a 1950’s Jukebox Cake
If you are throwing a 1950’s birthday party, you will want to have a cake. My dad loved the 1950’s, so I made him a jukebox cake for his birthday. I started with a long rectangular pan, and I baked a chocolate cake. I rounded the top part of the cake, and I frosted it with chocolate frosting.
Next I mixed some white vanilla frosting with some food coloring to make yellow, red, and gray frosting. I put each in a ziplock bag and cut off a hole in the corner to place the icing where I wanted it. I make an outer arc of red and an inner arc of yellow. I flattened it out with a table knife.
I made a red rectangle with yellow bars across it for the speaker. Then I used gray frosting for the bottom of the arcs and the bottom part of the jukebox. I cut two Peppermint Patties to place on the top and middle of the cake in the configuration shown in the picture. I used red M&M’s as embellishments.
When we lit the candles, it looked like the jukebox was lit up from the inside!
1950’s Music
You can find plenty of 1950’s music on YouTube, and you can play it in the background of your 1950’s party. One of the most famous songs of the 1950’s was “Rock Around the Clock” by Haley and the Comets. Watch the fun 1950’s dancing and the styles of clothing back then:
Hi! I'm Susan Evans. I speak at homeschool conferences about hands-on learning and run a huge unit study membership site. I also speak at women's retreats on the topic of prayer.
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