Beer cake.
In my twenties these would have been magic words to me, but now, in my thirties, I default to other kinds of cake. Cakes of cake. Cakes of ice cream. Cakes of money to pay all our bills? Cakes of cheese. (That's actually one we had at our wedding. It was awesome.)
But for my Marine? There's nothing more magical than a Welcome Home Beer Can Cake. If your servicemember is anything like mine, we can all celebrate how quick and easy this welcome home project is.
You'll Need:
Beer - how much is up to you. For this tower, I used four different types (so there was some variation between the layers). 12 cans for the bottom tier, 5 cans for the next tier, 4 cans for the third tier, and one for the the top tier.
Patriotic ribbon
Two American flags
Decorations - yellow ribbon, sparkly foil stars, and, here, two pieces of paper with a puffy-painted "Welcome Home" on them.
Step One: Locate Favorite Beer in Cans
My husband drives me batty with his beer preferences. ("Ohh, no. This one isn't hoppy enough." "Were they out of the Octoberfest?" "Did you see the one from that local microbrewery I like?" No, No I didn't. I was too busy trying to corral our baby from pulling every multi-colored item from the shelves to really notice. But look: Beer! You're WELCOME.)
So, being a Welcome Home project and all, I decided to play Good Wife and splurge on the good beer - and some special occasion stuff. The 21st Ammendment Brewery stuff is always a huge hit.
Step Two: Reminisce About Childhood Over Jenga-like Tower Creation
Piling beer in circles is probably something my husband would be great at, but I admit to having to do several run throughs. I found the best way to do it was to build four different layers of beer: The first tier containing 12 beers, the next 5, then 4, and the last one being a Singular Beer of Awesomeness.
If they fall over at any point, remember: That probably happened in shipping too. Shhh. No one needs to know.
Step Three: Secure Each Layer with A Pretty Bow
This key step elevates your Tower O'Beer from Frat House to Your House. With ribbons tying together each layer into a pretty bow, it's not just a Tower O'Beer! It's a well accessorized cake!
Step Four: Decorate Your Tower O'Beer with Ribbon, Flags, and Other Patriotic Accoutrement
I went for a hand-made welcome home sign along with ribbons - I just puffy-painted Welcome Home on red and white scrap paper leftover from Valentine's Day. You could opt for your kids' hand prints cut out and taped on, lottery tickets, or even actual cake. I liked putting the flags in (you just stick 'em in there) and taping on yellow ribbons, but in truth, once you have a cake of beer assembled, I don't think you can go wrong. At least not in the eyes of a newly-returned servicemember
Tell us: What's your favorite treat to welcome home your other half from deployment?
