Black and Yellow Damask Birthday

     My very best friend turned thirty! Vasty is such a beautiful person inside and out that my sister and I gathered everyone to throw her a surprise party! One of our great friends let us borrow her home for the event! Vasty had originally wanted to have a huge event since it is a milestone moment for her, for many many reasons. Unfortunately she was unable to have it and that's were we stepped in, we couldn't go on without making a big deal out of it. Read on for what is sure to be the longest but best entry yet!!!

     We decided to go with a black and yellow damask theme. We felt it was sophisticated and grown up. The table runners were purchased at eFavormart.com. These were a steal and they added so much to the tablescape.

     For the centerpieces, we bought flowers at Albertsons, they always have gorgeous flowers. We used yellow and white spider blooms and yellow roses.  The Dollar Tree is amazing spot to shop when on a budget. If they don't have one near by don't fret they deliver! That's amazing especially since they might only have a few items of what you want on hand, you dong have to go hunting down store by store. The lemons added a great touch as did the vellum damask covered votive holders.

     The damask wraps were created on photoshop and printed on vellum. The votive candle holders I had purchased a while back at Big Lots and I also had the battery operated tea lights also purchased at the Dollar Tree (two for a buck!).

     The black plates I used as chargers were also purchased at the Dollar Tree (told you it was a great place). We used black napkins and yellow flatware from Party City along with the yellow plates.The flower napkin rings were a great a touch. I printed a damask pattern on yellow paper and cut our 3" strips and place a tissue pom pom flower. We got the tutorial for the flowers from Martha Stewart.

     The banner that says "Happy Birthday Vasty" was created in photoshop as well and printed on the same yellow paper as the napkin rings.

     With the help of my sisters we created a fabulous dessert table. We had cupcakes, cupcakes, and more cupcakes. We had chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting, lemon cupcakes filled with lemon cream, and coconut cupcakes with butter cream frosting and coconut flakes. I also made my staple sugar cookie favors. I decided it to be a simple V shape for Vasty's name. I tied them with black ribbon and finished them off with a yellow rhinestone. The cookie stand was purchased at Macy's. All cupcake liners were purchased at the fabulous etsy store Sweetestelle. She is an amazing vendor and her items are packaged ans shift swiftly and in great condition. The pineapple cheesecakes flew off the cake stand! I used Bakerella's mini cherry cheesecake recipe.

     We also bought some rice crispy treats and drizzled them with yellow and black candy melts. We unwrapped the pre-packaged hostess yellow zingers, not everything has to be home made ;) I also dipped marshmallows in yellow candy melts and sprinkles black sprinkles (from sweetestelles as well). The marshmallows were put in a vase filled with lemon heads for a little pizazz. The back drop for the dessert table looked so great. I took a 3 yards of yellow fabric and covered with different size flowers. The flowers were a lot of work but so worth it. I used a tutorial from Jesi Haack that shows you step by step how to create them. Again the "Sweets" banner was created in photoshop and printed on yellow paper. The three tiered stands were purchased at target, and the white plates at the Dollar Tree.  All other cake stands and platters were purchased at different stores like Macy's and Marshall's and Ross. On this picture you can barely see the Tootsie Roll Pops covered with black tissue paper and tied with yellow ribbon and finished off with a yellow rhinestone. I also made Cake Balls, and chocolate covered pretzels.

    The dessert shots were a hit. I bought the shot glasses at Macy's and I LOVE them!!! They are so cute. I also bought the dessert spoons at Macy's. I just love Macys's. The dessert shots were so yummy. I made Strawberry Shortcake Shot. It has vanilla pudding, strawberry, pound cake squares, and topped off with whipped cream.  The Chocolate Brownie shot had chocolate pudding, brownie squares, fudge, and topped off with whipped cream. And last but not least and my favorite was the Caramel Banana Shot, this one had banana pudding, pound cake squares, banana slice, caramel, and topped with whipped cream. I made twelve of each and they were all gone!

     My dessert table was truly inspired by one of my favorite cake artists Melody from My Sweet and Saucy. She is amazing! My cake was also inspired by one of hers. The cake was a chocolate cake filled with strawberry cream cheese filling and covered with buttercream. The yellow anemone flower was the first one of its kind  I ever made and I was ecstatic with the results of the flower and the overall look of the cake. The yellow color on the black damask wrap around the cake looked marvelous.

     My drink station was improvised on the spot since I was expecting a flat surface like I had for the sweets table but I love the way it turned out! My "Drinks" banner is another one of those photoshop creations.  I had two plastic water dispensers with Pineapple Water made with fresh pineapples (thanks Mommy!!!) it was sooo yummy. I also added some flowers to the back drop for that pizazz. I also made the water labels in photoshop and they looked great on those water bottles. The two glass water dispensers with their stands were purchased at Macy's. They looked so great! I used those for the cocktails. I made Fuzzy Navels and Lemon Drop Martinis. They were both yummy. The cup stand was used to be a white metal stand or shelf we had laying around and I spray painted it and added the yellow ribbon to some foam boards since its like a rack it wouldn't let the cups stand without tippin' over. I think its looks cool :) I took clear cups and dipped the rims in light corn syrup and then yellow and black sprinkles.

     I made this cool backdrop sewing black and yellow streamers together and adding another banner that says "Say Cheese". Guests really had fun with this since they had not seen one before. I made lips, uni brows, mustaches, glasses, and beards for them to use as props. I took photoshop brushes and printed them out and glued them to wooden sticks. The backdrop idea came from How Does She? The birthday girl is in the third middle picture.

     I just want to thank all those who pitched in for this event! You guys are truly amazing and wonderful for doing this for our beloved Vasty. This has been one of my best parties so far and I had so much fun baking and creating the final layout and presentation of this party!