{Pink and Yellow} Giraffe Baby Shower

This pink and yellow giraffe baby shower was designed for my friend Veronica. This was for her 2nd baby, baby Abigail. Her shower was in November and it was cold, so we opted for an indoor shower. We set up several tables and decorated them with carnation milk glass vase centerpieces. 

Pink, yellow, and white carnations filled the milk glasses. We used 6 dozen carnations. Ikea frames also decorated the tables. The inserts in the Ikea frames where created in Photoshop and matched the invitation. 

We had several games that required writing so we used pink golf pencils and added a giraffe pattern flag stickers. We also handed out giraffe buttons that we ordered from Etsy. I designed them in Photoshop. 

For the dessert table we had a small cake flanked by pink, yellow, and brown candy and desserts.

 

 The dessert table consisted of chocolate covered pretzels, sugar cookies with giraffe print, cupcakes, pink gumballs, and some Mexican candy and cookies.

As favors we also gave out the giraffe cookies and set them at each place setting.

The cake with a fondant giraffe decal. 

Giraffe balloon clusters added to the giraffe theme. 

Thanks for reading!

{Pink and Gold} Elegant Royal Gilded Bird Cage Baby Shower

My sister had my niece almost a year ago and I still have not shared with you all this goodness! I also hadn't mentioned that her shower was featured on the Baby Lifestyles Blog. So excited to have my first feature. Back when they featured it they only mentioned my name not my business but that is ok, I was just elated to have one of my cakes on another blog :)

My sister wanted something super girly and sophisticated, so pink and gold it is. Since the shower would be outdoor and in spring we incorporated bird cages filled with lush pink blooms and other arrangements in milk glass. My poor momma would wake up early to seek out the milk glass at yard sales and thrift shops. We ended up with so much we did not use them all. 

Like all of our parties everything is DIY!! I mean EVERYTHING! Its a lot of work but so rewarding. The flower arrangements were done by my mom, my sisters, and I. They were a challenge but  they are amazing, at least to us lol.

For favors we used pink and gold pearl gumballs in a tube and finished them off with a pink ribbon and Thank You note card. We placed them at each place setting. 

My sister Yanavith wanted to have a pictures of her bump as part of the decorations so I put on my photographer hat and viola! We spread her pictures around the tables and it added a nice personal touch. 

I also incorporated one of the pictures into the invitation which I created in Photoshop and printed at Mpix. They are the Luxe Ornate Invitations on pearl paper. They were gorgeous! 

This is one of my favorite cakes I have made. The fondant tiara was definitely the show stopping detail of the cake. The swags were made using different size fondant pearls that I dusted gold. This cake had more than 200 of those suckers it was a late night for sure. If you are wondering why would she put a white ribbon on this cake...well what had happened was :) ... the bow that was supposed to be there broke and I had no time to repair it. I guess that is why they say to make an extra (I usually do but since this cake was for myself I just didnt want to). My sister Nadine and I made those tiny tiaras for the cupcakes we made 48 of them. This was more time consuming than the large one. I also made the cakepops, and hand painted that G on the sugar cookies. Its all in the details. 

The infamous Ikea Mirror was painted in gold. These frames are just so fabulous. We framed the verse: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I love this little detail. We also used huge 36" pink balloons and the letter G gold balloon.

My sister loved her shower I am so happy to be able to be given the honor to host these memorable events for my family. I know this blog is about my cakes and desserts but I love to share with you the whole picture of what my cakes were part of. I wont get to do this for all my cakes just the ones I create for friends and family. Thanks for reading! XOXO

Bridal Shower

These were my first cookies for a bridal shower. The colors were purple and white. The bride’s sister Nicky asked for hearts, engagement ring, cake, and wedding bell shaped cookies. I threw in the square just because ;) The diamond on the ring has sprinkles just to add some bling. I used a purple platter to display the cakes, squares, and bells. I bought the platter at Target. I also bought the containers at target. I used Styrofoam for the base and inserted the cookie lollies and lined the container with purple tissue paper.

Little Mermaid Party

I recently helped plan a Little Mermaid Party for a friend’s daughter. It was so much fun to plan and the guests loved all the small details.  A lot of hours went into the birthday party but the results were worth it. I wasn’t able to get pictures of all of the décor just the cupcakes and cookies that I made for the event.

There were five different designs for the cookies. There were sea horses, starfish, shells, a number 4, and a round that had an edible image o designed in Photoshop. The tags for the cookies were also designed in Photoshop.

I wasn’t able to get a good picture of the tablescape, but the table had a bright red sequin table cloth and paper lanterns in red, green, and turquoise were hung from the ceiling. Also colored starfish were hung.

Pink/Brown Baby Shower

I was honored to be the host of one of my dear friends and co-workers. This was her first baby and I wanted to make the event beautiful and memorable. She had no idea what she wanted or what theme she should have. We came up with pink and brown for colors and we also wanted to incorporate baby feet into the theme. As soon as I had some direction I searched everywhere for inspiration and this is the end result.

I made paper chains using pink, brown, and white card stock. I created the It's A Girl hanging circles at the ends of the chains. I hung them from the ceiling all over the room. (I had to take out all of my furniture to accommodate for all the guests, and when I say we I mean my dad and brother). I also hung a set from Party City that included the pink streamers and the ball in the center of the room. I customized the ball and streamers by replacing the hanging circle from the ball, it was yellow, green, and pink , to one of the ones I made. Some tables had pink tablecloths with a brown runner and vice versa. Plates, forks, cups, and napkins were all pink or brown. A sweet baby foot cookie was at each place setting.

I also put together a candy buffet station. The "Sweets" banner that I made in Photoshop matched the invitations. All the candy was and cookies were pink and brown with a hint of white. I had malt balls, animal cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, Dove's Bliss Chocolates, and some pink and brown Mexican candy. The pink candy bags were personalized with a label and some of the jars had labels also. The baby feet pretzel rods were done using a Wilton Mold. I also used the mold to make the toppers for the cupcakes.

The centerpieces were created using pink and white carnations, baby's breath, and hot pink roses. The bubble vases were purchased at the dollar store and adorned with pink and brown ribbon. I set two vases per table for a total of 12 vases.

I made two cakes one left and one right baby foot. The cakes were made with the paisley Wilton Pan Set. One cake was filled with strawberries and the other with peaches. It was covered with PuraWhip. The baby foot designed was free handed and not too difficult to achieve. I decorated the cupcake stand with dangling crystal ribbon. The cupcakes were the mother-to-be's favorite, Pillsbury Funfetti. I used Purawhip to ice the cakes and topped them with baby feet made out of chocolate using a mold. I love how the balloons served as a backdrop and the ultrasound of Baby Mia made it just perfect. I scattered several frames of Baby Mia throughout the room.

Another item that item that is just too cute is this Pin the Pacifier on the Baby game. The baby and pacifier images were obtained online (cannot remember where) and i enlarged it in Photoshop and mounted in onto the pink foam board. Each pacifier had a number and a piece of double sided tape. This game was a hit!

All of these goodies I created in Photoshop. Some of the brushes I made using clip art and others I found free online. The invitation was one of the first things I made and everything else soon followed. The invite insert was one of my favorites. It asked each guest to bring diapers and wipes for a chance to enter a drawing for a cool prize. Then the raffle ticket was created to write down the name of each guest who participated. The candy bag labels were printed on sticker paper and punched with a scallop paper punch. The thank you tags for the cookies were also cut out with the scallop punch. The napkin wraps were used to wrap a pink and brown napkin and a fork. The candy buffet labels were printed on card stock and cut by hand, as well as the paper chain hanging decorations. I used Boring Showers font for every item from the baby shower.

♥ Audrey's Cupcake Party ♥

My gorgeous niece Audrey just turned one. We celebrated her birthday with a cupcake themed party. The colors we used were a fuchsia pink and purple. It was so much fun to put together, and a lot of work. I was in charge of the baking of course ( I didn't bake the sheet cake). I made 100 Cookie Lollies, simply sugar cookies (click for recipe) on a stick, Pink and Purple Cupcakes, and a Giant Cupcake Cake!

The piñata pictured is custom made and not sold in stores. We searched and searched for a cupcake shaped piñata that was large but we had no luck. So my wonderful mom conjured up her creativity and made the piñata herself. I was beautiful and super sturdy.

The party was so much fun thanks to all who joined us to celebrate!

1. These are cupcake shaped cookie lollies. Cookie cutter is from Sweet Shapes. Outlined in white, top flooded with purple and bottoms with pink, and the top part of the cupcake was drizzled with pink jimmies.
2. My cupcake tower is from Wilton all dressed up with pink and purple ribbon alternating o the layers and a small tutu around the bottom tier. I also added rhinestones I found at Michael's. I had made two of these. It took some time to make them gorgeous but worth the time. Everything is removable which allows you to reuse the cupcake stands over and over again. I affixed the ribbon and tutu with double stick tape and glue dots. The cupcake liners were in hot pink and purple which looked beautiful. I got those from Etsy seller Bake It Pretty. The cupcake picks I made using small lollipop sticks, and a 2 in. scalloped whole punch, a 1 1/4 in. round punch, and the Martha Stewart cupcake whole punch all purchased at Michael's.
3. The Candle Lollies were outlined in white, flooded with purple or pink and before the flooded icing dried I added sprinkles to them.
4. The Letter A Lollies are so cute. I outlined them in white, flooded them with pink or purple icing. Once dried I finished them off with writing "udrey" the remaining letters of her name. Cookie cutter from Martha Stewart Alphabet set.
5. The Number 1 Lollies are outlined in white, flooded with pink or purple icing. Once dried I finished them off by writing Audrey on them. Cookie cutter from Sweet Shapes.
6. The Balloon Lollies are outlined in white, flooded with pink or purple icing. Once dried I finished them off by piping dots on them. Cookie cutter from Sweet Shapes.
7. The pinwheels were made with cardstock using a pinwheel template I found online. I made some in the fuchsia pink and purple. I finished them off by adding a cupcake pick minus the pick :)

Total Cuteness!

How I wish I had better pictures of this cake. It was my first time making MMF and using it. It was super easy to make and use that I will be doing more projects with it in the future. I had also used the giant cupcake pan before but had some issues with it, but it was fabulous this time. I was adding elements as I went along because I did not have it planned. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it came out. I am so happy my niece enjoyed the cake as you can all see. She is so adorable!!!

To complete the Giant Cupcake I:

• Made two batches of the MMF and colored one purple and the other pink. I divided each of the colored MMF in half and made half of the pink bolder and half the purple bolder as well giving me two shades of each of the colors.
• Baked the giant cupcake in the Wilton Pan. I used two boxes of Duncan Hines White Cake Mix. I used Cake Release to grease the pan. I love it cake releases from the pan perfectly.
• Let it completely cool on a cooling rack.
• Used Strawberry Jam, warmed in the microwave to make it runny, and spread it all over the bottom and top to help the MMF stick to the cake.
• Rolled out the darker pink for the top of the cupcake and smoothed it out and worked into the swirls to get the shape to come through.
• Rolled out the darker purple for the bottom of the cupcake and smoothed it out and worked into the grooves to get the shape to come through.
• Then stacked them and cut and inserted wooden dowels so that I had a stable cake.
• Used the dark purple to make the sprinkles.
• Used the lighter pink to make a tootsie roll shape for the candle cut a strip of the light purple and wrapped it around the candle.
• The flame was created swirling the light pink and purple and shaped it to look like a flame.
  A lollipop stick served as the wick. Another lollipop stick was used to insert the candle into the cake (Before inserting candle into cake candle must be completely dry or it will loose its shape. Do insert the wick, attach flame, and insert lollipop stick to the bottom of the candle and make an insertion point on the cake before it MMF dries)

Marshmallow Fondant Recipe from CakeJournal
Ingredients

• 1 bag of white marshmallows (8 oz)
• Water (2 tbsp)
• Icing sugar sifted (1 to 2 pounds)
• Crisco
• Heatproof bowl
• Spoon
• Food colors or cocoa powder
• Flavoring optional

Directions

• Put the marshmallows in a heatproof bowl and add the water.
• Put the bowl in the microwave oven and heat it for approx. 2 mins. until the marshmallows puff up.
• Stir the marshmallows until they get smooth. This is the time where you can add your chosen food color/cocoa powder or give it flavor.
• Now add the icing sugar and stir the mixture with a well greased spoon. Keep adding icing sugar until it looks like a dough.
• Turn out the “dough” on a greased work board and with your hands greased with Crisco start kneading the marshmallow fondant. Keep adding a little icing sugar at a time until it is not sticky anymore.
• Be careful not to use all the icing sugar as to much icing sugar can make it too dry.
• It is ready when it feels pliable and ready to roll.
• If you are not using the marshmallow fondant straight away then rub a bit of Crisco on it and wrap it in cling-film and seal it in an airtight bag.
• If your marshmallow fondant feels very hard you can always warm it up in the microwave for a few sec. at a time. Then it should be more pliable to work with.
• If it feels dry then knead in some Crisco or if it is too soft add more icing sugar.
  
  

Happy Birthday Nick!!

OK, I have to let it out. My friend Nick is a Mets fan, so for his birthday I wanted to surprise him with New York Mets cookies. Well after hours of baking and decorating (and I do mean HOURS!!!) I come to find out he doesn't like birthdays. First of all, Who doesn't like birthdays? Weird? Definitely. But what could I do, the cookies were baked and decorated. I never gave them to him because they were intended to bring a smile to his face not a sour pout. No hard feelings Nick :)

So let me go into detail on how I decorated them. My favorite, as hard as it is to choose, is the NY logo. This was the hardest to make too. It took me several attempts to get it just right, I had to bake about 8 and only got 2 that I liked enough to keep. The word Mets is a close contender to the favorite title followed by the State of New York one. All of these three cookie cutters were custom ordered from Sweet Shapes. I just love her work sooo much!! She is awesome, she has fast turnaround times too.

All cookies were outlined in white royal icing first, then flooded with the desired color. Once those steps were completed, I simply added the decorations and writing. The big NY was outlined again in orange and then orange sugar was poured on it to give it that gorgeous look. Make sure your cookie is completely dry before you add decorations like sugar, and sprinkles to the edges because it will stick.

The baseball cookie cutters and the cake with a candle are from Sweet Shapes also. The letters to spell out N-I-C-K are from Martha Stewart's Alphabet Set purchased at Macy's.

I suggest you practice your writing and design on parchment paper before attempting it on the cookies. Once you get it down go ahead and try on a cookie. I always bake extras just in case I mess up or my niece puts her finger in them LOL! She's my biggest fan!

Now just individually wrap them and tie them with matching ribbon. I use Wilton's Medium bags they come in a package of 100.

Enjoy!!!
*Click for Sugar Cookie and Royal Icing Recipe.

Dodger Fans

Well, I made it. Yay! This is my second entry this week. After finding out that the person who interviewed me for a teaching position was a Dodger fan, my wheels started turning and a simple thank you card would not be enough. So naturally I decided to bake him these delicious sugar cookies. I used the same recipe for the sugar cookies and royal icing as always. I did a batch of the cookie dough, and three batches of icing (depending on how many cookies you are making a single batch can be divided into separate bowls and colored) a brown, white, and blue one.

The California State cookie cutter is from Sweet Shapes. The state cutter is not a custom order but if she no longer carries it you can always request it and Viola! you have California. The baseball glove, bat and cap are from Sweet Shapes as well. These are part of her Baseball Set.

I always outline my cookies with white royal icing (medium consistency, but not runny) first, this creates a dam of sorts. Once the icing dries I flood the cookies with the desired color of icing (this is runny but not watery, about the consistency of white glue) making sure it doesn't overflow. You don't want it to go over the dam you already piped. Now we wait several hours, sometimes overnight if necessary for the cookies to dry. Once dried you can add the design or writing on top of the smooth icing.

For the marble affect on the baseball bat I added white lines of runny icing (about 2 thin lines) as soon as I had flooded them (don't wait until they dry) and using a toothpick I swirled the white in with the brown.

Now all there was to do was individually wrap each cookie with coordinating bow and I had the perfect thank you! They looked really great! So go on don't be shy and bake your Dodger fan some cookies.!!!