Dessert | Kristen's Birthday Cake and Cupcakes

As promised, desserts!  

Last week my coworker celebrated her birthday and our department goes a little crazy with birthday breakfast buffets... 

The birthday girl and the breakfast spread

I never seem to be hungry for lunch on those days {it may be the delicious cheesy potatoes!}.  Kristen happens to be my cubicle buddy and both of us graduated from Chapman University.  We also happen to be 1/2 of a group our other coworkers have deemed the lunch bunch!  There happens to be three ladies at work who I adore and work just wouldn't be the same without them!  Okay, moving on from the mushy gushy stuff... Kristen loves the colors orange and teal {I found out later that her teal is more of a turquoise}!  She even claimed dibs on those colors for her wedding, so we decided to incorporate that color scheme into her birthday decorations!  

This one was a group effort and I have to thank the lunch bunch for all their help! Thank you to Lynda for providing all the paper decorations!  

All the paper flowers scattered on Kristen's desk were cut out and the flowers are from her mom

Kristen loves red velvet, so I baked about 2 dozen cupcakes and a 4" mini cake for her!  I couldn't cover the 4" mini cake with fondant and have freshly baked cupcakes, so I opted for a rustic frosting look with fondant decorations.

The cupcake wrappers were custom designed and cut by Jen.  Jen is an amazing illustrator and designer, check out here work here.  

Happy birthday to the birthday girl!  Cheers!

Next up, piping carnation flowers... 250 of them...

~Danielle

Paper | Sources I love!

You are probably asking why I haven't posted anything about cakes or desserts lately... I promise you the next one will be about desserts!  


This post is about three of my new favorite party paper/design sources!  First up, Minted.com!  A modern stationary and invitations company based out of San Francisco that brings you fantastic designs!  They have some new offerings that I may be purchasing down the line as the holidays draw near... 

Minibook albums from their wedding line. Photo courtesy of Minted.

Menu Cards. Photo courtesy of Minted.

Baby Shower and Kids Invitations. Photo courtesy of Minted.

Skinny wrap labels... I totally want to use these this Christmas! Photo courtesy of Minted.

Second up, Style Me Gorgeous!  

 


I stumbled across this blog through another blog and right away I loved everything that Sarah had to offer.  It might be that I am a little big kid, but I am always attracted to kiddie stuff {huge Disney fan ~ remember the Minnie cupcakes}!  She designs playful and whimsical mommy and children items!  And you gotta love her company name!  In the last couple months that I have been in wedding world, she came out with a "print, cut and party" line that is simply genius!!!  Finally someone who offers more than just invitations, thank yous and menus.  Here is a preview of her recent tea party line!

Photo courtesy of Style Me Gorgeous.

Photo courtesy of Style Me Gorgeous.

Photo courtesy of Style Me Gorgeous.

Here are some other printables she offers: Birdie and Elephant and Diggers and Dump Trucks.  Visit her website to view her other offerings. 

And last but not least, I saw these cute cupcake sets at Sur La Table and had to look up Meri Meri when I got home.  If you are one of those that rather purchase than cut-it-out yourself, then this is the solution for you!

Oh Baby Baby line. Photo courtesy of Meri Meri.

Aloha line. Photo courtesy of Meri Meri.

Mermaids and mermaid invites! Photo courtesy of Meri Meri.

They do more than cupcake liners and invites... full party decor!  Love!  Photo courtesy of Meri Meri.

Now go have some fun!  Happy cutting and partying!
~Danielle

Where credits are due:
Minted ~ http://www.minted.com/
Style Me Gorgeous ~ http://www.stylemegorgeous.com.au/store/pc/home.asp
Style Me Gorgeous blog ~ http://stylemegorgeous-bysarah.blogspot.com/
Meri Meri ~ http://merimeri.com/
Sur La Table colorful cupcake wrappers ~ http://www.surlatable.com/category/id/104489.do
 

Paper | Party Accents

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I am going to incorporate my other love {paper} and it's uses with desserts!  For those of you who are just visiting my blog, I have a tendency to want to make things pretty - it might be the perfectionist in me, but I love to plate and dress food up!  One of the easiest ways to dress up your desserts or even a party is by adding paper accents.  

Seeing how much I love paper, our stationary set for our wedding was very important to me!  We love ferns and it's symbolic meaning, so we ran with a fern theme.  See below for how we incorporated it into our special day

Our complete set: save the dates, invite, cupcake wrapper, menu, thank yous and welcome recipe cards.  Photo courtesy of Soul Mates Photo.

Paper fern cut out and cupcake wrappers. Photo courtesy of Soul Mates Photo.

Close up of the cupcake wrappers.  Photo courtesy of Soul Mates Photo.

Paper mini fans, name place holders and menus.  Photo courtesy of Soul Mates Photo.

Paper labels on wine bottles displaying seating assignments.  The roses on the bottles were made out of paper.  Photo courtesy of Soul Mates Photo.

More nameplates and using the ferns in our flower arrangements. Photo courtesy of Soul Mates Photo.

The photos make my stationary set look extra fancy, but in all honesty, these were all DIY - Do it Yourself projects {just in case you wanted to know what that stood for mom}.  You can easily create these items at home by purchasing fun paper at Michaels or Paper Source and cutting items out using scissors or dies and dies.  

We took this pic of great stationary ideas at Paper Source today!

I love the Asian themed dinner party set, especially the chopsticks holder!

I love Martha Stewart and she has some great templates available online for you to download for free and use for your next party!  Up next, some places to purchase some pre-made party stationary sets ~ I think you'll be excited, I am!

Hope you are able to dress up your next party!
~Danielle



Where credits are due:
Soul Mates Photography ~ http://www.soulmatesphoto.com/
Cupcake wrapper die ~ http://www.sizzix.com/product/1924
Florals for the cake display, Teresa Sena Designs ~ http://www.whiteorchidwedding.com/about/ohana/theresa.php
Penguin Cake Toppers, The Pink Koala on Etsy ~ http://www.etsy.com/shop/thepinkkoala?ref=seller_info