Party

Fabulous Cakes

by Katie on January 27, 2012

Really cool cakes aren’t just for weddings – thank goodness!! Birthdays, showers, engagement parties, holiday parties, and even casual gatherings are perfect excuses to go cake crazy. I discovered these little beauties whilst perusing my most favorite inspiration website. Aren’t they fa-a-abulous!?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

So lovely! I adore the huge flowers, tall tiers, and colors in number one, the ombre flakes of number two, the super sweet bunting on number three, and the layered fondant in number four. Each sophisticated and suitable for just about any celebratory (or just-for-fun) event!

Do you have any favorite cake trends these days?

{ 3 comments }

S’mores in a Jar

by Katie on September 13, 2011

One of the lovely ladies in the office recently got married so we had a mini-party for her a few weeks ago.

Of course, because I adore that type of thing (!!), I volunteered to put a few things together. I worked with Jamie (I will post more about her and her exciting project later!) to come up with a theme and some sweets. Wendy (the bride) had mentioned liking the rustic look, so I got my hands on some mason jars and burlap and we took it from there.

I had wanted to make some little take-home treats and originally thought of making cake-in-a-jar cakes, attaching a spoon to each jar with some twine, but when it came time to purchase and assemble everything, I chickened out (had I messed them up I would have been out of supplies, plus, I would have had to make everything the night before, leaving things a bit last second). So….I opted for something a bit more fool proof – s’mores kits!

They were super simple and I liked the way they turned out. I started with decent sized mason jars with lids. Then I broke up graham crackers and placed them in the bottom of the jar (vertically), snapped a few Hershey’s chocolate bars in half and layered them in next, then smushed as many marshmallows as I could in the top. I capped them and voila, the messy part was over!

Next I took strips of burlap (making sure all the edges were slightly frayed), and taped them around the jars to hold everything in place before I tied the twine. I cut long pieces of twine and wrapped each piece around each jar multiple times and finished with a bow. I removed the tape in the back, added two little paper hearts I had cut out earlier, and they were finished!

Here they are in action! I stole this picture from Jamie’s Facebook picture collection….thanks Jamie!

I took one home to gobble up. Delicious (I mean come on, they are s’mores, how could they not be delicious?!)! The crackers did get a little soft after being mixed with the marshmallows…but that didn’t stop me from eating them. Yum yum!

Living out in California, it’s not really starting to feel like fall…so I must to fallish things to get the feeling! And even though I heated up my marshmallows in the microwave (don’t judge!) instead of over a fire, it helped.

Have you ever made in-a-jar treats? Or s’mores treats that aren’t actually s’mores (like s’mores cakes or cupcakes)? So fun!

{ 1 comment }

Christmas with [Half of] the Family

by Katie on January 2, 2011

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! At this point, the holidays are over (well, not really – I still love and celebrate Valentines Day! ), but here are some of the decorations we had around the house for our celebration with Brandon’s side of the family (his mom and dad, brother and sister-in-law, their adorable baby boy, Noah, and their friend, Justin).

The menu consisted of a mishmash of finger foods, ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes (made by Emily – the sister-in-law – the best I’ve ever had in my life), cheesy potatoes (which turned out horribly because I tried to get creative and use fresh potatoes instead of the frozen hashbrowns that the recipe called for), rolls (which only took three tries to get right), cranberry sauce (not the kind from a can, but real, homemade goodness), apple pie (also handmade) and an array of cookies. Aside from the cheesy potatoes, I think the evening was a success!

I’d been wanting to make a banner, so I tried one out (the first picture in this post). I will do a separate DIY post about that one.

Our Christmas tree was a tiny one – four feet tall (and that’s being generous). We wanted to keep it small for a number of reasons, but I shant go into detail about that here. To match the tiny tree, we got tiny red and green ornaments, and I thought they looked great against the white of the tree! I also made a tiny tree skirt to coordinate with all the other handmade decorations. [Side note: I don't even know what everyone was watching on TV, but how did I hit such a perfect frame in the movie for that middle picture?!]

The table was simple, but bright (I tend to be attracted to things that fall into the “Bright Christmas” category). Our everyday plates and flatware, with some Target napkins. I had made some red napkins to coordinate with the table runner, but a last second change in the guest list left me one napkin too short.

I also made stockings for everyone, but I don’t have a good picture to share. A total bummer considering that these were my favorite decorations!!