New Year's Eve Cakes

Here's some sweet New Years Eve inspiration for you!

Cute and festive Confetti Cake

Sparklers will jazz up even the most bland of cupcakes for the holiday

A countdown clock is a classic choice.

(Did you see the cupcakes at Papery and Cakery today? Cute!)

This one has the New-Year baked right in: Pink Champagne Cake. Yum!

Cheers!

I am Loving: Disco Balls!

This will be a low key New Year's Eve for me.

But, if I were throwing a party...

...I'd definitely be decorating with disco balls this year! (image via flickr)

They are flashy, sparkly, and fun - all the things a New Year's Eve bash should be!

Those are all the things a New Year's Eve bash invitation should be too! This one, from Wedding Paper Divas, would be perfect. 

I would scatter them around my table, as Social Couture has done here.

And place them in vessels.  Don't you love the light reflecting off of these beauties? 

A cake with silver balls (aka silver dragees) would be perfect for this party palate.

Did you know that these pretty little morsels that I remember so well from childhood are controversial?  You can't buy them in the state of California! I'll have to smuggle some in guess...after my next visit to out of state family?  :) 

And these cupcakes are so cute! They almost look to real to eat! 

Can you imagine this mirror behind the food display? To.Die.For. 

I'd need one of these to wear.

(But a version that isn't c.z., of course.   ha!)

Hope you have fabulous, sparkly, New Year's plans!

Merry Christmas!

Our 2009 Christmas card

Hope you have a great holiday with your family!

I appreciate all my readers more than you know. 

DIY Idea: Pesto Presents

In need of a last-minute gift idea? You've come to right place!

I made some homemade pesto tonight for some of our family members. I have never made pesto before, and was surprised at how easy it was.

 I bought these cutie little jars at Crate & Barrel. They are 6 ounce size, and you can't beat the price.

I used this recipe. One batch was the perfect amount to fill one of these jars.

The only changes I made to the recipe were that I toasted the pine nuts, and used a little less olive oil.

Then I added labels.

A closer view for you:

You can download a file of these labels here:

Pesto Labels

I added some pasta, and a little mini spatula for scooping the pesto.  I think these gifts turned out pretty cute.  They have handmade charm and practical use. 

We'll see how they go over at our Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow!

Wrappin'

I love wrapping presents. I got quite a few wrapped today.

And I had fun using my TomKat Studio gift tags!

And after I made this collage, I have "I'll Be Home for Christmas" stuck in my head.

Oh well, at least its true. :) 

Real Party: Farm Animal Baby Shower

I have the best customers!

Kelsey and Jessica, who ordered a custom baby shower kit for their friend Emily, have already shared the pictures from their party yesterday.

Kelsey said, "It was so fun to throw a such a coordinated shower with Jessica. We were not stressed at all, as everything was ready to go.  It was so fun to have guests continue to notice all the little details throughout the party.  And Emily loved it." 

Thank you Kelsey!

Kelsey and Jessica threw the farm animal-themed party yesterday at Kelsey's condo.

 

It was an afternoon tea.  Little sandwiches and veggie crudites were served.

And of course, cute little cupcakes. Aren't they perfect? They look a lot like the ones I had included in my inspiration board for this party kit.

Kelsey reports that they were from Trophy Cupcakes, and that they were just as tasty as they are cute.

Another close-up of the table.  The cupcakes match the confetti and fabric squares perfectly!

Horse and Cow stuffed animals displayed the invitation and a party favor. They also doubled as gifts for the new baby.  

I thinks its a nice touch to display the invitation at the party, and I'm glad these girls did that. 

I love the way they rolled the games! It makes such a cute display.

The girls gave brightly colored tea bags (for the afternoon tea party), little cookies, and Christmas ornaments for their favors. 

Each of the hostesses with the mom-to-be.

Thanks again for sharing the photos girls! Glad you had so much fun!

Remember, custom shower kits are available at our website, or our etsy shop.  We can customize shower decor for any theme or color scheme!

DIY Idea: My Crafty Friends!

Christmas cards and goodies are rolling in! (And I LOVE it!)

Some of my girlfriends are quite crafty, so I thought I share some of the cute things they've made this year!

My friend Lindsay, who was my partner in crime on these, made these chocolate-dipped spoons for friends.  They are to be stirred into coffee or hot chocolate. 

Aren't the cute? They were yummy too!

My friend Megan sent out these cute Christmas cards.  Little trees with bling.  Simple and cute!

Every year, my friend Linnea and her husband make their card with an original water color painting.  Isn't this cute?  They had a baby this year, which is shown in their little illustration.  I always looking forward to seeing what this crafty couple comes up with!

I had so much fun doing my Colors of Christmas series this week. There is so much inspiration out there, it was hard to narrow things down to make each post.  I hope you'll check it out.  I was inspired to wear something colorful to the Christmas party I'm going to tonight.  Instead of the standard winter black, I decided on aqua!

Merry Merry!

The Colors of Christmas: Pink & Gold

Today's color combo is: Pink & Gold

1. Oodles of flashy pink ornaments.

2. An even flashier stocking.

3. A pink door welcomes holiday guests.

4. Beautiful handmade etsy ornament.

5. Pink holiday cocktail anyone? Yes, please.

6. Pink and gold tree trimmings.

7. Gold chargers to make a stunning tablescape.

8. Pink tree...let's hope its tabletop size.  Or not. ;)

9. Lovely tablesetting in our colors of the day. 

I love this color combination, as it is the one my Grandma used for many years.  What do you think?

The Colors of Christmas: Gold & Silver

Today's color combo is: Gold & Silver

1. Cute silver & gold tree place card holders

2. Stunning wreath, makes quiet a statement at the front door

3. Little gold trees

4. Vintage tray with shiny ornaments, a nice display

5. Christmas tree dripping in gold, surrounded by silver presents

6. Metallic votives

7. Mod-place settings in the colors of the season. 

The Colors of Christmas: Purple & Silver

Today's featured color combo is Purple & Silver

1. Handpainted etsy ornament. Isn't it lovely?

2. Fancy presents: so sophisticated with this color scheme.

3. Purple and silver ornaments galore.

4. Purple stocking, waiting to be filled!

5. Purple ruffle chargers.  I can just imagine the gorgeous place settings. 

6. Which would include this purple stem-ware, of course.

7. Christmas candle.  A nice hostess gift for any girl who loves purple. 

8. Tree ornaments

9. Funky purple garland. Kind of reminds me of the Miami tree from yesterday!

The Colors of Christmas: Aqua & Green

The old stand-by for Christmas decorating is of course red & green.

In the interest of shaking things up a bit, each day this week I am going to feature a different holiday color combo. I love how there is no wrong way to go at Christmas with your colors.

Its all about being BRIGHT!

Today's featured combo is Aqua & Green 

1. Cute white table-top tree with aqua and silver ornaments.  Tabletop trees are a good way to go if you want to shake up your color scheme. 

2. Aqua tree.  A bit much?  Probably not if you live in Miami... :)

3.  Dress up your tree skirt is the colors of the season. 

4. Aqua and green ribbon and wrapping. 

5. Glass ornaments...so many possibilities of how to use these beauties!

6. For example, wintery ornament topiary.  (Click here for the how-to details.)

7. Rustic Jingle Bells banner to ring in the season. 

What do you think? Love it? Hate it?
See ya tomorrow! 

Real Party: Cookies & Champagne

Today was our annual Cookie Baking party.  A bunch of friends came over, armed with recipes, cookie sheets, and hand mixers.  We baked up a storm!

We ended up with:

-snickerdoodles

-peanut butter toffee bars

-pecan pie bars

-cranberry cowboy cookies

-haystacks

-chocolate crinkle cookies

-chocolate mint cookies

-gingersnaps

-lemon snowballs

-chocolate peppermint sandwich cookies

-lemon sandwich cookies

-chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

-peanut butter blossoms

...yes, we were exhausted after all that! And I won't be surprised if my oven goes on strike. 

My coworkers and neighbors are going to love me tomorrow when I start handing these out!

Baby Shower Kit: Farm Animals

I told you about the shower kit I was making for a yellow and green farm animal baby shower a few weeks ago. 

Remember these invitations?

Well, the rest of the kit is done, and I'm so excited to share the details:

Oh Baby! Custom Shower Decor kits always include the following items:

A custom banner ~ "Welcome Baby"

Custom tags for party favors

(cellophane bags and ribbon for tying not pictured)

Custom confetti ~ "Oink & Moo"

Custom Shower Games ~ "Word Scramble & Baby Animal Name Game"

Custom Fabric Squares for your table ~ yellow gingham & burlap

The hostess was thrilled, and promised to share pictures of the event. 

Remember to check out our website, or our etsy page if you are planning a baby shower!

We'd love to design a kit espeically for your mom-to-be!

The Tree

As promised, here's our Christmas Tree!

Isn't she pretty? ;)

Off to work on Christmas cards...

Real Party: Holiday Lunch

I finally organized my pictures from the little party we threw last weekend.

Here's the invitation I made:

(please click on the pictures to see them, not sure why its appearing blurry)

And a close-up:

Little gold beads were on top of the trees.

We had quite a few guests, so I wanted to do a meal that would be simple.

However, it had to be something warm with this cold weather we've been having.

The menu consisted of:

Two kinds of soup: Beef & Barley and Potato Bean

Corn muffins & Sourdough bread

Veggie platter with dip

Brownies & Cookies

Soda, water, beer, & mulled wine to drink

Can you see my tags? (click to enlarge if needed) They are my "Cyber-Monday" purchase from TomKat Studio! How could I not purchase them when I saw how well they match my tablecloth? :)   

(Love love love this kit!)

I did finally get a water dispenser.  How did I wait so long? Isn't it cute with the cranberries?  They don't add anything to the taste, but the color is so beautiful. 

And thanks to Joanna, at Let's Entertain, for the cranberry vase-filler idea.  I definitely put all my extra cranberries to good use!

After lunch, we all headed over the the tree farm to hunt for the perfect tree! 

Tomorrow I'll post a picture of our tree!

Recipe: Oatmeal Cake

You must make this cake!

I brought it to a dinner party this weekend and it was a hit. 
(Thank you Marci for sharing your recipe with me!)

Oatmeal Cake Ingredients

1 Cup regular or quick cooking oats

1 1/2 Cups boiling water

1 Cup packed brown sugar

1 Cup sugar

1/2 Cup unsalted butter

2 eggs

1 Tsp vanilla

1 1/2 Cup flour

1 Tsp baking soda

1 Tsp cinnamon

1/2 Tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Pour boiling water over oats, set aside.

Cream together sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla.

Add all dry ingredients and mix.

Add oatmeal and stir.

Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 30 min.

Let cake cool.

Brown Butter Icing Ingredients

1 Stick of unsalted butter

1 Cup packed brown sugar

1 or 2 Tbsp milk

Mix with electric mixer until fluffy.

Spread on cooked cake and broil for 3 minutes (watch it or it will burn!!)

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  This isn't the prettiest cake, but it is so amazingly tasty and moist.

A great fall or winter dessert!