Cute As A Button and Ruffled, Two!

Today I am excited to share a dessert table that I designed for a baby shower this past January. The guest of honor was already a mother of two girls and was expecting her third AND fourth (yes, twins!). One boy and one girl. So exciting! I wanted to keep the theme gender neutral, casual, and bright and cheery. I came up with the theme Cute As A Button and Ruffled, Two!

After choosing a theme, I decide on two main gender neutral colors: a bright yellow and an aqua blue. I also used white as my neutral base. I added ruffles that I made from white crepe paper streamers to the cake stand and serving pieces (see my post about this, here) and then finished them off with mini paper fans that I made and/or a little ribbon.

Cute As A Button printables were created for the dessert table (will be available in the Sheek Shindigs Etsy Shop, here, soon!) and embellished with mini paper buttons.

I also made paper fans and embellished them with Cute As A Button stickers to hang above the table for a little extra fun. You can find instructions on how to make these, here.

The main attraction of the table was the button cake. To create, I simply purchased a double-layered 8" cake from my local bakery and decorated it with edible sugar buttons myself (buttons are available in the Sheek Shindigs etsy shop, here). This was an easy and inexpensive way to dress up a standard, store-bought cake. I created a coordinating cake topper by accordion folding a 7" x 1 1/4" piece of paper, embellishing it with two mini paper buttons, and attaching each end to a white candy stick.

In addition to the button cake, there were cupcakes, cake balls, and mini meringue cookies for the guests to enjoy.

What a fun day it turned out to be for a special woman and her growing family!

Credits:

Sheek Shindigs: design, set-up, decorations, desserts

With Love Photography and Design: Photos

Carnival Mini Edible Designs

I am excited to announce that the Sheek Shindigs Etsy Shop is in the process of adding some great new products to help make your next Shindig one to remember! One of my favorite new products are these Carnival Mini Edible Designs. These edible decorations are flat-printed edible designs that can be applied to many food items (cakes, cookies, cupcakes, ice cream cakes) for a finished, professional look. They are prepared with edible food colors and absorb moisture from food products, becoming soft and melding with the food item that it is being applied to. They DO NOT contain: wheat, milk, eggs, fish, shell-fish (crustaceans) peanuts and/or tree nuts, are gluten free, and Kosher Certified.

So, what can you do with these fun, edible designs? Here is a suggestion: Upgrade your favorite small cookie!

White Chocolate Carnival Mini Cookies

1. Prepare your favorite cookies or use pre-made. TIP: make sure the cookies are no larger than 1.5” in diameter to fit into a chocolate or candy mold with 2” cavities.

2. Place Carnival Mini designs face down in the cavities of your candy mold.

3. Fill a parchment triangle with a melted chocolate to fill the mold. TIP: don’t use a metal tip in the bag, as its coolness will stiffen the chocolate too quickly.

4. Press cookies into the chocolate before it sets up; top off with melted chocolate if necessary. TIP: tap the entire mold on a counter top to level the chocolate.

5. Let set, and then remove coated cookies from the mold.

The final result is sure to impress!

Visit the Sheek Shindigs Etsy shop, here, to view this product and others, here. And don't forget to check back...more are coming soon!

{Real Parties} An Orange, Aqua, and Blue Circus Celebration

I am thrilled to be able to share this week's {Real Parties} submission. Mae of Mae Armstrong Designs sent me this ADORABLE Orange, Aqua, and Blue Circus Party that she created for her precious twin boys AND her husband (they all have the same birthday...how cool!).  Mae was inspired by all of the DIY parties that she had seen online and decided to challenge herself.

The party's theme was inspired by a paper Meri Meri elephant carousel that had been given to the twins. Mae created the invitations (LOVE!) and "sewed a simple elephant themed fabric pennant and a crochet banner...re purposed old baby food jars into pretty little containers for Jelly Beans... whipped up some homemade caramel popcorn  and added a jar full of animal crackers and goldfish to our dessert table". Mae also made birthday shirts, pj's and bibs for the boys, party hats, and three giant smash cakes. I am so impressed!

As an added touch, Mae's husband "hired his co-worker to play 'Happy Birthday' and some other songs on his bagpipes. It was an ode to the boys half-Scottish heritage and filled the neighborhood with some pretty cool tunes". What an awesome idea!

Thank you for sharing your impressive party with Sheek Shindigs, Mae. Job well done!! You can see more of Mae Armstrong Designs here and here.

Vendor Information:

Sweet Zugar Cakes: Main birthday cake

email: sweetzugarcakes@hotmail.com
website: http://www.sweetzugarcakes.com

Katie Cakes: Giant smash cupcakes
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Katie-Cakes/168834879840539?sk=wall

A Train Themed Baby Shower Dessert Table

Choo Choo Choo... A Special Shower for Someone New! I recently designed a Train Themed Dessert Table for a baby shower that was held this past weekend. The expecting mommy is awaiting the arrival of her 3rd boy and will then be moving overseas within a month (Wow-Zas!). With the upcoming move, a theme for the baby's room has not been chosen however the excited couple is leaning towards a lime green and brown color scheme. A little birdie also told me that the mommy-to-be loves anything with chocolate and peanut butter, especially peanut butter pie! With this information in hand, I decided to use a lime green, brown, and blue color scheme and to incorporate a boy-friendly train theme into the dessert table, transforming it into a "Dessert Car".

I used several different elements to incorporate trains into the dessert table's decor. I created a "Dessert Car" sign that I framed and hung on a beadboard back above the table. I also placed trains, train tracks, tunnels, and train signs throughout the table and created train toppers and wraps for some of the desserts and display pieces. The dessert items were based around the mommy-to-be's love of peanut butter and chocolate. I decided that mini peanut butter pies would be a fun alternative to cupcakes. I hear that they were a big hit! The other desserts included double chocolate brownies, peanut butter blossoms, and assorted cake balls.

This really was a fun table to put together. I hope that you all enjoy it!

A Pink Elephant Baby Shower

I recently had the honor of designing a baby shower for a group of women that were hosting a shower for an expecting neighbor. The mommy-to-be is expecting a baby girl, is an animal lover, and likes anything with chocolate. This was an exciting project for me because I could really go in any direction that I wanted with the theme. I choose a pink elephant as the "mascot" and the rest followed.

Here is a sample of the invitation that I created for the shower:


Because the shower was being held in January and the guest of honor loves chocolate so much, I decided that a dessert table and a variety of hot beverages would be perfect for this shower. Here are some of my pre-party set-up photos:




I used minature fondant pink elephants and gray gumballs to decorate the cake and cupcakes.





I created a coordinating framed monogram with the babies initals to be displayed at the shower and for the mommy-to-be to take home.



I made pink fondant elephants to dress up sugar cookies for the dessert table. See my DIY here.



Here are a few pictures from the actual shower. The dessert table included a cupcake tower topped with a mini elephant cake, chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake bites, chocolate mousse, fresh fruit and homemade marshmellows with chocolate fondue, and mini elephant sugar cookies.



I made elephant wraps to go around the chocolate mousse cups.




The beverage table included hot cider, hot chocolate, coffee, and strawberry iced water.




The hostesses wanted to send attendees home with a simple favor that was useful and reflected the theme of the shower. I made these elephant wrapped pillow boxes and tucked a package of Red Velvet Chocolate Herbal Tea inside each one.



This was such a fun shower to design. I hope that you enjoyed it!

***  A DIY Printable Package is now available in the Sheek Shindigs etsy shop, here.

{Sneak Peek} A Pink Elephant Baby Shower

Sheek Shindigs had the honor of designing and helping set up a Pink Elephant Baby shower this weekend. I will be sharing photos and details later next week but I wanted to give you a little sneak peek.



I can't wait to share the rest of my pictures with you next week. I hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

3 Ring Circus Baby Shower

This elephant 3 ring circus baby shower photographed by Gertrude & Mabel is Adorable!! I love, love the circus awning above the dessert table! The colors are great and all of the details are even better.







For more pictures, click here. Enjoy!