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.

Fab Find: Lupin Handmade

I love a good Etsy find. Especially when it's an Etsy shop that inspires me! This week's Fab Find is full of inspiration. Lupin Handmade, which is based in England and has been in business since 2007, sells handmade felt brooches, flower headbands, animal masks & other fun stuff. I was recently searching online for felt masks when I came across Lupin Handmade's bird mask.





Beautiful, right! While it wasn't the type of mask I was looking for, it certainly has inspired me. I love the whole idea of the mask, the colors, and all of the ideas that come along with it. I think that Lupin Handmade has a new customer! To see more of Lupin Handmade's work, visit their Etsy shop, here.

DIY: A Fondant First

Last week I had my first experience with fondant. I wanted to decorate small sugar cookies for a Pink Elephant Baby Shower but I don't have the skills to do it with icing. So, I decided to give fondant a try even though I was feeling a little intimidated by the unknown. To my surprise, working with this sweet confection was fairly easy and lots of fun, not to mention the fact that it dressed up my little sugar cookies beautifully.


While I have to admit that it doesn't taste as yummy as a buttercream icing, it is a great option if you are looking for a way to dress up your cookies, cakes, or other treats and aren't gifted in the art of icing, like myself.

Here is how I did it:

I purchased Wilton's Ready-to-Use Rolled Fondant in pastel pink, a small Fondant Roller, and a mini elephant cookie cutter from my local craft store (Michael's).



I simply rolled the fondant out and used my elephant cookie cutter to cut out the elephant shape. I then used a toothpick to make an eye and took a small piece of fondant to shape an elephant ear by hand. I gently pressed the ear onto the elephant to make it stick and Wa-La! A cute little fondant elephant to dress up my sugar cookies.





I stored the fondant elephants in a cool, dry place in an air-tight container for about 1 week prior to the party. This allowed the fondant to harden up. On the day of party, I used a small amount of icing to adhere the fondant elephants to the sugar cookies.

See how easy that was. No need to be intimidated anymore!

{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!

DIY: A "Recycled" Valentine's Wreath

Here is a super easy and inexpensive way to add a touch of LOVE to your house as you gear up for Valentine's Day. Every year I use several fresh wreaths to decorate our house for the holidays. I always hate to throw them away after Christmas because even though they are usually pretty dried out, they still look pretty. This year I decided to hold on to one of my boxwood wreaths and reuse it for Valentine's.



I found these cute heart ornaments a Michaels for $2.99.



With the help of a little twine and some leftover ribbon from the hoidays, I was able to make a cute wreath to add to our Valentine's Day decor this year.

Gotta love an easy, inexpensive, eco-friendly project!

A Hello Kitty Party

My sweet Charlotte turned 2 this December and we decided to celebrate Hello Kitty-style! Charlotte's special day was a dessert celebration with a small group of friends. Since there was going to be a range of ages at the party (2-7 year olds as well as adults), I wanted the decor and treats to be appealing to everyone. I chose a yellow and pink color scheme to reflect our fun and spunky little girl's personality and added hints of Hello Kitty throughout.

I created a fun pom pom backdrop for the dessert table which added a lot of color and visual interest. Stay tuned for a DIY tutorial. This is the pre-party set-up (the actual party was at night so some of my pictures are really dark. Darn it!):



The dessert table included a cupcake tower with mini cupcakes adorned with Hello Kitty bows and topped with a Hello Kitty cupcake for the birthday girl, fresh fruit, cookies, mini meringues, nuts, assorted cheesecake bites, and homemade banana pudding and yogurt cups.









Each guests received a Hello Kitty bow to wear for the party upon arriving.



A table was set up for the "little" guests to enjoy their dessert treats. Again, I used the pink and yellow color scheme and hints of Hello Kitty ;)




I created Hello Kitty balloons for the birthday table and for the guests to take home. These turned out to be a great addition to the party however next time I would use larger balloons to help support the card stock that I attached.



Charlotte's guests were sent home with Hello Kitty Brownies in a Jar. Yummy!



We had a great time celebrating Charlotte's 2nd birthday and I had almost as much fun planning it!

Vender Information:

Hello Kitty Edible cupcake topper and mini bows were made by the Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe
Hello Kitty hair clips were made by Berry Nice Stuff
Pom Pom backdrop made by Sheek Shindigs
Hello Kitty Balloons made by Sheek Shindigs
The food was all homemade with the exception of the cheesecake squares and meringues (gotta love Wegmans!).

Party Ideas: A Swapping Soiree

Feeling the need to clear out some clutter at the start of the New Year? Here's a great party idea for you. Gather your friends and their excess "stuff " for a fun and thrifty get-together. Swap Parties allow you and your friends to clear out clutter, score some new finds, and have a party at the same time!



Here's how it works:
1. Invite 5-10 friends over for a Swapping Soriee. Ask each person to bring clean, gently used items to swap with other guests. Your party can have a specific theme (housewares, books, clothing, accessories, children's toys, etc.) or you can host an open swap, allowing your guests bring to a hodgpodge of items.

2. Provide an area for swap items to be set up and displayed. Upon arrival, ask guests to set out their items in the assigned area. As the host, hand out a poker chip for each item that a guest donates. If someone brings 10 items to swap, they get 10 chips with which they can use to "purchase" 10 new items.

3. Swap away and enjoy the company of good friends! At the end of your soiree, collect any left over items to be donated to an organization of your choice (The Salvation Army, a shelter, etc.).

Happy Swapping!