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Friday, March 30, 2012

{Gig Masters} Affordable Easter Sweets Table Guest Post

It's great to hear good news when things are not so great personally (I'm having a ROUGH DAY today. While shopping at my beloved Target last night I either lost my cell phone or someone swiped it while I was trying to stop my son from leaping out of the cart). However, my guest post that I mentioned last week is up on Gig Masters today!  YAY!!!



Check out the post to get my tips and ideas to creating an affordable Easter Sweets Table. Also, my Bunny & Carrot Party-to-Go is still available in my shop and the price has been reduced to celebrate! Hop on over to Gig Masters to read the post!


 

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

{Pin-tastic Tuesday} Tangerine Tango Color Love

I'm on a color fix lately so, it must be spring!!!!  Pantone's color of the year, Tangerine Tango is so perfect for any spring affair or occasion.  I love how the different shades of reddish-orange look in these wedding related photos that are on my Tangerine Tango Pinterest Board.  This spicy color looks great when paired with the right shade of aqua or hot pink!  I would love to use a simple but bold backdrop with this color for a sweets table filled with glass candy dispenser filled with white candies and desserts! LOVES IT!!!!!!

One might not think this color has so much versatility, but it really does.  If planning to use this color for your next event, style your party space with statement pieces that standout in this bright color; you will not be disappointed.  Mix in complimenting colors like browns and greens and strike a great contrasting balance using whites, bold pinks and blues for a perfect color combination!


Follow me on Pinterest for more inspiring images. Feel free to repin the photos in this post by clicking on the photo description links below; clicking on source will take you to the direct link for the original post/image.

Tangerine Wedding Umbrellas (Source)
Beautiful Bouquet (source)
Geometric Wedding Cake (source)
Tangerine Neck Ties (source)


Monday, March 26, 2012

{Cupcake Monday} Easter Egg Nests

I'm still loving these cupcake pedestals I created! Look at how I used them for my recent Easter display.


These Easter Egg nests were another dollar store bargain.  These would look great on a mantle or Easter vignette on a entryway side table in your home.

You just need to use my tutorial to create the pedestals.  Purchase floral moss and plastic eggs to create your nests.  I just formed the moss into a nest shape and placed a plastic egg filled with jelly beans on top of each nest.  You can also paint the eggs to look like bird eggs for a more natural look!  I was tempted to put cupcakes on the nests, but thought the eggs to be more appropriate for the look I was going for.

While they're not as sophisticated as these Grandin Road nests, I think they're just as decorative!\




Friday, March 23, 2012

{Etsy Shop} Easter's On It's Way

I mentioned in other posts that I'm working on adding a few new non-personalized party items to my shop.  One of the collections I created is this cute 'Bunny & Carrot' set for Easter. My new line is still a work in progress, I have plenty more to finish and photograph, but I am so happy to FINALLY be able to add at least one completed collection to the shop.





This adorable set includes:

One 'Happy Easter' Banner
6 Bunny Cupcake Toppers
6 Carrot Cupcake Toppers
8 Bunny & Carrot Favor Bag Tags

You can purchase the set in my Etsy shop for a limited-time reduced price - order today and it will be shipped to you in time for Easter!

Cannot wait to share with you the guest post that this set is featured in - more on that next week!!!!



 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

{Pin-tastic Tuesday} Colors of Spring

Happy Spring!

Today is the first day of spring, and despite the congestion, watery eyes and sore throat I have.....spring is still one of my favorite times of the year.  Here are some lovely color of spring photos on my Sweet Spring Pinterest Board.


Follow me on Pinterest for more inspiring images. Feel free to repin the photos in this post by clicking on the photo description links below; clicking on source will take you to the direct link for the original post/image.

Spring Home Decor (source)
Hanging Eggs (source)
Fabric Wrapped Planters (source)
Utensil Wrapped Carrot Sticks (source)
Spring Watering Can With Flowers (source)
Fiddlesticks (source)
Badgely Mischka Spring 2012 (source)
Spring Swing (source)
Crepe Paper Bunnies (source)



 

Friday, March 16, 2012

My Friend Alison

I had my Part 2 post about the cupcake pedestals all set to go out this morning for your guys, but thought to share something pretty important with you instead. This morning, I opened my Facebook page and watched this touching thought-provoking video on the subject of distracted driving featuring my friend, Alison Holden:

 
I felt it was important to share this video with all my readers before the weekend starts.  I know how easy it is to want to respond to a text or answer a call while you are driving, but the next time you  are in your car and reach for your phone, please remember that not only can you be injured by a distracted driving, you can also do irreparable damage to others.

I'm glad I still have my buddy around to be able to tell us her story, but I sure would miss her cheeriness and her shouting me out each time I tweet about my little party business on Twitter.

To find out more information on how you can get involved or to hear more stories on how distracted driving has changed the lives of many others visit distraction.gov.  You can also take Oprah's No Phone Zone pledge and make a promise to not drive while distracted.


Thursday, March 15, 2012

{Thursday Inspiration} DIY Cupcake Pedestal Tutorial - Part 1

{I really wanted to show these to you on Tuesday, but I had to tend to my husband who came down with a case of the nasties.  In fact, between him and my kids, it's no wonder that I haven't gotten a bug yet.....and I really don't want to, so I'll just not put anymore thought into it....on to the post}

I love these cute little cupcake pedestals I am seeing everywhere lately! For me, however, they are a bit pricey. I've seen them run in the range of $14 for just one up to $29 for a set of two.  So, being the crafty and frugal woman that I am I decided to venture out and find a way to make my own.  I've seen people create their own cake stands so, I just applied the same tips to making them into cupcake stands.

modern serveware design by Rosanna                            modern serveware design by Farmhouse Wares
Petite Treat Mini Pedestal modern serveware

Martha Stewart Collection Set of 2 Mini Cake Stands contemporary serveware















I'm excited to share this tutorial/tip with you today.  I showed you the cupcake pedestals that I made for my St. Patrick's Day Rainbow Cupcakes and mentioned that I would show you how to make your own.  It's really easy and cost me less than $10 to make them.

You're gonna need the following supplies:


You will also need to be outdoors or in a well ventilated space because you'll be working with products that are crazy fumey!

To start, add your glue to the base of your candles stick.  You might want to sand the candle with a fine grit sand paper to create a better adhesion.  I just glued mine right to the mirror.


After gluing all the bases to the mirrors, I let them all dry for about 25-30 minutes before applying a primer.  I'm sure you can paint right onto the stands, but because I was using a mirror, I wanted the final result to be as opaque as possible.  Also, be sure to wash and dry everything before applying your adhesive and paint.  




I also used stove burner covers to create larger tiered cupcake stands.  The burners were a bargain at $3 for  about four covers.  I followed the same steps by gluing the base to the burner and then priming each one and allowed for adequate drying times.  You will notice that I switched the position of the candlestick base for the top tier because wanted there to be some balance.



I let the pedestals and stands dry outside for about four hours then, added the spray paint the following day.


Check back tomorrow to see how everything turned out along with a few cute ideas on different ways to use the pedestals and stands and where I got all my supplies.





Wednesday, March 14, 2012

{Whatever Wednesday} In tha Houzz


I just learned about a great home decor site, Houzz, it's like Pinterest meets Elle Decor meets Facebook meets....well, you get it.  There is so much fabulousness going on here that I could just get lost in it all.

Houzz is basically a site for anyone who loves decorating their homes, remodeling, designing or DIY any type of home project.  You can read articles on decorating written by leading design & style experts, get tips from professionals, find a local designer and join forum discussions.   

What I really like about the site is that designers get to show off their portfolios and we get to save photos from their great work to our own ideabook.  The ideabook is just a really fun tool to use on the site that will allow you to save your favorite images.  You can also add your own photos to the site and let others view your design style.  Searching for a particular product?  Just shop in the products page and find thousands of products sold in different online stores and save the images to your ideabook.

I was able to go onto Houzz and create my own ideabook chock full of products I thought would be great for parties.  You can see what I created below.

cupcakewishesandbirthdaydreams's ideabooks
Browse Kitchen Products on Houzz- For Example:

Head over to HOUZZ to create your own ideabook. Please feel free to leave a comment below and share what cool images you found.


(This post was brought to you by HOUZZ.  Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams may or may not have received payment for this post.)



Monday, March 12, 2012

{Cupcake Monday} St. Patrick's Day Cupcake Fun & Sneak Peek

Here is a little somethin'-somethin' I made this weekend for a little St. Patty's Day inspiration.

I have been in a rainbow kind of mood and was inspired to create these Thin Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with Rainbow Frosting.




 mmmmm......



I also made a few with Peppermint Frosting!




Oh....and how neat is that cupcake pedestal??? I've seen these at a lot of different shops online, but when I realized that I could make them myself for just a couple bucks, I did!  I made them over the weekend and just made three but they were so easy to make. The are very versatile and I just love all the different ways to dress them up.  I will share a tutorial with you tomorrow on how you can make your own!


Back to the cupcakes.....

I actually used cake box mix for these cupcakes, because I was so tired by the time I got around to making them (and high off of spray paint from my little craft project), I didn't want to pull out all of the ingredients....lazy me.  I did doctor up the cake mix a bit to add some richness to it.



In place of water, I used buttermilk and instead of three eggs, I used four.  I like Betty Crocker's Devil's Food Cake Mix for no other reason than we get box tops for my daughter's school, but you can use whatever mix you prefer.  After I combined all the ingredients, I just folded in one sleeve of crushed Girl Scouts Thin Mints and added a teaspoon of Peppermint Extract.  These cupcakes bake up nice and fluffy and have a subtle, yet delicious peppermint flavor!



The frosting is a simple Buttercream recipe and I added 1 tsp Peppermint Extract to the frosting.  For the rainbow frosting, I divided the batter in half and set it aside for the plain cupcakes.  Then divided the remaining batter into six small bowls, I added food coloring until I got the colors that I liked.  Then, I filled a piping bag for each color and swirled one ring of frosting onto the cupcake for each color.  The plain peppermint cupcakes were frosted then topped with crushed Thin Mints and green sprinkles.

If you try this recipe out, I would love to hear your thoughts or leave a comment and share a photo!



I am finalizing some printables for St. Patrick's Day and can't wait to share them with you.  So, be sure to check back this week for more St. Patrick's Day ideas & inspiration!


Linking to:

 Skip To My Lou


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

{Whatever Wednesday} DiD Spotlight: Alison Lawson Cakes

As a member of the Martha Stewarts Dreamers Into Doers Party People group I digitally convene with a group of talented women on a daily basis.  One of them is Alison Lawson of Alison Lawson Cakes.  She's a cool gal from Australia who is one heck of a cake artist.  Alison recently launched her blog and I was happy to be a part of her blog launch giveaway.

Before I get into all of that....please check out Miss Alison's pantry/cake room....yes, a cake room.


I WANT ONE!!!!  She recently moved into a new house and she had a room designed that is devoted to her cake artistry - GO GIRL!!!!  I think one of my favorite items in this room are these cool blue tear drop mixing bowls....it's really the little things that get me excited.


You can check out Alison's blog and view her fabulous confections.  Here are a few of my favorites!



While you are there be sure to enter to winyarn pom-pom headband, yarn pom garland and a child’s size celebration shirt by Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams and a chance to win other great prizes!

Congrats to Alison on her blog launch and much success to you!!!!




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