Princess Pink Party

I found these silver wands at partycity for .35 each

I am a Disney princess fanatic! I love everything pink and girly.  I'm not too sure how that happened since I was a total tomboy growing up.  So when I found out I was having a girl I started thinking of all the wonderful pink girly princess themed parties I could throw.  Finally after 3 years I was able to throw the first of many girly pink princessy parties.

Paper crafts like homemade pompoms, pretty wrapping paper and streamers make great cost cutting decor

My baby girl Zoe turned 3 and since she was old enough to give me her input I asked her what kind of party she wanted.  She knew exactly what she wanted... A castle, a princess dress, crown, magic wand, cake and balloons.   That was enough for me, so I got to work on her ultra girly princess party. Complete with bouncy castle and an appearance from Cinderella.

I have been collecting all kinds of party basics over the years so this one was pretty easy.  My budget was only $300 and I was able to pull this entire party off for that (this was the most exciting part).  It really helps that I love baking and working with fondant because it cuts down on costs.

Although I love Disney I really didn't want all of the cheesy character printed plates and table cloths, so I kept it simple pink and floral with hints of Disney, like this Rapunzel cake.

I even made a princess punch for the adult, served in pretty champagne glasses I found at the dollar store (2 for  $1).

Princess Punch

(adult only)

1 can strawberry kiwi concentrated juice (prepared)

2 cans sprite

6 shots vodka

 I made favors for boys and girls by painting dowel rods that I found at Michael's and adorning them with stars or "crystals".  Boys were given gauntlets from the dollar store and I hand made hair clips for the girls made out of clips, ribbon and faux flowers.

Zoe could not have been happier, and I had so much fun planning.

Happy Celebrating,

Romantic Pink Tea-Party-Baby-Shower

For a while now I have been itching to share this baby shower that I threw for my best friend last year.  I'm not big on Valentines Day so I figured that due to the romantic pink nature of this baby shower, it might give a few people some good ideas for non-commercial-romantic table settings, cake or cupcake ideas.

Basically about a year ago my beautiful friend was preparing for her third bundle of joy and didn't feel like it was proper to have a third baby shower.  I like to find any reason to celebrate and since she had a pretty hard year I wanted to celebrate her and the fact that a new member was joining her family.  Well the baby was a boy but that didn't stop me from making everything PINK.  It's her favorite color and really the shower was to gather a few women who loved her most to celebrate the next chapter of her motherhood story.  So everything reflected her personal style.

The main table was decorated with mis-matched teacups, teapots, and saucers that were all filled with treats.

Usually I will have a separate dessert table but for this party I wanted it to feel casual and almost like the Mad Hatter's TeaParty (a very orderly girly version).  So the cupcakes, cake pops and cookies were spread throughout the table within arms reach of each guest so that they could take leisurely bites throughout the party.

 

             

She called her new bundle of joy her little owl so because it was a baby shower, after all, we added vintage owls and ultrasound photos to the table to honor "Little Owl".  Grey straws in champagne glasses, silver chargers and candle sticks gave the table a warm inviting feel. 

Grandma lent her crafty skills and created these beautiful tissue paper flowers that contained actual flower bulbs as favors that the guests were able to take home and plant in their gardens.

Rose cupcakes in tea cups

                             

Oh and we can't forget food, since it was a tea party, we served cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad dip and crab dip.

There were a few little girls at the party so we created a tea party just for them.

This makes me so excited for when my two little girls get big enough to have a "real" tea party !!

As a baker and self taught cake decorator my favorite part was the cake.

It was my first time attempting an ombre design and making ruffles, I was a little scared how it would turn out (but then again I am always a bit fearful that the cake will fall apart or taste like salt).

In the spirit of sharing here is a brief explanation of how to do an ombre cake...

• First make your batter and divide into 3 or more bowls.
• Bowl 1 do not add color
• Bowl 2 add 1 drop of color
• Bowl 3 add 2 drops of color
• Mix each batter well, add more color to each bowl until you have the exactly shades of color that you desire
• Pour into separate cake pans, bake and presto...you have ombre cake

all three cakes look the same on the outside

The same goes for the fondant, and icing:

First make the fondant, break off small (golf ball sized) pieces then add a drop or two of color, breaking off pieces between coloring so that the color is gradual. But make sure that you mix the color into the fondant before you take a piece off.  The smoother the color is between color additions the better.

It takes a bit of work but its is pretty easy.

Now the ruffle effect is a little more complicated and I will save for another post that will include pictures.

I hope you found some good ideas to make your "romantic" celebration special.

Happy Creating