{Party} Eggplant Purple, Willow Green, and Cream Wedding

I posted about the first wedding I did HERE

These weddings were a week apart, and were vastly different in style, cost, and building location.

I loved the opportunity of working on both.

This Bride, Alyssa, is Matt's cousin... and very artsy.

We had lots of different idea swirling around, and it came together great.

Her colors were Eggplant Purple, Willow/ Olivine Green, and Cream.

Her centerpiece flowers, bouquet, and cake flowers were all made out of paper.

I made the centerpieces, and the bouquet and cake flowers came from Flowers From The Garden Shop on etsy.  Candace did a beautiful job on the bouquet... the crepe paper roses looked like real petals.

Matt's aunt and uncle are very talented and make the wedding cake for all of the niece's and nephew's, as a wedding gift.  This was my first time placing flowers on a cake, and I was so nervous.  There is no going back, and these were little paper flowers; not big fresh flowers that could hide a mistake:)

The refreshments were Gourmet Donuts from Beyond Glaze. 

The flavors were

Raspberry Mango

Chocolate Ganache

Maple Madness

Cookies and Cream

Blueberry Bliss

The drink was Hot Chocolate served with mini marshmallows, chocolate covered peppermint sticks, and my homemade vanilla bean whipped cream.

The archway decorated with rustic grapevine, twinkle lights and flowing fabric.

My pride and joy was the ceiling.  This picture does not do justice to how awesome it was.  This shot is with all the lights up, rather than dimmed. 

It was amazing to see the exact picture in my crowded and imaginative brain, come to life.

I had great help from the friends of the Mother of the Bride, to execute this endeavor.

I took a cream hula hoop and attached the gorgeous organza to it.

I also attached mini wrought iron buckets with matching purple and green satin ribbons.  We then completed the chandelier effect by stringing 300 one inch round mirrors and hung the entire apparatus around the center dome light.

With the lights dimmed and the twinkle lights doing their job of twinkling...

It was like walking into shimmery moonlit garden with diffused warm glow overhead and tiny flowers and birch twigs below.

There were other small touches I didn't get a picture of...

The bride and groom found an old door and painted it rustic and turned it into a picture wall.

The Mother of the Bride quilted a gorgeous bed spread that matched the wedding colors.

The little wrought iron birdcage for gift cards.

The wrought iron lanterns leading guests up to the entrance.

There was dancing, live music, cake all over the walls from the bride and groom.

I was afraid we wouldn't get to do a proper send off with the sparklers, because the snow was coming down so hard... but it worked:)

It was A LOT of hard work...

It turned out great and was worth the effort!

{Party} Navy Blue and Butter Yellow Wedding

 On Friday, 11/11/11, I had one of the weddings I have been planning for the last couple of months. 

The Bride, my cousin Kelsie, choose Navy Blue and Butter yellow as her colors.

Her favorite flowers are daisies, so we went her big yellow and white Gerbera Daisies.

From the ceiling, we draped soft ivory organza and white twinkle lights. 

There were gorgeous navy blue satin chair ties, garden vines, a lantern walkway, and my iron archway.

The Bride and Groom looked so happy.

It is a relief to be done, but it was so fun the help their reception come together and look perfect for them.

I had a lot of help and I have two amazing moms that help me to realize my vision:)

Linking to~
CraftoManiac,
My Junk Drawer, 
Embellishing Life, 
The Gunny Sack, 
Vintage Wanna Bee, 
The Blackberry Vine, 
Tip Junkie,
Topsy Turvey
DIY Home Sweet Home

{Party} Blue & Black Wedding

Here are the cupcakes I got hired to do for a wedding.  

The Bride's colors were Black, Malibu Blue (Turquoise/Teal), and Silver.

The colors all came together nicely.

I used my homemade Chocolate Cake Recipe and made 9 dozen cupcakes.

Then I frosted the cupcakes using THIS teal tinted recipe like I did with Mother's Day Brunch in white and the Pinkilicious Party in pink.
I alternated the styling of the cupcakes between
Silver Foil Cupcake Liners and Black 4mm Edible Pearls and
Black Foil Cupcake Liners and 4mm Silver Dragees
(The Silver Dragees were my favorite with the teal tinted frosting)

I loved the tinted frosting compared to the white buttercream I did for the Bridal Shower. The bride was pleased... I was pleased... and better yet I got paid to do them:)

Some of the decor for the wedding that was being set up while I placed the cupcakes on the stand.  The backyard was gorgeous, established, lush, and ideal for the festivities.

Hanging Tea Lights for when the sun went down, and the rainstorm rolled in.

Backdrop for the bride and groom to stand in front of during the ceremony.

Table decorations with gorgeou mirrors to reflect the leafy canopy overhead.

The delicate silver bows tied to the crisp white chairs.

Ornate Lantern at the Guest Sign In table

Accent decor around the tables

Linking to~ The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Craft-o-Maniac, My Junk Drawer, Keeping It Simple 
Tip Junkie, Topsy Turvey, Blackberry Vine
My Girlish Whims, Lady Behind The Curtain, Trendy Treehouse, Sugar and Dots, Lil Luna
Today's Creative Blog, 
Fireflies and Jellybeans
Paisley Passions, The Answer is Chocolate, Whipperberry, Ladybird Ln, Delicate Construction
A Well Seasoned Life
Talking Dollars and Cents 

Black, Blue, & White Wedding Shower

My Aunt Tracee is the Matron of Honor at a friend's wedding in July.  She was also hostess to the Bridal Shower this last weekend.  My Aunt hit a time crunch, and in her mind a failed first attempt at cupcakes, so she asked if I would help. 
I made a double batch of chocolate cake, so that I could get two dozen additional cupcakes.
This was a buttercream frosting with a richer flavor, because I used half and half instead of milk.  It made it so the frosting gave you an arm workout trying to squeeze it out of the pastry bag:)
Asher and Abbie were disappointed that the couldn't eat a cupcake, or sneeze on the cupcakes... both actions were FORBIDDEN!



{Party} Turquoise Blue & Sunshine Yellow~ Bridal Shower

On Saturday, I helped my SIL Andrea out with a Bridal Shower she was co-hosting for one of her friends.  The colors were Turquoise Blue and Sunshine Yellow.

We made extra creamy Double Dipped Oreo Truffles~ Drizzled with coordinating candy melts or dipped in coordinating non pareils.

We also made Homemade Soft Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting.

The cookies were then topped with Rainbow Disco Dust and a tiny white Sugar Paste flowers with a tinted blue center.

For the drink we made lemon water with sugar, citric acid, lemon emulsion, water, freshly sliced lemons, and tiny restaurant style ice cubes.  I wish I would have brought my white back drop, but it wasn't my house... though I wish it was;)  The co-host of the party already had the cute little tissue paper pom poms hanging up.  Everything came together nicely, and tasted excellent. 

All of the food was gone, and the Bridal Shower lasted more than three hours... I say it was a SUCCESS!

Linking to~

Keeping it Simple

Craftomaniac

Making the World Cuter

Miss Crafty Pants

Today's Creative Blog

The Blackberry Vine

Topsy Turvy

Tip Junkie

Vintage Wanna Bee

Young Nester

Reasons to Skip the Housework

Lil' Luna

Sister's Stuff

Sew Much Ado

Sugar and Dots

Trendy Treehouse

My Girlish Whims

Free Pretty Things For You

Paisley Passions

Shabby Chic Cottage

Whipperberry

My Insanity Party Party 2012

Cupcake Apothecary

{Tutorial} Vinyl Design Salad Bowl

This is a project that can be done in less than an hour and for under $10.  It can be customized over and over for various people and events.

For my brother Andrew and new SIL Whitney's wedding gift (that they got a month and a half late) I gave them a customizable vinyl design salad bowl with their last name on it.

 Supplies for this particular bowl

1 Porcelain Salad Bowl {Walmart- $7.00}

1 ft each Green and Brown Vinyl {Roberts 2fer Tuesday Special- $1.50}

Cricut Cartridges {George Basic Shapes & Lyrical Letters}

Cricut Cutter and Cutting Mat

I used Joy four times, evenly spaced around the bowl in four different fonts... all from the Lyrical Letters cartridge- all 1 1/2 inches tall.

The green flowers were from the Lyrical Letters cartridge 1 inch to 3 1/2 inches tall

The brown flowers were from the George cartridge 2 inches to 2 1/2 inches tall

Directions

Clean and completely dry the bowl

Cut out various items

Carefully place them on the bowl and then burnish them (rub them) with a popsicle stick to make sure the vinyl adheres.  Note~ I just used the back of my fingernail, and it worked fine.

Fill bowl with crinkle gift bag filler, Salad Tongs, and Salad Dressing

Wrap in cellophane and tie with coordinating ribbon (Forgot to do this:)

Side Note~ If you use images or letters that are thinner, like spider legs at Halloween... there will be less surface area, therefore they will not adhere as well as the flowers did.  I had to re-cut some of the letters so that they would stick to the bowl properly.

To Clean

Lightly wash after each use.  When the vinyl starts to come off, throw away and replace as needed.

Customization Ideas

Easter Eggs and Bunnies for the Spring Easter Egg  Hunt...

Fireworks and Flags for July...

Beach Balls and Sunglasses for the Summer Swim Party...

Fall Leaves and Apples for the "I am glad you are my new teacher" gift...

A Ghostly Graveyard for the neighborhood Trunk or Treat...

Candy Canes and Gingerbread Men for the Holiday Neighbor gift...

Snowflakes and Icicles for the Winter Sledding Party...

The options really are endless!

{Recipe} Buttercream Frosting & Lemon Curd Cupcakes

I had to make six dozen cupcakes for Andrew and Whitney's Wedding Luncheon. I wanted them to by easy, delectable, and semi homemade (but not in the Sandra sort of way.)

 I gave myself certain criteria~

 chocolate cake-box

 white cake-box

bright white buttercream frosting- homemade

 little sugarpaste flowers-homemade

Cobalt Blue and White Polka Dot Liners...

 and a surprise inside each cupcake

For the chocolate cupcakes, I added mini chocolate chips to the batter.

For the white cupcakes, I added an oh so divine Lemon Curd recipe.  It was super easy.

Note: I used my micro cheese grater instead of a carrot peeler.  It went faster, and I didn't have to worry about getting any of the white pith in.

I wanted to put a raspberry puree in the chocolate cupcakes, but as they are not in season right now, it would have been much too expensive.  Maybe this summer:)

I really like how this recipe for buttercream frosting turned out.  Fortunatley I remembered what I did this time, since I haven't ever written my "concoctions" down. 

Bright White Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks Unsalted Butter- room temperature

2 lbs CandH Powdered Sugar

2 t Clear Vanilla

3+ T milk (+ means to desired consistency)
covers approx. 2 dozen cupcakes

Use whisk attachment and cream the butter.  Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until incorporated.  Scrape the sides down often. 

If it is too stiff or crumbly, add 1 Tablespoon of milk and the vanilla.  Once the powdered sugar is incorporated, start adding the milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency you want. 

*If you don't add enough milk, the frosting will be more difficult to pipe.  If you add too much, the frosting will not only by runny and refuse to hold it's shape, it will also take on a separated/greasy look. Greasy=frowny face. 

Once you have the frosting where you want it, turn your mixer on high and whip for 1-2 minutes.  Pipe to your hearts content, and make sure to cover the frosting if you have to leave it.

Don't wait to long to decorate, or the frosting will develop a super thin crust and the decorations won't stick.  

To decorate, I used edible sugar paste flowers that I rolled out and cut in three different sizes and styles.  When the flowers hardened, I used canary yellow luster dust  and colored the centers of the largest flowers.

I learned so much on this baking adventure.  I have much to utilize on the next project.  My mom requested these as her birthday present this weekend, so I have to get to it:)

Happy Baking!

Wedding- Wishing Tree

After spending 50+ hours prepping, crafting, creating, stressing, and mentally cursing... the wedding was here.  One of the things I wanted to do from the start, after finding out my mom and I were in charge of the Wedding Luncheon, was the Wedding Wishing Tree.  This project was one of the most labor intensive I did for the wedding. 

It doesn't seem like it would take very long, but here is a break down to create the 225+ Wishing Tree Tags

*Hand cut the pearly gold paper to the proper 2"x 4.25" size

*Use a decorative corner rounder on all 4 sides (that equals 900+ Carpal Tunnel inducing punches)

*Hand punch the ribbon slot

*Stamp the word HAPPY on each tag

*Stamp the word TOGETHER on each tag

*Attempt to draw 5 straight lines on each tag

*Realize at this point that I really REALLY don't care if each one is perfect

*Thread ribbon through each tag and tie a knot on the way to and from the Temple Ceremony (because I am cool like that... I get it from my dad;) 

Everything color coordinated with the Cobalt Blue and Gold with accents of jewel tones.  The tags fit with the theme perfectly.

Though this took a lot of time, I really liked how it turned out.  The picture above was at the beginning of the luncheon, so there wasn't very many tags up yet.  By the end of the Reception, it looked really neat.  I wish I would have got a picture of it full of love for Andrew and Whitney, but maybe I will get lucky and their photographer caught one.

Here is the sign I used for the Wishing Tree.  I found some ideas from different sites online, as to what I wanted it to say.

It will be neat to see how many tags they get after their Open House in Idaho this weekend.  I had Andrew choose the phrase he wanted on the tags, and Andrew and Whitney really are so Happy Together.