On January 29th, I was challenged with helping a friend throw a baby shower. I didn't know the mother-to-be, I was sort of...well, the "party planner". I helped her design the menu, pick out decorations, set up her house and choose cute little odds and ends. The trick is to make things LOOK expensive, and do it yourself! Adding small touches like labeling food/drinks and making your own floral centerpieces from bulk flowers cuts back on cost AND looks richy-richy!

The mother-to-be doesn't know if the baby brewing is a boy or girl, so we went with turquoise and a hot pink as the main colors. I added hints of brown, too. We landed on a nature/bird theme. See the  little bird nest cupcakes I made with 3 teeny hungry heads popping out? I can hear you all go "AWH!". Yep, they're pretty flippin' cute. And soooo easy to make. I sware. Toast some coconut and plop 3 blobs of blue icing in the center. Add the orange beaks by piping icing from a leaf tip. Tah-dah!

Ok, so how did we pull off an expensive looking event?

1) Borrow items! I scoured my step-mother's house, my home, and my friend's house for useful items that I could easily tie into the set up and theme. A large birdhouse, cake platters, dishes, trays...ALL borrowed! And it added variety to the decor!

2) Do it yourself! We set up the sweet table---the centerpiece of the shower--by borrowing ideas we found on pinterest.com. Instead of buying a tablecloth, we made one. Instead of buying a rod to hang the tule (the backdrop for the kitchen island), we used a large stick from a yard waste pile. Instead of the tissue balls for $40 on etsy.com, we found japenese lantern-ish balls at Hobby Lobby for under $15 for 6! Oh, and that gorgeous blue fabric...$14! Skip buying fancy, expensive tablecloths. Go scour your local craft or fabric store for deals and a pattern that will fit! Measure your area, calculate the yards you need, and you're DONE! It all took time, but saved oodles of cash!

3) Think outside the box! I have a few comments on this point...

A sheet cake from your local bakery is ho-hum and so flat! By making TWO  7" tall cakes, we added variety in cake choice for the guests as well as something fun to look at. They were each decorated very distinctly, and didn't match each other. That provided some eye candy! One was devil's food with fudge filling--decorated in turquoise with white swirls. The other was white cake with lemon curd filling--decorated in hot pink roses...and yes, yours truly made them both!

Punch? No thanks. That's so 1982, people! Popsicle Spritzers were a HUGE hit at this shower! What are these you ask? Easy peasy, that's what! Buy Popsicle brand popsicles and a few bottles of a sparkling wine like Ballatore or Asti Gancia (and at $8 a bottle, they're easy on the wallet). Place the popsicles into champagne flutes/wine glasses 15 mins before guests arrive, so they have time to melt a little. The idea is to flavor the sparkling wine with the popsicle juice. If you have guests that choose not to drink alcohol, offer them Sprite instead! It looks nice, adds something to the decor, AND is a beverage that everyone will talk about! Oh, and the sticks had jokes on them, too. That can be a nice ice-breaker for your guests! I always find a dual purpose for things *blowing on knuckles, rubbing my chest*!

Serve a simple drink like pink lemonade in a nice glass drink dispenser with a spicket on a stand. This adds visual interest, and the simple addition of fresh sliced lemons and raspberries floating inside it seems more oooh-la-la than blah.

Instead of serving the food in the containers they came in (who does that, anyway) transfer the items to a nice glass platter. Remember all those crystal platters, plates, and nice ceramic pieces you registered for at your wedding? Dig them out, and dust them off! It's time to use them! A three tiered server works perfect for small spaces, too. Again, these were ALL BORROWED items! We didn't purchase anything to display the food on!

Centerpieces for a baby shower can vary from daisies to balloons. We wanted to be different. We purchased 4 PLASTIC, yes plastic, containers that looked like glass. 2 were for floating roses, the other 2 were for chocolate malt balls. 2 dozen hot pink roses bought in bulk at a superstore got their stems and leaves cut off and floated in tinted turquoise water. An addition of a mini rubber duck gave it a little baby-appeal. I wish the roses had opened up more. If you know a trick on how to open roses, please share!

4) Small touches add big impact. By making labels for every food item served, it looked well-planned for, and no one had to ask "Is this chicken or tuna salad?". Ribbon around vases, and using items out of context (bird cage as a floral centerpiece) makes everyone say "Why didn't I think of that?".  I made a banner that read "Tweet Table" to tie the bird theme into the shower. I don't scrapbook, I don't own a Cricut. This is where my God-given talent helped me create letters by hand. Don't hate me. I didn't ask to be an artistic whiz.

With a little planning, time invested and thinking outside the box, this challenge was a piece of cake! And I got to help a friend! I'm just glad people trust me, and let me put this creativity oozing from my pores to good use every now and again! I'd die of boredom, otherwise.

With limited chairs available, and 35 people to seat, we used the sectional as part of the seating for the guests! Thinking outside the box can help with those functional issues, not just the crafty ones!

Under Construction

So, as I imagined, my January projects are turning into my February projects. Grr. I really didn't want this to happen, but I have reason. Really, I do!

My entire first floor is under construction. We (meaning, my husband, not me and the mouse in my pocket) are installing hardwood floor in our dining room and foyer, and it's taking longer than I hoped. If my husband is reading this, it isn't because he isn't doing his best...it's not easy to lay wood floors, work 2nd shift and be a dad/husband. But... I'm out of my element. I don't have my large table to do projects on, and I feel disoriented since we're confined to the kitchen and small family room right now. My home isn't exactly an environment conducive to creativity at this point. February holds a better chance for me to tap the creative keg in my home again.

The only thing I've done since my last post is pin a bunch of ideas off Pinterest.com to my boards (my name is Jess, and I am a pinterestaholic). I have cupcake recipes I want to make, appetizers I want to try and photos of women with perfect abs that have inspiring words written on them. Sugary treats won't get you a six pack, by the way. I'm a virtual oxymoron on Pinterest.

I'm not playing dead, though. I was "hired" to execute the decorations/cake, etc for my friend who is hosting a baby shower on Sunday. It's a cute themed shower incorporating birds, turquoise, hot pink and brown. My visions are going to take shape on Saturday and Sunday when we set it all up. Let's just hope I don't burn my fingers on my glue gun this weekend when I make all this stuff!

Creative Project of 2012 #1 DUNZO!

Wow, does it feel good to say you're going to do something, and actually DO it.

One of my creative projects for January was "Try a new design on a friend's cake".

I set out to make a cake look like it had fresh full-bloomed roses stuck in it all over the place. How'd I do it? Do tell? Ok...here it goes...

I tinted homemade buttercream icing a nice shade of pink, put it into a piping bag with a large "star/shell" tip. I made 2 batches of buttercream icing. One to cover the cake first, the other for roses.

In both clockwise and counterclockwise motions, I started at the bottom of the cake, where I would later call "the back of the cake". In the middle of where I wanted each rose to go, I piped from the inside out in a circular motion, then lifting at the end of each, creating  a rose. The nice thing about this design is that you can overlap roses. It didn't have to be perfect as far as alignment or size, but I tried keeping them the same volume/size as much as possible. I made 2 rows up the side of the cake, then moved to the top where I started from the outside, working in. The center was sorta fun, I stacked the roses a bit, so one rose was the highest in the middle.

One thing I noticed is that my icing was a little on the dry side for this technique. Next time, I'll add more milk to make the frosting more silky and pliable.

Not only did I try the new rose design, but I made a homemade 4-layer white cake with lemon curd filling to top it with. This was my first attempt at both a homemade white cake and lemon curd. SUCCESS! And I found out that I really, really like lemon curd, too, (ruh-roh).

I wasn't sure what I liked better. The rose design, or the fluffy, yet moist white cake paired with the tangy and sweet lemon curd.

The cake made my birthday celebrating friend happy, everyone enjoyed it and I felt accomplished.

Piece of cake!

The finished product: