It's Jungle Time

Well it has been a little while since my last post, and for good reason :)  My hubby is finally home from a 7 month deployment and my time has been devoted to him and our family for the past month.  That doesn't mean I haven't been busy coming up and styling parties (the ideas never stop churning around in my mind).  My most recent party was for a dear friend of ours who after years of trying, she and her husband are finally about to welcome their first bundle of joy, a little boy named Ryan.

The mommy and daddy to be had first thought they were not going to find out the gender of the little peanut, so we settled on a gender neutral, safari/jungle theme.  After not being able to handle the suspense, they decided to find out the gender and it is a BOY!!  I also had the pleasure of designing the cupcakes for their gender reveal party, which I will share in another post.

Since the safari/jungle theme still fit, we decided to keep it.  For the shower, I designed a dessert table, fit for the king of the jungle.  With a custom backdrop to look like jungle vines and glass palm trees with brown gumballs, the table was the draw of the party.  I got burlap at our local Joann's and used it for the table covering and hand made a custom banner out of felt that the guests of honor could hang above the crib in the nursery.  I found a great burlap lined basket at our local Marshall's, turned it upside down and used it to elevate the cupcake stand.  The cupcakes stand and hand cut palm leaves and was custom made for this event.

As for the desserts on the table (the best part of the table), the mommy-to-be wanted Lemon/Blueberry cupcakes.  I handmade fondant cupcake toppers that were both 3D and 2D, as well as some that were animal print to go on top of the yummy cakes.  The dessert table also had hand dipped marshmallow pops, sugar cookie cut outs shaped like bananas and a small candy buffet.

As for the decor, we hung multi-colored green streamers on the light fixtures to resemble jungle vines and placed baby jungle animals in the center of the tables as well as on the autograph table (that the mommy and daddy-to-be could use in the little guys nursery as well) with green jungle vines around them.

For the games, the guests were greeted with a small pacifier necklace for the "Don't Say Baby" game ( pretty self explanatory, say baby and someone gets your necklace.  Person with the most necklaces at the end of the shower wins), and also played "What's in the Diaper" (where guests have to guess what melted candy is in a diaper by smelling, tasting or whatever else someone could come up with), "Mold a Baby" (where guests molded a baby out of play-doh and the daddy-to-be picked the winner) and "Guess how many M&M's are in the bottle" (where guests took a guess on how many M&M's were in a giant bottle, closest to the correct number won).

For the food, sub sandwiches were provided by an AMAZING local sub shop, Hungry Bear Sub Shop.  The guests enjoyed the subs, as well as pasta salad, macaroni salad, chips and fruit.

After lunch, the guests enjoyed some swimming in the club house pool and some casual conversation before the Mommy-to-be opened all over her great gifts!

The party turned out great, and was one of the funnest I have done so far.  Hope you enjoy all of my crazy ideas!

Until Next Time,
Lacey Cakes

Tangled in FUN!!

Yesterday we celebrated our daughter's 3rd birthday!  Hard to believe she is 3 already! I have been working on this party for a few months now and I have to say, it is my best one yet.  The details all came together so amazingly and everyone had a really good time!  I always love seeing a vision come all together and love seeing it turn out the way it was envisioned.

We started the celebration the day of her birthday and wanted to share her birthday day cake first :)

I started with awesome, homemade invitation inspired by Paging Supermom and designed by Courson Graphics. 


 The party was held at the Camp Pendleton Arts and Crafts Hobby Shop and the kids got to pick out and paint their own ceramics.  We spent time eating, painting and enjoying the company and at the end of the party, we even got a special visit by Rapunzel herself!  The ladies at the Hobby Shop went above and beyond and really made the party effortless!

  I tried a backdrop for the first time and replicated the mural on Rapunzel's tower wall.  It turned out great and really pulled the entire table together.  I used some retaining wall bricks to set the custom cupcake/cake tower up higher and to also provide some height for the fruit and cheese and cracker trays.  I bought some easels at Michael's to label the foods and used some yellow lilies from our yard, along with some ferns to add a little floral to the table. We braided a long braid using yellow yarn to wind through the table and to also greet the guests as they entered the party room. I used a pennant stencil designed by Courson Graphics and cut out flags of purple felt as well as yellow bursting suns to make a Happy 3rd Birthday banner that hung above the table.

As for the food, we used some fruits and cheese, crackers and salami to stay with the theme as well as some adorable jello boats using blue Jello with a slice of orange and the town flag on a toothpick to act as the canoe Rapunzel and Flynn Rider used to view the floating lanterns.  I also tried out ice cream cone cupcakes for the first time and decorated the outside of the cone to look like Rapunzel's tower and piped some purple frosting to act as the roof.  I added some colored gumballs and some marshmallow pops with cake pop petals to make them look like flowers to the table.

For the main course we did simple turkey and cheese sandwiches from our local mom and pop sandwich shop that were amazing and perfecting put together by the shop!  If you are ever in the Southern California area, I strongly suggest trying out Hungry Bear Sub Shop in Escondido...AMAZING and a pound of meat on each sandwich!

My favorite part of the party was the cupcakes and cake.  I made the cupcake toppers, pulling inspiration from the movie.  There were 5 different toppers: Pascal inspired, cast iron skillet, braided hair, paint set and a bursting sun.  All the toppers topped off a Lemon Blueberry cupcake that was a new recipe for me and it was very yummy!  As for the cake, I decided to try the Ombre style, using 3 different colors to match the purple color scheme.  I topped the cake off with the Rapunzel inspired cake topper I had made with a small town square pennant behind her.  The cupcakes, as well as the cake were all placed on a custom cupcake/cake stand that I made with a tutu on the bottom tier and the center pillar looking like the tower with braided hair circling the tower.

For the favors, I purchased tiny cast iron skillets online from Ron's Home and Hardware and filled them with custom M&M's with my daughters photo on them.  I also purchased some simple, small purple bags from the Dollar Tree and cut out a bursting sun and glued them on the bag to look like the town flag.  I filled them with "Rapunzel's Paints", princess lip gloss, comb and mirror, Tangled towel, princess wand, princess book and Tangled gummies.  I hand made the party hats using a template I found at Oh Happy Day.  I cut them out of purple card stock and attached a yellow card stock bursting sun to go with the theme of the day.  I hand braided yellow yarn and attached it coming out of the top of the party hat to look like Rapunzel's hair!

Thank you again to all our amazing friends and family who shared the special day with us!  Hope you all enjoy the pics!

Until next time,
Lacey Cakes

Land of the Free BECAUSE of the Brave

Remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country so that we may enjoy our freedoms! Tomorrow, It is the day, and should be everyday, that we should be thankful to those who have laid their lives down for us. Happy Memorial Day from Lacey Cakes and don't forget our men and women who are still fighting for our opportunity to enjoy our BBQs and family time!

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Busy Busy!!

I have been quite the busy body the last couple of weeks with my cupcakes toppers.  A birthday, tea party, graduation and baby shower have all been on my list of toppers to design and create as well as a special one for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday and a 3D cake topper for my daughters 3rd birthday in a couple weeks.

Mother's Day weekend, I thought I would throw a ladies tea party for all the lovely ladies, mothers,  and friends in my life.  I designed some super cute, button/vintage inspired tea party cupcake toppers that turned out so cute and looked even better on the Peanut Butter and Jelly and Boston Cream Pie cupcakes they went on :) Yes you read right, Peanut Butter and Jelly AND Boston Cream Pie cupcakes!  They were divine!   I also took my first stab at decorated sugar cookies.  They were not the greatest, but for my first try, I think they turned out great and tasted even better.  I think they were the biggest hit of the party. The party turned out wonderful and everyone, including myself, had such a fabulous time.  It's always nice to develop an idea in your head of a party and see it come to life! Here are some shots of the fun party:

 I gave you all a quick sneak peek of the Starbucks and Twilight inspired toppers a couple weeks ago that I created for my friend Carrie's birthday and added to that with a set of shopping/purse toppers and Iphone inspired toppers.  They turned out super cute and I got tons of compliments from the folks at the restaurant where her birthday dinner was held.  It's always nice to hear that your work is admired, especially after the hours that go into creating the pieces.  I also have been working on more graduation toppers for my upcoming trip to Washington state to see my little cousin graduate from high school.  Can't even believe the day has come!  I still remember her toothless grin singing LFO's Summer Girls many, many years ago.

 

The baby shower toppers I have been working on were a first to me.  I took some inspiration from Lynlee's Petite Cakes and also from several other pics on Pinterest (my go to for inspiration).  I have a couple more in mind to create as well and will give you guys a peek when they are all done.  Here is a small sneak peek until then ;)

My Memorial Day topper is to be revealed the day of and has got to be one of the most detailed toppers I have worked on to date, and the one with the most meaning.  It's difficult celebrating holidays without my hubby, but this one is particularly hard because there are so many men and women who haven't and won't come home to their families so that we can spend this holiday BBQing with our families and enjoy the company of the people we love in a free country. On a weekly basis, I hear of ceremonies my husband attends to honor the fallen men and women as they take their final trip back to their families.  I can't imagine going through that and that is what this holiday is about.  Remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice!


Lastly, I have been working on my first 3D cake topper, inspired by Rapunzel.  She stands about 6 inches tall and will be the topper of my daughters 3rd birthday cake :)  I was pretty pleased by how she turned out. Hope you like it ;)

Until next time,
Lacey Cakes :)

Sneak Peek

Just wanted to give you guys a sneak peek of what I have been working on this past week.  Had a fun time making these and I think they turned out super cute!  More to come :) Check out more work and follow me on Facebook!!

Crumbs VS. Sprinkles

I have had the pleasure to taste cupcakes from several different well known cupcake bakeries.  While in Beverly Hills this week, I made it a point to visit the first ever cupcake ATM at Sprinkles, just blocks from the well known Rodeo Drive.  On my walk to Sprinkles, I passed by Crumbs, which is also a well known cupcakery that started on the East Coast.  Crumbs was my first experience with the cupcake craze when my hubby's brother brought us a few of them when we were living in VA.  They were huge, sweet and came in all sorts of crazy flavors.  We decided to get a few from Crumbs and do a little comparison with Sprinkles, which I had only once prior to this visit.

From Crumbs, we went out on a limb and chose cupcakes that weren't the typical vanilla or chocolate.  We chose Chocolate Sundae, Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter Cup, and Apple Cobbler.  We then went to Sprinkles, where there was a line just to get into the cupcakery.  We decided to try the ATM, but it was having technical difficulties so back to the line we went.  Inside Sprinkles, we chose Cinnamon and Sugar, and Pumpkin cupcakes, as well as a Pupcake for my other child, Chanel, an Australian Shepherd. :)

We divided the cupcakes up and had a little taste from each one.  I will have to say, although Crumbs has tons of different flavors that are more unique to the cupcake world, the taste test for me had to go to Sprinkles.  I am not a fan of the overly sweet cupcake and the extra garnishes on the Crumbs extra large cupcakes was a bit much for me and the moistness of the cake wasn't quite as "there" as Sprinkles cupcakes.  In their defense however, I have had Crumbs Red Velvet cupcake while on a work trip to NYC and it was amazing. 

As for Sprinkles, their Pumpkin cupcake was so moist and paired with the cream cheese frosting, it tasted like a little piece of the fall all in a cupcake.  The Cinnamon Sugar cupcake, I didn't think I would like because the frosting is usually my favorite part of the cupcake, and this one didn't have any.  I was pleasantly surprised when the moistness of the cake was enough to not even need the frosting.  As for the Pupcake, I can't give my own personal opinion on that one, but I can tell you, it was gone in a minute flat :)

As for the price of the cupcakes, Sprinkles charges a whopping 3.50 per cupcake.  They are a little larger than the normal size cupcakes, and worth every penny.  Crumbs cupcakes run 3.95 per cupcakes but are significantly larger than the standard cupcake.  When we were in there, they were also running a special where you bought 3 cupcakes and got the 4th cupcake free :)

All in all, I am a cupcake fan, period, and I will continue to visit cupcakery after cupcakery until I can finally open my own :)  Like I saw on Pinterest:  You can't buy happiness but you can buy cupcakes.  And that's kind of the same thing ;) So true! 

Until next time,

Lacey Cakes

M.I.A.

I have been a bit M.I.A. lately, but have a TON to share with all of you!  I had an unexpected visit from my hubby for two weeks!!!  He got to come home from Afghanistan for a conference that we weren't sure he would be able to attend or not.  It was wonderful to see him and break up the long 7 1/2 month deployment.  I have been a busy bee the past month and am changing my focus a little bit.  I love baking, but the thing I have realized I love even more is the decorating.  Since CA has yet to pass a Cottage Food Law that would legalize home baking, I have decided that until then, or until I can rent a commercial kitchen, I will use this time to develop my flavor list and do some experimenting and focus more on my fondant cupcake toppers.  With the exception of St. Patrick's Day, where I used my go to Irish Car Bomb cupcake recipe, most of my cupcakes that I have been making for family and friends have included custom cupcake toppers.  These tiny things are super time consuming and include quite a bit of detail, but that is what I love about making them.  I could spend hours coming up with unique ideas to make a cupcake topper out of :)

I have been developing ideas for my daughters 3rd birthday party, coming up in June and did a set of Tangled inspired toppers that I will tweak a bit when the day comes a little closer.  She took one look at the braid topper and said, "its Tangled".  I guess that's how I knew I got it right :)

I also got the opportunity to work on a custom set of toppers, developed around the birthday boys favorite things.  The turned out so cute and got rave reviews!

My next undertaking included toppers for Easter, which were of precious little bunny behinds and chicks.  They turned out cute and were even better on top of a yummy carrot cake cupcake.

I was then asked by my lovely mom to make some cupcakes for her co-workers birthday....the night before she needed them :)  I came up with these super cute "glam" toppers that turned out cute, especially considering the time I had to work on them!


Most recently, I am working on more Angry Bird toppers for my friend Trish and even better, I have an excuse to take a trip to LA to deliver them.  I think a trip to the Sprinkles ATM is in store! I am also working on custom graduation toppers for my cousin Blaire (more like a sister, being that I am an only child) who graduates in June.  I will test my packing skills as they will make the flight up to Washington state as my carry on :)

Lastly, I got a text last night from my cousin Kilee who compared my Red Velvet cupcake to the Cheesecake Factory's Red Velvet Cheesecake!  What a compliment...come on CA pass the Cottage Food Law!!!

Until next time,

Lacey Cakes