Frozen in California, a FROZEN Birthday Party!

This year, my little girl turned 5.  Along with every other little girl, she was obsessed with Frozen!  It seemed only normal that her theme this year would be according to her obsession!

I had so much fun planning this party, because lets be honest, I liked the movie too.  I chose to go with the blue color from Elsa's Ice Queen dress as my main color scheme for the party.  The table cloths, backdrop, food, etc, all were based around this color.  I also incorporated snow, because you can't have a "Frozen" party without snow.

For the dessert table, I covered the table with a blue table cloth with an organza blue overlay to mimic Elsa's cape on her dress.  I then covered the entire top of the table with fake snow, mini snowballs made out of Dollar Store styrofoam balls, covered in white glitter and little battery operated lights to give it a gleam.  The main focus was a silver Manzanita tree that I draped with fishing line strung crystal beads to look like the scene from the movie where the characters meet Olaf for the first time, under the frozen willow tree.  I placed the tree on top of large square vase, turned upside down, on top of more snow, snowballs and lights, to look like a big ice cube.  I wanted to give the tree more lift, so there was no doubt that it was the focal point of the dessert table.  I then had a small pine tree and a small, white feather tree on both sides of the large Manzanita tree.  I found these awesome letters at Hobby Lobby that just so happened to be the same color as my scheme and knew I had to have them to spell out my daughters name in the background of the table.  For the backdrop, I found this great tutorial for paper snowflakes, made several in different blues and whites, and sizes and glued them to a simple, trifold poster board.  I love trifold poster boards for backdrops!  They make it so that with the folds, they easily stand up on their own with little anchoring, if any, needed.

For the desserts, I made vanilla "snowball" cake pops, "snowflake" sugar cookies (recipe below), "snowball" coconut macaroons, vanilla cupcakes with fondant snowflakes, and a cake to give homage to my favorite character, Sven from the movie.  As for the serving pieces, I made two "cake stands" from a clear plate and clear candle holder from the Dollar Tree, glued them together using the sturdy E3000 glue, then using my glue gun, I made a thick trim around the edge of the plate and sprinkled the undried glue with glitter, giving it a "snow drift" around the edge.  I also found some silver chargers at Michaels that I used to place the other desserts on.

For the food, we stuck with easy "subzero" sandwiches from a local sub shop (at the request of the birthday girl).  Along with the subs, we had "ice" chips, "Olaf noses" in ranch dressing, "Kristoff's Ice Blocks" jello and  "melted snow" water.

I put together cute gift bags for party favors with some things that fit within the color scheme and theme of the party.  On the front of the bags, I cut out clip art of the characters (Anna and Elsa for the girls and Sven and Olaf for the boys) and to make the ones for the girls even "girlier" I cut a small piece of matching tulle, and placed it over the character, like a 3D skirt.  For the girls, Michaels had some silver crowns that matched the theme perfectly, and I used some blue embellishments to dress them up a little more.  For the boys, I used this template and cut out antlers and glued them on to a band that was attached together by a small piece of elastic, to give it a bit of a stretch for different sizes of heads.  The kids all loved the "party hats".  The birthday girl also gave "Do you Want to Build a Snowman" kits with marshmallows, pretzel sicks, mini chocolate chips and candy corn, as well as a chocolate bar with a customized label to match the theme.

We had the party down at our neighborhood clubhouse/pool so the kids spent most of the time swimming.  I planned an indoor snowball fight, and made a bunch of yarn snowballs, some out of white yarn and some out of silver yarn, using this easy tutorial.  I kept the clubhouse doors closed and the AC on high so that the room gave the feel of colder weather.  I scattered more fake snow all over the ground and armed each child with a few yarn snowballs.  They had a blast, major highlight of the party.

Mostly, it was a time to gather with friends and celebrate Emma.  Everyone had a great time, and most importantly, the birthday girl loved it!  I hope you enjoyed this party as much as I did planning it!  Until next time!

Sweet Sugar Belle's Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) of real, unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 egg
2-3 tsp flavoring (any kind, I prefer almond)
2 1/2-2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1.  Cream together softened butter and confectioner's sugar.  Crack the egg into a separate bowl and add the flavoring.  I use emulsions, but extract also works well.  Add that to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until the egg is thoroughly incorporated.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then add, little by little to the wet mixture.  I can tell the dough is ready with most of it sticks to the paddle.  When I touch it, it has a little give, but does not stick to my fingers.

2.  Roll out on parchment to about 1/4 an inch thick, use flour for dusting as necessary.  Then, cut and bake at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes.  This version makes 2-2 1/2 dozen.



Sweet Sugar Belle's Royal Icing Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds (one bag) confectioner's sugar
5 Tbsp meringue powder
2-3 tsp oil-free extract or emulsion
1/2-3/4 cups warm water

1.  Begin by string the flavoring into half the water

2. Using a paddle attachment, gently mix the sugar and meringue power.  It's not necessary to sift the sugar beforehand, but you can if you like.

3. With the mixer on its lowest setting, slowly add the water/flavoring mix to the dry ingredients.  As the water is added, the icing will become thick and lumpy.

4.  Continue to add the remaining water (this may or may not be the entire amount) until the mixture reaches a thick, honey like consistency.  At this point, turn the mixer to medium speed and whip 2-4 minutes until the icing is thick and fluffy.  Mixing time can vary greatly, so watch carefully and stop mixing when the icing is thick enough to form soft peaks.

Minnie Mouse or Bust

It is so hard to believe it has been so long since I have posted on here.  So many things have happened in the long year and a half since my last post.  We have recently relocated to the East Coast and are just getting settled in to our new place and new routines.  My one and only little one started kindergarten this year and I have been a ball of emotions to say the least.  The past year and a half have been nothing short of awesome and I have a ton of parties to share with you guys.  You may also notice the new name.  This month, I decided to take a bit of a turn in my focus.  I still LOVE cake and cupcake decorating, but I have decided party planning is more my passion.  I will still share my baking ideas but you will see more of my posts will be on party planning.  Over the course of the next month or so, I want to show you what I have been up to and I hope you guys enjoy :)

This post is dedicated to the loveliest mouse of all.  The one and only Minnie Mouse.  This was my daughters 4th birthday party theme last year (2013).  I started out only wanting to do a very small, "no big deal" party because we were spending a few days at Disneyland for Emma's actual birthday.  Who was I kidding, me do "no big deal"?  It just didn't happen that way, but it ended up super fun and most importantly, the birthday girl LOVED it and it was a magical way to begin our trip to the happiest place on earth.

We started the party out at our local beach where we enjoyed a nice BBQ with our friends and family and of course some fun in the sun!  After a couple hours and full bellies, we made our way back to our house to celebrate some more with cake and ice cream.

For the cake, I used the Wilton Giant Cupcake Pan, frosted the bottom with a pink, high humidity frosting to match the rest of the decor.  I then used the rose swirl technique to frost the top of the giant cupcake (tutorial coming soon).  I had previously made Minnie ears out of black fondant with spaghetti noodles at the picks to stick into the cake.  I also made a pretty pink bow and Disney font letters/number for "Emma" and "4", using Disney font I found online, printing off the letters/number I needed in the size needed, covering with wax paper, and using black fondant to outline the letters/number.



For the matching cupcakes, I made Minnie ears out of black fondant, using a small circle cutter and pink bows using a silicone mold I have.  I decorated each cupcake using the rose swirl technique and placed two ears on each cupcake with a bow in the middle. For the other cupcakes, I decorated them using the rose swirl technique and placed small, white ball candies on the tops to mimic Minnie's polka dots on her dress.




I also made Minnie shaped sugar cookies (will share the recipe in a later post) with coordinating frosting colors and chocolate dipped Minnie Oreo cookies.  I have had a TON of questions on how I made these Oreo cookies and they were quite simple.  Although I don't have process pics, I thought I would quickly share how they were made for all those how would like to make them as well.








Minne Mouse Oreo Cookies:

Ingredients:
1 package of double stuffed Oreo cookies
1 large package (or several little ones) of mini Oreo cookies
1 package of white chocolate, separate some for dying and a small amount to keep white (I used Bakers brand white chocolate)
Pink chocolate food coloring (yes there is a difference from regular food coloring, I will explain below)

Start out by disassembling the mini Oreo cookies, scraping the filling from the backs of either cookie,  so you have two mini cookies.  Then take one double stuffed Oreo and gently press both mini cookies into the filling of the double stuffed Oreo, making "ears".  You can also use some frosting or melted white chocolate to keep the "ears" secure, but I found that I didn't need it.  After you have assembled the Minnie Oreos, slowly melt white chocolate over a double broiler, until smooth.  You can also use the microwave to melt the chocolate.  Simply use a microwave safe bowl and heat the chocolate for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until chocolate is smooth.  Then, using chocolate food coloring, dye the chocolate the desired color.  You must use chocolate food coloring due to the oil in the chocolate or your chocolate will not hold the color and separate.  I also use Flo-Coat by AmericColor to make sure my chocolate has that smooth consistency.

After your chocolate has reached your desired color, take each Oreo, being careful to keep the "ears" in place, and dip the bottom portion of your double stuffed Oreo half way in the chocolate.  Let dry on parchment paper.  While the chocolate is drying, you may also use some of the left over colored white chocolate to make a small bow between the "ears", using a small cake decorating tip (Wiltons round #2) in a decorating bag.

After the chocolate has dried, melt the remaining white chocolate to make the polka dots.  Use a small cake decorating tip (Wilton round #2), in a decorating bag, and fill it with the melted white chocolate, making sure it has cooled enough to handle, but not enough to begin to harden.  Make small polka dots on the colored white chocolate to mimic the polka dots on Minnie's dress.  Let dry and enjoy.

Hope you enjoyed this party as much as I did planning it.  I look forward to sharing more fun parties with you in the near future.

Until next time,
Creative Details Event Planning

Flirty 30

Hello again to my faithful followers, all 6 of them ;)  I have been a bit MIA lately.  I remember last year writing about one of my new years resolutions being to blog more...well that didn't go so well haha.  Maybe this year I can try it again (even though it is already 1/4 into the year and this is my first post :/ )

I recently celebrated a milestone birthday, the big 3-0.  I can't say that I was thrilled to let my 20's be a thing of the past, but it has proven to be okay so far.  I had originally planned this over the top, 50 Shades of Grey themed "dirty 30" birthday bash for myself.  Everyone was going to wear gray, have masquerade masks on and we were going to celebrate eating foods that reminded us of the books and the characters that made the book so interesting ;) Submissive Subs, Bow 'tie me up' pasta, red room of pain velvet cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes, soft limits taffy, hard limits candy, you get the point.  Well finally I decided, why am I throwing my own party and causing myself stress on my own birthday!?!?!  I called the party off and planned on just having a stress free, low key get together with friends and family. 

On the Saturday before my birthday, we had some friends visiting from out of town and my friend Jaime and I went to get our nails done.  My husband made the appt, which was a little odd, but I didn't think much of it.  When we got to the nail salon, the nail tech asked to look at my nails.  I wasn't quite sure why she needed to see my nails as I had planned on just getting a quick mani/pedi.  She kept pushing getting fake nails to make them longer because I am a biter :)  I had just taken a set off and my nails were still thin from it, so I didn't really want to damage them more.  Finally Jaime said that Todd insisted I get the fake set.  I text Todd asking why I had to get them, because this was MY birthday weekend :)  He told me to stop being difficult and to do what he said.  I had a nail color all picked out and the tech came out with a printed out nail design based on one of the 50 Shades book covers. 

From what I was told, we were going out to dinner as a family to celebrate my upcoming day.  I thought maybe he just wanted me to have a piece of the book I loved so much since I wasn't doing the big party.  After my nails were dry, the tech led me back to the waxing room.  My first thought was, OH GEEZ, NOW WHAT!!!!!  Inside the room, she told me to change into a purple dress that had been left there for me (for anyone who hasn't read the books, Anna's favorite dress is purple).  On the box of shoes that were also left was a note saying: "Put this on and meet me at home. -Mr. Grey".  Then I got to thinking, maybe he is taking me to Seattle ;)  I put the dress on and Jaime and I headed back to our house.

When we got back to the house, I did suspiciously look around to see if there were any cars I recognized haha.  There weren't of course.  When I opened the door, to my surprise, a huge SURPRISE was shouted at me!!! 

It took me a while to take everything in.  There were all of my closest friends and family, wearing gray, in masks ready to celebrate my 30th.  As I looked around, I saw the vanilla and red velvet cupcakes, little wine with gray stripped straws, chocolate "keys to the playroom", submissive subs, sea salt chips, bow "tie me up" pasta!!! Everything I had envisioned for my own party was right in front of me and I didn't have to do any of the work!  It was fabulous!  My mom put together all the little details of the party, with help from my hubby, aunt and close friends as if she had been in my head!  I could not believe all the details and work that they had put into it!

We had a fabulous evening and I felt so special that I got to spend it with all my favorite people!  Hope you guys enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed telling you about the party :)

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