Anemones on the Brain!

 I am loving this flower.....so simple, yet elegant and dramatic at the same time. I am using  them on a cake for the bridal show dessert table I'm working on and thought I'd share their loviness with you!

I found this fabulous vendor, Sweet Petal Bakery, on Etsy who will make some sugar anemones for me to use.  She does amazing work with flowers!  When you get a chance pop on over to her site and see some of her other work!

image courtesy of sweetpetalbakery

Vendor Spotlight: Munchkin Tables

Hold the presses....I am totally swooning over these chairs and tables!  I know, who knew that chairs and tables could evoke such strong emotions.  But wait until you see the work of Munchkin Tables.  Here's the problem, they are based in Australia!  That's not too say we can't ooh and ahh over their work!  Here are some pictures....then head over to their site to see more!  They need to come to the States!!!!  They know how to dress-up a kid's party!  They incorporate your color palette and theme.

Look at that rosette, so stylish!

The bat design on these chairs.. you can rent those too!

Cookies, cookies, and more cookies.....

Image (http://blog.celebrations.com/)

 Since I'm planning this dessert table for the bridal show, I have had wedding cakes on my mind.  When I came upon this, I just stopped in my tracks!!!!  What a great idea...who doesn't love Oreos....such a fun, whimsical take on the traditional wedding cake.

Old Paris Inspired: L'Amour est Doux!

I have been working on a dessert table for the Kentlands Mansion Bridal Showcase.  So excited to be a vendor! If you live in the metro DC area stop by our table on October 17th.

I am designing a dessert table that can be right at home at a formal bridal shower or elegant wedding.  Loving a black and white color palette right now and trying to decide between an accent of blue or pink.....mostly because I want to have some  French macaroons and they are just darling in pink!  I'd like the feel of the dessert table to make you think of falling in love in Old Paris....charming,chic and decadent, yet sweet with lots of details...a bit of lace, ribbon, anemones and roses!  And of course, some whimsical flair!  Boy that's a tall order...let's see how it turns out.

Still working out the details but here is the  Inspiration Board I've created to guide me.....

My Little Sunshine Birthday Party

I had to take a closer look when I came upon this party by Katie Grace Designs.

Love that lantern backdrop!

I am  always singing You Are My Sunshine to my girls, corny and I can't sing to boot, but they love it still!  So of course, I fell in love with this sweet little party.  I think you will too!

Favors Station!

What a great idea....a picture of each month of the birthday girls first year!

Thought this was so sweet and simple!

APPLES GALORE!

What's fall without apples......and, if you don't already know, it's apple picking season right now.  So last weekend the girls and I were off to Homestead Farms in Poolesville, MD for our annual apple picking!

 We had a blast and after 20lbs of apples picked, they were exhausted.  That certainly didn't deter them from nibbling along the way!

With that many apples, I went in search of recipes that would do our Pink Ladies, Jazz, Fuji, and Empire apples justice.

So here are some mouth-watering apple recipes to take you through the fall!

Baked Brie en Croute with Apple Compote

Toasted Turkey, Brie, and Apple Sandwich...yum!

 Apple Dumplings..

Apples and Walnuts with Stilton Cheese

Apple Stuffed French Toast

Caramel Apples

Gorgonzola, Apple, Toasted Pecan Filo Roll

Apple Cranberry Galette

We made the apple dumplings, and added fresh whipped cream...delicious! We also made the caramel apples for an after-school snack....also quite yummy and somewhat healthy :)

Let me know which one you try!

All Things Fall: Glam Halloween!

We are entering into one of my favorite seasons: Fall!  So you'll see lots of post on Fall celebrations and of course, Halloween!!

I was drooling when I saw this Glam Halloween photo shoot over at The TomKat Studio.  I think Kim is super talented and she never fails to inspire me whenever I see her work!  This is definitely a sophisticated take on Halloween and that dessert table is just glamorous!  Last week, I helped a client with her sister's bridal shower and the wedding is on Halloween.  How cool and a totally unexpected surprise for her guests if she had a Halloween dessert table!

There are some really amazing elements in this shoot; the purple and lime green color palette, there's even a little damask thrown in, I'm loving the spidery pumpkins, not to mention those glittery trees!!!   Do you see those awesome chocolate dipped oreos by Sweeties by Kim?!  Love her work too!

This would be great for a girl's night out or even a bridal shower held around this time of the year!  You can find all the vendor info here!

Check it out and let me know what you think!!

I'm two (peace sign) birthday party !

Happy Monday!

Sharing the cutest birthday party today, which would work for a boy or girl!  Anne, over at A. Party Style, created this fun 2nd birthday party for her daughter held over Labor Day weekend. Hence, the red, white and blue color scheme along with the peace sign, which shows the number 2!  What a genius idea!  Here are some pics from the party but head on over to A.Party Style to see more!  While you're there, check out her Milk and Cookies First Birthday Party! Too cute!!

What a beautiful dessert table!

Had to show a close-up of some these yummy desserts!

I love how the wagon served as the candy bar!  So cute!

Photo booth!

Peace! (I had to :)

Blog Readers & Celebrating Half Birthdays

Before I start today, I want to say that I am so giddy with excitement to know that my blog is truly being read and not just by my friends!  I was so busy last week that I did not get a chance to mention this....but last week, I got an email from a reader in California who was interested in a cake stand from one of my posts!!!  I was thrilled and honored to get this email....people are reading my blog!!!  So cool!!

Ok, back to my party feature today....it is in celebration of a half birthday!  Now until I met the husband, I did not know anyone who celebrated a half birthday.  But my husband takes his birthday seriously, and those who know him can attest to that.  This man believes in the birthday month and  makes sure all his friends, co-workers, neighbors, you name it, know when his birthday is.  Just last week, he reminded a few of us that his half birthday was coming up.  So in honor of the husband, I'm featuring this sweet little party celebrating the half birthday.

The party was featured on Hip Hip Hooray , a fun little site that's all things kid's parties. They have several contributors, including the fabulous Amy Atlas.  If you not been on Amy Atlas's blog check it out...she is the  dessert table diva; with fresh ideas, creative displays and just madly stylish in general!

This little girl's birthday is the day after New Year's, so the tradition is to celebrate her half birthday instead!

Gotta love those tissue poms! These are by Martha Stewart for Wal-Mart!  Yes, that's right people, Martha Stewart at Wal-Mart.  Fabulous design at a very reasonable price!

This beautiful garden cake was made by Wuollet Bakery...if you live in Minnesota be sure to  check them out!

The DIY party activity is one of my favorites: fun and creative!
The half-birthday girl's friends made mini-books about themselves using Kolo albums. The mom, who is a photographer, took a picture of each child and printed them up on the computer for the cover.  They also took silly pictures with wigs and glasses for pictures to go in the book!   How cool is that!

I could not pass up the opportunity to highlight this festive tissue paper pom bouquet!  Again, from Martha Stewart for Wal-Mart!

Head on over to Hip Hip Hooray to see more lovely details from this party!

Dessert Table for Anniversary Brunch

It's been a busy weekend...on Friday daughter #1 had six friends over to watch the premiere of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam.  They had a lavish spread of popcorn and pizza ;).  Saturday was spent putting the finishing touches on the dessert table and Sunday we were on.  We had a fabulous Labor Day; apple picking, picnic, last swim at the pool and just enjoying the outdoors.  Monday night my husband and I had a small dinner party to attend, so I was on for some Red Velvet cupcakes.  Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! Now back to the regular schedule....

Here are some pictures from the anniversary brunch where I did a milk and donut bar and a simple, but quite lovely, dessert table!

Happy 10th Anniversary Nadine and Andre and thanks for including me in your celebration!