The Fickle Hobbyist

Posts Tagged ‘dessert table’

**Don’t forget my Giveaway! There are only a handful of days left to get in on it.**

The hubbub is over, the parties have all wrapped, and we can finally breathe a sigh of relief.  I have a love/hate relationship with parties.  I LOVE putting my all into them; the details, the finishing touches, the personalization.  It’s all fun for me.  Even more so, I love to see the smiles on the faces of the children when they walk in and they see everything.  Then, there’s the hate part.  I don’t know why I take on so much.  I guess I’m one of those “go big or go home” type of people.  If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it well.  It’s hard for me to just throw something together when I know I could have put more energy into it.  It’s weird.  My friends have said my party planning is a sickness.  It consumes me.  I can’t deny it.

Jocelyn’s party was today.  Contrary to Abigail’s party, this one came together pretty easily.  Sure, I made a ton of bath and body products by hand, but it still didn’t seem like as much work as the French Lavender Party.  This was pretty nice.  No staying up till 3am the morning before the party.  I managed to get to bed at 1, instead.  haha

The feel of this party was much cleaner, and less indulgent than the previous party.  The layout was much simpler.

On the left you’ll see the epsom salts we dyed and scented with some essential oils.  I found these heart containers in the wedding section of Dollar Tree.  I believe they were 4/$1.  They worked great!  The teal buckets were from the dollar section of Target.  I filled this one with the excess salt and stuck the signs into it.

Next to that, you will see the custom lotion I made for the party.  Well, let me clarify.  I didn’t make, as in compound, the lotion.  What I did was take some plain, unscented lotion, warm it in the microwave, add some essential oil, a drop of food coloring, and glitter.  Then I used a funnel to put it into these cute bottles and labeled them with these custom made labels.  See my Party Prep post to find out where to get your own party printables for FREE. (they definitely made this party so much easier!)

Then you’ll remember my Cupcake Bath Bombs.  They certainly added a whimsical touch to the table.  The pink squares on top were strawberry scented soap that I made using a melt and pour soap.  It was VERY easy to do.  You simply melt it either on a double boiler or in the microwave and add your essential oil and color and pour it into a mold.  I poured in into a 9×9 casserole dish and cut it with a knife once it was set.  It was a great, quick project.

Behind that you’ll see those amazing teal jars.  I found those at GW for around $1 a piece.  I love them!  The little pink boxes around the base of the cupcake stand were found at the Dollar Tree, again, in the wedding section.  I placed a little flower, butterfly, or other mold shaped soap into each one.

To the right of that were some pumps of hand soap.  I threw in some pretty little beads just to make it fun and added some more custom labels.

I also made some blue soap with an Ocean Rain scent that I displayed in some more of the teal buckets from Target.

I have to admit, my favorite custom bath and beauty product I made was the lip gloss.  There’s something so nostalgic about the slidey lip tins that brought me back to my own childhood.  I especially loved the labels on these.  They read “Joss Gloss” which made Jocelyn smile.  To make these, I bought some easy melt and pour lip gloss to which I added some sweetened bubblegum oil.

Lastly, I had some white bags to use for all the goodies.

I have to say, I believe the “dessert table” was a big hit!  One guest said “Joci, this is the best party in the world!”

I made cupcakes and an individual cake like I did for Abby’s party.  This time, Joss chose funfetti for her personal cake.  I covered it with fondant and made some fondant salon essentials.  (someone couldn’t wait to take a bite out of that comb!)

The cupcakes were either chocolate or funfetti.

Of course, there were the custom cupcake toppers to fancy them up.

It’s still hard for me to believe that my first born is 7!

It isn’t even hard for me to remember what it was like being pregnant with her; going two weeks past my due date because she was too stubborn to go when she was “supposed” to.

27 hours of labor…

Only to have an emergency c-section.

I should have known right then she’d be a girl with a mind of her own.

And while her stubborn nature makes for some head-butting between the two of us, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happy Birthday, Joss!  I’m so proud of you and the little person you’ve become.  I can’t wait to see what you’ll be like as you grow older or what you’ll accomplish.  The world is your oyster.

-Autumn

After weeks of designing and planning, Abby’s French Lavender party came and went.  I have to say, things went pretty smoothly.  I was very happy with the end result.

If you remember this was the inspiration for the party.

I have to say, it turned out just how I was planning.  I DID abandon the actual lavender after much internal debate.  I figured kids wouldn’t be too keen on the lavender flavored lemonade, and really I wanted to make them happy with the food and drink, so plain lemonade and vanilla and chocolate cupcakes it was.

Here are some pictures of the party.

First was my Amy Atlas inspired dessert table.  I am constantly amazed by Amy’s gorgeous tables and really looked to her for inspiration.  I hope I did her proud.  (who am I kidding?  she’ll never see this.  haha)

(you can click on the image to view it larger)

Here are a few close ups of the details.  This is Abby’s actual silhouette.  I used the same technique I did HERE way back in February.

Of course you’ll remember the Eiffel Tower that I made. Also notice the Old Fashioned Lollipops. (those were a big hit) I used the same mold to make the candy coating white ones.

Here you’ll see the cupcake toppers that I featured in the post HERE.

The cupcakes were for the guests, but Abby got the top cake all to herself.  She was nice enough to share with her sister, though.  (Who ate only the marshmallow fondant and left the chocolate because she “doesn’t like chocolate” this week.)

This was only my second time working with marshmallow fondant, but this time was significantly more simple.  I found a great tutorial video on youtube that had a way easier method than the one I used before.  Perhaps you’ve made it before and you’ve had to knead in the melted marshmallows by hand?  I would highly recommend using the mixer with the dough hook!  I don’t even have a Kitchenaid.  I just used a hand mixer and it worked amazingly well.  My fondant took probably 10-15 minutes to make which is FAR less time spent than doing it by hand.

The “A” on top is just some melted candy coating stuck to two lollipop sticks.  I used a purple pearl dust on the purple fondant and it was SO pretty!

I found some purple cotton candy at Kroger last week and promptly picked it up.  HOWEVER, while it looks ok for about 10 minutes, I would recommend against using cotton candy on the dessert table.  (I think I remember reading on the Amy Atlas blog that she had the same problem)  The cotton candy MELTED into a big sugar blog.  haha  You can see that it’s starting to wilt even in these pictures.  It doesn’t fare well in Houston humidity, even with the AC on full blast.

Right next to the dessert table, we had the drink table set up.  It was arranged on the coffee table which worked out perfectly for the little kids to be able to get their own lemonade.

I have to say, though small, I think the water bottles were my favorite detail.

Although, the straws were pretty cute too.  (they say “quench” in French)

I didn’t take a close up of these cookies on the table, but I had to share.  Did you know you can buy the frosting paper at your local bakery for around $5 a sheet?  I arranged 12 monograms on one sheet and bought the sugar cookies and frosting at the bakery.  Shhh, don’t tell all my secrets!  The baker actually gave me a “messed up” sheet free because the side monograms were cut off, so I got 4 extras.

Abby was SO delighted with her party!  It warmed my heart to know that she really enjoyed herself.

She got to spend the day coloring, making crafts, having a tea party, eating cake, opening presents, and most of all; enjoying the company of some of her best friends.

It was a great day, and SO worth all the planning and preparation!

I recall reading on Amy’s blog in the comments, one lady said something along the lines of “The only reason these tables look so amazing is because of the display materials.  No one can do this on a budget.”  (she means like the vases, etc.)  I am here to say It’s not so!!!

ALL the vases and things you see on the dessert table are from the Goodwill.  The ONLY thing I bought at a non second hand store was the frame holding Abby’s silhouette, and even then it was 50% off at Hob Lob.  I even got the lemonade dispenser at GW for $6!!  So if you think you can’t create a cost efficient dessert table, I just want to say that it just takes some time scouring the shelves (I’ve been collecting these for a couple months) and a little imagination.  I designed and printed all of the decorations too, so it can be done.  Yeah, it’s definitely a lot of work, but if you’re like me (and if you’re reading a blog like mine, chances are you are) you enjoy this type of thing anyway.  Dive in and make it the best party ever!

-Autumn

We’ve been (and by we, I mean me) really busy this week getting all the finishing touches done for Abby’s party. I have just started to assemble the dessert table and thought I’d share it with you. It is nowhere near being finished, but even in the beginning stage I think it’s cute. I just need to add some dimension now.

I’m getting REALLY really excited for the ‘big day’.  I think even if Abby hated the party idea I’d still be looking forward to it (I know, I’m a great mom), but what makes me really happy is that she keeps telling me “You’re the best mommy, you’re making me the prettiest party EVER!  And I LOVE it”.  (Yes, that was me bragging.  I’m allowed.  It’s my blog, remember?)

**Totally unrelated, but equally as exciting**

Thrifty Decor Chick is having a giveaway!! Get your booty over there and enter to win one of these fabulous Silhouette machines. (btw, Silhouette people, if you are reading, yeah, I’d SO love to host a giveaway for you. Yes, I realize I’m a small blog, but no one would be more grateful than I! Man, I’m knocking them out of the park tonight! Bragging AND begging? It must be a full moon.)

Now go, go!  And if you win it, you owe me a vinyl cut-out.

-Autumn