letter cake

I love how perfect this imperfect cake is. The oversized letters are splendid!

...via life from the hilltop

livin' la vida brooke

If I were a celebrity, I, too, would hire Amy Atlas to design a desert table for my little ones. I don't see that happening anytime soon, so alas, I'll live vicariously through Brooke Shields (table above for her daughter, Grier). Cute. Photo by Allan Zepeda.

duh duh duh - duh

That's how I spell out that sound when something ominous is approaching. In this case, my 34th birthday- tomorrow. It is now official. I feel old. It might have something to do with the sleep-deprived, body altering year I've had- I'm hoping by this time next year I'll be facing 35 in better shape. But for now I'm looking forward to a day of relaxing and a small night time celebration with some friends.

p.s. I got a preview of Gen's sale- lots of things to drain my pocketbook and cheer me up for the 34th year!

photo via martha stewart

fabric-inspired cake

Still oohing and ahhing over this Martha Stewart Weddings cake.

(via frolic)

flag cake

Totally smitten with this flag-adorned cake from Nikole at Forty-Sixth at Grace, via poppytalk.

cakes for the older set

I'm in love with these cakes from Melissa! Check out the Wii remote, iphone, and man cake (made to resemble his Mii character). Wouldn't some of these make great groom cakes at a wedding? So much more at Cake Hero.

book cake

I love this book cake sent to me by a Party reader. She's throwing a book-themed party and is looking for additional decor inspiration for her fete. Any ideas, resourceful readers?

sweet things

Some sweet things to kick off the week from Scissors Paper Cake.

simply beautiful.

I love this simple, homemade cake from Kath Eats Real Food for her 26th birthday.

pretty

Birthday cake in red and pink.

yum

My son has only one thing on the brain these days...what he refers to as 'cookies' ...in my world they are called m&m's. When I saw this cake I couldn't resist sharing!

via katia&martina on flickr

fairy garden party (!)

Oh my. I am so into girly parties these days with the recent arrival of my little one, and I am beyond smitten with this one! (Yet another brilliant party set-up from scissors paper cake). I think the piece de resistence is the graphic mushroom cake, surrounded by the cutest toffee apples I've ever seen. I'm dreaming of sugar plums (and fairy garden parties) in my head!

.................

That super cute flower garland (above) reminds me about our pretty swell giveaway! You have until Sunday at midnight to enter...you won't want to miss the opportunity to win.

little red car party

Another brilliant, beautiful party from the dynamic duo at scissors paper cake. Perfect for that little speedster in your life! (I'm already inspired for Gram's birthday next year, if his current obsession with vehicles continues). I love how they took the checkered race car flag pattern and used it throughout the party. It feels so cohesive without being too 'theme-y.' And of course I think the red and blue color combo is great- a chic take on 'boy' colors without being too primary. Love, love, love!

scissors paper cake (+ safari party)

Two favorite people I've discovered since entering the blog world is Nathalie of Imprintables and Naomi of Hello Naomi cupcake fame. Their creativity always blows me away!

Nathalie recently shared that she discovered Naomi via this blog, so now I am even more partial to them. Of course I have to share their most recent venture with you... a new business they created called 'scissors paper cake' in which they handcraft everything for your party. Amazing stuff, as shown above for a 2 year old's safari-themed party. You lucky Aussies can enjoy their creations, but the rest of us will just have to admire from afar!

makeup + cake

A little girl's dream cake, I would imagine. From Neviepiecakes via flickr.

mini french bakery first birthday

So much thought and detail went into this 'mini french bakery' first birthday party. Jess includes tons of tutorials, photos and details on her blog right here. C'est magnifique!

gram's party: the 'cake'

Another element of the party that I could control (since it was not at my house) was the cake. Instead of attempting to bake a cake (as I did last year), I pressed the easy button and ordered up some wonderful cupcakes from my favorite local bakery, in a variety of chocolate, red velvet and 'blackout' flavors. I gave them red cupcake liners and sprinkles to work with, since they are a pretty bare-bones operation and don't do much embellishment.

I decided to work with a stand I had long ago purchased from Martha by Mail (R.I.P.). I wanted to figure out a way to put a 'topper' on it, since the decorative white wood piece that came with the stand wasn't going to work with the look I was going for. I found a circular chipboard box in the 'wood crafts' section of Michaels, that I used to modify the top (see detailed photos above). I then covered the box with wrapping paper and grosgrain ribbon, and adhered a '2' that I glittered in silver. I was quite happy with the results!

I finished off the stand by using grosgrain ribbon along the edges, adding flags to the cupcakes (tutorial will be included in tomorrow's post) and a wooden monkey was thrown in to tie back to the invitation.

sources:

cupcake liners and red sprinkles...layer cake shop

chipboard box, '2', glitter and ribbon...michaels

cupcakes...the cupcake collection