cupcake party

Sweet 'cupcake birthday' from the weekes family.

cupcake birthday

This 8th birthday party is adorable! The girls became 'cupcake chefs' for a couple of hours. First, they went nuts decorating their own apron with fabric markers. Once they were finished, they headed over to a cupcake decorating station. Each girl had their own gigantic cupcake to polish off however they wished. For the full rundown and sources, head over to Amanda's Violet Hours.

circus birthday party

Aly's threw her son a very cute circus-themed birthday. Check out the gumball-topped cupcakes, elephant-shaped sandwiches, and those paper straws I adore. More here.

pirate party

Very cute pirate-themed party from Tania right here.

sweet

Love these blue floral cupcake liners from CupcakeSocial.

sweet things

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

heart cupcakes

Very sweet heart cupcakes from Better Homes and Gardens (via save the date for cupcakes).

edible valentine

Love notes. Cupcakes. Two things you might never think to combine- but oh, what a treat, when they are put together! Clever Amber figured out a way to make an edible valentine. For the full rundown, check out her blog right here.

j'adore...

...these cupcake holders from Australia's details, details. If only I could find these in the States! Anyone know of a source?

update: readers saved the day (as usual!) and located these exact cups at Bake it Pretty (see comments section) here in the US. Thanks, everyone!

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!

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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.

gram's party: the wrap-up

Oftentimes while planning a party, I will ask myself...why am I doing this?...putting the time, effort and expense into a party sometimes doesn't seem like the best use of resources. But just about every time I am so happy with the end result, that I forget about the hassles of party planning.

Gram's birthday was no exception. We were so thrilled with how the party went. Gram and his friends had a wonderful time ...we figured out he is one of those children that enjoys being the center of attention! I am slowly being won over to the 'rented-out' parties...we loved walking away from the messy clean-up after all was said and done. But I loved that I was still able to inject some personalized touches to the party to make it feel special. It was a perfect day and we made some fabulous memories that we will always look back at fondly!

for sources, look at the bottom of this post

gram's party: food

Since the party only lasted an hour and a half, and was loaded with activity, it seemed silly to spend much time contemplating food choices beyond the cupcakes. We just made sure to have several drink choices- which of course included water with customized water labels- as well as juice and soft drinks. We also bought some snacks (ginger snaps, pretzels, etcetera) and made some pimento cheese sandwiches, putting them in pretty vintage bowls and white servingware.

I included a tutorial photo for the cupcake flags (second photo, above). Four different versions of flags were created in two colors. I wrapped the flat 'flag' around a toothpick with a paper top (this helped the rubber cement adhere to the toothpick), using a bone folder for a crisp edge, and voila!, flags were done. For those who aren't computer savvy, this could easily be done with pretty patterned scrapbook paper for the same effect.

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

neviepiecakes

I am definitely smitten with the latest creations from neviepiecakes. Sadly for me, the uber-talented mum, Natasha, is from Britain - but I am definitely admiring (and being inspired) from afar.

a favorite flickr baker

I've located yet another flickr baker who creates divine cookies and cupcakes. Officially obsessed with: Oh, Sugar!