Anyway, lets recap the last several months....
January 2011: "Age of Aquarius, A Peacock Paradise" for my 30th birthday party. After so many parties I kept it simple, fondue and a few of my favorite desserts. It was still too much food, I haven't mastered that yet.
December 2010: Holiday Party. I used a PVC pipe frame to create a hanging buffet. It looked awesome, but most people didn't notice the cupcakes hanging there, so they were neglected.
November 2010: Parisian Inspired Wine Tasting. This may be my favorite party. The gingerbread eiffel tower was so fun to make. In fact, its February and its still in my living room!
October 2010: Sookie Turns 2! A birthday buffet for my little puppy. We had an assortment of people treats and pup treats!
September 2010: Autumn Harvest Celebration. I had a blast with this party. I adorable autumn, the flavors, smells, colors and the foods. We had a chili feed, mulled wine, and tons of autumn inspired desserts. When it got dark, we huddled around the fire, and made smores. It was a really great night!
August: 4th Anniversary Picinic. David and I celebrated 4 years together at this strawberry inspired backyard picnic. I love picnics, and obviously love strawberries. I might make this a new tradition for our anniversary! Perhaps find new locations every year to set up a little strawberry festival just for us.
July 2010: Baby Culver's Jungle Safari. My best friend Kelly was having her first baby, and I was lucky enough to do the dessert table for her shower. We went with a jungle theme. This was my most popular party, I still get emails on this one asking for details. I loved how it came together, and it was one of the "easier" tables I did.
July 2010: Birthday Brunch. I had my girlfriends over for brunch one morning to celebrate a friend's birthday. I wanted something non-traditional. No pastels or frills, something different and unique, like the birthday girl. So I took butcher block paper and made my own design for the table. I also tried Maple Bacon Cupcakes, which were deeeeelicious!!
June 2010: A Buffet Fit For An RN. Kelly graduated from college and was officially an RN! We had to celebrate! We chose a red and white theme, and used her nursing books as displays on the table. I think my favorite foods from this party were the cheesecake stuffed strawberries and the strawberry shortbread sandwich cookies.
June 2010: Enter Eden. My first party challenge party. I had just planted tons of plants around my garden and wanted to celebrate what would become my own private garden of eden. I tried macarons for the first time and was surprisingly successful at making them. We also had a fun bellini bar which I called "berries and bubbly".
I put together a simple buffet with a few of my personal favorite desserts and delicious foods for fondue dipping!
Of my favorite desserts I included grapefruit cake, red wine truffles, and chocolate cake with swiss meringue buttercream.
I made a few cupcakes to look like peacocks. The peacock feathers are actually edible! (Source)
Another "2011 cake I wanted to try" was this ruffle cake. I saw it here and fell in love. I absolutely love the fluffy ruffles!
I also incorporated my PVC pipe frame to suspend mason jars and other fun decor over our fondue table.
I used clear holiday ornaments filled with glitter as hanging vases. I used silk flowers and peacock feathers to fill them.
I recently learned how to fold origami lotuses so I created a unique one for each guest's place setting.
Another one of my favorite details is that I used the glitter filled ornament vases as table display. I set the ornaments on top of cordial glasses to create a unique floral display.
Source Here.
Now this is a dream balloon set up. I dont think I'll be this extreme, but its a step in the right direction.
My inspiration was sparked by the Mod Candy Cane Printables (which I used!) over at The Celebration Shoppe.
I made the wreath myself with yard, felt, ribbon and a glittery ornament.
Which then inspired these fun gingerbread/sugar cookie wreaths!
Some other goodies on the menu were gingerbread, sugar cookie minis, Eggnog Trifles, White Chocolate Candy Cane Martinis, various holiday candies, and my favorite, peppermint truffles.
Me and Heather
Fortunately, I already have a Paris theme in my living room. I strategically moved furniture around to have my buffet table set up just under my enormous Paris picture. Want to know a great secret? Almost everything on this table was under $1!! But before I get to that, lets marvel at the gingerbread Eiffel Tower!
This is my absolute favorite piece of this event. I spent days baking gingerbread, covering with fondant, and accenting with royal icing. I am quite proud of this baby!
I did two small cakes for this table. However, boring cake stands just did not seem the way to go. So I picked up goblets at the Dollar Store. Spray painted them black, along with a serving tray. Add some gorilla glue and now I have a cake stand ready for this table!
I made shortbread cookies decorated with the theme colors and a few French words (the ones I know of course!)
Brown Sugar and Spice Eiffel Tower cookies were also on the table. Not pictured is French chocolate macaroons, chocolate mousse cups and red wine truffles, all made by yours truly. I know, I'm a busy lady.
Here is the "tasting table" where we samples wines, cheeses, and of course took tasting notes on our favorite pairings.
I made the centerpiece from Dollar Store taper candles, and spray painting wine bottles and beer bottles.
Lets take another look at the table! You can see in this photo the glittery candelabras and in a previous photo, glittered chandeliers, all bought in the "Dollar Spot" at Target.
My two pups, Caesar and Sookie got dressed up for the occasion. We tried to get a good photo together, but they were more interested in giving me kisses.
