Sunday, March 31, 2019

{Sugar Bee} Chocolate Covered Oreos Casino Royale Style

After creating Casino Royale themed 30th birthday cupcakes, I had to follow suit and make chocolate covered Oreos to match! A perfect gift for a card shark!

{Sugar Bee} Casino Royale 30th Birthday Cupcakes

This weekend I had the pleasure of creating delicious vanilla cupcakes with vanilla and almond buttercream for a Casino Royale themed 30th birthday. When I first thought of a casino theme, I immediately imagined a deck of cards, so I decided to decorate my cupcakes with the four suits that are featured on playing cards; hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds. But of course, I wanted to incorporate the number 30 to highlight the milestone that the birthday girl and her guests were celebrating. I am gonna wager that the party was a full house and everyone was all hearts celebrating the birthday girl and enjoying these cupcakes! I hope the birthday girl was dealt the best 30th birthday!



Sunday, March 24, 2019

{Sugar Bee} Basketball Chocolate Covered Oreos

What would a LeBron James Baby Shower be without basketball chocolate covered Oreos?! Hope these sweet treats were a "SWISH" with all the guests and the mama-to-be!

Saturday, March 23, 2019

{Sugar Bee} LeBron James Basketball Baby Shower Sugar Cookies

When I was approached to do cookies for a LeBron James Baby Shower, I must admit, I didn't know where to start. To say I don't really know sports is an understatement. I had heard the name, but that was all I really knew. Thankfully, my customer knew what she wanted and was able to provide with the information and images I needed to do these cookies.
My customer came to me wanting to have sugar cookies of the jerseys that LeBron James wore when he played on the Miami Heat and Cleveland Caveliers (information I just found out thanks to my customer and the internet). She also asked for basketballs, but when I heard it was a baby shower, I wanted to include something that indicated that the shower was for a mama-to-be and her baby. So, I designed a baby rattle that featured a basketball. I thought it tied everything together so well!
 
 
I hope the baby shower was a slam dunk and the mama-to-be enjoyed her King James cookies! Congratulations on your little MVP!

Saturday, March 16, 2019

{Sugar Bee} Baby Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

This weekend I had the pleasure of creating the sweetest cookies for a baby sprinkle honoring a mom having her second baby. What a fun idea....a "sprinkle" themed party! I just love how this gathering still celebrates the mom-to-be, but just a "sprinkle", not a full "shower". Because isn't it great to show you care for every baby?!
Anyway, when I found out that mom-to-be is having a girl and the color palette for the party was pink, white, and gold, I knew I had to think out of the box. Because the first color that comes to mind when I think of a sprinkle is blue. So when I designed the set, a cloud was a must and having it "sprinkle" was the idea for the cookie. So instead of a blue sky, I created a pink one and then airbrushed pearlized white little clouds to add a little shimmer. The heart sprinkles are definitely my favorite and by hand painting them gold, it just made them pop! My second design was a personalized cookie that also included white airbrushed clouds, but also featured the baby's name. To frame the name, I added cute little rosettes that I dusted with a little gold luster. I really loved how the green leaf broke up with colors and made the baby's name stand out.
I really think this set turned out beautifully! I hope the mom-to-be enjoys her special day and is sprinkled with love!

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

{Sugar Bee} Succulent Baby Shower Cookies

This past weekend I had the pleasure of making sugar cookies for a friend who was planning a baby shower for her sister-in-law. My friend told me that the shower would be decorated with flowers and succulents and then let me run wild with my creativity and designs knowing that I understood the look and style of the shower. I just love it when my customers trust me and let me create! 
So after much brainstorming, I decided that the cookies would have a fairly minimal and modern look to them, keeping with the elegant and sophisticated look of the party. I kept to a pink, white, green, and gold color palette that I was told was being used for the shower decorations.

I always love doing cacti cookies, so I chose to do a cute little cactus that I splash painted with gold luster, and adorned it with a pink rosette. Then I decided to create a cookie that had a cluster of succulents, rosettes, and leaves. After looking at how cute the succulents looked in the cluster, I wanted to do a cookie that had a single succulent so that it could really be the highlight of the cookie design. So I used a hexagon cookie and airbrushed it with a modern chevron pearlized pattern and piped a cute succulent that I accented with a little gold luster dust. Finally, I wanted to include a cookie that focused on a baby, since it was a baby shower, so I created a cute onesie with ruffle sleeves that I patterned with a pearlized polka dot pattern and added a sweet little rosette.
I absolutely loved this sweet, modern, and elegant set and I hope that the mama-to-be enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed creating them!

Best wishes to the mom-to-be and the arrival of her baby girl!

Friday, March 8, 2019

{Party Bee} Ava's 7th Birthday Puppy Pawty

Ever since Ava was little, she has been completely in love with puppies. Even as an infant her first comfort objects were stuffed puppies; a Pluto and dalmatian from the Disney Store to be exact! So it was only a matter of time before my daughter picked a birthday party theme to match her love and enthusiasm for her favorite animal.

For Ava's 7th birthday, she wanted to have a "puppy pawty" and she really wanted her dad and I to buy her an actual puppy. Well, the puppy party was easy to agree to, but the actual puppy...that took a little more thought. Though after some deliberation, we decided that we would surprise her with a puppy for her 7th birthday and he would be the guest of honor at her party.

When deciding on the look of her party, I wanted it be cute and modern, but also work with many of the party items I already had in my supply closet. I mean, why buy more things when I already have so much to choose from? So really the color scheme came about when I decided to use the tablecloths from last year's Super Mario party. After I knew I wanted my palette to consist of red, black, brown/tan, white, with accents of blue....well all I had to do was start designing the printables and sketching the tablescape.
I love the look of kraft paper! For this party it was the perfect paper for my printable decorations since it could be seen carried throughout my party decor. I used it on my backdrop, for the dog houses (i.e. boxes), and with the doggie bags. Not only does it look great, but it is so accessible...you can find kraft paper items at all the stores!
It should be known that I don't make my kid's cakes....I actually don't make cakes at all! They just aren't my thing. Every year, a very talented baker, takes my vision and turns it into the most beautiful work of cake art. This year, since I planned on creating a dog house backdrop, I wanted the cake to look like a dog bowl. Once again, she outdid herself, and the cake was absolutely perfect!
What would a puppy pawty be without dog treats and puppy chow?! Therefore I filled jars with Scooby Graham Cracker Snacks to look like bone dog treats and my best friend made the most delicious puppy chow. 
Ava made a very specific flavor request when deciding on her birthday cupcakes. She said she wanted a vanilla cake with a cherry buttercream frosting. So of course, I had to make them just for her...but I had to puppify them a little, so I adorned them with a white chocolate bone. Very cute and super easy!

When I designed her decorated sugar cookies, I knew right away that I wanted to create a set that included puppy faces, bones, paw prints, and her age. So I did just that! Now, just don't ask me what breed of puppies I created, because I have no clue....but aren't they cute?!
My best friend also happens to be a very talented baker and so when I need intricate cake pops, I turn to her! This year she made the most adorable puppy face cake pops! But not only are they the cutest things you have ever seen, they are the most delectable dessert you will ever taste!

Chocolate covered Oreos are a must at all my parties and I was very excited to finally make paw prints!
When having a child's birthday party, it is important to have activities ready for them so they stay busy and engaged! I love for all my activities to revolve around the party theme, so this year I planned to have all the guest turn into puppies. So when each child arrived, they received a pair of puppy ears and was sent to the face painting table to get transformed into the puppy of their choice. After that, I had each guest "adopt a puppy" and decorate a dog house for their new stuffed animal.
I enjoy designing tablescapes! I usually get carried away....but how can I not when I have such a fun theme to work with?! I loved the dog house boxes so much, that I decided to use them as the centerpiece for the tables...not only do they look cute, but I didn't have to do any extra work! Each place setting contained a dog bowl with a waxed paper liner so that the kids could actually eat their lunch in their bowl, as well as a dog bone water bottle that they could fill and drink from at the party. These also worked as party of their party favors and they got to take them home. Inside each bowl I also placed a "doggie bag" so that when they broke open the piñata they had a place to put their candy, but they could also use the bag to take home treats from the dessert table!
Not only is it important to have activities for kids to do, but games are also essential! So every year I love to do a "pin the tail on the donkey" game, but I like to create something that goes with the party theme. This year they pinned the dog tag on the puppy.

I never have a birthday party without piñata! I found the cutest dog bone on Amazon...and let me tell you that it was one of the sturdiest piñatas we have ever had!

One of my good friends works at a pet rescue, so when she started working there I introduced Ava to the shelter. Ava immediately fell in love with the place and she told me she wanted to work there when she grew up. So part of her party included a donation table that guests could contribute to if they so wished to help her favorite charity. We were overwhelmed with the response we received from family, friends, and guests, and she was able to donate a substantial amount of items to assist the shelter.
I love to serve fresh lemonade at my parties....it is also very cost effective for me since I have a lemon tree in my backyard, but for this puppy party I wanted to spice it up a little, so I added some flavoring that could be added to the "toilet water".
Etsy is such a fabulous place to find party items. I came across paw print straws a while back and knew that I would use these for Ava's birthday party. They were the perfect addition to the lemonade bar!

For the adults, I included a little flavoring as well...but as you can see it was only for the grown pups.
 
When deciding on the menu for the party, it was obvious we had to have a hot dog bar! But wouldn't you know, it was the "pupcorn" that the kids loved the most!

Here we all are with the newest member of our family. His name is Rory and he is the perfect addition!

It is still hard to believe that my little girl turned 7. It is true what they say about time flying by quickly!
My friend and colleague is the most amazingly talented painter, and she did the most incredible job painting the kids faces to look like puppies!
I stationed the dog house decorating next to the face painting so that the kids could do an activity before or after they got their faces painted.
 Pin the dog tag on the puppy was fun....but I suspected that the birthday girl was peeking just a little!
I thought it would be fun to go a little old school and have the kids play musical chairs. Turns out that this game is timeless and the kids loved it!

When I was looking for a piñata, I knew I didn't want to choose a dog piñata because who wants to beat a dog with a stick, so it is important for me to always try and find a design that is of an inanimate object. So when I came across this bone piñata online, I knew it was the perfect for the party. And boy did they have fun hitting it!
Aren't these puppies the cutest?! Here are all the kids giving us their best puppy faces!
 
This was a "paw-sitively" fun day that Ava was able to spend with her friends. We had a doggone good time celebrating Ava as she turned 7.

Happy birthday beautiful girl, you are "paw-some" and we love you!


Cake by Natalie Laskarides
Cake Pops and Puppy Chow by Gabby Noriega
Face Painting by Ariana Enriquez

Friday, March 1, 2019

{Sugar Bee} Puppy Pawty Sugar Cookies

Here is another sneak peek of the sweet treats that will be featured at Ava's puppy pawty! These sugar cookies are looking pawsome and are all ready for some doggone fun! Tails will be waggin' over these puppies!
 
Stay tuned for photos of all the details and decorations from Ava's Puppy Pawty!