Holiday Cookies~

I've recently started working with a local cookie cutter company, R & M International Corp.

They supply me with the cutters, and I get down to business. In this case it's prepping for Christmas and the fun holiday season...

{Okay, these are from my own cookie cutter collection, but I thought they turned out so cute, I had to add them.}

My cookies even appear on the box of their new cookie press! If you've never used a cookie press before, I'd highly recommend it. This one was so simple, no rolling or cutters involved. When you're baking for large crowds, and don't have a lot of time, this thing will be your best friend. 

Fall Ball- 12th Birthday Party

My daughter, Kati was born on October 31st, and loves a good Halloween themed party. This year she turned twelve, and wanted to do something somewhat different with the theme; glam it up a little.  We decided on having a Birthday Ball with rustic Fall elements, while keeping in mind the classic elegance of a royal ball. We decided on a neutral palette: peach, white, light cranberry, with some silver and gold accents thrown in.

Knowing how important the invitations are for giving guests the first glimpse of the party theme, I went right to Love Greyson Events. https://m.facebook.com/pages/Love-Greyson-Events/159595124051005

Valerie brought my vision to life with beautiful water colored, floral invitations. 

I carried the water color element into the sweet table backdrop, which was a light washed floral painting with the words, “This Ball Doesn’t End at 12”. The beautiful script letters were made by Sweetly Chic Events. http://sweetlychicevents.com/

Everyone’s favorite element of the party was the sweet table. My husband, Matt made caramel apples which were a huge hit! I added beautiful, edible leaves by Sugar Robot 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SugarRobot

which made them even more irresistible. Our talented friend, Trudy made flawless meringue mushrooms that tasted as good as they looked. I made chocolate cake balls shaped like little, white ,Cinderella pumpkins, and sat them in a bed of ground graham crackers. These were so easy to make, and were served in tiny, plastic martini glasses which was so fun for the girls.

The birthday girl invited everyone to dress up for this party. She greeted her guests wearing a beautiful silver tutu adorned with rhinestones, hand made by my favorite tutu designers at Atutudes.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/atutudes

The tablescape was set with fine china, ornate silver candleabras, holding glass pumpkins, and an autumn table runner comprised of Styrofoam leaves, pumpkins, and gourds. I sprayed this with a gold glitter spray paint. it didn’t change the colors, but added a hint of shine which I loved! I placed a cute, collapsible paper pumpkin place card on each place setting, It looked adorable, but they did need to be taped down because of the wind gusts we were experiencing during set up. Except for the wind, we had a beautiful day; the sun was glistening through the pine trees, and made for some beautiful photos.

The party was set up at a quaint, local farm. The rustic, stone farmhouse, and surrounding acres of woods lent itself perfectly as the backdrop. I thought it would be fun to add some natural elements to the décor, so I used gold spray paint to give pinecones a more glam look, bought some moss covered mushrooms from the craft store, and used pretty, fabric fall leaves ordered from Oriental Trading. http://m.orientaltrading.com/

I scattered them around the grounds, and display tables; it added a nice contrast from the fine china and elegant, peach sequined table linens by Candy Crush Shop. 

http://www.candycrushshop.com/

This tablecloth was so ridiculously beautiful in person...

As the guests arrived they made floral crowns with supplies I bought at the craft store, and the dollar store. I’m all about saving money, but the crowns turned out so nice that they didn't show it at all. The girls wore them throughout the party, so I knew that was a craft win! 

   (I had to snap a photo of this cutie with my iPhone).

 I also set up a table of edible jewels: gumball necklaces, candy bracelets and ring pops which the girls took home as favors. Thanks for stopping by! xo

All photos by Expressions by Nicole Marie

http://expressionsbynicolemarie.com/

I received items from Oriental Trading.

 This review is based strictly on my opinion. Others may have a different opinion or experience with the products listed above. I was provided the samples free of charge by the company or PR agency and I provided my honest opinion. No other type of compensation was received for this review.

✨Kati's Fall Birthday Ball was featured in one of my favorite magazines, Bird's Party!!! You can view the ezine by following this link:

http://www.birdspartymagazine.com/m.index0.html

While you're there, keep an eye out for my Monster High Cupcake toppers...

Photo credit: Sara G. Photography 

https://instagram.com/saragphotobucks/

My First Cookie Decorating Workshop!

 I recently taught my very first cookie decorating workshop, and lOvEd it!!!
Maybe it was the adorable group of ladies, or my awesome hostess, Jess, but we all had a blast!!

The class was held at The Craftery; local friends- crafty or not, if you like fun times...or even if you're super boring and need something to get you off the sofa at night, The Craftery is it!!!

 

My cookie-loving students learned 3 different techniques to decorate their one dozen heart-shaped cookies...

 

We used royal icing with sanding sugars (quick and easy peasy).

Some were made to look like chalkboards:

 

Others were stamped with sweet sentiments, then filled in with food coloring... this is by far my favorite look for customizing cookies!

 

               ...and just like that, a plain 'ol cookie is turned into a gift:

Keep your eyes peeled for more Frog prince cake &; cookie design workshops coming up this summer...follow me on Instagram at frprince for updates and my latest creations. xo

                (that's Jess's adorable daughter).

Jess is the owner of The Craftery...

Established in Fall of 2014, The Craftery is the first of it's kind in Bucks County, blending the party-like atmosphere of a Girl's Night with creative crafts and DIY projects that will impress even the toughest critics! The Craftery also offers workshops for creatives that will take basic crafting skills to the next level.  So whether you're looking to perfect your craft or rock a night out with your gal pals, The Craftery is the place to be!  

Jessica Jackson started her love affair of design and crafting when she bought her first house. Luckily, she had a best friend, Monica, who was just as into home decor as she was. On a whim, they started the blog, East Coast Creative which rapidly grew into a successful site with thousands of readers. That blog is still going strong under the direction of Monica- you should totally check it out! It has tons of amazing, attainable DIY ideas for your home.

Amanda's Sweet Sixteen~

calligraphy*Photography by: Expressions by Nicole Marie


Last month I shared a snippet of my daughter, Amanda's Sweet 16 party.  It was featured in the Spring/Summer issue of Bird's Party Magazine. I'm excited to share every little detail with you today!

 

 

 

What fun is a party without confetti?
We figured a party as special as a Sweet Sixteen needed it's own Confetti Bar!!

The idea was for Amanda's friends to neatly fill their adorable, gold polka-dotted bags with confetti and playfully toss a few pinches into the air, taking the rest home...what actually happened was more like a confetti war!! It was flying EVERYWHERE, nobody was spared...even the grandparents went home that night picking confetti from their hair, but it was certainly the most beautiful mess I've ever seen!!!

These trendy, glittered ponytail holders were one of the parting gifts for the girls, these actually made it into their bags...

By far, Amanda's little cousins' favorite part of the party, the candy/kettle corn station...

After dinner everyone helped themselves to some snacks, then headed out to the main room to watch Frozen {it had just come out on dvd, so not everybody had seen it yet... and nobody was tired of hearing the songs yet either!!}

There were so many sweets to choose from: vanilla cupcakes with Swiss meringue butter cream, decorated sugar cookies, French macaroons, pretty chocolate covered Oreos, custom lollipops, white chocolate-dipped marshmallows, and chocolate cake pops... and of course, cake!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The guests had fun signing and decorating these adorable pillows with Sharpies...

 

Thanks for stopping by, and for always being so SWEET!! xo

 

 

 Vendor Credits:

 

* Styling, Cakes and Cookies: Frog Prince Cake and Cookie Design

* Sweet 16 Chalkboard Party Printables: Bird's Party

* Custom and Personalized Lollipops: Vintage Confections

* Sequin tablecloths: Candy Crush Event/Shop 

* Confetti wands: Oh Goodie Designs

* Marshmallow Candy: Sweet Servings 

* Candy, gumball machine, vinyl tablecloths, decorations: Oriental Trading 

* Glitter hair ties: Turnip Creations

* Gold polka dot favor bags: Pretty My Party 

* Floral crowns, confetti bar sign: Peckled

* Hand lettered envelopes, chalkboard calligraphy signs: Deborah Nadel Design

* Pillows: Cupcake with Character

* Gold, vinyl hearts on pillows and wall fringe: Nikki in Stitches 

* Confetti/tassel balloons, sweet 16 banner: One Stylish Party

* Chalkboard decal on backdrop: Ten23 Designs

* Mini Oreos: Bella's Bakery and Bowtique

* Pink tulle poms: Fizzy Party

* Serving pieces: Sweetly Chic Events   * French Macaroons: Trudy Bandmann :)  

 

 

A few fun DIY's from this party:

• White, Brick Wall Backdrop- I bought a brick wall panel from Lowes (around $20), painted it white and propped it up against the pane of windows.  the guests thought it was a real wall.

• Chalkboard Backdrop- I used a picture frame, chalkboard paint, and custom vinyl decal. I mounted the picture frame to the wall using removable mounting tape.
• Fringe Wall Backdrop- I had a HUGE wall mural I needed to cover, so I called my crafty friend, Nikki, In Stitches and she went to work... she used tissue paper from the dollar store, and fringing scissors.  I hung the fringe in overlapping layers (with the help of my bff Linda Griffin xo) using painters tape. The tape came down easily at the end of the night, and the mural was perfectly fine.
• Creeping Vine (seen in a few of the photos above...look closely) I bought a potted plant from Ikea for around $2, cut the branches off and using my hot glue gun, stuck them together to form vines.
• Clear, Glitter-Filled Balloons- I bought clear balloons from Oriental Trading and filled them with confetti made from dollar store tissue paper.  Around $7 for 20 balloons.

 

• Pink Window Valance- I used pink, plastic tablecloths to cover a brightly colored window valance that did not match the party decor. I cut the tablecloth in half, lengthwise and used masking tape to secure it to the top of the existing valance.  I folded it as I went to give it a ruffled look.

• Pink Tulle Pom Centerpieces- I popped these cuties in white, milk glass vases and staggered them along the centers of the dining tables. I used pink, tulle poms, wooden dowels that I spray painted gold, and my hot glue gun to attach the pom to the dowel.

I hope you're inspired to try some of these at your next party!!

xo Linda

 

 

 

This review is based strictly on my opinion. Others may have a different opinion or experience with the products listed above. I was provided the samples free of charge by the company or PR agency and I provided my honest opinion. No other type of compensation was received for this review.