Dessert Table: Literary Love

A little while back, I discussed the dressers/bureau/hutch dessert table trend that I noticed emerging at several events. I've also shared this, this, and this booky/nerdy/geeky desserts with you. Today's post combines both trends. Green Wedding Shoes featured this sweetly geeky shelved dessert table.

When these two college sweethearts selected a library for their wedding reception, their planner Esther Kim of My Bride Story helped them incorporate a library card catalog and Scrabble tiles into their dessert display.

By staying true to their venue and their relationship background, this couple created a truly personalized dessert table that incorporated two emerging trends and had special meaning for them. It doesn't get any better.

Have a great weekend. See you back here Monday!

Plush Parties

Jina of Ultimately Plush recently contacted me after seeing the Totally Target Halloween dessert table I designed on Twig & Thistle. She loved the design so much that she shared lots of bonus images with the style savvy mommies who follow her blog.

Whether you're a parent, an aunt, or an uncle, you can find all kinds of party inspiration, decor ideas, and product reviews on Ultimately Plush to keep you in the loop about kids' trends. There are even special sections for 1st birthdays, boy birthdays, and DIY projects.

This Curious George dessert table for a little boy's 1st birthday is fun without being cutesy.

Check out this undersea-inspired table for two little girls' birthday party. Aren't the octopus cupcakes adorable?

On dessert overload? Jina's luxury section lets us "window shop" for all of the insanely expensive, covet-worthy kid products on the market. Can you imagine the look on the girl's face who got this over-the-top stagecoach bed?

Be sure to swing by Ultimately Plush to check out the bonus Halloween images and to see all of the other great kid-centric ideas Jina features.

Dessert Table: Out of This World!

The Sweetest Occasion featured this baby shower's outer space dessert table yesterday. Emily of Paper Tiger Press designed this table to celebrate a friend's soon-to-arrive new baby. The father-to-be daydreamed about being an astronaut when he was a kid, and loved the idea for his son.

A gold star bedazzled a light teal backdrop set the stage for lots of glittery treats. I like that Emily opted for this more sophisticated shade of teal than traditional powdery, baby blue.

Clear risers virtually disappear on the display. From afar, it almost looks like the desserts flanking the diaper cake are floating in, well, space.

The red and white spaceship on the backdrop is a cute touch, and it lends an unexpected pop of complimentary color.

Be sure to check out The Sweetest Occasion for more yummy pics, and come back later today for a second post with other kid-centric dessert tables.

Reader Design: Woodsy Wedding Dessert Table

Amanda of Buttercup Cake Design contacted me a few weeks ago with a really nice email. Amanda is a Canadian baker who designs dessert tables to showcase at farmer's markets. Yesterday, she contacted me again to share images of one of her recent works and to let me know that she plains to incorporate my Halloween printables into her display this week!

Amanda designed this woodsy Autumnal dessert table for her sister's wedding.

I especially love the wild, but refined look of this cake. Since Amanda knew it would be blazing hot during the August nuptials, she created this styrofoam cake and added a real top tier for the couple to cut.  Amanda cleverly incorporated authentic natural elements into the design to add a rustic feel. Her wood stumps serve as risers and platters. You can also use real bark like I did here and here.

Amanda chronicles her journey in the dessert table design world on her blog Sweet Pursuits. She has a fabulous outlook on celebrating the ups of the business so that the downs are a little less upsetting. One of her most recent celebrations? This dessert table was published by Vancouver's Real Wedding Magazine.

Congrats Amanda, and thanks for submitting your dessert table!

So tell me, what's your favorite element of Amanda's design?

Dessert Table: Girls and Games Shower

Kathleen of Twig & Thistle designed this dessert table and the gorgeous paper goods for her little sister's bridal shower. To bring a sophisticated touch to the girly palette, Kathleen served a pink lemonade cake and topped it with sugar poppies. She also served Sofia champagne, gin and tonics with grenadine, and blackberry IZZEs.

Kathleen really thought of everything. She designed the invites, bingo cards, game scratch-off cards, and pop quiz cards. She elevated simple powdered donuts by placing a short stack in fluted cupcake liners.

Be sure to swing by Twig & Thistle to see more desserts and paper goods from the shower. The bingo cards are a great custom touch.

Last Minute Halloween Treats

I recently shared these printable chocolate bar wrappers and brownie pop flags I designed for the Totally Target Halloween dessert table with you. Well, if you're looking for even more finishing touches to your last-minute made (or bought) sweets, you're in luck. Lots of bloggers and crafters are featuring fabulous printables that you can use for your company Halloween bash, kids' class party, or at-home soiree.

Kristen of Paper Crave featured Martha Stewart's creepy crawly downloads. Use jars and canisters you already have onhand, add Martha's specimen jar labels, and create a simple candy display. Don't have any jars? Martha used IKEA's inexpensive Burken jars.

The Sweetest Occasion featured these favor bag printables by Lindi Haws of Love the Day.

Aren't these little cupcake toppers from Frog Prince Paperie are an adorable touch for a kids' party.

Bird Craft Shop offers cute jack-o-lantern, black cat, and bat printables at the Etsy shop.

With all of these great printables just a click away, there's no need to panic if you are late in catching Halloween fever. I've been doing a little procrastinating of my own.  Even though I bought all of the fabric and supplies two weeks ago, I haven't even started making my daughter's donut costume yet. Wish me luck!

Dessert Table: Vintage Circus

You might remember this baby shower's Parisian circus dessert table that I shared with you last month. Today's circus-themed table, which was featured on Style Me Pretty, has a totally different, vintage vibe.  Tangerine Tree Photography captured all of the crafty details perfectly for this inspirational photo shoot by Moira Events.

The invitations set the stage for the theme, and let guests know to expect a much less stuffy, formal affair than your typical wedding.

Paper flowers were used to decorate the table and to create a crafty cake topper! A wire basket becomes an unexpected riser to elevate the cake.

Fun paper goods were used throughout the event to create a whimsical, care-free vibe. The bride's paper bouquet reminds me of the fabric bouquet I designed for Nonpareil Magazine. Be sure to check out the tutorial in the current issue if you haven't already.

So tell me, which one is more your style? The Parisian circus or the vintage one? 

Have a great weekend! I'll be back Monday with some great last-minute Halloween ideas.

I Heart Cookieboy!

Brooklyn Bride recently introduced her readers, myself included, to Cookieboy. The name intrigued me, because in my experience, most bakers who specialize in cookies are typically women. I was curious to see how a man's perspective would effect the style and themes he chose for his cookie creations, so I delved further into Cookieboy's portfolio.

Let's start with Cookieboy's website intro page. I love that the cookies resemble the huge, bling-y necklaces 80s wrappers used to wear.

When's the last time you saw a fighting goat and wolf cookie or a sheep wearing Christmas lights?

And no party is complete without an Adam and Eve cookie. Notice the lipstick print on Adam's stomach?

Sleeping Beauty cookies are usually all about flowers and cute woodland animals. But, I think this mirror with the rotten apple is a creepy, sinister Sleeping Beauty reference.

Cookieboy's creations definitely have a different slant than the cookies I'm used to seeing. I found myself really studying some of his cookies looking for small details, like the lipstick print. I'll probably never figure out that wolf and goat thing. Maybe the Cookieboy blog will give some insight.

Mummified Munchies

Mummies are synonymous with Halloween, and as the holiday gets closer I thought it was a perfect time to find some cloth-wrapped treats.

One Charming Party shows us how to turn drink bottles into mummies with this easy tutorial.

These mummy cupcakes on Samantha's Sweet Treats can be made with strips of fondant covering your favorite frosting.

These mummy favor containers from Sisters' Stuff would be an easy last-minute task. Simply wrap low-ball style cups in gauze, add candy and eyes, and display.

You always see ghost treats and favors, but these mummies are a fun change of pace.

Cake Imitates Art

The Fall issue of Martha Stewart Weddings features cakes inspired by famous paintings. Here are a few of my favorite interpretations.

A variety of colored fondant dots decorate this cake to resemble Damien Hirst's dot paintings. Eliminating the letters keeps the cake from looking too cluttered.

This sculpted cake has a painted quality. It looks like the canvas brought to life. Just look at the golden tips on those orange-red flowers and the metallic shimmer on the flower urn. Stunning.

It would have been so easy to make little yellow and light blue fondant squares to cover this cake, but re-creating the artwork from an aerial view on mini cakes is a great mod idea.

Be sure to check out all of the art becomes cake features here and tell me, Which of these three is your favorite?