Twin Cities Live Craft Star Challenge Pt I

Imagine a Project Runway-esque craft competition created to find the Twin Cities' most awesome crafter. I was chosen, along with three other talented women, to compete for the coveted title on Twin Cities Live, and it's getting intense.

We started with a mad dash through Jo-Ann Fabrics and a shopping budget of $150. Let's just say, I was in the zone! Check out the video to see how our hunt for craft supplies went down, and how I put those items together to create my tablescape.

Hanging out with BFFF

I don't really remember how I crossed cyber paths with Melissa of Best Friends for Frosting. Did I email her? Did she email me? Who knows? Either way, I'm glad we did, because we clicked right away. M even interviewed me to share a look at my office with her readers. You can check out the full Q&A on BFFF, but I thought I'd share a few pics here, too.

You know I hooked up with Melissa Oholendt for these delish pics, which we managed to capture in a whirlwind one hour shoot. This space multi-tasks as a meeting space for consultations and tastings with my clients and as a crafting spot for Confetti Pop. You know I'm waaaay into sweets, so there's a little candy corner in the office. The selection is always changing, and it's impossible not to pop in for a nibble or two.

It is a miracle that Melissa was able to get so many great shots in our mini-session. Here's another of my favorites.  

Swing by BFFF for more pics, and to find out about my favorite client, my dream client, and more about all that goes on around here.

images: Melissa Oholendt

Hanging Out with BFFF

Ever meet someone and instantly know you're meant to be cyber BFFs? Well, Melissa of Best Friends for Frosting just became one of those people. She interviewed lil ole me, and we hit it off. We chatted about desserts, design, and decor. Basically, we covered all the things that matter in life.

Swing by BFFF to check out the interview and some fab pics (courtesy of another fab Melissa) of the office. I'll share some of the not-so-fab, bloopers pics next week.

Dessert Meets Design: Beautiful Bounty Dessert Table

Hello, caramel frosting! I'm knee-deep in Thanksgiving prep, and Confetti Pop is no different. Our Beautiful Bounty shoot is a foxy feast for the eyes. Check out the amber and olive hues of the dessert table, which the fab Melissa Oholendt (who looks exactly like Emma Stone) photographed. Danielle Erickson of Studio Fleurette worked her usual floral magic. Pumpkin scones, chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons, and gingerbread cookies all create a home-y, comforting flavor profile.

My girl Cyd of The Sweetest Occasion also featured more great shots of the dining tablescape, and Confetti Pop has two tutorials of the fab DIYs.

And yes, this popcorn and several mini salted caramel cupcakes made it into my mouth during the shoot. Don't judge me. 

ps - I'm in LOVE with that ring.

Dessert Meets Design: Sequins & Champagne Dessert Table

A couple of months ago, Jen, Sarah, and Tara invited me to join them and some other talented ladies for a fun, graphic bridal shoot. I brought the sweets, of course, and we got to work. Today, Ruffled featured our shoot so I can finally share it with you.

Bold black and white was accented with gold ribbon and a tissue tassel garland. I used the Armato stationery's champagne bubble motif to inspire the custom popcorn boxes and chocolate wrappers I designed. Here's are the paper goods. 

I also created a cake topper of gold, glitter that was reminiscent of the invite's champagne bubbles. White chocolate truffles were customized with gold sanding sugar, while gold gum balls added youthful fun to the table.

I worked with such a fab group of ladies. Please be sure to give them some love in the comments and visit their sites as well. Want to see even more? Check out the full gallery on Ruffled.

Thank you for inviting me to join in the shoot, Jen, Sarah, and Tara! It was great to meet everyone.

shoot concept: Jen Meneghin, Sarah Tillges, Tara Bailie
images: Jen Meneghin
jewelry: Sarah Vonne
florals: A Day in Provence
makeup: Romeny Chan & Alice Bernman of Castor & Pollux
hair: Ashley Haley of Bang Bang Salon
dress: Sixpence Boutique
desserts: Shauna Younge Dessert Tables
stationery: Armato Design
model: Anne Murphey

DIY: Over the Rainbow Printable Cupcake Toppers

Gearing up for Oz the Great and Powerful or just prepping for some St. Patrick's Day fun with the kids? I designed these simple, cute (and did I mention free) rainbow cupcake toppers for Confetti Pop last weekend, and they're perfect for your upcoming festivities.

Swing by Confetti Pop, and print out some of these cuties for yourself.

images by Maddy Hague for Confetti Pop

Dessert Meets Design: Geometric Valentine's Dessert Table

Get your eyeballs ready for some geometric, Valentine's awesomeness, because it's coming at you full force today. Hopefully, yesterday's DIY candy necklace got you in the holiday mood, because it was just a warm up for today's spread. By now, you know that I'm also one of the head honchos (honchos?) of Confetti Pop, and we dreamed up a geometric theme for Valentine's Day. And, because we like to make every shoot a party, we invited a team of great local creatives to join the bash, including my husband, Darren of Well-Groomed, and photog team Jeff and Jessica of Jeff Loves Jessica. 100 Layer Cake was kind enough to feature the entire shoot as well, so thank you ladies!

Now, on to the pretty. I designed a gold, purple and pink geometric cake that mimicked Maddy's DIY table runner. Gold candy, custom truffles, and favor boxes with custom labels were fun additions to Rolos with printable wrappers. I lined the platters using this Confetti Pop set of printable papers.

Want even more eye candy for the day? Well, if you think you can handle it, be sure to visit Confetti Pop for more pics of the entire event, visit Well-Groomed for close ups of the groom, and check out 100 Layer Cake to see which pics their editors liked best.

styling/concept: Confetti Pop

printable invites: Confetti Pop Shop
images: Jeff Loves Jessica
venue: 514 Studios
florals: Prairie Fair
groom's styling: Well-Groomed
makeup: Asia Marie - asiaschulz@live.com
hair: Melanie Rivers
bride's wardrobe: BHLDN Feria dress, BHLDN Lambent shoes
groom's wardrobe: Old Navy shirt, Men's Wearhouse bow tie, Target pants, Target boots

Dessert Meets Design: DIY Candy Heart Necklace

On a recent prop-shopping trip, I decided to let kiddo grab some candy from the 5 for $1 bin. For some reason, the Airheads were calling her name. So, she picked the white, orange, and pink, and we made our way to the register. A day later, I got an email from the good folks at Alt Summit that Airheads was running a Craft Your Valentine's contest (you can vote for me here), and a lightbulb went off. I didn't have time to make this craft before Alt, but today was the perfect time.

Using kiddo's remaining candy, I promised I'd make her a Valentine's treat. She was very excited, because she's my right-hand girl when it comes to sweet experiments. We came up with this easy, super affordable Airheads candy necklace! As you'll notice, she couldn't wait to take a bite.

If you like this project, be sure to swing on by the Airheads Facebook Page, click on the contest tab, view the entries, and vote for me. Thanks!

Want to make an Airheads candy heart necklace for your little loved one? Check out the how-to.

My Alt Summit 2013 Business Cards

As most of you know, I've been living it up for the past week in Salt Lake City for the 2013 Alt Summit conference. I got to meet a lot of my favorite bloggers, learn a lot about the art of blogging, mingle with company big wigs, and even teach a photo styling class with my Confetti Pop co-founder Maddy.

One of the big components of Alt Summit is the business card exchange. With so many creative, artsy people in one place, it's a given that we're all going to try to come up with really fun, creative, memorable cards. This was my first year, and let me tell it, it was awesome. I came up with these kraft envelopes that I filled with little chocolate squares. All of my Shauna Younge related details were on labels that were reminiscent of sprinkle-topped cookies.

I was also at Alt with Maddy to represent Confetti Pop, so we had a different card we handed out for that. This one had fringed tissue paper and gold mylar on the back to look like a little pinata. Hopefully, it feels as festive in these pics as it was in person.

So, catch me up. What did I miss while I was gone? I've got some massive pinning and Instagramming to catch up on. Follow along as I make up for lost time.

A Handmade Holiday with the Younges

It doesn't feel like it outside, but it's the holiday season. I baked up some pretty bundt cakes and added some great DIY touches to our decor this Christmas with easy projects that kiddo helped me make to create a Handmade Holiday. We photographed it all for Confetti Pop, so go on over and check it out. We'll be sharing tutorials and DIYs throughout the week to help you recreate the look.

But here on Sweet Tooth, we're all about the yummy stuff, so I figured I'd focus on seasonal bundts. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. A fabulous bundt pan turns your boxed cake mix into something really spectacular. We shot this a couple of weeks ago, but don't worry, those little bundts didn't go to waste. My family and I chowed down on those pretty cakes for Thanksgiving.

Who doesn't love a pile of sweets? She Cooks, She Gardens featured these chocolate banana bundts.

Use a pretty pan as a serving dish. Dine and Dash featured this great PB&J bunt.

Have you started decorating, yet? What's your theme or color palette this year?

Featured: Totally Target Halloween Dessert Table

Remember this Halloween dessert table I created a couple of years ago using only items I found at Target? The bloggers over at HGTV recently stumbled upon it and kindly featured it this week.

 Check out the HGTV post here and the full dessert table here. 

Dessert Meets Design: Modern Man

Just check out these truffles! Last Fall, I designed this modern yellow, grey, and white dessert table for Zoe and Josh. It was my first experience working with a really involved groom, and Josh was great. In fact, he made every selection, and the dessert table was really a surprise for his bride. He knew what he wanted, and I think the table's overall design reflects a more masculine, modern vibe than some of my other work. My girl Kirsten of Fab Events designed the rest of the event and photog Emma Freeman took these lovely pics.

The design included graphic truffles, macarons, S'mores cupcakes, cake pops, and a custom cupcake tower that I designed to house the mini varieties.

I love when a guy backs stereotype and actually cares about the wedding details. So sweet!

pics by Emma Freeman

Introducing A Splendid Party!

It's a day of good news and growth here at Sweet Tooth. First, I announced that the blog's growth has allowed me to offer up ad opportunities. Yay!

Now, on to our second bit of excitement for today. Many of you know that I've teamed up with Maddy Hague of Somewhere Splendid in the past for various sweet photo shoots and projects like this, this, and this. We are now proud to introduce our latest collaboration, A Splendid Party!

One of the first items in the shop are the printables from a gorgeous Sip n See that Maddy designed to introuce her new daughter to friends and family.

Here you can find lovely printables to help you create some beautiful parties of your own. Gorgeous invitations, favor labels, and other party goods that you can print today to craft a pretty party right away. We'll also be adding more to the shop this week, so be sure to check it out often.

I can't wait to hear what you guys think of the shop, so be sure to comment and let me know!

images by Canary Grey Photography