Hawthorne PD Memorial

One of my repeat clients works for the Torrance PD and came to me with a request for a very special project.  One of her officers passed away, and a motorcycle officer from the Hawthorne Police Dept., while performing traffic control for that funeral procession, was involved in an accident and killed. Such a terrible and unimaginable tragedy.  My client asked me to put together four dozen cookies to send over to the Hawthorne PD as a small token to express their deepest sympathies.  Here is what we came up with to pay tribute to Officer Andrew Garton, #333.

In memoriam.

Police shield detail.

Client requests: Shields, cuffs and guns.

Handcuff detail - rivets and chain.

Police motorcycle.

Bun in the Oven Shower

At the end of a psychotically busy week (4 different cookie projects totaling 12 dozen of the little buggers, a wedding cake and back to back showers) came this darling "Bun in the Oven" shower for my dear friend Erin.  The inspiration for this vintage feeling party was my daughter's retro looking oven.  I love the cheerful red and aqua color combo with tons of cherry accents.  Be sure to check out all the kitchen-y details sprinkled through out.  Enjoy!

These fab "cherry pie" cupcakes (as well as the sweet banner above our oven) were made by the mama-to-be's sister, Bonnie, from Owl Have A Cupcake.  Adorable and delicious!

I'm usually hesitant to use flowers in my parties - not because a I don't like them (I love them, in fact), but because I never think they'll fit within my budget.  But I'd heard Trader Joe's had peonies in store for $6 a bunch and I couldn't resist!  Vases from the Dollar Tree and $36 worth of flowers yielded four sweet arrangements for the dessert buffet and dining tables.  Add a few kitchen utensils to tie in the "bun in the oven" theme and set on a stack of red and white cookbooks and voila!  

Also from Owl Have A Cupcake - my favorites!

What a score from Walmart! Cina-mini-buns!

Potholder garland.

Table scape.

Cherry onesie place setting.

Congrats Erin!

Rustic Wedding Cake

My first and possibly last wedding cake!  The stress was all too much!  Friends Lauren and BJ were tying the knot in a western style celebration at an equestrian facility and the bride wanted a simple wood grained cake to compliment her rustic theme and I happily volunteered.  What a dope!  With only 7 Wilton cake decorating basics lessons under my belt, what was I thinking?  

SO much went wrong in putting this together that it was actually a great learning experience.  But with 82 other projects due that week I would rather have had smoother sailing and fewer life lessons!  First my bottom tier cakes did not pop out of the pan in one beautiful layer, but rather several large chunks.  Lesson Number 1: ALWAYS LINE CAKE PANS WITH PARCHMENT PAPER.  I asked my fairy cake mothers over at Classic Cakes in Garden Grove if my pile of crumbs would still be stable if reassembled and spackled with enough buttercream. Their pitying looks answered that question. 

Back to the cutting board to rebake and cool before icing, which brings me to Lesson Number 2: Too much frosting will pull away from the cake.  Scrape off sagging icing and refrost using less.

Lesson Number 3: Figure out how to paint on realistic looking woodgrain on buttercream.  Yikes.  Tough one.  I put a buttercream-frosted test cake in the freezer to make a firm canvas to paint  on.  I mixed up some brown gel food coloring with water and began painting.  My poor test cake started to thaw out and bead up with moisture, which caused my painting to bead up and run immediately.  Ugh. Not going to work.  I let my real cake just stay at room temperature and mixed my gel coloring with vodka to evaporate instead of water.  This worked much better.  Then I just layered and layered the wood grain painting, making it up as I went along, and I have to say I was pretty pleased with the final results.

A sprig of fresh wildflowers added between the top two layers and she was done!  Congratulations Lauren and BJ.  Hope this labor of love was what you'd envisioned on your happy day!

Nautical Bridal Shower

Oh man!  I loved this shower! So pretty and feminine with a ton of seaside flavor.  Nikki, my amazing client (a.k.a. the referral queen), and I fell in love with this Mystical Mermaid party featured on Kara's Party Ideas.  We used it as an inspiration springboard for her sweet sister in law's bridal shower and were off and running.  Take a look at all of the great nautical details.  Enjoy! 

Gorgeous driftwood garland and seashell wreath.

The dessert table.

Weathered lanterns with coral and sea urchins.

Sand Balls (a.k.a. crumb donuts)

Tower of "Dinghy Dongs"

Label and twine details.

White chocolate sand dollars top these cupcakes.

Sand paper wrappers tie in the beachy theme.

Love our sand castle cake with chocolate shells.

The engaged couple's initials.

Platter of seashell sugar cookies.

Ok.  I have to take a moment to highlight these darling cheesecake pails.  While strolling through the wedding section of the Dollar Tree I found these small white pails (3 for $1) and thought "Those would work for... something."  Cut to me with 2 dozen tiny pails and no idea what to do with them.  Then like all good ideas, it came to me out of thin air. "No-bake cheesecakes!  No! Wait! Upside down no-bake cheese cakes!  And I can top them with a graham cracker crust to look like sand!"  Hot glue a mini starfish to each one and set them on a bed of brown sugar "sand" and voila! Love it when it turns out how you pictured it in your head.

Toy shovel detail.

Pirouette cookies dressed up as Message in a Bottle.

Layered tablescapes: Linens, overlays, burlap and netting topped with gorgeous arrangements and a sprinkling of shells.  Lovely.

Burlap wrapped wine bottles.

We printed up small coordinating notes for guests to fill out with advice and warm thoughts for the bride to be, which were then rolled up and put into these miniature message bottles.  A great touch! 

Message bottles in a bucket of sand.

Bottle detail.