Enchanted Events & Design

{Event Recap} Shant's Incredible Hulk Pool Party

2012-03-02T07:00:00.044-08:00

This summer I got the opportunity to work with one of my wonderful clients not once but twice! After helping Nayiri with her youngest son's baptism dessert table, she contacted me again to assist her with her oldest son's birthday party. She requested "The Incredible Hulk" with a green and sand color theme. There are so many yummy treats that go with these colors!

The dessert table featured a green brick cake with an Incredible Hulk cake topper surrounded by lots of cookies, candies and popcorn. The table was set up on a ping pong table folded in half which gave lots of space for the food and created the perfect green backdrop to hang posters onto.

In addition to the treats, there was also a drink table to keep all the guests hydrated with Sprite, Iced Tea, Lemon & Mint Water and Lemonada.

For the main food, BBQ'd hot dogs and hamburgers were served fresh off the grill and a make your own salad bar was set up for the guests to enjoy.

Vendors
Party styling/photography: Enchanted Events & Design
Paper products and printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Cake: Berolina Bakery
Candy: Garvey Nut & Candy
Location: Armenian Center of Crescenta Valley

{Event Recap} Armenouhi's 85th Birthday Celebration

2012-01-23T14:35:00.002-08:00

Last November I was asked to help out with Armenouhi's 85th birthday celebration. It was being hosted by RAFFI, the Romanian-Armenian Cultural Assosciation, to honor all of the dedication, generosity and support Armenhoui has contributed to the group over her many years of membership.

I chose a traditional palette of gold, ivory and beige for the event. The association provided the food and location so I incorporated a navy blue as the one pop of color to coordinate with the linens that were donated. Here are a few photos of the details I put together for her birthday.

Seating Chart and Coordinating Invitation

Greeting Table Layout

Armenouhi asked that guests donate to the Association in lieu of gifts

Gold and White Baby's Breath Arrangement

Table Centerpiece by Enchanted Events & Design
White Iris, White and Gold Baby's Breath, and Stock

Cookie Favors by Pop Culture Desserts

Cake by Porto's Bakery

Armenouhi with her two daughters

Vendors
Party styling/photography/flowers: Enchanted Events & Design
Paper products and printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Custom cookies/Favors: Pop Culture Desserts
Location: Romanian-Armenian Cultural Assosciation

{Tip} Quick Decor for any Table

2012-01-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

As you all know I was extremely busy at the end of this past year. Each Christmas I host breakfast for our parents and siblings before we all exchange gifts. I wanted to put together a nice table again, but I just didn't have time to get creative and fancy like last year. So I wanted to share a quick tip for creating an inexpensive centerpiece for your holiday table, which would also work nicely as a centerpiece for any gift giving event (birthday, shower, etc)!

Pretty wrapped boxes!

The larger gift in the center was a real gift I stole from under the tree. I then grabbed two kid shoe boxes and wrapped them up in the same paper. This is perfect for the holidays since most people have endless amounts of wrapping paper, empty boxes, and already wrapped gifts.

For a shower or birthday you can use any wrapping paper color to match the theme and wrap up small gifts for the guest of honor, empty boxes just for decor or prizes for any games you might be playing during the party and have them double as the centerpiece. Easy, cost effective and something a little different than standard flower arrangements.

Another benefit to wrapped gifts is that they're a great way to include different shapes, sizes and heights to a table. Utilize them in a dessert table if you want to put your desserts on different levels. I used this technique for my Candy Shoppe party and put a wrapped box under the cake stand to create a bit more drama with the cake since it was sitting on such a large table.

Happy Thanksgiving ... Belatedly

2012-01-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

So the New Year has passed and we're now into 2012! I've had a lovely time off with my family and I'm now ready to get back to work and catch all of you up on what I was working on at the end of 2011!

Here are a few more pictures (as promised) of my Thanksgiving table this year. I went for a fairly simple design with lots of earth tones. My inspiration was the beautiful centerpiece my mom was sent (and I got to borrow).

Place settings

Adult menus

Children menus

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T10:36:00.000-08:00

I know, I know! I've been a HORRIBLE blogger this past month. I posted a sneak peak of Thanksgiving and you haven't heard of me since! I just wanted to post a huge apology to everyone following the blog. I promise that January 1st I'll be updating regularly again. December got so busy and the blog unfortunately had to be neglected. The good news is that I've been working on lots of events to share with you next year. I have a full wedding design that I pulled off in 2 1/2 months of planning (eek) and several day of weddings with lots of fun details. And of course my Thanksgiving table is still waiting to be shared along with several birthday parties. For now I wanted to say a quick "Happy Holidays" to all of my friends, family and wonderful followers. I hope you're enjoying time with loved ones and looking forward to a fabulous New Year!

{Sneak Peek} Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

I had hoped to share with you my Thanksgiving table from last week in celebration of turkey day here in the US. Unfortunately, the pictures are all sitting safely on my home computer. I do have a little a little sneak peak for you of the kids' table.

CHEERS!

Taline showing off the kids' menu

{Giveaway} Holiday Printable Package

2011-11-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

I'm sponsoring a give away for the one year anniversary of Twinkle Twice, a children's clothing store in Burbank, California. I designed a food table for their grand opening one year ago!

If you'd like to enter for a chance to win you will need to:

1) "Like" Enchanted Events & Design on Facebook
2) "Like" Twinkle Twice on Facebook
3) Leave a comment on Twinkle Twice's wall stating "I love Twinkle Twice and Enchanted Events & Design"

For additional entries you can also visit Twinkle Twice in person! A winner will be chosen and announced on December 1, 2011!

Halloween 2011 Compilation

2011-10-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Haunted Cemetary Desserts

2011-10-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share the creepy Halloween table I styled recently with all of you. This design is something you can accomplish on a smaller budget. Almost all of the desserts were purchased at Costco and the dollar store! I know there are some amazing boutique desserts available, but not everyone can afford them.

For most of the creepy decor I dug through my existing Halloween decorations. I usually go shopping the week after Halloween and pick up sale items for the following year. The black dishes I bought for $1 each at Walmart, the little tombstones were from Michael's and the skeletons (garland of 4) were purchased at the dollar store.

Most importantly, the food was all super cheap!

Caramel Pretzel Bark - Costco

Gummi Body Parts - dollar store

Fudge Cookies - dollar store

Single color M&M's - Party City

You can also dress up any liquid by adding some dry ice to the cup.

Once again the important lesson is ... use what you already have! Scavenge your home for items you can use. I already owned both sets of candle holders, the vase, and the leaves (silk sunflowers with the flowers removed).

Vendors
Table Design: Enchanted Events & Design
Printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Backdrop: Craig Getty Painting (painted dining room wall)
Food: Costco, 99 Cent Only and Party City

{Event Recap} Mallory's Tutu Cute 1st Birthday

2011-09-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

My good friend Marta, owner of Twinkle Twice a 2nd hand children's clothing store, asked me to help her with her youngest daughter's 1st birthday party. Marta recently started creating her own tutus for the shop (Tutus by Twinkle Twice). She wanted to use that for the party theme so she would have an excuse to make tutus for all of Mallory's friends (such cuteness). I hope you enjoy the party I styled for little Miss Mallory!

Vendors
Party styling: Enchanted Events & Design
Paper products and printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Tutus: Tutus by Twinkle Twice
Photography: Bebe Jacobs Photography
Custom cookies: Fairytale Frosting
Cupcake toppers: Parker’s Flour Patch
Location: Amy's Indoor Playground

{Event Recap} The Knot Magazine Wedding Photo Editor Event

2011-09-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

I recently designed a dessert table for a fabulous wedding industry event hosted by Cat and Adi of Next Exit Photography.

The wedding photo director of the Knot Magazine, Rebecca Crumley, recently moved to Los Angeles from New York and Cat and Adi greeted her in style with a beautiful event at their home. This event also coincided with Next Exit's 10th birthday. Happy Birthday Next Exit!

The inspiration for the event was to play off of the modern architecture of the home which was newly renovated and GORGEOUS! Specifically, I was given this beautiful wallpaper which accented one of the walls as the inspiration for my design.

Soon I was swimming in gray, mocha and pale blue!

I called on Jessy of Fairytale Frosting to design some custom sugar cookies to match the design because I love her work and she's so amazingly affordable!

I also tried a new vendor, Jennie of Pop Culture Desserts, to see if she'd be interested in designing some items for the table. All I can say is ... OH MY! The food she provided was beautiful and scrumptious. The guests were literally fighting over the leftovers at the end of the night.

Finally, I want to share a few details from the rest of the party which was designed by Bob Gail Events.

Vendors
Dessert Table Styling: Enchanted Events & Design
Dessert Table Paper Goods: Enchanted Events & Design
Photography: Next Exit Photography
Desserts: Pop Culture Desserts
Sugar Cookies: Fairytale Frosting
Chevron table runner: A to Zebra Celebrations
Flowers and rentals: Bob Gail Events
PR: Hitching Post Public Relations

Citrus Vendor Challenge

2011-09-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

You saw a peak at the Citrus table I put together for Celebrations at Home's Vendor Challenge when I shared a tutorial on how to create the personalized frosted mirror backdrops. Now I'm finally sharing the rest of the details!

Since weddings are my passion I decided to do a dessert table and table seating in this style. I started my design when I found the yellow and white floral table linen. I used it as an overlay for both table designs to save on the cost of having to buy enough fabric to cover an entire table.

After selecting the linen I decided to use a traditional citrus color theme. I focused mainly on white and yellow but threw in a few accents of orange and lime. I wanted the table scapes to have a light, airy, and cheery feel to them so I decided to create a mirror backdrop. The table was laid out near some big windows and the mirrors were able to reflect all of the light in the room. I picked up these full length mirrors at Target for only $4.99 each and I customized them by adding a frosted citrus image to the 2 end ones and the bride and groom’s monogram and wedding date to the center mirror a super easy DIY task!

To keep the cost down on the dessert table I combined home baked items with food I picked up from Wal-Mart! The lemon pies, cupcakes, mini lemon cakes, lemon drop candies, orange gummies, Mr. Goodbars and mints were all bought from the store. I supplemented these with the candy dipped marshmallows and lemon Jell-O jigglers with sprigs of mint leaves. The meringues were bought from Albertsons so everything was purchased cheap and easy! The only big ticket item is the gorgeous cake by Jaqki’s Cake Creations.

For the seated table I again used the same linen as the dessert table. I complimented the linens by adding a round lemon yellow placemat. The centerpiece I got from a local florist. I brought in my own white vase which I got from Michaels for under $8 with a 40% off coupon. To save money on the centerpiece I gave the florist general instructions on what I wanted. Instead of bringing in a picture of a specific centerpiece or flowers to use I told him I was creating a wedding table scape inspired by citrus. I wanted him to use mainly yellow and white flowers but he could include small touches of orange and green and most importantly I wanted the centerpiece to be around $20 or less. So overall the centerpiece with the vase was under $30. I also designed all of the invitations, favor boxes, menus, table numbers and food signage for the design, which will be available shortly in my Etsy shop.

Vendors
Party Styling: Enchanted Events & Design
Printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Photography: Mia J Photography
Cake: Jaqki's Cake Creations

Entered into: Bird's Link Party

{Tutorial} Golden Egg Cake Pop

2011-08-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

As promised, here's the tutorial on how to make golden egg cake pops!

First you'll need to make two batches of cake, one white and one yellow cake. I then added a small amount of yellow food dye to the yellow cake to enhance the yellow coloring.

Once the cakes are baked and cooled, break up the cake with your fingers and add about 3/4 to 4/5 of a canister of frosting to it to and mix well. I typically remove the harder, crusty edges of the cake before mixing it with the frosting so the cake pop is an even mushy consistency. This is especially important with the white cake. I removed all of the darker colored cake (top, bottom, sides) to keep the cake pop a clean white color. I used a white cream cheese frosting for both my white and yellow cakes. Next, form a small ball with the yellow cake pop mix, slightly larger than a dime in shape. Then grab a small amount of the white cake mix and place the yellow ball on top of it.

Slowly work the white cake pop mix over and around the yellow ball until it's completely covered and mold it into an egg shape. Repeat until you've used up all of one of the cakes (white or yellow). Place the cake pops onto a baking sheet and put them in the fridge to cool. This will make them easier to dip in the candy coating later.

The next step is to attach the lollipop stick to the cake pop. Take a lollipop stick (I use a 4" stick but you can use any size you'd like) and push it into the bottom of the cake pop to create a hole. Then pull it out and dip the end of the lollipop stick into some prepared yellow candy melt (melted per the instructions on the bag). Then reinsert the stick into the cake pop. You can then place it back into the fridge to keep cool while you assemble the rest of the cake pops.

Once all the cake pops have been attached to the sticks. You can then, working in batches, remove them from the fridge and slowly dip each egg into the yellow candy melt. Make sure to cover the entire cake pop, tapping it gently on the edge of the glass to remove any excess candy melt.

Stand each of the cake pops up in some Styrofoam to dry.

Next, take some yellow pearl dust and mix it into a small dish with some lemon juice, water or vodka. You can then paint this onto each of the cake pops to give it a glittery shine. Place the cake pop back into the Styrofoam to dry. Try and put the cake pops as close together as you can to make the next step a little easier.

The final step is to get a small strainer and place some of the dry pearl dust into it. You can then gently sift some of the dust over the top of your drying cake pops. This adds just a bit more glitter to the cake pops. The closer they are together on the Styrofoam the less dust that will be wasted. Make sure to start dusting the cake pops before they've finished drying so that the dust will have something to affix itself to when you sprinkle it over them.

You now have a shiny golden egg cake pop, complete with a yolk center. Enjoy!

{Tutorial} Frosting Glass/Mirrors

2011-08-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

So I recently put together a table for Celebrations at Home's Vendor Challenge with a citrus theme. I decided to do something different than the standard banners on dessert tables. I found some super cheap full length mirrors at Target ($4.99 each) and I added my own custom frosted designs to them.

I wanted to share the super easy tutorial for decorating your own glass and mirrors. The first step is selecting the item you want to frost and then making sure it's completely clean and dry.

The next step is easiest if you own a machine like a Cricut. Even if you don't you can purchase vinyl cutouts of shapes and letters to create the design. I used my Cricut to cut lemon circles, a monogram and the wedding date into some vinyl. Next, remove all the vinyl that you want to have frosted onto your glass. In this example I removed all of the letters and numbers.

The white is the remaining vinyl and the blue is where I removed it

Next, just peel off the vinyl and affix it to the surface you'd like to frost. If the image you are using is delicate, large or has "floating" pieces of vinyl in the design (such as the center of the "&") which might be difficult to place exactly I recommend using transfer paper to move the vinyl from the backing to your project.

Once your design is placed just as you'd like it. Get out a small paint brush and your glass etching cream. I picked up "Armour Etch" from Michaels. It's a small 3 ounce jar but it goes a long way. I did all 3 of these mirrors and 3 other small projects and still have enough left for maybe 2 more small projects.

Using the paintbrush I brush the areas I want frosted with a thick layer of the cream. Make sure it's a good thick layer, otherwise you can get uneven patches. If you're frosting glass (instead of a mirror) I usually look at the backside to see if I missed any areas.

At this point all you do is wait. Follow the instructions on bottle of etching cream you purchased for how long you should wait. My brand suggested 5 minutes but I left it on for at least 15. Once it's ready just rinse it with water and remove the vinyl!

This project also works well as a gift idea. I frosted a trifle container for my mom as a mother's day gift and a casserole dish for my brother and his wife with images from their wedding invitation as a house warming present. The sky's the limit! Happy frosting everyone!

{Event Recap} Natalie & Eric's Snow Inspired Wedding

2011-08-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

I very excited to share with you some new pictures of Natalie and Eric's wedding! Natalie and Eric are an amazing couple, with an enthusiastic passion for life and each other. It was a joy to be a part of their day.

Natalie, despite being an avid lover of the color red (partly because of her alma mater USC), decided to go a different route with her wedding. She had been going to too many red themed weddings lately and she wanted to do something different! Instead she embraced her other passion, snow and skiing! Natalie has been a volunteer with Big Bear's ski patrol since 2004 and upon meeting Natalie, Eric quickly joined her in this hobby. Using this theme loosely as their inspiration, they chose a blue, white and brown color palette.

I was even more excited when they selected Damion and Julie Hamilton of Damion Hamilton Photography for their photographers. I had met Damion and Julie in 2008 and was eager for an opportunity to work with them on a wedding. I knew that their style and personalities would be a perfect fit for Natalie and Eric's wedding. They were even enthusiastic when Natalie and Eric requested driving all the way up to the snow for their engagement shoot!

Gorgeous setting, right? Well feast your eyes on the rest of their big day. I hope you enjoy all the details designed for this wonderful couple!

Bridal prep!

The Bride and Flower girl shoes

Bridesmaid details

The Armenian Orthodox Ceremony

Alone time for the bride and groom

An amazing barn behind the church and hall!

The Reception

The boys getting a chance to celebrate

The Vendors
Cake: Porto's Bakery
Event Design: Enchanted Events & Design
Florist: Designs by Christine
Hair: Harry's Hair Design
Invitations: Enchanted Events & Design
Location (ceremony/reception): Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church and Bagramian Hall
Makeup: Nayre Kabadayan
Photography: Damion Hamilton Photography
Wedding & Bridesmaid Dresses: Cecile Rivoire's

{Event Recap} Lila & the Beanstalk 1st Birthday

2011-07-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

So my youngest, Lorelei, finally turned one this month. I was racking my brain for a fun and different theme for her party. Then it hit me ... I could use her nickname, little Lila Bean, to inspire me and started planning a "Lila & the Beanstalk" birthday bash.

When I sat down to start designing the invitation for the event I remembered an accordion style I'd used for my cousin's graduation party. I liked the idea of guests getting to "grow" their own beanstalk as they opened the invitation. I later reused the same design elements in the invitation in the rest of the party printables.

Drink station with custom water bottle, cup and drink labels

Normally we host a casual summer BBQ each year for all of our friends and family and since Lorelei's birthday falls in July we decided to combine the two events. My wonderful husband and father in-law slaved over a hot BBQ cooking up 40 lbs of meat and grilling veggies for all of our guests.

We served carne asada, lula kebabs and marinated chicken; grilled mushrooms, peppers and asparagus; boiled corn; bean salad; steamed rice; and lavash bread. BBQ is one of my favorite choices for party food. Everything tastes yummy coming off of a BBQ and I can pawn a large portion of the work off on my husband! ;)

The food table was designed as a "Giant Feast." The backdrop featured a large version of the giant's castle with a beanstalk coming up out of the table. Each of the food signs were tiny beanstalks popping out of a white cloud covered table. The food was served in all white dishes to blend in with the cloud decor.

And of course there was a fully stocked dessert table! Since the main food was featuring the giant's home I wanted to showcase Jack/Lila's home and storybook farmland for the desserts.

Once again I utilized the fabulous talents of my friend, Fenella Higgins. I asked her to create Lila's cottage out of cake based off of the cottage I used on the invite. She came through with the adorable centerpiece of the table. She even made mini cupcakes covered in Oreo cookie "dirt" with magic (jelly) beans planted in them.

I had tons of other treats for all the guests to splurge on, such as, cow and pig lollipops, "bails" of rice cereal treats, caramel apples, caramel popcorn, cake pops, Oreo cookie "wheels," magic jelly beans, gold fish, Red Vines, green Laffy Taffy ropes, and green chocolate covered sunflower seeds.

I also made sure that all the items that Jack/Lila "stole" from the giant were represented in edible form on the table. I made golden egg cake pops complete with a yolk and shiny candy coating (tutorial for these coming soon).

Sugar cookie harps by Fairytale Frosting
and a chest of chocolate gold coins.

For the backdrop I had the giant's castle again but this time it was a much smaller version floating up above the table scape in the clouds. The beanstalk was placed coming up out of the ground by the cake and stretching up to the castle and then branching out and becoming a banner for the table, "Lila & the Beanstalk."

I was ecstatic when I found mini pots with seed packets at Target in their dollar bin! I removed the packaging and wrapped each pot in green ribbon and attached a matching favor tag. The backside of each tag had instructions for growing the seeds. The seeds were a mix of flowers, strawberries and tomato plants but each guest would have to grown their magic beans to discover what they had planted.

And of course a picture of the birthday girl enjoying one of her favorite foods, corn on the cob.

Some of the additional decor for the party was a photo vine I created. Each leaf represented a different month from newborn to one year old. In the canopies I hung clusters of tissue puffs shaped into cloud formations, some of which had strands of leaf ribbon hanging down.

Lastly there were several activities for the kids to participate in during the party. I created some homemade "Lila and the Beanstalk" characters out of felt and I had one of my friends, Dina of Studio E a children's acting program, hold a story time. All the kids gathered around to hear the (slightly modified to be more kid friendly) tale of Lila and her magic beans. This was a huge hit thanks to Dina's wonderful talent at interacting with kids. After the story they all swarmed the felt board and playing with all the pieces.

There was also a first birthday pinata and homemade binoculars for the kids to decorate. I had gathered toilet paper rolls for weeks before the party. I then spray painted them, glued them together and tied them with yarn. I gave the kids precut foam stickers to adhere to them as decorations and then sent them off to search the sky for castles in the clouds!

Vendors
Party styling: Enchanted Events & Design
Party printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Custom cookies: Fairytale Frosting
Cake: Fenella Higgins
Story time: Dina of Studio E Academy

A Sneak Peek!

2011-07-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

I apologize for disappearing this week! I've been meaning to post my "Lila and the Beanstalk" party, but I keep disappearing into the "Tutu" party I'm designing for this weekend. I thought you all deserved a little sneak peak for being so patient. Enjoy!

Lila and the Beanstalk 1st Birthday

Mallory's Tutu Cute 1st Birthday

{Event Recap} Alexa's Candy Shoppe 1st Birthday

2011-07-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

Candy and ice cream reigned supreme at Alexa's 1st birthday party. I had so much fun working with her mommy to design a scrumptious dessert table for her big day. I was given a palette of different shades of pink and a bright blue and threw in some splashes of red for contrast.

There are so many little details on this table that I loved putting together. The gumball machine was a DIY project I got from Kara's Party Ideas. I decided to create a bigger version of her mini gumball machines for the table and spray painted it blue instead of the standard red.

The treats included: red vines, pink and white marshmallows, gumballs, M&M's, pink and white meringues, sixlets, candy bracelets, rock candy, standard cake pops and ice cream cone shaped cake pops (made by my client!), lollipops, custom sugar cookies by Fairytale Frosting, and custom cake decor by Parker's Flour Patch which decorated a simple two tiered homemade cake. I suggested using a cupcake for the cake topper and my client found a special cupcake pan to make a larger and more decorative cupcake for the design!

Ice cream was also served with the cake so I created a topping section for the dessert table where guests could choose between chopped nuts, white chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, crushed Oreos, and shredded coconut.

Custom sign

Utensil wraps

Customized drink cups

Drink tags

Food tent cards

Vendors
Party styling, banner and printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Custom cookies: Fairytale Frosting
Fondant Cake Décor: Parker’s Flour Patch
Gumball machine tutorial: Kara's Party Ideas

{Tutorial} Lollipop Wand

2011-07-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

Okay here's a super quick and easy tutorial for anyone interested in making their own lollipop wands.

Photo by Next Exit Photography
First you're going to need a dowel (approximately 3/16" thick and 12" long) and two foam sheets, one standard and one with an adhesive backing in any colors of your choosing. If you'd like you can spray paint your dowel to any color before starting to assemble the wands or you may leave it blond. In this tutorial I've spray painted my dowel blue.

Next find a round object to use as a template for your lollipop. I used a pot that was approximately 5" in diameter. Place the pot on each foam sheet and trace the shape with a pen or pencil. I used a glittered adhesive foam sheet so I traced on the backside of the sheet since the front side is difficult to trace on due to the bumpy texture of the glitter.

After you've traced your circles cut them out with standard scissors. You will be left with two circles of equal size preferably in different colors.

Next take the foam circle with the adhesive backing and starting from any point on the circle start cutting a spiral shape. Once you've cut to the center backtrack and cut a spiral parallel to the first until you reach the outside of the circle again. Your spiral should look like the one below.

You can then separate the spiral shapes so that you have two, a larger spiral and a smaller spiral.

You can then remove the adhesive backing of either of these spirals and and place it over the standard foam circle you made earlier. You may wish to use only one of these spirals or both depending on your preference. If you choose to use both you'll need twice as many standard circles as circles with adhesive backs.

You can then flip your lollipop swirl over and hot glue the dowel to the backside of the foam.

You now have a finished wand! These work great as party favors, ground stakes, centerpieces or anything else you can imagine for them!

{Event Recap} Saro's Baptism

2011-06-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a dessert table and place cards I designed for a client's son's baptism recently. It was an interesting challenge because I wasn't given colors or a theme for the event. The client just wanted a table design that was chic and springy. This is the final design.

I love how these escort cards turned out! The client asked me to incorporate rabbits somewhere into the design and I decided to use them here. Look for my "Spring Rabbit" items in my Etsy shop!

And check out that amazing artwork a friend of my client created for little Saro!

{Giveaway} Winner of the Celebrating 500 Facebook Fans and 300 Blog Followers Giveaway!

2011-06-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to comment #27, Karen!

You have one week to claim your prize. Please contact me via comment or email by June 24, 2011. Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway.

{Giveaway} Celebrating 500 Facebook Fans and 300 Blog Followers! - ENDED

2011-06-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

I'm EXTREMELY excited to announce my next giveaway because it's a big one! I really wanted to celebrate this week after hitting some big follower milestones. A huge thanks again to everyone who helped me reach this goal. Now to the details of my next giveaway ... are you ready??

The winner is going to get to pick from one of these three prizes:

#1) LOCAL EVENT DESIGN*

Initial planning consultation
Location walkthrough
Theme research
Event design
Vendor list for client to hire and purchase (entertainment, favors, food, etc)
Vendor coordination
Set up the day of the party
Includes birthdays, anniversaries, showers and other small events.

#2) SILVER PACKAGE - DAY OF WEDDING COORDINATION*

Location walkthrough
Unlimited time on the day of your wedding
Ceremony setup
Reception setup
Vendor recommendations
Vendor coordination the day of your wedding
Coordinate guests & bridal party
Distribute payments/tips
Decorate wedding night suite
Handle emergencies

#3) $150 AT EEAD ETSY SHOP

DIY or ready made party printables
Wedding invitations
Note cards cards
Card boxes
Cupcake/cake topper
Seating chart designs
And more!
Please check out my Etsy store if you'd like to see my current product lines. Custom designs are also available to the winner.

*First two prizes are limited to events in the Los Angeles area.

TO ENTER:
You MUST first be an EEAD Blog Follower (click on the follow option on the right sidebar of this blog to join)! Then leave a comment on this post for EACH entry below that applies to you (up to 3 comments/entries possible). If you only leave one comment you will only get one entry into the contest. If you want to enter more than once please leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Leave a comment if you're an EEAD blog follower.
2. Leave a 2nd comment if you're an EEAD fan on Facebook.
3. Leave a 3rd comment if you share this giveaway on Facebook or blog about it!

Deadline to Enter: June 17, 2011.
Winner will be announced next Saturday, June 18th, 2011. Good luck to everyone!

{Giveaway} Winner of the Lollipop Printables!

2011-06-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to comment #5, hope_bre!

Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway.

{Tip} Premade Fondant Cake Decor

2011-06-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

I love making and decorating my own cakes! It's one of my favorite activities in party planning, but it's also getting more and more stressful to find the time. It's getting even more difficult now that I have two kids, one who always wants to be in my arms and another who wants to "help." Typically baking my own cake, designing the look, making all of the decor and then assembling it takes a minimum of two days for me to accomplish.

Some of my homemade cakes. I love the results, but oh the time!

For my Lollipop party I finally ventured into the world of premade fondant decor. Etsy came to my rescue when I discovered Parker's Flour Patch. She has super cute fondant cake and cupcake décor for a great price. I saw her Lollipop cake decor and knew it would be perfect.

I went to the grocery store, as usual, and bought a box cake mix and premade icing. I baked and frosted a simple white 3 tiered cake. Next, I whipped out the purchased cake décor that arrived in the mail and in ten minutes (five of which was spent unwrapping all the pieces) my cake was complete! I am in love with the final product, such a fabulous and affordable way to create an amazing home baked cake!

Photo by Next Exit Photography

{Event Recap} Taline's Lollipop Birthday

2011-06-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

Since my daughter was turning three this year I let her decide the theme of her birthday. She adores lollipops and almost never gets to have them. She saw her party as an opportunity to eat a ton of them!

THE COLORSI didn’t want to go the rainbow route for the party and decided to focus on 3 main “lollipop” colors. My first find and inspiration was Taline’s adorable dress from Strawberrie Rose Couture on Etsy.

The moment I saw the dress I was in LOVE! The two dress colors, royal blue and lime green, were perfect. I could picture lots of bright and vivid treats with these colors. I also decided to add pink into the mix to keep the party girly. With my color palette set I was ready to go!

THE ENTRANCEWhen guests first arrived at the party they were greeted by a banner hung at the front of the house, “Lollipop Lane.” The walkway was lined with glittery foam lollipops all the way around to the back yard where the party was held.

Now to the most important aspect of any party ...

THE FOODI wanted to create a world of goodies on a stick. Food on a stick is so popular now that I had a very easy time finding inspiration. Plus everything tastes better on a stick, in my opinion! There were rolled sandwiches (skewered on wooden coffee stirrers), cherry tomatoes on toothpicks, cinnamon rolls on bamboo skewers, bread sticks, stick pretzels, fruit kebabs, corn dogs, and (my favorite) grilled cheese cutouts on a popsicle stick!

THE DESSERTS

I created the backdrop for the table to mimic the white and yellow stripes of the invitation.

Most of the desserts were home made or picked up from grocery stores and included, cake pops wrapped like dum dums, M&M’s, lollipops, marshmallow pops, red vines, strawberry wafers, candy bracelets, oreo pops, vanilla meringues and pie pops by Fenella Higgins.

I also got custom cookies made. I emailed a copy of the invitation to Jessy at Fairytale Frosting and told her what I wanted for the design. Her cookie creations were PERFECT for the table and most importantly ... YUMMY.

I also had picked up some ring pops from the dollar store. I decided to do half of them plain and the other half I dipped in colored sugar for a bedazzled look. I then created a giant ring box for them to be displayed in.

Finally, the cake with decorations by Parker's Flour Patch!

THE SEATING AREAI wanted to keep the seating area clean and simple so I used bright linens and tiny fabric flower pots to sit on the table. I hung 3-colored pom tissue balls from the canopies and tied all of the chair backs with pink ribbons and more foam lollipops.

THE ACTIVITIESTo keep the kids busy I had a ton of plastic balls in pink, green and blue tossed around the back yard. There was sidewalk chalk laid out by the kids table which also had a bead necklace station on it.

I created a Lolli-“POP” game, where I’d filled a bunch of balloons with little prizes (bubbles, whistles, and rubber balls) and each of the kids got a chance to come and pop the balloon for a prize.

THE FAVORSFor the favors, I found these adorable glittered boxes in the Target bargain bin for only $1 in coordinating colors. I filled them with sunglasses, playdough, personalized lollipops and candy bracelets. Finally, I attached a lollipop style favor tag I designed to match the rest of the printables.

MORE PARTY PICTURES
Just in case you haven't seen enough, here are a couple more pictures for you!

Vendors
Party styling and printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Photography: Next Exit Photography
Birthday Girl Dress: Strawberrie Rose Couture
Custom cookies: Fairytale Frosting
Fondant Cake Décor: Parker’s Flour Patch
Pie Pops: Fenella Higgins

Don't forget you can enter to win these Lollipop printables in my Lollipop Giveaway!