{Parties} Fun Ideas for a Girls Night In

These past two weeks have been very difficult and they've reminded me not to take life or loved ones for granted.  While at times it feels like we'd like the world to just stop for a minute so we can take a breather, life reminds us that it'll keep on going whether we're ready for it or not.  So, in order to take the days one day at a time and help myself focus on happier things, I've decided on a girls night in for closest and dearest girlfriends.  It had actually been scheduled for the month of February when the day of love and friendship is celebrated but because of events that have transpired, I've rescheduled it for March.  It is nice though, to have moved the date, because I have a lot more time to brainstorm and come up with cute ideas on decorating, baking, and cooking and I wanted to share these ideas because they are too cute not too.  They have been taken from other websites whose authors are brilliant and creative women and credit will be given appropriately so put the phone down...no need to call in big shots ;-)

Baked goods are my niche but I sometimes like to look around and see how to make them cute and presentable.  My first source of inspiration is this beautiful dessert table presented by Glorious Treats.

It's such a cute table without being too "baby girl".  The tulip flowers give the table an air of sophistication and there aren't too many treats provided making the choices of what to eat a little easier.
And get this, Glorious Treats set up an almost identical table but with much healthier choices....

Love it, love it!  Notice the fruit kabobs on the lower left.  Yup, those are definitely going to be part of the menu at my little get together. 
Another item that will be placed on the table is this yummy appetizer I found on Gina's Skinny Recipes.
They are Skinny Baked Jalapeno Poppers.  My stomach is seriously rumbling right now just by looking at this picture.

Jump on over to her site for the recipe and how-to pictures here...Gina's Skinny Recipes.

A little hartiness is always recommended to help filler-up the tummies and I found the perfect appetizer also on Gina's Skinny Recipes.  I promise I'm not trying to keep my friends from the chubby side but Gina has so many delicious recipes on her site with the most appealing pictures that I just didn't bother searching other sites.  I mean if I can eat more for less of the calories then I'll take it!!!  Who wouldn't.  So anywhoo, her other recipe I was eyeing was this one for Southwest Turkey Balls with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce.

Do these foods not make you want to come over and crash my party?

For dessert, I found these adorable Pie's on a Stick on Our Best Bites.

How cute are they?  Even dessert is served as an appetizer and in a very convenient way.  Who needs a plate for their pie?  No one because it's on a stick and it looks so cute.

Since my little shin dig will be a group of fun, grown up ladies like myself, I plan to serve drinks.  And even the drinks have to served stylishly.  So to my rescue comes this nifty DIY Ice Bottle Cooler idea from Celebrations At Home.

I tell ya, if I don't get the ooh's and aah's I like to hear I will have to plan another get together....hmmm I think that's a great motivator.

{Cake} Simple decorations for any occasion

A very simple technique for using fondant to decorate your cakes is to use cutters.  Cutters can be found in virtually any size and mold.  They can be found at your local crafts store or over the internet.  These cakes were decorated using Wilton's Circle Cutters and marshmallow fondant, made by yours truly :-)   You can see the fondant recipe here.

The cake above was made by first covering it in buttercream.  There are two reasons why you want to cover it in buttercream.  First, it helps insulate the moisture and taste of the cake.  I mean who likes cake without the frosting, right?  Second, it helps to bond the fondant decorations, keeping them from falling off the cake.  The second step is to roll out your fondant and cut out the circles using your cutters.  These are the ones I use... they are made by Wilton.

For the cake above, I used the smallest cutter to make the small circles on the sides of the cake.  And for the top of the cake I used the middle circle.  The middle circle is just big enough to hold a letter inside of it but not to big that it overwhelmes the cake.

This next cake, above, was made using the middle cutter.  The same size was used all around and I was able to create an overlapping effect on top of the cake.  The same marshmallow fondant recipe was used.

Any questions?  Feel free to email me at janet@theprettylittlecakeshop.com

DIY - Fondant Baby Carraiges

This is a babyshower cake, which I'm sure you would guess by seeing the baby carraiges on the side, oh and the Baby sign on top :-)   As I was making it, I couldn't stop thinking at how easy it was to make these little carraiges and I wanted to show YOU!  You can make them yourself and use them to top cupcakes or to decorate your own cakes. 

So here we go...

These are the supplies you'll need, fondant (you can make your own fondant using this recipe from a prior post FONDANT recipe) in 2 colors of your choice. You'll also need round fondant cutters available from Wilton, Icing (color of your choice), #3 tip, pizza cutter, sharp knife or Exacto blade, fondant roller (regular roller is fine as long as the fondant doesn't stick to it).

Roll out your fondant about 1/4" thick and make a cut-out with the large circle.

Next, using your pizza cutter, knife or exacto, cut the circle in half.  You will now have two half circles.

Set one half circle to the side.  Cut one of the half circles in half again.  You should now have these 3 pieces.

Now grab your small circle and cut out two circles. Roll over them a bit to make them a bit bigger.

Take the small circle cutter again and cut out two circles of a different color. 

These are all the pieces you should have.

Using a small brush with a bit of water, brush the back of the smallest circle and then place on top of the bigger circle.  Repeat this step with the other two smallest circles.

When assembling the carraige, you'll have to place it on the cake or on the cupcakes.  You'll place the 1/4 circle on top of the half circle. Then you'll place the two small circles on top of the bottom portion of the half circle.

Now to decorate it...fill your pastry bag with icing and using tip #3, swirl the edges of the carraige.  Actually, you can decorate the carraige any way that you'd like, this is just the way I did it.

And Voila!  You now have a cute baby carraige to use as a decoration for your cake or cupcakes.

DIY - Cupcake-in-a-(cute)Box Shower Favors

Wanna make these?  Here's how!......

These are the supplies you'll need.  I'll show them in a little more detail below.

Ribbon of your choice. I selected a 1 1/2" in, wired ribbon in colors Firefly Copper and Organdy Eggplant. But of course you can choose whatever color

you like and suits the color palate for your event.

This is a single cupcake box.  I purchased this box at a cake shop.  You can also find them on the internet on various cake supply internet stores.

The seals and scalloped hole puncher were both purchased at JoAnn's.  There is such a variety of both seals and hole punchers.  You can easily find something that fits your needs.                                         

The cardstock will be used to paste the seal on.

Punch out the scalloped circle using your hole puncher and stick on the seal.  Set aside.   

Wrap the box with your ribbon and cut right where the ribbon end meets in the middle.

                      Pinch the end of the ribbon to form a triangle at the edge and tape it down using transparent tape.

This is what it should look like.  Sort of like an inside out bow.

Make the back of the cut-out, you set aside, sticky using either tape or glue.  Adhere to the middle of your bow.  And ta da!.....

Now they are ready to be filled with a yummy cupcake and given to your guest as a Thank You for showing up to your party/shower/wedding.   

{DIY} Marshmallow Fondant

So it's been hectic around here and I haven't had a chance to upload any pictures of the new creations we've come up with.  I only have a short period of time before my family and I go on a mini-vacation for Labor Day so I've decided to give you a quick Do-It-Yourself recipe to make your own Marshmallow Fondant.  If you've ever tasted Wilton's Fondant I'm sure you've been dissappointed on the taste and have been reluctant to use it on your cakes.  Well, this recipe is delicious and will help make your works of art look spectacular. 

There are many different recipes out there, some pretty complicated that ask for weird, almost unnatural ingredients.  But this one is so easy and you can find all these ingredients at your local grocery store making it a breeze to make.  Unfortunately, I don't have pictures to include but it's so easy that you can print it out and keep it on hand for future reference.  Here it is....

Ingredients:
16 oz - Bag of mini-marshmallow (purchase the name brand, generic doesn't work well)
2 tbls water
2 tspn Vanilla Butter flavoring
32 oz (2 lb) - Bag of powered sugar (use the C&H brand, other brands use beet sugar which doesn't work well)
1/2 cup - Crisco shortening

Directions:

1) Prep a large, microwave safe, bowl and spatula by covering it with Crisco using a paper towel.  This will prevent the marshmallows sticking to them.
2) Pour in the bag of mini-marshmallows
3) Add 2 tblsp of water
4) Place in microwave for 30 seconds.  Take it out, stir with your Crisco covered spatula.  Put it back into the microwave for another 30 seconds.  Take it out again.  The marshmallows should start getting puffy and should start losing their shape.
5) Stir once more so that all of the marshmallows are melted.
6) Add 2 tspns of Vanilla Butter flavoring and stir well.
7) Let it sit for about 2 minutes so that it has a chance to cool.  You will be kneading the sugar into it with your hands so you must be CAREFUL THAT IT IS NOT HOT or you will burn yourself.
8) Cover your hands in Crisco as well.  The marshmallows will stick to you if you don't. 
9) Pour about half of the bag of powered sugar into the bowl with the melted marshmallows.  Start kneading it in.  Keep pouring sugar and kneading until the marshmallow doesn't stick onto your hands and all of the sugar "balls" are gone.  It should be pliable and soft but not sticky.
10) Roll the marhsmallow "dough" into a ball.
11) Cover it in Crisco and wrap it in plastic wrap.
12) Place it in a plastic bag and store overnight. 

You may add food coloring to it if you'd like.


If you have any questions or something was unclear, send me an email at janet@theprettylittlecakeshop.com .  I will try to clarify.