Mexican Fiesta

 What better way to ring in the summer than with margaritas & mexican food!  If you are planning on throwing a mexican fiesta this summer here is some inspiration. 

Individual 7 Layer Dip.  A friend made this during college & I have been hooked ever since!

Photo Courtesy of: Iowa Girl Eats

Taco Bar Sign

Photo Courtesy of: ETSY

Chips & Different Salsas

Photo Courtesy of: Paper and Party Love

Strawberry Margarita

Photo Courtesy of: Spoonfulofflavor

Mini Taco & Mini Patron Bottles

Photo Courtesy of: Off The Page

Flowers & Tomato Sauce Jars

Photo Courtesy of: The French Bouquet 

Churro Cupcakes

Photo Courtesy Of: Lady Behind The Curtain

Table Setting with pretty tapestry & cactus

Photo Courtesy of: Swandive Tumblr

Black & White Strips

I'm back! after a very long blogging hiatus I have decided to start blogging again. For my first blog post I wanted to share one of my absolute favorite event decor trends: Black & White striped tablecloths. I love how black & white makes any color pop and always looks classic & chic.

Black & White striped table runner with pink accents

 

Black & White striped tablecloth with green and orange accents

Photo Courtesy of: Hostess With The Mostess

Black & White strips with pops of bright colors

Photo Courtesy of: Studio DIY

Black & White strips with pink & gold accents

Photo Courtesy of: wedsociety

Black & White stripped dessert table

Photo Courtesy: Wedding Chicks

Black & White with black polka dot accents

Photo Courtesy: Wedding Chicks 

Pink & Gold Princess Party

These are pictures from a pink and gold princess party photo shot I did. I have seen a lot beautiful pink ombre princess parties on various blogs and websites, which had given me a lot of great ideas so I knew it was time to put those ideas into action.  I also love glitter and wanted to add a little sparkle to the party as well. 

The first thing I did for this party was make the gold crown cupcake toppers. I made the cupcake toppers by cutting crowns out of plain computer paper. I then painted the paper with gold paint and then added glitter to the wet gold paint. I also created gold glitter mason jars, which I made by applying mod podge to the mason jars and then applied glitter to the mod podge. 

I also made a tissue paper tassel garland with gold and different shades of pink tissue paper. I followed this tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f71yVgdmisw to learn how to make the tassels. I then added the tassels to white ribbon. I also made a cake topper by using two pink stripped straws and then added some gold and pink bunting to the straws. This was the one craft project that didn't work out as perfectly as I had hoped it would. The ribbon would not stick to the straws and the bunting didn't stay as straight as I wanted. I definitely will have to keep experimenting to get the cake bunting perfect.

Now for the delicious baked goods! I made cupcakes with pink frosting, a cake with pink ombre frosting, pink cake pops on pink stripped straws, star sugar cookies, pink ombre mini cakes, macaroons that I got from Trader Joe's and pink pudding that I served with pink jewel studded spoons. I decided to put the star sugar cookies on cake pop sticks in order to make the cookies look like princess wands. I made the mini cakes by dividing cake batter into separate bowls and adding food coloring to the different bowls so that the batter was different shades of pink. Once the cakes where baked and cooled I used a 2" round cookie cutter to make the cake into circles. For the pink ombre cake I divided white frosting into different bowls and then added food coloring to make the frosting different shades of pink. I then added the darkest frosting to the bottom of the cake and added the lighter shades to the top of the cake.

Olympics Treats

Now that the 2012 Olympic Games have officially started I wanted to share some fun treats inspired by the olympics. 

1. Champion Chocolate Cake

2. My creation: Betty Crocker vanilla cake mix cupcakes, vanilla frosting and toothpicks with flags. 

3. Edible Olympic Torches 

4. Union Jack Fruit Pizza

Summer Party Menu

My parent's had friends over for dinner the other night and here is the menu I helped them develop. Everything turned out very well and looked pretty.

Appetizers: 
My parents served tortilla chips along with guacamole, regular salsa and corn and chile salsa from Trader Joe's (I have mentioned this salsa in previous blog posts). We also had pretzel crisps and carrots. Very simple, but the different types of salsa looked very pretty together. We also served Jose Cuervo Cranberry Margaritas with appetizers.


Entree:
 New York Strip Steaks: I found a marinade on all-recipes titled "best steak marinade in existence," which is what my dad ended up using on the steaks.

                                        

        Side Dishes:

 Chickpea and Tomato Salad with Fresh Basil

Fingerling Potatoes 

 

 

Dessert:

We served brownies, which we made from Trader Joe's Truffle Chocolate Chip Brownie Mix. We also had coconut ice cream, which we put alongside the brownies.

Lemonade Bar

I have been noticing a lot of pictures of lemonade "bars" and I think they are a wonderful idea for any outdoor party. Serving different types of lemonade in glass drink dispensers looks pretty and is an easy way to add a special touch to your party. Here are some pictures of well-done lemonade "bars" and also information about where you can buy nice looking glass drink dispensers.

Picture courtesy of: Lucy Dylan Weddings

Picture courtesy of: Ruffledblog.com



Glass Drink Dispensers:

Pottery Barn

Williams-Sonoma 

Breakfast bar Ideas

Breakfast bars have become a popular trend for baby showers, bridal showers and even weddings! Here are some beautifully executed breakfast bars.

Charming Farmhouse Brunch Baby Shower from Hostess With The Mostess

Pancake Bar from greenweddingshoes.com

                                               Mimosa Bar from ontobaby.com

Crepe Bar for onecharmingparty.com