Printable Paradise- a $100 Giveaway for PRINT YOUR PARTY!

Whilst cruising one of my fave party blogs Pizzazerie this morning I came across a contest for PRINT YOUR PARTY!

PYP specializes in creative event stationary, with endless options for personalizing your event.

Since I spend a great deal of time searching DIY printables on Etsy, this site was some serious eye candy for me!

I just love being able to use stationary to continue a theme throughout the whole party- from the invitations to the favors, to buffet cards, and so much more!

With several little soirees to plan this spring/summer before baby comes, I will be sure to use PYP for those special touches!

PYP is giving away a $100 shopping spree for their site- see Pizzazerie for contest details!

Happy Printing!



Sweet Finds- Easter Goodies

With Easter coming up I thought I'd post some of the sweet things I've found out there...I may or may not get a chance to make some goodies for this weekend, but if not, here is some eye candy to drool over in the meantime.

From Bake It Pretty check out these little Easters boxes to pack up & deliver your home made treats (or pick up some pastries, and re-package them in these;)

Large Bunny Boxes

And these 

Small Egg Boxes

 Or for bakeware, there is this silicone baking mold from Wilton, so sold primarily at Michaels but Homesense carries it too.

My girlfriend gave me this pan as a gift, and every year I forget its there, so this might be the year I try it out- I'll let you know how it goes!

Egg Pan

From good old Etsy...(where I spend a fair bit of time & money), here are some cute Easter printables.

I just love printables, especially the editable ones that you can reuse whenever you like. 

They are a must for a dessert table, but can be a great way to spruce up a get together at home, or in this case, your Easter dinner/dessert table.

This set is from LeslieMarieDesigns and here is a link to this listing on Etsy

And lastly, here is a great DIY project for decorating your own (grown up) Easter eggs from one of my fave blogs The Hostess with the Mostess.

Enjoy & Happy Easter to everyone, and at the very least, let's all enjoy the long weekend!

Cake Pops!

Well this week was the week for cake pops, three orders for a total of 11 dozen!
I did red velvet, double chocolate, vanilla and lemon.
Here are some pics & a little step by step if you are interested in trying them at home:
And for more cake pop inspiration and other great baking projects, be sure to check out Bakerella.


First I start with some fresh baked cakes (I bake from scratch, while if you just want to do the pops, and in a hurry, I've talked to several bakers that just work with cake mixes and that works just fine for them).

Crumble the cake up - I use a wooden spoon, but I imagine you could use your mixer. Once the cake is crumbled fine add your icing ( a little at first). Just until you get a good sticky consistency and the cake crumbs stick together.

Then roll them out like so (below- I know they look like meatballs but they are red velvet). I use whatever icing I feel like...cream cheese icing, vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream- totally up to you.

Then freeze - I sometimes freeze them over night, but you could freeze for just an hour or two until frozen solid.

Once your pops are frozen solid melt a little chocolate so you can dip the lollipop sticks in it & into the pops. For chocolate I use whatever I have on hand- Callebaut chocolate,  Bakers Secret, Wiltons Candy Melts, or chocolate candy melts from wherever else I can get my hands on them!
Once your sticks are in throw them back in the freezer for a few more minutes until they've hardened up again.
Melt a bit more chocolate/candy melts you may need to thin out the chocolate with a dash of vegetable oil- but whatever you do DO NOT ADD WATER!
Just until you get the right consistency- I personally like mine thick for a nice thick coat on the cake pops.


Then have fun dipping your cake pops! You can stand them up in a piece of styrofoam to dry, or face down on a piece of wax paper, depending on how you plan to serve them.

Have fun & let me know how it goes!

Here's a pic of one of my 'guinea pigs' 

Cake pops for a birthday party at an art studio 
(4Cats in Coquitlam), complete with cake board palette.

80's Theme 30th Birthday Cake

A 30th Birthday cake ordered by an old friend & classmate of mine.

Shannon had a clear vision for how she would like this cake to look, and I was happy to oblige!

The '3' is solid rice krispies, and the '0' is vanilla cake with vanilla swiss meringue bc.

(with soy milk instead of milk throughout).

This started out as a much smaller project and then I went a little overboard so I ended up making double the serving size than planned..oops! But who complains about too much cake? I thought so!

Anyway Happy Birthday Lexi!

Old School Nintendo Cake

In keeping with the 'gag' cakes I make for my siblings on their birthdays, here is a Nintendo cake for my baby brother.

This was the first cool system we had in the house (well I briefly had an Atari, and he still doesn't know what that is)...then it was on to Super Nintendo, Sega, and lord knows what cool game systems he has now!

Anyway the cake is choc with choc swiss meringue bc, and the controller is made of rice krispies.

Happy Birthday Beez!!

Pink Gerbera Daisy Bridal Shower Cake

A bridal shower cake that incorporates the wedding colors of hot pink & black and the Gerbera daisies that they'll be using.

Cake is chocolate fudge with choc swiss meringue bc.

Congratulations Jolene!

iPod Touch Cake

An iPod touch cake ordered for a 15yr old who can't have the real thing just yet :)

Here is a vanilla cake filled with vanilla swiss meringue bc.

Happy 15th Birthday Paige!

Shrek Cake

Stoked that I was asked to make a Shrek birthday cake for little Adam's bday- I just love Shrek...because they are great movies, and I pretty much love anything touched by Mike Myers too!

Anyway Shrek's face is made of chocolate fudge cake, and filled with vanilla swiss meringue bc.

Happy 2nd Birthday Adam!

Moose Knuckle Cake

Yes ...its what you are thinking !! A good friend of mine ordered this for her bf who wears a uniform for work...well it gives him a less than flattering appearance to the 'crotchal' region...yup, a good old moose knuckle...so since his co-workers enjoy calling him this, it was only fitting that he got a moose knuckle cake for his bday.

Can't say I'd ever made one before (who has really), but I gave it my best shot....and just a warning...don't google 'moose knuckle' from a work computer ...cause there are very few pics of real moose knuckles...just sayin'!

Anyway..cake is chocolate fudge with swiss meringue buttercream filling.

'Accessories' are molded out of fondant.

Happy Birthday Jason!