He Loves Me | A Daisy Bridal Shower

Spring is clearly in full swing over here today.  I had such fun collaborating on this daisy bridal shower with my favorite partners in crime: Cakewalk Baking and Sherry Heck Photography.  Maybe you saw it featured last week over on The Sweetest Occasion?  Cyd is a doll and her blog is truly my favorite daily dose of pretty, so I can't thank her enough for such a beautiful feature.

Remember those carefree days of picking petals in the grass and dreaming of your true love?  You know, 'he loves me... he loves me not... he loves me!'. We were inspired by that innocent childhood memory to create a fresh take on a classic bridal shower with pops of bright colors in spring green, bold yellow and crisp white. All of the details to help create this shower are below. We hope you love it as much as we do.

Daisy Petals Invitation: I designed this invitation (available here) as a fun way to kick off the daisy theme and make guests smile with nostalgia. For an added pop of color, line the envelopes by tracing the envelope pattern onto a favorite piece of scrapbook paper, then trim down and insert.

He Loves Me Banner: We used a Silhouette machine to cut out the letters for the banner (which could also be accomplished by hand cutting). Strung with baker’s twine across the table, it added the perfect sweet and romantic touch.

Daisy Fans: Simple tissue fans doubled as giant daisies when placed in a scattered pattern above the serving table. They are lightweight enough to be affixed to the wall with just a bit of double stick tape or glue dots.

Daisy Cake & Cookies: Created by Michele of Cakewalk Baking, treats included a show stopping two tiered fondant covered daisy cake, sparkling sugar cookies and lemon tartlets topped with fresh whipped cream and candied lemon slices.

Spiked Lemonade: Traditional lemonade is always a refreshing beverage option, but for a more sophisticated twist, try this recipe for a sparkly spiked version: Simply combine 4c lemonade with 1c seltzer water, 1c vodka and a tbsp of lemon zest and stir. Garnish with a lemon wedge and either a sprig of fresh herbs or a single daisy.

DiY Tea Towels: Instead of traditional shower games, surprise the bride to be by having guests create unique a keepsake for her home- hand painted tea towels. This project is easily competed during the shower by providing a station with white flour sack towels, craft paints, stencils, brushes and washi tape. Guests can exercise their own creativity or use the tape and stencils to create a simple pattern.

Potted Daisy Favors: Thanks a bunch! These pretty potted daisies can double as centerpieces during the shower, but make a wonderful favor to send home with guests. Once home they can be transported into the ground, to grow and bloom with the marriage to come.

Credits
Styling: Cakewalk Baking + CAKE.
Photography: Sherry Heck Photography
Printable Invite + Graphics: Merry Happy by CAKE.
Cake & Baked Goods: Cakewalk Baking
Paper Fans: The Tomkat Studio
Daisy Gift Wrap: Paper Source


All images are ©Merry Happy by CAKE. and are for personal use only. If sharing them on your site, please credit CAKE. events blog and link directly to this post.

Hooray for Baby! A Baby Shower Brunch

Last month I put together a small baby shower to celebrate three dear friends who all happen to be pregnant at the same time.  The 'Hooray for Baby!' theme started oddly enough as the subject of an e-mail I sent wishing them congratulations.  The more I thought on it, the more it felt like the perfect concept for a shower.  Because two of the moms-to-be opted not to find out what they're having, I picked a gender neutral palette of mint green + yellow.  I've always loved these colors for spring, and they worked especially well for an outdoor brunch.  I wanted to keep things simple and budget friendly, so I put together my own menu and a few DiY projects to make the morning special... 

The little floral arrangements were created from baby food jars that I partially dipped in mint green paint.  I wasn't sure how it would work out, but the effect was charming and allowed me the opportunity to send one home with each guest.

My favorite project to make was actually the tassel poms, a new take on the popular tassel garlands.  I created the tassels from this tutorial, and fixed them to wooden dowels with a bit of hot glue.  They looked great as a centerpiece on the brunch table and held up well when waved around as pom-poms. (Okay sure, the shower was for grown ups, but these would be a great activity to make with your kids!).  I even used the extra tissue to make bits of confetti and tossed it along the table... hooray indeed. 

 

The brunch menu included the following: Zucchini Tart w/ Smoked Gouda + Tomato*, Chicken Apple Sausage, Mixed Berries with Greek Yogurt and Pecan Granola, 'Baby' Lemon Muffins with Cream Cheese* and Grapefruit Spritzers (2/3 grapefruit juice + 1/3 sparkling water with lime) to drink.  See below for recipes with an *.

For dessert, Michele of Cakewalk Baking served as my partner in crime once again and baked up the most moist & delicious yellow cake with chocolate frosting... and as a special treat she brought over some incredible homemade french macarons.  Just for fun, I designed a set of hooray bunting flags and strung them across the cake between paper straws.  I also ordered custom megaphone cookies from Auntie Bea's Bakery with a script hooray to coordinate with the invitation- they were a huge hit!

The favors were ribbon trimmed burp cloths that I made with Michele's help (because I can't sew to save my life), to which I attached custom 'Hooray for Mamas!' pennant flags.  The sticks are actually just wooden rock candy sticks, ordered from Confetti Sunshine. 
 

I have Sherry Heck to thank for all the beautiful photos of the shower details.  As special treat for the moms though, I offered up a little maternity photo shoot for each of them after brunch.  I never had maternity photos taken while I was pregnant with my daughter and I regret not having made it a priority... so I thought it would make a nice keepsake whether or not they were professionally done.  The last image is one I took of all three soon to be moms together.  You've gotta love that they unintentionally coordinated in ombre shades of blue. 

Credits
Graphic Design & Party Styling: CAKE.
Cake & Macarons: Cakewalk Baking
Cookies: Auntie Bea's Bakery
Rock Candy Sticks, Paper Straws, Cupcake Liners: Confetti Sunshine
Photography: Sherry Heck

 

Zucchini Breakfast Tart w/ Smoked Gouda

adapted from Food Network

Ingredients 

1 sheet (half of a 17-ounce package) frozen puff pastry

2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 (14-ounce) can ready-cut diced tomatoes, well drained

4 large eggs

1 cup grated smoked gouda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions 

Remove the puff pastry from the package and let thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until no longer frozen but still cool. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook 5 minutes, or until the onion is slightly tender. Stir in the zucchini and saute just until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Mix in the drained tomatoes and raise the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring often, until the zucchini is tender but not mushy and the juices have evaporated. Let cool.

Lightly butter a dark-colored 9-inch tart pan. On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry into an 11-inch square. Fit it into the tart pan. Trim off the overhanging pieces of pastry with scissors. Refrigerate the crust, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or up to 8 hours, covered.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the cheese, salt, pepper, and cooled vegetables. Spoon the mixture into the tart pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pastry is brown and a knife inserted in the center of the tart comes out clean.

Let the tart cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before slicing. It is best to serve this tart very warm rather than piping hot.

--

‘Baby’ Lemon Muffins with Cream Cheese

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons (packed) grated lemon peel

 1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup whole milk

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Add grated lemon peel and juice. Mix in dry ingredients alternately with milk.

Pour batter into lined mini muffin cups. Bake about 12-15 minutes, until toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean.

When muffins have cooled, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until texture is light and whipped like frosting. Add to piping bag and pipe onto muffins.

Merry Happy by CAKE. | Hooray for Baby!

I've been excited to share this baby shower since I hosted it, and last week I finally had the time I needed to pull everything together (I've been amazed at what I've already been able to accomplish with just a few extra hours each night).  I thought I'd offer up a preview of the invitation I designed... it's one of my favorites to date and I've just added it to my Esty shop.  I love the way the stripes look with the iconic megaphone, don't you?  Tomorrow I'll be sharing the actual shower I put together, and it's also going to be featured on Bump Smitten... Elizabeth has a wonderful blog filled with inspiring baby shower details, so please be sure to head over and check it out!

photo © merry happy by cake. 

A Rustic Ranch Wedding

Katie + Kyle were married at Holland Ranch, a beautiful venue in San Luis Obispo.  I simply loved all their charming rustic details, captured and submitted by Danielle Capito Photography... from the antique book centerpieces (since they are both English teachers), to the mason jars, monograms and fresh wheat.

photos © danielle capito photography

Venue: Holland Ranch
Event Planner: Sassy Celebrations
Floral Designer: Lori Boe
Cake Designer: Cakes by Judy
Cinema and Video: Jonathan Conflenti

All in the Details | Balloons

I thought we'd try something new on for size this week. Since we're all about celebrating the details here, I've been curating some of my favorites into mini inspiration boards. If you like this new format, we'll add it to CAKE. as a semi-regular feature... so how about some feedback, if you please? 

We begin with a classic that works for all kinds of happy occasions.  I mean, it's pretty hard not to be happy when holding a balloon... but they're even more wonderful when dressed up in their party best.

photos (top to bottom) via: sugar lander // nickonken // geronimo // an open sketchbook // jenna rae cakes // brooklyn bride // oh, hello friend