Showing posts with label pumpkin ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pumpkin ideas. Show all posts

Monday, December 12, 2011

Christmas Baking Party-12 Days till Chirstmas

There is nothing like receiving a box of homemade goodies in the mail that are packaged cute for your enjoyment!  So this year Cherry Kissed and Friends teamed up to make amazingly delish goodies to send all over the country (to our neighbors and close friends) as their Christmas gifts.  It was a way to give something special, cute, and inexpensive to a lot of people we love.


Click Picture to get the Peppermint Stick Cocoa Jar recipe!



   The goodies we made included: White and Dark Chocolate Dipped Pretzels with Toppings, Cookie Cutter Fudge, Saltine Toffee, Grandma's Tomato Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Jars, Mom's Pumpkin Can Bread, and Peppermint Stick Cocoa in Jars!



Some of all the goods! You will need LOTS of space, it’s helpful to set up stations)


 Just to give you an idea, it took three of us ladies approximately 7 hours to complete this task.  Baking, making, creating, decorating, making tags, wrapping, cooking, cleaning, and separating!! With probably another couple of hours for grocery shopping the week before.  We also had to multiply our recipes to get the amounts we wanted.  It was a good lesson in math and creative skills.  None the less, you can do this. It’s super fun and we were all REALLY thrilled with how much we got to take home and send off as adorable gifts that you can't buy in the stores.



Out of everything we made, my favorite (and the items I will continue to make) are Michelle's Saltine Toffee.  It was sooo good and incredibly easy, fast, and inexpensive.  

Click for Recipe: A MUST try! Packaging:Zip-locks with Scrap-booking paper printed on,cut, then stapled:)


The Cocoa Jars were so adorable and took no cooking time at all. They may be a little bit more expensive then some of our other goodies, but still not bad considering they’re tasty and cute!



My other favorite was the Dipped Pretzels because you can make them look so darn cute and the few ingredients can make a TON.


No recipe needed, just dip pretzels in chocolate, almond bark, or candy melting chocolate.  Melting chocolate worked better than regular chips. Right after you dip them in the chocolate put them down on parchment paper and decorate them with anything you like! Coconut would have been cute or mini white chips!  We used Andie’s mint chips, mini chocolate chips, mini M&M’s, Heath chips, and Gingerbread crumbs.


The last but not least favorite of mine was the Cookie Cutter Fudge because we poured the fudge right into foil lined cookie cutters and then decorated, refrigerated, and wrapped them up. After they cool you can remove the foil lining the bottom of each cutter and wrap it up in whatever you want to give out.  It also made a ton!! And the cookie cutters come with the fudge as part of your gift!

Click for Recipe! Easy Peesy fun!


 For the Cookie Cutter Fudge, we got our cutters at Trader Joe’s.  You can get three for a dollar! Wal-Mart couldn't even beat that; there's sold for $2.99 for three cookie cutters.


Fun picture of our Pretzel Stick Assembly Lineup! Shows you how much space you REALLY need!





Those were my top favorites. I loved that we did my Mom's Pumpkin Bread Can's and Kendall's Grandma’s Tomato Spice Cake Jars but I feel they were a lot more work for what you get. But they are really special, so it was worth the extra work! Just start saving up good cans from soups or coffee way in advance for the Mom's Pumpkin Bread recipe.


Finished Pumpkin Breads! They are so cute! My mom would be proud:)



Kendall's Grandma's Layered Spice Cake turned out AMAZING! Gosh, these  little guys are so cute, it’s hard to eat them! Because they have cream cheese frosting, keep them refrigerated. WE scooped the cake and frosting in layers into mason jars.  They are an amazingly special gift to give and especially to receive.  I'm sure there are lots of other cakes you could do this technique with of layering in a jar.  *What we found out to work the best is to use the smaller wide mouth mason jars. That way you can really get your cake in the jar as clean as possible. *It would have also been nice to have a pastry piping bag to get the icing in there a little easier too! Already I had friends see the pictures of these and they hoped they were receiving this as a gift.  Maybe we should have made more.

Finished Pretzel Sticks Bagged up! 


Don't forget the parchment paper needed to cover everything as you prep and lots of cute tags and bags to label all your cute goodies. It really adds that special unique touch! Good luck with your baking extravaganza's this Christmas season. Can't wait to hear what you create.  Do you have any good ideas you want to share?  Please comment on our blog or facebook so that others can learn from your good ideas as well.  

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I am Thankful For: Martha Stewart {Day 2}

Today and everyday day I am so thankful for MARTHA STEWART!!  http://www.marthastewart.com/  
Every thing Martha does is perfect! I love her show, her magazines and her great user friendly web site to give you inspiration.

This blog in particular will give you simply, unique, fun Thanksgiving Table setting ideas to get your guests or family really feeling thankful to be at your table!  Even adorable kids tables to boot...

Here's a simple idea if you have glass plate, just slip a real or fake leaf underneath and walah! Cute plate setting! 



Doesn't this look familiar?  We spray painted pumpkins for decoration all over for our Fall High Tea and for Halloween decor on the porch! Easy peasy...and here is Martha using them for her tables...




Don't forget the kidos! It's no Thanksgiving with out the excitement a little one brings for turkey and sweet potato pie. Here is the most adorable and teachable table setting for the wee ones.  Teach the kid's the Mayflower story as they embark on there table settings! 




Paper Pilgrims Table: Create a Mayflower centerpiece for the kid's table by lashing a watercolor paper sail to wooden dowels and anchoring it in a small, pebble-filled pail. Paper bonnets and hats are easy to craft with these printable templates. (again thank you Martha!)



I just wish I was having a sit down Thanksgiving Feast so I could make these adorable place setters! Next year...


Were all about easy and affordable or FREE! Go on a brisk walk around the block and if your as blessed as we are in Northern California you can collect these Fall colored leaves to create name tags for your table! +Black paper and white pen = done!



Visit Martha Stewart's website for even more Thanksgiving ideas..Let us know what YOU are thankful for?? - Nicole

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Intimate Backyard Tea

Pyxie Productions of Roseville: Photography
We threw a "Fall Backyard Tea Birthday Party" (that's a mouth full!) for our friend and client, Heather, this last weekend.  We spent many weeks planning this event and thinking about all of the little details. We met with Heather multiple time and had unlimited contact with her to keep the lines of creativity going to get exactly what Heather wanted with still a few surprises in store for her that day.

Nicole keeps telling me that God is on our side with this business because little things happen all the time to make each event special.  Before this specific event we worried about getting good photos of all the details and hard work we had put into the party, but luck was on our side that day.  We randomly got a call from Jaymie from Pyxie Productions Photography in Roseville.  She had seen our business card in Shady Coffee.  On the whim she decided to call us and see if she could work with us and she was willing to came out and take some pics of our party.  So, enjoy a few good pics below.

About this party:

Heather wanted a party in her backyard where she could invite her closest friends for a tea. She wanted a fall theme and she wanted some fun details like an option for her guests to dress up.  Heather was a great client because she basically let us take creative license with the decorations.  She just wanted a great menu, pumpkins incorporated, and some fun games.  We were on a limited budget so we came up with some fun inexpensive ideas.  We incorporated a tea time trivia game and a game about the Birthday girl.  We spent time on a lot of little details like gold framed pictures, gold painted pumpkins, gold framed mirrors, and lace and burlap in other areas. Lace & burlap lined the tables, and pumpkins hid in many corners.  We also handmade tags for all the tea pots and food.  We found some great gold fabric leaves that we stamped with the word 'Joy' and put under each tea cup.  Each setting of tea had a classic original china setting that has been around for years in Nicole's family line.  As always, we love to rent from our dear friend Marci from Sacramento Vintage Crockery Rentals for all her cute unique things that add flare and fun to our tables.  We were able to get some crystal jam jars and extra tea pots from her for this event.




The favors for the guests were mini pumpkins signed with fun saying from the birthday girl.  We decided to make a mini pumpkin patch to display the cute pumpkins.  Each guest was asked to go pick their favorite and take it home with them.



We had a delicious fall menu that included butternut squash soup, Fat Cat scones, classic tea sandwiches, pumpkin cookies, and some amazing teas.  We found the most yummy Chocolate Mint Black Tea that was so delish it didn't even need sugar.

Heather did not want a traditional birthday cake so we ended up having an amazing cake from Ettore's Bakery of Sacramento.  It was a Tiramasu Birthday Cake with some Cherry Kissed Flare!  We made a special birthday flag that was displayed on a cute twig.  We also paired the cake with a tea cup full of flowers and fall leaves.



We put so much time and effort in all the details of this special party. We wanted the perfect touches that showed Heather's guests just how much they meant to her.  Many of the guests commented on what a great party it was and Heather was so pleased at how everything turned out!  Some even said it was the best party they had ever been too!  We could not ask for a better compliment.  We want to thank everyone who came and our great vendors for helping us out.


Celebrations Rentals of Roseville: Chair Rentals


-Kendall Burley

Enjoy the pics: