Winter Holly Wedding Cake

Three tier buttercream cake features piped snowflakes and holly sprigs made of fondant.  Holly was brushed with luster dust for sheen.

Peanuts and Snoopy Christmas Cupcakes

Vanilla and Chocolate Chocolate Chip cupcakes featuring Christmas designs with the Peanuts characters.  Fondant toppers were cut out and hand decorated using edible ink markers.  Designs included singing kids (Charlie Brown, Lucy, Sally, Frieda, Pig Pen and Linus), plus Snoopy, Woodstock, and the famous Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  Merry Christmas!!!

Poinsettia Cookie Pop Bouquets

Christmas cookie bouquets were six poinsettia shaped cookies on sticks, hand decorated with icing glaze, sugar, edible glitter and melted chocolate.  Each cookie pop was individually wrapped and tied with a bow.  The cookie pops were displayed in a recycled baby formula container wrapped in holiday paper and a fun bow.  The container was filled with sand and rocks (to weight it down) and topped with a circle of styrofoam (to hold the cookies in place) and green shredded paper.  These were made for my daughter's teachers' gifts from her class (gift cards were also added and stuck in with the cookies).  

Christmas at the Stonebargers

Welcome to my living room! I decided to post these photos to give you an idea of how I decorate for the holidays. Now I hosted several events this year, including hosting my family for Christmas eve, so it's a little more over-the-top than normal. But I feel that by really decorating for Christmas, I get into the holiday spirit early and enjoy staying home in the cool weather. My kids also are starting to appreciate my effort. I had finished this room in the evening, so when my 4 year old daughter saw it all done the next morning, she gasped and said "MOM! It's so BEAUTIFUL!" I think that was worth all my hard work.

I tend to use my same decorations every year, but I move things around and pick a different color scheme for different rooms in my house. My main decorations are mostly in traditional red, and I love snowmen and gingerbread stuff. But this year, I incorporated gold into the tree and living room. Last year, I used red with white and went with a peppermint candy theme on the tree. This year, the peppermint stuff went to the dining room with my gingerbread collection. I admit that I did buy some new stuff this year...I was into the nutcrackers this year. (Curse you, Home Goods!) But most of my decor are favorite pieces that I bring out every year.

I also wanted to post these photos to remind everyone that I am available to help YOU decorate for holidays or parties as well. I can use what you already have, or design and pick out all new stuff for you. I can even come over and wrap all your gifts before Christmas.I often have friends come over and say, "wow, will you come do this at my house?" The answer is YES, and I'm affordable. (Are you kidding? A job that combines shopping AND decorating? Yes please.) So keep that in mind for your next special occasion.

Snowman Cookies

These little guys were part of an order for 140 snowman cookies for teacher gifts from a generous PTA. I glazed the homemade sugar cookies with white royal icing and while the icing was still wet, I added M&M buttons, candy canes and mints, and pieces of orange slices for noses. Once the cookies were dry, I added eyes and mouths with an edible marker and wrapped up each little ice man in a cellophane bag wrapped with a little ribbon bow. They turned out darling, and tasty (quality control is the downfall of my diet!)

Gingerbread Castle 2010

You followers out there will remember that we try to make a family gingerbread house every year. So this year, we decided to make something to submit to a real gingerbread competition. This is our edible replica of Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland. Now, I have to admit that it is usually a more family-oriented project, but this year, mommy kind of took over and did about 90% herself.

*** I have received numerous requests for the instructions and templates for this design, but unfortunately I don't have them! This was created for fun and not for mass production. So sorry! ***

Mini Christmas Cupcakes

When my dear friend (and blog-stalker) Heather ordered mini cupcakes for Christmas Eve, I was excited to try to actually decorate them (up to this point, I had only done a swirl of frosting on the minis). And since I use all my friends as guinea pigs, she got some fun and festive mini desserts! I had the idea to add a chocolate-dipped marshmallow head to make a snowman cupcake, and they looked cute (even if they were a little top-heavy!) The hats were a half of a regular Oreo topped with a mini Oreo. And I used sprinkles, fondant, and my trusty food marker to make the faces. I had to do the black and whites in mini for her, since she was such a fan when I first blogged about them. They were a little tricky in miniature, but turned out cute. The holly and snowflakes were cut out of fondant. And the red and green cupcakes were simply rolled in sugar to create a sparkly ball of crunch-covered frosting. I bet they looked cute all together on the buffet table. Thanks Heather! ;)

Birthday Cake for Baby Jesus

This cake was for a fellow mom from my daughter's preschool. She shared with me her family's tradition of getting a birthday cake every Christmas and singing "Happy Birthday" to Baby Jesus. I thought it was so cute, and I was excited to do this special cake. I wanted to do some elegant Christmas decorations around the cake, but then I thought it would be fun to add the guest of honor! So I built a manger and a blanket-wrapped baby out of fondant. The "hay" was flaked coconut tinted with cocoa powder. And I drew in the baby's face with a food marker. The holly leaves I cut out of fondant and painted with a luster dust to get the glittery green color, then added Red Hot candy "berries". The poinsettias were also fondant with gold dragees in the center. And the rest of the decorations I piped with frosting. The cake was my signature "Chocolate Chocolate Chip" (the recipe from which the rest of my cake recipes are based...a family favorite). It was so much fun, and a really special way to end my cake baking season!

Gingerbread Barn

When my husband and I were first married, we decided we'd do an elaborate gingerbread house together every year for the holidays. Of course, with the addition of our son, we have skipped the last couple years. But we are back to our tradition with this year's barn. I think my mom had pulled the instructions out of a magazine from the 80's, and I copied all the patterns and hand cut each piece out of gingerbread cookie dough. The reindeer and santa were all pieced together with 3 layers of cookie to make them 3D. We assembled everything with the traditional royal icing, some tinted dark brown. We also made a red glaze that we painted on the roof and sleigh before decorating with candy, which included candy canes, spearmint leaves, m&ms, silver dragees, and cupcake sprinkles. Everything here is (technically) edible, except for the foil wrappers on the presents in the sleigh (although some of the candy was stale and the dough is doctored a bit to be more sturdy...not as delicious!) It was a big endeavor, and we managed to keep it in tact even with the kids around. Other than a sagging barn roof, it looked as pretty as the picture!

Holiday Decorating - Laguna Beach

I was so excited when my very favorite Doctor called me to ask if I would help her decorate her house for Christmas this year. (Anything to help out the woman who delivered both of my beautiful babies!) She has a beautiful home that just needed a tiny boost of Christmas cheer. So we used all her family decorations and enhanced the traditional Christmas feel with a little bit of fresh greenery, poinsettias, and elegant ribbons. I made several centerpieces and candle holders for various places throughout the house, as well as a few fresh flower arrangements with deep red roses, white stock, white "pom" mums and seeded eucalyptus. I wrapped the beautiful stairway in her entryway with gorgeous embroidered ribbon, fresh cedar garland, berry branches and velvet poinsettias. And the dramatic 6 foot fireplace mantel got a similar treatment with ribbon, poinsettias, and fresh cedar; it was a nice enhancement to show off her family of caroler figures. Their Christmas tree was full of their family ornaments, and I added just a few poinsettias and berry branches to tie it all together. The pops of deep red color worked so well with the dark wood floors and wood beamed ceilings and light color walls of the house. I was honored to be able to be part of her family's holiday this year. Thanks Dr. R! xoxo

Christmas 2009

It's Christmas at my house again! You would think that with an active 19-month old in the house, we wouldn't bother. But the kids are surprisingly good about leaving the decorating (for the most part) alone. I wanted to post these personal photos just to give an idea of my decorating style. Now for my house, I tend to choose a whimsy, peppermint candy and snowman theme for my living room. This is influenced by my kids, but also reflects my taste, as I love "cutesy" and I love snowmen. The regular decor in my house is mainly inspired by Hawaii with a "Tommy Bahama" feel (I would like to think so, anyway!) So before kids, our tree reflected the spirit of Aloha - pineapples, orchids and copper poinsettias. We decided to put our Hawaii tree upstairs this year in our newly remodeled bonus room (and we simply replaced all our green and copper glass bulbs with gold plastic ones). It's been fun to have 2 trees up (actually, we have 5 this year! 3 more small ones in various spots) and really brings the spirit of Christmas to the whole house.

I would love to decorate for other people as well. So if you're interested in help during the holidays, for a special event, or just for everyday decor, contact me for a free quote. I can use your existing decor and add to it, bring in a new color scheme, or replace everything for a fresh new look. Happy Holidays!

Christmas Cupcakes

These were so much fun to do. For those of you who are afraid to use fondant, don't be! It's like edible playdough for grown-ups. And with a few cookie cutters, it makes some really cute cupcake toppers! These cupcakes were for fun and practice, and I wanted some Christmas designs to feature on the blog, so my husband's staff at work had a really nice week! They are always so grateful when he brings in treats.

I made 4 designs, all using fondant. The gingerbread men (on gingerbread cupcakes) were cut out of fondant and I piped icing details on top. For the holly cupcakes (red velvet cake), I cut the holly leaves out of fondant and brushed them with a metallic green luster dust. The holly berries were red hot candies. The candy canes (on peppermint cookies and cream cupcakes) I actually rolled out of fondant (then decided a real candy cane would have been just as cute and much less work - but I'm playing with techniques here). And the poinsettias (on yellow spice cupcakes) I also cut from fondant and piped the yellow centers with icing. All the cupcakes got some festive sprinkles to give a little sparkle. They were a big hit, and the perfect way to get in the mood for the holidays!

Christmas Cookie Gifts

I made these cookies for my daughter's friends for Christmas. They are my homemade sugar cookies with a thin layer of royal icing and decorated with candies (sprinkles, M&Ms and candy canes). I packaged the cookies in clear cellophane bags with simple ribbon and a tag. They turned out really cute and were well received by the kids (and their parents!) Cookie gifts with candy decorations start at $2.00 each.

Hawaiian Christmas Tree

This is the Hawaiian Christmas tree that I usually put up in our family room as a second tree. Yes, a second tree is a little extravagant, but we always put the live tree in the living room and then spend all our time in the family room. So we purchased a fake flocked tree (since both my husband and I always wanted a flocked tree as a kid and neither of us ever got our wish!) and carried our "Tommy Bahama" home decorating style into Christmas. I love the copper and green color scheme and all the pineapple ornaments that we've collected over the years. I top this tree with a bow and stems of silk orchids and copper branches. It may be a few years before we see this tree in our home again, since all the bulbs are glass and Jackson (my 8 month old son) is already a handful!

Christmas Decorating

This is our living room decorated for Christmas this year. I went with a peppermint/candyland theme this time. Luckily, my 2 year old daughter has never been one to bother the Christmas tree. I love to bring out all my holiday decorations each year...it gets us in the Christmas spirit every time we walk through the room. I would love to start decorating other people's homes for the holidays. I can use your existing decorations and add a little sparkle of my own. Or let me design a whole new look and buy some new pieces for your home. I also do custom gift wrapping, hand-tied bows, and floral arrangements and centerpieces.

Snowflake Cupcakes

This is my favorite new idea for extravagant cupcakes. I made these cupcakes for a first birthday party with a winter theme. Each cupcake is topped with homemade buttercream frosting, sparkle sugar, and sugar cookie, which I baked from scratch and decorated with a thin layer of sparkly blue royal icing and piped white frosting details. My sugar-addict husband, who is "never satisfied" by a measly little cupcake, really loved this idea where he could top his cupcake off with a cookie chaser. They were so elegant and quite delicious, if I do say so myself. I thought it was a cool way to dress up a cupcake. (Prices start at $4.50 per cookie cupcake)

Snowman Cake

This was a snowman cake I made to bring to a Christmas party last year. He turned out so cute with his gumdrop buttons, candy cane broom, piped frosting details, and coconut "snow" coating. The party hostess ended up using him as a centerpiece for her holiday table. In fact, I'm not sure she ever ate the cake. Too bad, the one we made for us was tasty!

Gingerbread House (2006)

Gingerbread! Every year we (try to) make a gingerbread house as a family. This piece from 2006 was about 2' x 3' (in total) and about 2' high. This is actually a replica of my own house, complete with our two dogs (piped in icing) on the front lawn. I created a template by taking photos of the house, creating cardboard templates for all the walls and the roof, and cutting & assembling each piece from homemade gingerbread cookies and royal icing. We used (to name a few) ice cream cones, candy canes, licorice ropes, mini m&m's, gumdrops and starlight mints to decorate. We even used green sugar sprinkles for grass, "nerds" candy for pebble walkways, fruit leather for the roof, and white and green royal icing for the details. We have done similar showpieces for Halloween, Easter and we're thinking about a Valentine's house this year (we just didn't get to our gingerbread this Christmas, so check back in late January!) They last for months (if you can keep little nibblers away) and they make the house smell fantastic. If anyone is interested in a complete custom gingerbread house, please contact me for pricing.