Graduation Party Centerpieces

It was such a nice break to do something that didn't involve washing any dishes! These centerpieces were for a graduation party for a Laguna Beach High School grad. My challenge was to create some festive centerpieces for a grad party that could be used again the following week for another grad party. I usually do fresh flowers for centerpieces, but with the multi-party aspect and the fact that 17 year old football player didn't really say "roses" to me, I decided to go another direction. So I did 5 different centerpieces for dining tables that incorporated personal photos and the school colors of maroon and white. I made 2 that were "beachy" with sand, shells, and synthetic coral and sparkly plant life. I made 2 more that were school-related (real apples in fish bowl vases, pennants and "2010"s). And the last centerpiece had a cool graphic photo that the grad had used to campaign for class president. I played of that photo and went with all red filler, apples on sticks, and a little blackboard sign. I also added some touches that evoked 4th of July with the sparkly stars in red and silver and picks that simulated fireworks. I was really thrilled with how they came out...they really set the tone for the party. They were fun, but still elegant and personal. Congratulations Ryan! Good luck in your future endeavors.

Graduation Cap Cake

So this was one of those cakes where the client said "I trust your designs" and let me just figure something out, giving me the colors to use and the graduate's name only. I decided to try an angled-top cake (like those topsy-turvy tiered cakes) and I was pleasantly surprised. It turned out cool, even if the mortar board covered most of it. The square top was just a piece of cardboard that I covered with fondant and stuck on top of the fondant covered cake. The button and tassel I also molded out of fondant, and I used cookie cutters to create the "2010" and "GRAD" on top. Then I piped the rest in white frosting. The cake was lemon with vanilla-lemon custard filling. It was a relatively simple design, but now I'm ready to try a topsy-turvy cake... any takers?

Chocolatey Chocolate Cupcake Tower

These cupcakes were for a retirement party with a racing theme. The request was for "very chocolatey" cupcakes so I talked them into an assortment of my different chocolate cakes. I made 3 cake flavors (chocolate chocolate chip, black and white, and cookies & cream) and 2 frosting flavors (vanilla and chocolate). Since it was a racing theme, I thought the black and white cupcakes would be cute, and I even sprinkled white and black sugar on each corresponding cake flavor. I couldn't find any checkered flag toothpicks, so I made a few for the top tier of the tower to play on the theme (if you give me a theme, I am very thorough!) I set them all out on my handy-dandy dad-made cupcake stand and they looked fantastic (but smelled even better!) And now I know that my cupcake stand holds 125 cupcakes - very cool.

Lemon Themed Cupcakes

These cupcakes were for a retirement party, and while the party didn't have a real "theme", the client asked me to match the colors of her plates and napkins, which were blue, green and had lemons. I did very simple flowers on white sugar sprinkles for the chocolate chocolate chip and carrot cupcakes, and added lemon wedge candy to the tops of the lemon cupcakes. Simple and elegant. And delicious. (I forget how much I love carrot cake!)

Teacher Cupcakes

This was a dozen cookies and cream cupcakes I created for an end of school gift for a teacher. The best part was that it was for a teacher friend of mine! I thought it was a cute idea for a teacher gift (and believe me, I've seen a lot of teacher gifts - not all good) I decided to go with a "school's out for summer" theme, complete with beach cupcakes (I use sugar in the raw over frosting for sand), summer suns (with chocolate details), red apples (with fondant leaves and stems). Then I added the "no school" cupcakes piped in frosting, as well as a couple of cupcakes personalized for the recipient. My teacher friend was so excited (I knew her favorite cake flavor) and I know this is one teacher gift that won't go to the white elephant gift exchange at the Christmas party (yes, I know about that!) ;)

Fathers' Day Cake

I thought this was such a nice idea for a party and also for a cake. My dear friend Stephanie threw a Fathers' Day party to celebrate all the Dads in her life - her husband, dad, grandpa, uncles, brothers-in-law. So we felt like each of the dads should get their own "piece" of the cake. So she and her sister drew out some ideas on a paper napkin while they dined together and brought the paper napkin to me! And I created this cake with 7 fondant panels which represented each of the dads at the party. To keep the cake looking cohesive, I kept the colors similar, using brown, blue, yellow and orange as the main colors, with a couple others mixed in. With all the busy-ness of the design, I decided to cover the cake in white fondant. The cake was coconut cream and cookies & cream, all covered with a layer of vanilla icing. Once all the panels were attached and decorated with fondant details, I used a dark chocolate icing to write every one's name and outline each of the panels. Then I topped the cake with fondant letters and attached stars dangling on wires. I was happy with way it turned out, as was the family. I was more happy that I had leftover coconut cupcakes! Let the diet start NEXT week.

Jungle Baby Shower Cake

This little baby shower cake was based on a darling jungle invitation (see top photo). I made a cookies and cream cake with vanilla custard filling and vanilla icing. The cake got a layer of white fondant (I figured that I'd better start with white since the rest would be pretty colorful). Then I pieced together 3 trees around the sides with brown and green fondant. Next I added the animals: a giraffe, a monkey, birds and some butterflies. I filled in the empty space with different sized flowers and piped the chocolate frosting border at the top and bottom of the cake. I molded the larger elephant in blue fondant to match the invitation, then the baby girl elephant in pink to follow mama (the concept was a suggestion from the client! too cute!) And the pink banner with the guest of honor's name was the cake's finishing touch. I thought this cake turned out so bright and cheerful! What an adorable theme for a shower.