Creative, custom cake...from a box!

For our glamping extravaganza this past weekend I wanted a unique birthday cake that didn't cost a fortune. I'm a self professed baker-wannabe, I def don't know my way around a scratch cake mix, I bake from a box - there I said it. So, I had to pull out all of the other stops I could think of to make up for my baking inadequacies; a theme, edible custom topper, a friend with mad icing skills and food colouring! 

Do you love that my GF matches the cake? 

Nothing says fashionable-great outdoors like Canada's chic Hudson's Bay Co. I dreamt up the idea to colour each layer of the cake to match the brands signature stripes (many a rainbow cake have come across my Pinterest feed lately...an idea was born).

Of course I went right to my fave resource Etsy, to seek out a creative genius who could recreate the Bay's logo (with a small tweak to the date to represent the year the hubs was born) and add in a birthday message. The TopACake shop turned my logo around in hours and it was a flawless match! I was nervous about the application of the frosting sheet, but this sheet was sturdy and literally peel n' stick.

Cutting into the middle was the most exciting part! The reveal of these multicoloured layers was a fun surprise - TIP: for rich colour use food colouring gel, I used the drops and didn't quite get the dark colours I was going for.

I couldn't have been more pleased with this custom cake masterpiece, and the best part is the total costs was less than $30 (custom cake topper was only $10!!).  Not bad for this Betty Crocker connoisseur.

CHIC, BUDGET FRIENDLY THANKSGIVING TABLESCAPE

It's amazing what kind of decorating goodness you can find around the house when you put your mind to it. I wanted to whip up a budget friendly, but still ultra gorg, tablescape for our Thanksgiving festivities, using items I already owned.

On hand; our wedding china (always use it when I can), white cloth napkins (an absolute staple when it comes to entertaining), fancy gold glassware (you can never have too many glasses), mason jars (if you don't own a few, stop reading this and go out and buy them right now!) and good old kraft paper (so many uses).

I filled in the gaps with some seasonal foliage (only $10.99) and spiced them up (pun intended) with some cinnamon sticks - these normally just sit in my cupboard because I generally have absolutely no idea what to do with them!?

The cinnamon sticks made another appearance as a decorative place setting detail on the napkins; simply wrap 3 sticks with twine, and place, that's it.

I scattered the table with mini white pumpkins ($3) and a couple candles to add sparkle. I got really adventurous (not) and painted a bit of gold on a green gourd ($5); gold is my world!

And there you have it, for approximately $20 out of pocket, I made a pretty, seasonal tablescape out of items I already own.  Try it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

FETE || inspired by provence

Hello! Right now I’m in Provence (well at least that’s where I’m supposed to be accordingly to the carefully crafted schedule).  I’m most excited about taking in the lovely French countryside and enjoying a slower way of life. Entertaining in Provence would be so easy, the countryside as your backdrop, fresh lavender stuffed into vases, and the purest ingredients straight from the local market.

This is what al fresco dining in Provence looks like to me…  

How to pull it off:

Create the Perfect Cheeseboard         Linen Table Runner              Lavender Cupcake Recipe 

FETE || inspired by paris

Bonjour, I’m in Paris now, likely stuffing myself full of cheese and baguette and falling in love all over again.  When I think of Paris I think of Versaille, when I think of Versaille I picture myself as Marie Antoinette living the luxe life of decadence. 

This is what my Parisian dinner party would look like….

How to pull it off:

 

        Macaron Recipe                        How to Build a Champagne Tower         DIY Gold Frame Decor

FETE || inspired by london

It’s official, right now I’m on vacation!  It’s a biggie, London, Paris, Provence and the south coast of France. I know, amazing right? This is my first time to Europe so I imagine I’m fainting over all of its beauty, and wondering why I ever waited this long to go.

I didn’t want to leave you with nothing while I was away (I don’t want you to forget about me- I’ll be gone for 19 days) so I thought I’d put together a few inspirational posts for you to peruse.

My obsession with parties and entertaining got me thinking. If I lived in London, Paris or Provence, what would my dinner party look like?

In London this is how I see it….

How to pull it off:

Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe                 Gold Flatware                     DIY newspaper cones

Jewel tones, decadence, proper place settings and classic recipes is how I imagine the Brits get down.

FETE || easy weekend brunch

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend, I sure did.  Saturday was particularly special for me, I hosted a get together with some of my longest standing gf's, we go all the way back to the elementary school playground!  The time together was so lovely, I miss my wing women; we always get together around Christmas, but that's not nearly enough. Thought I would share a few quick pics of the easy, potluck brunch we all enjoyed while dishing the dirt, emphasis on "dirt". I kept things simple, the focus was on friends, but I did get to use some of my favourite pieces and I tried out a new quiche recipe.  

My Vera Wang wedding china with vintage, silver spoon napkin rings.

Pretty hydrangeas in a mason jar

My addiction, vintage tea cups, the colours kill me!

If only every Saturday was filled with brunch and best friends. 

FETE || chic canadiana party

Happy Canada Day eh! My long weekend was pleasantly packed full of family, food and fireworks; my fave things ever...and in that order.  We hosted a Canada Day party on Sunday in our backyard; I had an idea to honour this special day in a way that included more than just red and white paper flags. Chic Canadiana was the theme, think woodland wonderful, beavers and moose, beer and bacon, all things coined classically Canadian. I get ridiculously excited by any occasion that allows me to let my inner party planner, crafter and hostess rear its' obsessive head, and this patriotic celebration was no exception. 

I dug out my wool Hudson's Bay Co. point blanket, with its iconic stripes, and used it as the inspiration for my master plan, bwah ha ha ha.

I prepared a food and bevy line-up that was quintessentially Canadian; Canadian Bacon Burgers, Poutine,  and Moose Tracks Ice Cream with a Maple Cookie topper.  We sipped on Canadian beer from our famed cottage country in Muskoka and cocktails infused with fresh Ontario strawberries.

I also got my craft on; I ordered some of these cute moose gift tags from Etsy and glued them to red take-out boxes from Michaels (I also raided Michaels for scrapbook paper, glue and string), made a catchy celebratory banner and wrapped vases with scrapbook paper to add a little oomph. 

I wanted to keep the classic Canadian red and white colour palette alive, but I freshened things up by using some pretty patterned paper. We handed out maple suckers and sparklers as party favours.

After the feast, we headed out the beach to take in the annual fireworks show, it was a lovely way to cap off the evening. 

The party was a success, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we all left feeling uber proud to be part of the true North strong and free.

FETE || stylish outdoor entertaining

Hi lovelies, just wanted to share a few quick pics with you from last night's Palm Springs inspired dinner party; it was the first time we've used the new backyard to host a dinner (promise pics of the yard are coming soon).

We were celebrating summer and couldn't have asked for more perfect weather, although I did ask the weather gods several times to please keep the rain away, it worked.

This was the scene...

Black, white and yellow with a splash of pink was the palette I played with, of course. The table seats 8 but was set for 6 and still a tight squeeze, but it seemed to work. I ended up making a table runner from fabric I had leftover from our wedding (cheated a little and only ironed the edges flat, it actually held together well, great shortcut if you don't like to sew).

Any excuse to craft, I'm on it, so I picked up these cute anchor stamps and some scrapbook paper from Michaels and made these little cards to bring some pink and whimsy into the table setting.

The flowers were meant to be bright and have a California feel to them. The market I go to didn't have the billy balls I desperately wanted, so I grabbed these nifty things, thought they fit the bill.

The menu was simple but risky; don't ask me why I decided to try 3 new recipes in a dinner party setting, I usually test them before hand to make sure they're up to snuff.  This time I just went with it and everyone seemed to like the food, and drinks of course were cold and plentiful :)

The menu; Citrus Marinated Shrimp Skewers with Grilled Pineapple to start, Arugula, Potato and Green Bean Salad, a Smitten Kitchen recipe (so amazing, it was totally delish) and Teriyaki Flank Steak (a fave amongst the group). 

For dessert these super refreshing, light and flavourful Strawberry Paletas I saw in Sweet Paul . TO.DIE.FOR! 

We laughed, we chatted, to be honest most of us were tired from work, but it was a relaxed evening and always great to get together

At the end of the night we lit up the fire and toasted marshmallows; our friends brought over a s'mores kit that came complete with sticks to put the marshies on, genius.

This was first of many summer backyard dinner parties in our household. Now, I'm on to the next, Canada Day party planning; was there a hostess badge in Girl Guides? I would have totally earned that one ;) ! Have a wonderful long weekend!

FETE || backyard dinner party inspiration

Happy first day of summer! The weather here in the Tdot is perfectly suited for this special day as it’s a scorching 43 degrees C (110 F)!  To celebrate the first official day of summer I tried to organize a big bash with friends; that went over like a lead balloon. All of my lovely pals had prior engagements such as traveling to Scandinavia, New York City and Vancouver, ya I guess these trump our backyard party ;). It’s a busy time of year as we all know, but I’ve managed to round up a few of our besties for a more intimate dinner party next week instead.

I’m sticking to the summery theme and will be stylin’ it up like a Palm Springs dream. As you will notice almost all of my parties, décor items, inspirations and loves are somehow related to the Palm Springs aesthetic; every time I try to veer away I end up back where I started, oh well I love so let’s roll with it.

Here’s what I’m thinking, a playful and coulourful palette with a summery menu to compliment.

I’m going to attempt to make these delicious looking ice pops from this month’s Sweet Paul mag.

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This will be our first official dinner party in the new yard – which I haven’t fully shown you yet, I was waiting until we had the trees planted to take the “after” pics, but we aren’t moving quickly on that so I’ll work on pics next week for the reveal! 

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And so it’s official, summer is here, time to let your hair go wavy and put the champagne on ice, let’s celebrate!

CHIC SHACK || 1 year anniversary of our first home

It's a special day; this morning hubby and I looked at each other and realized, it's the 1 year anniversary of the day we bought this house, our first home!  Since neither of us really remembered until we rolled outta bed, we hadn't planned a celebration, hubs went off to watch a rugby game with the boys, so that leaves me here with a glass of wine writing this celebratory post - I'm suuuuure he will make it up to me ;).

I've been reflecting on the past year of ours in this sweet little home; I tell ya,  it's been jam packed with decorating o'plenty, entertaining, projects, laughs, cries, milestones and certainly lots of reflection on how grateful we are for all that we have and for the people that we share it with. 

Thought it would be fun to post a few highlights from our first year in our new home....

June 15th, 2011, the day we finally sealed the deal, a serious relief after a year of searching.

1 year ago today, new keys in hand!

Just a month and a bit later, we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. Hubs did good with the gift, he got me my wedding bouquet all over again, romantic right? Shoot, cue the waterworks,  tear drops on the keyboard, I'm a sentimental gal what can I say?

Garden roses and ranunculus 

NIBBLES & SIPS || mint iced tea

Hopefully you enjoyed some of the same fabulous weather we had here in Toronto today. It was a quintessential summer day and we shared a wonderful afternoon on a friend's new sailboat. I couldn't show up empty handed, so I whipped up a batch of this refreshing, virgin bevy and hit the harbour. Here's the super simple recipe.

Ingredients:

3 tea bags - I used orange pekoe but you could also use green tea

1/4 cup of sugar

4 cups of boiling water

2 cups of cold water

bunch of mint leaves

lemon slices - if desired

First, boil 4 cups of water.

Then steep the tea bags for 10 mins.

Once the tea has steeped, remove the bags and transfer to a serving pitcher. Add sugar.

Stir the tea using the bunch of mint until sugar is dissolved, drop in. Pour in the remaining 2 cups of cold water. 

If you like, you can add a few lemon slices, this time I went without.  It's best to let it sit for a couple of hours so the flavours meld.

Pour into a pretty glass and serve over ice.  Do you have a favourite summer beverage?

LOVE, LUST, MUST || summer entertaining

Hello all, Happy Friday! I had lots of fun putting together this li'l feature; I have a feeling it will quickly become one of my faves. Love, Lust, Must is centered around a theme, featuring a collection of items I own and want to own, today's theme, summer entertaining.

I’m always on the prowl for chic new items that will make my role as a hostess easier and the experience of my guests better. Here’s a peek at what I stock up on for summer parties.

I obsess over strange things, like salt and pepper shakers for example. I simply adore this stunning, vintage marble set, an essential table item, why not make them easy on the eyes? 

Williams-Sonoma Easy Entertaining, need I say more?  Everyone with at least one domestic bone in their body loves Williams-Sonoma and this book is one of the many reasons why.   It includes drool-worthy summer entertaining tips  for everything from a smashing backyard BBQ, to a quaint sandwich picnic or a brunch buffet complete with peach nectar spritzers. Love!

 

Pull up a gold tree stump stool why don't you? Extra seating is always important to have on hand in the summer months when the wafting scent of pulled pork on the BBQ tends to draw in a crowd. This gold wonder-log is my idea of the great outdoors.

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In all its fabulous, hexagonal glory, this Jonathan Adler lacquer serving tray is a lust item indeed. A selection of pretty summer colours and sexy lines make this tray an outdoor entertaining lust. Carry mint juleps to your gracious guests or ice cream sammies to the kids, heck, use it as a centerpiece filled with a pretty collection of bud vases holding tulips.

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There is no such thing as a summer party without ice and a glamaroo ice bucket to serve it from - although technically I think this may be a champagne bucket - but who cares, greet your guests with bubbly when they arrive and fill this baby back up with ice.

The ol’ mortar and pestel, time to dust this baby off as it’s a crucial summer must. Think marinades with fresh herbs, ground spice rubs for your ribs, mojitos, guacamole, BBQ pesto pizzas, I will stop…but you get the drift.  

And of course, get 'em while you can, Peonies, no explanation needed, an early summer must!

Well, this about rounds out my list of summer entertaining loves, lusts and musts (I never get sick of saying that); let the parties begin! Will you be playing host/hostess this weekend?