Latest Obsessions 09.20 – Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes

If you’ve been reading along, you may have seen my mom’s 60th birthday at the cabin in the woods! And one of my favorite parts that I still can’t stop obsessing over are the amazing cakes we ordered from our go-to local bakery; Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes also known as KEC. Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes is quickly becoming a household name in the CLE area, and it’s for a variety of reasons from her celebration of national holidays, like Harry Potter Day to having custom holiday menus and just a variety of delicious every day sweets available, you really can’t go wrong.

Let’s talk about her Party Cake Collection first. With a newly expanded collection of new party cake flavors — these are easy to order and fun to make a statement for any occasion. Whether you’re rocking a pink theme, in need of a smash cake or want something for a milestone birthday – these cakes are gorgeous and also allow you to add personal touches with birthday candles or a cake topper. Our go-to is the Reese party cake, it has layers of peanut butter and chocolate cake and a crispy crunchy peanut butter layer that is just so yummy. For my 30th we were able to get the Macaron Sprinkle (see below) aka a more delicious spin on funfetti cake, plus with KEC’s staple macaron’s on top. The next one we want to order is the Cookie Dough one, um YUM! Rule of thumb for ordering cakes from KEC, always try to plan at least a month out if not more — extra for busy seasons/holidays.

Next up is her Buttercream Cake Collection. This is another variety of cake designs that fit a number of special occasions and themes! We first tried her buttercream cake collection for our wedding — and we ordered a hand painted floral cake as B and I’s cut cake with a chocolate fudge flavor. Honestly it was so easy, because we picked the size, colors and example from one I saw on her instagram and then I got a special cake topper that personalized it more for our special day. The best part? We were able to order a mini recreation of our cake for our 1st anniversary! For my mom’s birthday we got the Retro Dot cake with a Vanilla Blackberry flavor. There are endless possibilities with the buttercream collection from colors to sizes and flavors!

Every other delicious treat. This is a loaded section, loaded of sweet, deliciousness. On top of making incredible cakes — KEC also offers a variety of cupcake and macaron flavors, cookie dough, cakesicles, cookies, and chocolate covered oreos. Getting a sleeve of macarons is always a nice party/hostess gift to bring for sampling with friends – or honestly just a date night at home – as you can get a box of 6 or 12! Another reason I like to go into the store to order my cakes is so I can grab a treat or two like a gigantic salted chocolate chip cookie or pick up the newest macaron flavors!

Holiday Menus. We recently took advantage and jumped on the train of ordering off last year’s Thanksgiving menu, and got an incredible spice cake (pictured below, in the middle) to bring home for the family! It was gorgeous, delicious and a fun piece to bring to our family feast. I unfortunately missed out on ordering off the Christmas menu — because you must order fast, as KEC only offers a limited number of orders for the holiday menus. I’m excited to see what she has to offer this year — one benefit of following her on social is getting the latest updates and info on when the menus are going to drop!

Ever since we got our wedding cake from Kelsey Elizabeth, it’s become a sentimental and go-to spot for special occasions and big birthdays — and also has me wanting and planning for our next cake, or another sweet treat! I mean you don’t always need a reason to order a delicious cake right?!

A 60 & Fabulous Airbnb Birthday Party

Today is my mom’s 60th birthday! We were lucky enough to celebrate it earlier in the month with a long weekend away at an airbnb cabin. It was a backup to a cancelled week long trip that was supposed to be with the bigger extended family aka all my mom’s siblings plus a few cousins. So since it was a make-up to something to be much bigger, I wanted to really make sure my mom had a special weekend – celebrating her!

To make this weekend special for my mom’s big 60th birthday, there were a few things I focused on to help bring the birthday party to the cabin in the woods. One of those things was decorations! Luckily, this is a cabin we’ve stayed at before, so I had a pretty good feel for the space and the decorations I wanted to get to decorate the space. The second thing was bringing the people to the party – virtually of course! And lastly was the sweet treats and having a special cake to help make a statement for 60.

Virtual Birthday Wishes. With the world of COVID, things are definitely different — and since this much larger family trip wasn’t happening, I wanted to surprise my mom and bring her well wishes from her family and friends! DISCLAIMER: If anyone has mastered this craft, please comment below with help — but I’m not sure if there is any easy way to reach out to over 40 people asking for them to share a recorded video wish. For some people I reached out via email, Facebook messenger, text messages and Instagram DMs. I gathered videos, pictures and well wishes and even sourced a variety of pictures and memories of mom’s life and put them into an iMovie — it ended up being about a half hour long and was so fun making and even better surprising and watching my mom watch it.

The Decorations. As I mentioned, I knew the space but I also wanted to rein myself in, because I can easily go overboard with everything. So I think I did a pretty good job at keeping it simple! I picked the little theme of ’60 & Fabulous’ and kept on the color theme of gold and white. My big statement was getting oversized gold 6-0 balloons, a party pack that included a large Happy Birthday banner and other fun pieces that could be used throughout the cabin. In order to blow up the balloons at the cabin, I brought a mini helium tank from Michael’s — it was perfect for filling up the balloons. In addition to the birthday decorations, I also made sure to bring a few pieces from home to give it a homey and polished feel like table runners, candle holders, a cake stand, fresh flowers, matching plates and placemats.

Shop My Party Decor: Gold 60 Balloons | 60 & Fabulous Napkins | Gold & White Decor Party Pack | Cake Topper | Made in 1960 Banner (not pictured)

The Sweets! Another super easy way to help create a statement and make your birthday queen feel special is ordering a fancy cake! Of course, I went with our go-to special occasion local cake place; Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes (KEC) — we had our wedding cake done there and ever since, those cakes have held a special place in our hearts and is our go-to. I went with a 6″ Retro Dot buttercream cake, we got the Vanilla Blackberry flavor, and I was also able to pick out the colors, so I picked mom’s favorites! I also ordered a mini Reese’s party cake, because it’s delicious and my dad’s birthday is also in September so we gave him a little treat too! My dad also coordinated getting chocolate peanut butter cupcakes from a local baker near them, Morgy Cakes — he organized everything from the pick-up, to the flavor, to the design — it was so sweet and they were delicious. We made sure to have fun gold glittery 6-0 candles and tall skinny white and gold candles for mom to make an early birthday wish!

Since we were there for almost three nights, we had coordinated our meals between our two households, and had no shortage of food! We also made sure to plan a special dinner for Mom’s official birthday dinner which included steaks and a delicious sweet potato grilled dish (will share recipe!) — we also made a few epic charcuterie boards that served as our dinner at least one of the nights as we listened to music, chatted, played games and drank the nights away. My brother, SIL and niece also made it in for the trip, which I know was extra special for my mom — especially having all of us under one roof, which hasn’t been like that since Thanksgiving!

It was a super fun and exhausting weekend — and I know my mom loved every moment of it and now she gets to have a nice and relaxing day for her actual birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Fancy Fiesta At Home Party Decor

We’ve been gearing up to celebrate and have our own fancy fiesta at home just in time for Cinco De Mayo! I’ve been sharing with you how we’ve been gearing up for our party at home dinner menu and drink recipes, including our favorite Taco Pizza to a new favorite, Strawberry Prosecco Margarita. Now it’s just time to set the table, add a little festive flair and get ready for a fun and fancy feast at home to celebrate Cinco De Mayo — which happens to fall on a Tuesday this year! #TacoTuesday
To create our own little fancy fiesta, I grabbed a few new dining pieces with a bohemian flair and will also be a new summer staple — these really inspired the rest of the pieces that I pulled together for our party decor.  These colorful and festive melamine dinner plates from the Opalhouse collection at Target were an instant swoon and must have. I also got these light pink Toucan salad plates to match and compliment the color pallet. To top it all off, these Monique Lhuillier Gabrielle Etched Champagne Coupes are an elegant touch with a tint of bohemian to sip those delicious prosecco margaritas! Using blue as my base color, I pulled in other bright colors like greens, pinks and yellows for a fun flair. And, to let the colors pull through, I used a fix of clear and white bowls for serving the chips, beverages, dipping sauces and limes — which also helped the food serve as it’s own decor piece in the tablescape.

Now for the fun finishing touches! I couldn’t decide which garland I liked better, so I got both and then ended up using this Wooden Bead Garland from Opalhouse as a centerpiece — it was the perfect finishing touch. I then decided to use this bright tassel garland to hang over the windows in our dining room, which was the perfect mix of bright fiesta inspired colors. I also made a cute little Bae ❤ Ritto cut out from cactus scrapbook paper and strung up just above the tassel garland. To round out everything, I ordered this adorable mini cactus pinata that was the perfect finishing touch for my table decor. The best part for all these Target pieces if you easier order on the app and then do a drive-up pick up, with limited human interaction, it’s seriously the best!

We kept the menu simple since it’s just a party at home for two — although we would love to kick it with some friends or family! We also kept it simple to have the perfect amount of color, delicious eats, drinks and taco fix. Our taco pizza recipe is the right amount of taco flavors and toppings, only in pizza form and it’s one of B and I’s favorite dishes. Tostitos Lime Chips are also a must have for any type of taco night, paired with our homemade guacamole, some salsa and occasional some queso for B! The tequlia-less strawberry margarita that we made is also going to be a new summer favorite and go-to taco night sidekick! 
Shop my pieces: Fruit Dinner Plate | Colorful Spritz Tassel Garland | Monique Lhuillier Gabrielle Etched Champagne Coupes | Pink Toucan Salad Plates | Mini Cactus Pinata | Wooden Bead Garland 

Cinco De Mayo has always been special and celebrated by B and I — but we usually celebrate this day a little different than most, because it’s the anniversary of our first date! This Cinco De Mayo will be the start of our 9th year and moving close to our decade of memories and life together.

Must-Have Birthday Party Decor

With a few of the stress out of the way with my last post, it’s time for all the fun. It may be no surprise to my bee readers that March for me is all about my birthday and St. Patrick’s Day (only because it’s the day after), so that means eating cake, fun party plans and festive decor!  So, continuing on this birthday party train — here are a few finishing touches that are easy and essential for any party celebration and can really help pull in a thoughtful and personalized flair.

Balloons. Ok, helium shortage aside — balloons are super fun and can be made affordable with the personalize helium tanks, and also make transporting and decorating easy and convenient to decorate in the party space! Bare minimum, having big gold numbers for the big milestone birthday is an absolute MUST. Ordering those off Amazon can also help save on cost and have the balloons shipped right to your door. Even adding a little bit of helium into balloons so they cover the ceiling with long pretty strings is also a simple yet bold look!

Polaroid Frame & Polaroids. This is another Dollar Store hack! If you grab their foam board, it’s conveniently the same rectangular size as a polaroid — so tracing and cutting out to make it a hand held photo prop is another fun way to make a memorable mark. You can even include a hashtag, date or event title on the bottom for all the pictures! Not feeling crafty? You can order customized ones from Etsy. If you have a polaroid camera, this is another fun way to capture memories and moments in front of a photo wall or all the faces who are helping celebrate!

Festive Centerpieces. As much as I love fresh flowers for parties and events, there are simple and cost effective ways to add a little party flair to dessert tables, centerpieces and food spreads.  Grabbing a bunch of party blowers from the Dollar Store and throwing them into small glass vases from the Dollar Store, is a fun and party festive way to add a little extra flair — and even more perfect if you’re throwing a surprise party!
Dessert. Whether it’s a fun party cake that represents the birthday bee’s personality and favorite flavors to a tee or custom sugar cookies with fun designs and year dates, having a variety of desserts, favorite snacks (like frosted animal crackers or chocolate covered pretzels) or just a super fancy cake, is a fun way to add another personalized touch while making the birthday bee extra happy. Don’t forget, left overs for breakfast!

A Signature Cocktail. A festive cocktail and even themed party cups is another easy finishing touch that can serve as a conversation starter and fun party favor! Whether the cocktail is a play on the number, or an ode to the birthday bee’s favorite beverage and mixer with a fun garnish, patterned paper straws or golden party umbrellas for a fun birthday beverage!

Simple Photo Collage. Creating a simple photo wall of the birthday bee can be the perfect way to celebrate the big milestone birthday and looking back at all the years before! Using a string and festive clothes pins can be a cute way to display all the pictures, also clipping onto your blind strings is another alternative that can help fill up a space without making away from streamers and other fun party decor!
Another easy way to help keep yourself on track and also having a cohesive look for your next birthday bash is picking a theme whether it’s a 90’s throwback theme, a color scheme, or a mood you want to invoke — this can help keep you in line for picking all these finishing touches and really make a statement!

3 Party Planning Hacks – Baby Shower Ed.

This past weekend was my sister-in-law’s baby shower and I was lucky to help with the planning and was in charge of the decor.  I love a good party, and I love a good party with a theme.  The theme for K’s shower was Woodland, and as I worked through the decor it quickly morphed to a Woodland Glam theme especially once we learned the baby is a girl. So instead of breaking everything down, I wanted to share a few hacks I did for this baby shower that made a statement and helped pull everything together.

Framed Art: One easy way to help decorate and pull the theme through was with framed art of little Woodland animals with flower crowns. Since Woodland was also K’s baby room theme, I wanted to get prints framed that could work for the shower and that could then be hung in the nursery for room decor! It was a fun conversation piece during the shower as party guests spotted them throughout the house – plus I think N&K really liked them. I purchased 6 Baby Animals with Flowers Crowns and these 11×17 frames from Michaels Craft Store.

DIY Floral Letter: This was another piece that was used as decor at the shower and will now find a home in the nursery as well. The muted colors that were picked out play into that glam, Woodland and romantic feel.  Not to mention this was super easy and an affordable DIY that made a huge statement as part of the main centerpiece in the opening room as guests came into the baby shower. Read the full Floral Letter DIY how-to by click here.

Dessert Table:  A dessert table has been my must-have staple for all the parties that I plan.  This is an easy way to make a great statement, while having a lot of yummy treats, lots of options and it’s another way to help pull in a theme.  There are a few pieces to mix and match for your dessert table, my go-to’s are at least one cake, maybe two depending on the size, cake pops and chocolate covered pretzels. Designed sugar cookies are another great addition to a dessert table too! Displaying everything at various levels helps give another wow factor to your sweet treats and finishing off with greens and a table runner pull it all together.

A few other must-haves at parties are balloons and the way we pull this off is by buying those personal sized helium tanks – these make it so easy and transportation a breeze. Depending the occasion, fresh flowers are always a nice touch especially if it’s a baby or bridal shower.  I also love making sure napkins, plates and glassware are on theme and compliments to the entire party.  I love how everything came together for K’s special day, it was exhausting pulling it all together, but definitely worth it!

DIY – $25 Floral Letter

This is a DIY I have had my eyes on for a long time and I finally got around to grabbing the supplies and giving it a try!  A floral letter can be perfect for hanging on your door in the spring with you’re families last name initial, hanging in a living space, bedroom or for nursery decor.  My initial inspiration for baby shower decor, with it doubling as nursery decor after the shower! The theme of the baby shower was Woodland glam, so I went with a bit more muted colors for my floral color palette.

What You’ll Need:
– Hot Glue Gun & Glue // Mod Podge would probably work well too
– Letter of Your Choice – I grabbed this 13″ B from Michael’s for $4.99
– A mix of florals – grab smaller filler flowers & larger florals
– Shop my Florals: Hydrangea & Rose Bundle ($6) | Green Wild Mum Stem ($5) | Toast Strawflower Bush ($6) 
– Ribbon for hanging or clip

Step-by-Step:
1. When shopping for your florals, grab a good mix of size, color accents and potential filler pieces, you’ll definitely want more than not enough! I bought 5-different stems/bunches.
2. Start by de-heading your faux flowers from their stems and start playing around with placement on your letter.
3. I put larger/heavier flowers in the bottom corner to help anchor the piece and also did this in the top of the B to help add some equal weight.

4. From there I filled in with smaller flowers and use my smallest flowers to really fill in smaller spots and make it feel lush and full – while still holding to the shape of the B.
5. As you work in sections and get areas figured out, cut underneath of flower stems as low to the flower as you can in order to keep it somewhat flush to the letter. Then, begin gluing your determined sections into place – I was very generous with the hot glue around the stem area, and even onto the underneath of the leaves to help secure in place.
6. Continue adding florals until the top part of your letter is completely filled! Let dry a bit to ensure florals are completely secure. Then you’re ready for decorating/hanging!

Don’t forget to have fun, get creative and use other pieces of your flowers like some of the leaves to help fill in the space – I was nervous I wouldn’t have enough flowers to fill the space and this helped even everything out.

Since I was making this as a gift, I’ll definitely be making one for us next to keep and use on the front door.  I can see this being a new go-to gift for a people this upcoming holiday season or would be an awesome housewarming present! A few other ideas for your floral letters would be spelling out smaller words like MOM for Mother’s Day or just using the same flower and color to really create a bold statement – this could also be done with numbers for a milestone birthday.  I also love how this completed a centerpiece statement at shower and can’t wait to see if in the finished nursery!