You have to make a brownie cake. For real. Because look how cute it is. I love to serve things in a new way at the parties I throw. It’s such a fun way to add special details that the guests will love. Sure, you can serve a plain old cake. But why not serve a brownie cake? It’s something you don’t see everyday, everyone (well, just about everyone) loves brownies and it’s SO easy. So just make one, ok?
How to Make a Pie Cake
PIE CAKE! OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS! YOU HAVE TO STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND GO BAKE A PIE CAKE RIGHT NOW! Like, right this minute. And yes, you read that right. There is pie. Inside that cake. I made this for my son’s birthday party last week and had to share it. I though about making another one so I could take pretty, styled photos of the steps and make a gorgeous, Pinterest worthy post. But I can’t! I’m too excited to share it. So let’s consider this pie cake to be in the wild, in a raw landscape, its natural habitat. YOU GUYS! PIE INSIDE CAKE!
How to Host an Awards Show Viewing Party
Do you love awards show season as much as I do? I LOVE pop culture and one of my majors in college was TV/Film so you know I love my celebrities and all that goes with it. Today I’m going to show you How to Host an Awards Show Viewing Party. I keep it really simple because I like to enjoy my get togethers too. If you focus on a few details ahead of time, you can show your guests a great time and get to be part of the party fun.
To start, I know that baking is NOT my specialty. I’d like to blame my oven (which does run hot, btw) but I know that some of the fault lies with me. I always pick up a few store-bought cupcakes, because who doesn’t love cupcakes? Then I just use some edible gold stars
I serve SUPER simple recipes, that can be made ahead of time, and I choose things that aren’t fussy. This Sweet and Salty Movie Mix snack took about 2 minutes to make. And this delicious King’s Hawaiian Bread crostini snacks couldn’t be easier and can be made in savory versions too. I had never thought about using half a Sweet Roll in this way before, but it is SUCH a great idea! Don’t forget to check out all the award show recipes over on the King’s Hawaiian’s special award show party planning site!
Awards shows are usually all about glamour. And to me, red is a must have color. I picked up a few bunches of red tulips at the market and created these pretty arrangements. One of my weaknesses, in the whole realm of entertaining, is flower arranging. What works for me is using really interesting vases and one type of bloom. On the flip side, using drinking glasses or jars and splitting up a bouquet of flowers works wonders as well. You can place these smaller arrangements around the table to add pops of color where you need it.
I have kids so they are usually included in most of the things I do. But awards shows do not interest my kids. They love a football party. But don’t understand why anyone would watch an awards show. They usually go play at the neighbor’s house when I have people over for awards shows. So that means I don’t really have to include them in the party food. Which means that I get to go a little more adult-friendly with my spread. Cocktail themed candy is a great thing and perfect for an awards show party. These colorful, sophisticated lollipops by Quin come in standard fruity flavors but also in wine flavors, like the one with Pinot Gris, shown on the right. And champagne flavored Jelly Belly’s just make sense.
Of course you should keep the champagne flowing through out your shindig, but also serve a signature cocktail like this Grapefruit Hibiscus Vodka Soda Cocktail. People love to try new cocktails but sometimes don’t take the time to make them for themselves at home. Now is your chance to be creative and share your favorites with your guests.
To make it extra fun, add edible confetti! Edible confetti is super versatile and you can use themed hole punches or even cut out letters to write your own messages.
Watching the awards show is the main activity of your party, of course! But you simply HAVE to play awards show bingo (which you can find around the web) or have people guess the winners on their own ballots. The prizes can be super easy and inexpensive. Here I picked up a small succulent and used a paint pen to write “winner” on one of the leaves. Pick up a tray of delicious gold candies to send home with the winner. Or let them take a tiny party home with them by gifting this confetti pop.
Do you host awards show viewing parties? Or do you watch them alone on your couch with popcorn and booze? There’s no judging. There is no wrong answer.
Host an awards show viewing party, share the details with King’s Hawaiian and you can win prizes! See the official rules and read more about it over at StarringRoll.com.
This post was sponsored by King’s Hawaiian. Thank you for supporting the brands that help me help you solve problems and plan fun events.
Chicks and Salsa Mexican Themed Girl’s Night In
*This post was sponsored by Chinet. They sent me product and compensation to share a fun way to bring people together through entertaining.
Who doesn’t love a girl’s night, am I right? It is the perfect time to reconnect with those gals that you can say anything to and laugh at everything with. I’ve been dying to host a “Chicks and Salsa” party forever. When I would visit my sister, who went away for college, we would go to this little bar that had a Chicks and Salsa night. The name has stuck with me and I think it makes a perfect theme for a girl’s night in complete with Mexican inspired food and bright colors.
While it isn’t exactly a formal affair, I decided to hang place cards on the back of the chairs. My dining room is so plain (except for the rug – but we STILL haven’t hung any artwork) I figured the extra color would help make it a little bit more festive.
I made this quick little sign for the occasion to add more ambiance. I love all the marquee signs with lights that you can DIY but am totally afraid of power tools. So I decided to mimic the look with cups that I painted and a little hot glue.
As you may remember I am in love with the Moscow Mule cocktail. But while I was in Mexico I started dreaming of a Mexican Mule – which is the same drink just using Tequila instead of the Vodka. I’ll share the recipe later in the week! Any good girl’s night starts off with cocktails.
For an appetizer, a trio of salsas will surely please your guests. I have never met a chip or salsa that I didn’t like.
The point of this post is to share that your entertaining doesn’t have to be crazy complicated to have a nice little party and a great time. I wanted to add some color to the table but not spend a lot of money or time on the decorating. I picked up two aloe vera plants from Trader Joe’s (you can never have enough aloe vera in my opinion so these will live on long past the party!) and added in some bougainnvillea that I got from my neighbor’s yard (I asked first!!!).
Light up your next event with DPS and The Event Company {Orange County Resources}
Allow me to introduce you to some awesome companies, DPS and The Event Company. Owned by Anthony Dever, DPS provides sound, lighting and production services which means they help put together some amazing fashion shows, concerts, large corporate parties, and most recently handled the cooking demos with our Queen Bee, Martha Stewart, at several Macy’s locations. They are local to Orange County but spread their amazingness to the surrounding counties as well. Check out their blog to see some of the ridiculously cool things they’ve been up to recently. A few months ago they moved their offices to a new location. They decided to throw an open house for their clients, friends and family and I was lucky enough to attend with my husband.
Sensing that their services would be perfect for the wedding and event industry, they rolled out The Event Company. Providing lighting, cinematography and live music talent, they can totally take your private event to the next level. Both companies work from their new offices in Irvine and the space is truly gorgeous! Totally sleek and chic and just from walking in, you immediately want them to take over and produce your event (I mean, I don’t really have any events to produce but you know how my head works, I started trying to come up with things…) They had this gorgeous purple and white dessert table set up in the front room by Cookielicious. It was the perfect, delicious welcome.
The party, coordinated in part by Callie of The Event Company, was mainly held in the warehouse space at the back of the offices so there was this industrial, chic feel to the party. The decor was handled by Larissa of Inviting Occasions and was GORGEOUS! This picture does not do it justice. It was simple, elegant, totally cool with just a few florals. Simply stunning.
The food and bar were done by 24 Carrots Catering and I was blown away. For a hearty appetizer/meal, they had a create your own slider bar. There were bunches of toppings and at least 8 different sauces for you to choose from. This would be a totally fun idea to recreate at home. And for desserts they dazzled with some molecular gastronomy. I’m a wanna be foodie and adore the Top Chef franchise but this was the first time getting to actually try some. You all should have this at your next party!!!!!! So fun! For one dish, they did some sort of an inside out cheesecake pop. Forgive my lack of knowledge on what was actually happening but here is my take. They had some dough balls, dipped them in a cream cheesey/whipped creamy mixture then dipped it some super scientific solution (maybe just dry ice? I’m not a scientist. I just don’t know). They came out all frozen and fun. And were quite delicious as well. But my absolute favorite was the Dragon’s Breathe Caramel Corn. They dipped a ladle of caramel corn into a very mysterious foggy mixture and then served it in these adorable wood dishes (similar dishes can be found here). Watch the video below of my husband eating it to see why they called it Dragon’s Breath Caramel Corn:
Not only was this super fun to eat, it tasted amazing. I wanted to eat gallons and gallons of the stuff but was minorly self conscious of the smoke coming out of my face. They also had a signature cocktail that was super yummy which tasted like and orange creamsicle.
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| images are mine |
I didn’t bring a legit camera to the event so these are the photos taken with my husband’s iphone. I was absolutely mesmerized by this light ring hanging over the stage. For real. It was perfectly timed to the music and was like nothing I have ever seen. In talking to other party goers I learned that the strings can actually be hung in a number of ways including straight down as a curtain which can then be programmed to display words! Oh the possibilities! DPS seems to be on the cutting edge of not only what is advanced, technologically speaking, but also what is crazy cool.
Anthony had this insanely good recording artist play the party. His name is Jasper Sawyer and I’m so grateful to have been introduced to his music. Everyone on stage was so talented and it was a really great show!
Check out this DJ booth created by DPS. I wish there was video of it, the totally unique ways that it could be customized for an event are crazy. From the colors, words, etc. it can totally sync up with the music and create a really cool vibe for your event. And DJ Kevin Scott could be the best DJ ever. He played a cool mix of music that appealed to everyone at the party. That can be really hard to do when you’ve got the too cool for school, an older generation and those just looking to dance. But he killed it!
I love when good humans give birth to good humans. We met Anthony’s parents at a birthday party for him a while back and they were awesome. You can tell that Anthony gets his love of music from his mom who my husband and I bonded with over new wave music. I adore his sister, Nicole (in the middle in blue) she is absolutely the life of every party. And his wife Courtney (on the end) is such a sweetie (Oh and a talented interior designer. I’m guessing she had a hand in the pretty new office.) Anthony is the real deal. He is so good at what he does, his happiness is infectious and he is a good person. In talking to some clients at the party, they all echoed those sentiments and raved about working with both companies. While some of their services might be too large for your next home party, keep them in mind for your company holiday parties and for the next time you need to throw a concert in your back yard.
Check out the DPS blog for the cool things they have been a part of recently.
Check out The Event Company’s blog and lighting gallergy to see some of their wedding work.
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Sharon
All images are by Reza Allah-bakhski except the crappy ones noted as mine
A manly dessert table for Daniel Tosh!
So a few weeks ago I got a really fun opportunity to help decorate a manly dessert table. Kristin, of Meringue Bake Shop, was contacted to do a dessert table for Daniel Tosh, as in Tosh.O, as in the funniest m effer on the planet who you feel bad about liking because he is so politically incorrect that you feel like just by liking him you could lose your job or have to go to confession. She called me to brainstorm ideas and of course I had to worm my way in to actually doing the table.
Here is the adorable Kristin and her husband, Lyle, in the background. Besides being awesome, she makes the most amazing desserts. Lyle and Kristin are big fans of Daniel Tosh and I was super excited for her to get a chance to do a fun table for him. The table was to be for the wrap party, as it was the last night of his nationwide tour.
Kristin pretty much let me go to town on this manly dessert table, although I always checked in with her to make sure that she approved of all the elements since her name was on the table. We found that great striped fabric from IKEA and used a lot of wood, cement and natural elements for the decor. Jenny of Hank and Hunt recreated the stripey pattern for us digitally so I could use it for tags, signs, etc. Have I mentioned how rad she is? How cool are those white porcelain succulents that Kristin found?!
MMMMMMmmmmmm. Kristin’s salted caramel cupcakes and Push Cakes are one of my favorite flavors she makes. Ridiculously tasty.
Macaroons…yum! I was not a fan of chocolate covered marshmallows as a dessert table feature until I tasted these. Whatever chocolate she used was exceptional and she coated that with graham cracker crumbs. Yeah. So good. Let me take a moment to tell you about the mini pies. These mini pies haunt me. They are the best pies that I have ever had. And I want them all the time. For real. They are made by hand and I wish that I could send these around the country so everyone can taste them. Push Cakes are always a show stopper and I am sure they were very well received. And although I have never met a crispy treat that I didn’t like, somehow Kristin manages to make them even better. If you haven’t used Meringue Bake Shop for your party treats yet, you need to. You will NOT be disappointed.
Thanks for letting me be a part of this super fun experience Kristin! Even if we didn’t get to meet him.
Sharon
All photos mine
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