Simply Sweet Home: June 2009

Bridal Shower Encore Presentation

In case you missed any of my special bridal shower posts, here is a special encore presentation; that is, a list of of links to all of the bridal shower posts. Hope you enjoyed the festivities and got plenty of inspiration for your future showers and parties. Thank you for "attending." And thanks to everyone who allowed me to include their photos in this event!

Bridal Shower Links & Resources - Games, Decorations, Party Favors. All the information and supplies you'll need to plan the perfect wedding or party.

Lovely Wedding and Bridal Shower Invitations - A great assortment of handmade wedding and shower invitations. You can order a design from one of my featured artists, or use their designs to get inspired.

Mexican Wedding Cookies - Great wedding or party treat.

Happy Couple Collage Project - My idea for a handmade wedding/shower present; would also make a great decoration for the wedding or an engagement party/shower.

Inspired Shower Tables - A collection of decorated shower tables. Great ideas that can be incorporated into any type of party.

Bridal Apron - Perfect and personal wedding gift. A handmade apron from Happy Find. Go check out this lovely design, and find out how to order your own custom design.

Bridal Giveaways & Freebies - A couple of bridal giveaways and a freebie for you.

Wedding & Shower Cupcakes - A beautiful assortment of wedding and shower cupcakes. A must-see post for our cupcake lovers!

Parade of Wedding Cakes - The best part of any wedding: the cake! Here's a brilliant collection of wedding cakes. They're almost too beautiful to eat!

-Jerri

Labels: Best Posts, party ideas

Parade of Wedding Cakes

To conclude our series of wedding and shower posts, we have a collection of wedding cakes. I've included my own wedding cake here, along with some from other bloggers and website owners. I am absolutely amazed at the variety of cakes that I've seen. I hope you like them too!

My Wedding Cake

Diane's Sweet Treats

by Cannaboe Confectionery

From chrliegrl
Photo by http://www.agaimages.com/

By Alixs Cakes

By Sugarcraft by Soni

By Janset1

By Glass Slipper Gourmet

-Jerri

Labels: desserts, party ideas

Berry Cheesecake

Next week I'll be back with some of my own creations, but till then I have another great recipe from Taste of Home. It is a very scrumptious, delectable berry cheesecake. This is a perfect summertime treat complete with festive coloring for your 4th of July party.

Recipe for Berry Cheesecake:
Ingredients:
8 sheets phyllo dough (14 inches x 9 inches)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup strawberry jelly
1 cup whipped topping
Sliced fresh strawberries and additional blueberries, optional

Directions: Place one phyllo sheet in a greased 9-in. pie plate; brush with butter. Repeat seven times; trim edges. Bake at 425° for 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned (center will puff up). Cool on a wire rack. For filling, in a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Fold in blueberries. Spoon into crust. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes; cover edges with foil to prevent overbrowning. Bake 23-27 minutes longer or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate until chilled. In a small bowl, beat jelly until smooth; spread over filling. Spread with whipped topping. Garnish with strawberries and additional blueberries if desired. Yield: 6-8 servings.

-Jerri

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I'm posting a link to this post on the following sites:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday is hosted by Blessed With Grace.
Homemaker Mondays is hosted by 11th Heaven’s Homemade Haven.
Making A Happy Home Monday is hosted by As For Me and My House….
Make Something Monday is hosted by Go Graham Go! and Jolly Mom and Diana Rambles.
Tasty Tuesday is hosted by Balancing Beauty & Bedlam.
I Am Blissfully Domestic is hosted by Blissfully Domestic.
Ultimate Recipe is Swap is hosted by Life as Mom.
Friday Feasts is hosted by Momtrends.
Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by We Are THAT Family
Hooked on Fridays is hosted by Hooked on Houses

Labels: desserts, Misc Holidays, Patriotic, Recipe of the Week

Wedding & Shower Cupcakes

A few weeks ago someone asked me if I had any ideas for some wedding cupcakes. This got me to searching online, where I found a lot of lovely ideas. Today I'm sharing some of the beautiful wedding and shower cupcakes that I found. I absolutely love these; you can tell that a lot of creativity goes into each one, and I love seeing all the different colors and variety of designs.

As always, I've included links to the sites or flickr account where these came from, and I totally recommend all these sites. In fact, as I was sending out messages in order to get permission to use the photos, it was really hard choosing just one cupcake from each artist. Hope you all enjoy!

By Consumed by Cake

Happy Find

Just Cupcakes

By Paula Thomas Blog

By Kylie Lambert

By How 2 Cakes

By Clever Cupcakes

By Hello Naomi

By Cupcakes Nouveau

Wedding Cookies by Whipped Baked Shop

(I know it's not a cupcake, but they were so pretty, I had to include them!)

-Jerri

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I'm posting at Hooked on Houses for Hooked on Fridays.

Labels: cupcakes, party ideas

Bridal Giveaways and Freebies

A couple of giveaways and freebie for you...

Win a free bridal gown or bridesmaid dresses from David's Bridal. Enter here.

Win a Wedding Photography Package from Bella Pictures.

Get a Free Wedding Organizer when your create a registry at JCPenney.

-Jerri

Labels: Freebie

Bridal Apron

Looking for a unique and original gift for the blushing bride you know? How about a handmade apron from Happy Find? Venus at Happy Find recently designed this lovely apron for her cousin as a wedding present, and she is now offering them in her etsy shop. Stop by today to order one for yourself or a friend, or place a custom order for another design.

Visit Venus's blog and shop today and check out all of her lovely creations!

-Jerri

Labels: shopping

Patriotic Cupakes

This week's recipe comes from Taste of Home. Their website is full of great recipes for all occasions, and they have great magazines that are very affordable.

These Patriotic cupcakes would be perfect for your Fourth of July party or picnic, and you could use different colors of food coloring for other occasions as well. It's very easy and fun recipe that all you cupcakes fans should love.

Recipe for Patriotic Cupcakes:
Ingredients:
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) white cake mix
1/2 teaspoon blue food coloring
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
Red, white and blue sprinkles
Directions: Prepare cake batter according to package directions. In a small bowl, combine 1-1/3 cups batter and blue food coloring. In another bowl, combine 1-1/3 cups batter and red food coloring. Leave remaining batter plain. Fill paper-lined muffin cups with 2 tablespoons red batter, 2 tablespoons plain batter and 2 tablespoons blue batter. Bake at 350° for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Frost with vanilla frosting; decorate with sprinkles. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.

-Jerri

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I'm posting a link to this post on the following sites:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday is hosted by Blessed With Grace.
Homemaker Mondays is hosted by 11th Heaven’s Homemade Haven.
Making A Happy Home Monday is hosted by As For Me and My House….
Make Something Monday is hosted by Go Graham Go! and Jolly Mom and Diana Rambles.
Tasty Tuesday is hosted by Balancing Beauty & Bedlam.
I Am Blissfully Domestic is hosted by Blissfully Domestic.
Ultimate Recipe is Swap is hosted by Life as Mom.
Friday Feasts is hosted by Momtrends.
Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by We Are THAT Family
Hooked on Fridays is hosted by Hooked on Houses

Labels: cupcakes, Misc Holidays, Patriotic, Recipe of the Week

Sweet Thursday: The Cake Edition

Welcome everyone to another great edition of Sweet Thursday. As many of you know, this month's theme is Cakes. And boy! Do I have some good ones to share with you! Thanks to all of our contributors. Without your great skills and creativity, this event would not be possible.

Adding Your Cake to the Round-Up - If you have a cake that you'd like to share with our readers, just leave a link to your post in the comments section of this post, and I will add you to the round-up as soon as I can.

Next Month's Theme - Next month the theme will be "Cool Summer Treats." This is pretty much wide open. You could post any of the following: pies, ice cream, pudding, gelatin, shakes & smoothies, parfaits, fruit desserts, mousse. There are so many possibilities! To have your dessert featured in the July Round-Up, just send a link to your post via email to simplysweethome@hotmail.com. Deadline: July 23

Chocolate, Strawberries, and Whipped Cream Frosting Cake by Frugal Creativity.
And Incredible Chocolate Cake by Frugal Creativity.

Boston Cream Cupcake by Snooky Doodle Cakes & More

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes by Snooky Doodle Cakes & More

Lemon Meringue Cake by B's Huron lighthouse

Chocolate Lime Mousse Cake by Nina's Recipes

Oreo Marshmallow Cream Cake Roulade by Nina's Recipes

Peanut Butter Cup Cake by flint knit

Toadstool House Cake By ShamsD

Caramel Apple Cake from iSimmer

Couples Birthday Cake - Hearts & Wine Glasses by Sugarcraft by Soni

Chocolate Mud Cake by 4GoodnessCake

Winnie the Pooh Birthday Cake By crafty confections

Hello Kitty Cake by http://dragonflydoces.co.nr/

Cookie Dough Cupcake by Snooky Doodle Cakes & More

Romantic Almond Cupcakes by Snooky Doodle Cakes & More

Wonder Chocolate Cake or Dump Cake by Porch Days

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake by Simply Sweet Home

-Jerri

Labels: desserts, Sweet Thursday

Inspired Shower Tables

Since yesterday's post focused on the Happy Couple Collage as a gift idea and decor idea, today we are looking at more bridal shower decor.

Photos, banners, flower arrangements and centerpieces, balloons, and streamers are all nice, but the main thing that people pay attention to at any bridal shower is the serving table. Rather than listing a bunch of ideas for your shower table decor, I thought it would be better to show you some examples.

I just love seeing how different people decorate for their parties, and it's a great way to get ideas. For this post, I tried to find a variety of tables for you, from the very simple to the ornate. And I think whatever you're taste is, you should find something that inspires you here.

This collection of photos was gathered on flickr, and each person gave me permission to use their photo. If you have any questions or comments on the individual tables, you can contact the owner by using the link below the photo. (Sorry that the photos are a little smaller than the ones normally found here. I had trouble with a couple of the pictures, and I decided to make them all uniform, and it's better to shrink some down than to make small photos bigger.)