There is something so soft and feminine about lace, especially white eyelet lace.  No matter the pattern or overall design, eyelet is a classic and it beautifully sets the stage for today’s feature.   We’re loving this mod-circle eyelet paired with soft yellow, vintage buttons and subtle crystal accents.   Filled with great white-on-white textures and charm, check out this Vintage Eyelet & Buttons Wedding shoot, shared with us by Chrissie Boon of Too Nice to Slice.

Chrissie teamed up with a talented group of Ontario-area vendors to create this vintage wedding photo shoot.  How charming is the meringue cookie on the place setting? It makes a simple and easy favor or an extra sweet treat for your guests as they take their seats.

Chrissie, of Too Nice to Slice, created this amazing white-on-white cake covered with too many sugar hydrangeas to count! No wait, she did count! This beauty showcases 467 sugar hydrangeas, each one hand studded with a Swarovski crystal. Oh my!  Can you imagine!!  It’s just lovely Chrissie!

A very special thank you to Chrissie for sending over this Vintage Eyelet & Buttons Wedding shoot and to Scott of Reaction Photography for sharing his lovely images with us.  You can see more of Chrissie’s amazing cake creations on the Too Nice to Slice website and in our Top Tier Directory.

Vendors & Credits:
Cake: Too Nice to Slice
Photography: Reaction Photography
Invitations: OOXX Invitations
Floral Arrangements: Flourish Florals

Our contributor, Miso of Miso Bakes, is back with some lovely cakes for us today….

Ombre. Gradience. Gradation.

Regardless of what you like to call it, this color trend is in. I see it everywhere starting from nail art to hair color to interior design to cookies, cakes and dessert tables. I first learned of it several years ago while getting a manicure in Seoul. The nail artist asked if I wanted gradation on my nails. Huh? Did I want what?

I shrugged as I had not a clue what she was talking about. She smiled and painted a sample on my pinky nail. The inner and darkest color was a rich magenta and the color gradually faded to a nude pink as it got to the tip. I loved it and decided I must have all ten nails painted in this manner. Even after returning to the States, I got my nails done this way. Sometimes purple. Sometimes blue. Sometimes pink. Sometimes black. Of course this all happened before my baking days. Now, I just have ugly (but clean), short, sad nails.

I have decorated desserts and cookie pops using the gradience in the past, but decorating a cake seemed a bit overwhelming. However, I finally decided to give it a go.

I could not decide if I wanted to give the cake a subtle (and single) color gradience, or if I wanted incorporate different shades. Therefore, I tried both. And, of course, gave the cakes my own twist.

To make an ombre cake:
1. Start with color of choice.
2. Add more food coloring or white fondant as you go.

I usually start with a small amount of the darkest color and incorporate white into it as I go. I like doing this because the left over fondant is light and can be easily tinted to a different color. Another reason is because I like to work bottom up. However, this is just my personal preference.

Happy Caking,
Miso

	Miso Bakes Miso is a monthly contributor for The Cake Blog. She is a talented pastry chef with a big passion for cakes. Read more about Miso on her bio page.

It’s Friday again and we have an adorable cake to wrap up the week!  I’m really loving all of the woodland forest themed parties that have popped up over the last year.  Most of them tend to be birthday parties but a woodland theme is perfect for a baby shower as well.  Just think of all the furry, baby woodland animals.  The only thing cuter than a baby animal is a baby baby… it’s a match made in heaven!  And this baby shower cake is a simple yet sophisticated take on the woodland theme.  It is perfectly groomed and definitely well dressed.  Take a peek at this incredible Woodland Forest Baby Shower Cake created by Jeanne, of The Well Dressed Cake.

A very special thank you to Jeanne, of  The Well Dressed Cake in New Hampshire, for sharing her charming Woodland Forest Baby Shower Cake with us.  You can see more of her amazing cake creations on her website and Facebook Page.

Happy Friday everyone!

We talk a lot about inspiration here at Half Baked.  Our site is meant to inspire you!  And time and time again we see that a great cake can be inspired by just about anything… an invitation, a pillow, jewelry…you name it!  Today’s cake was inspired by a collection of ladylike stoneware plates from Anthropologie.   Normally cake goes on a plate… but in this case, I think they got it absolutely right.

Jessica Harris, of Jessicakes, created this lovely cake for a collaborative photo shoot with Dani of Weddings Fresh and an excellent team of Portland-area talent.  This design is just stunning with its white on white detailing and textures, clean modern lines and romantic flair.  Perfectly trimmed with a ruffle and topped with a dainty flower, it’s love at first sight!

“When Dani asked me to do a cake for this wedding shoot I was thrilled!  She wanted something feminine, modern and white.  She showed me the plates from Anthropologie that she was going to use and I went to work on some sketches.”

“From the beginning I knew the cake was going to be white on white, so I wanted to incorporate some textures on it.  That’s where I came up with the pearl tier and the reverse ruffles.  The ruffles were tricky, and had I had the time to do them again, I would have made them a bit thinner and more delicate.  But, all in all, I was really happy with the cake.  To make the ruffles, I rolled some fondant mixed with gumtex out and cut strips about 1.5 inches wide.  I marked on the cake (with toothpicks) every place where the ruffle would come out from the cake.  I left the toothpicks in the cake until I had wrapped the fondant strips around the cake and then used the toothpicks to help form the ruffles.  I then pulled the toothpicks out and smoothed the ruffles more with my thumb and index finger.  It took a bit of practice, but I liked the modern feel of them a lot.”

I want to send out a special thanks to Dani for the inspiration and putting together a beautiful shoot, and to Diana for her beautiful pictures that I will be able to keep forever!”

And we’d like to thank Jessica for sharing both her design and thoughts with us today!  Wishing everyone a Happy Friday and great weekend!

Vendors & Credits:
Cakes: Jessicakes
Event Design & Styling: Weddings Fresh
Photography: diana marie photography
Floral Design: Quince Flowers & Events
Tableware: Anthropologie & Pottery Barn
See the Full Photo Shoot: Style Me Pretty

If I had to describe today’s feature in one word it would be lovely!  Maybe that’s because I love the soft color palette of charcoal, white and rose with a subtle touch of gold.  Maybe it’s the darling mix of hearts and stars.  But to me, this incredible display portrays the feeling of love.  You know that feeling… the warm rush that comes over you, the swell in your stomach, the stars in your eyes.  If you had to capture that feeling, I think it would look something like this!

You can also see more of this delightful Graphic & Glitz Photo Shoot on 100 Layer Cake.  Enjoy!

Vendors & Credits:
Concept and Styling, Maddy Hague of the Inspired Bride
Photography: Paper Antler
Dessert Table Design: Shauna Younge Dessert Tables
Cake and Macarons: Cocoa & Fig
Paper Goods Design: Amy Hardy of Design 8 Days
Location: MPLS Photo Center
Calligraphy: Crystal Kluge
Wardrobe: Flutter Boutique
Bridesmaid’s Dress: Priscilla of Boston
Wholesale Flowers: Fifty Flowers
Twine: the Twinery
Vintage Stamps: Verde Studio
Dessert Table Baking and Candy Making Supplies: Bake It Pretty
Dessert Table Candies: Hammond’s Candies and Oh Nuts!
Marshmallows: Laura’s Candy

It can be so hard to get going after a long holiday weekend.  And there’s no pick-me-up like chocolate, especially fine chocolate!  So to help you jump start this week, we have a delicious double chocolate recipe for you.  Created by the chocolate experts at Callebaut Chocolate, these little goodies look like chocolate heaven in a pretty little package!  These Chocolate Macarons with Chocolate Ganache are melt in your mouth delicious!

For the Macarons:
500 g equal parts of ground almonds and icing sugar
30 g Callebaut cocoa powder
85 g egg whites
80 g egg whites
225 g sugar
60 g water

Process first 3 ingredients in the food mixer to obtain an almond paste. Whip 80g egg whites. Heat sugar and water and pour over the whipped egg whites to obtain an Italian meringue. When it has cooled down, mix in the almond paste. Shape into macarons and place on a baking sheet with baking paper. Bake at 160°C for approximately 10-12 minutes.

For the Ganache:
620 g cream 35%
64 g trimoline (also known as invert syrup)
400 g Callebaut Dark Chocolate
80 g Callebaut Milk Chocolate

Blend until you have an emulsion and leave to cool. Spread the ganache between two macaron shells.

You can find additional chocolate recipes on the Callebaut website HERE.  Enjoy!

Vendors & Credits:
Recipe & Photography: Callebaut Chocolate

Attention!!  It’s Friday and there’s a party ahead…. a Bird’s Party, that is.  We’re kicking off the the long holiday weekend with a bang!  It’s a Red, White & Blue GIVEAWAY for You!  That’s right.  Thanks to our lovely sponsor, Bird’s Party Printables, one lucky Half Baked reader will win a $100 Gift Card to Bird’s Party!!! Choose from any of the incredible printable party collections at Bird’s Party!

Visit Bird’s Party and Leave a Comment below telling us which printable party collection has your name on it!   Earn an extra entry by doing any of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each of your entries. Maximum of 4 entries per person.

• Sign up to follow Half Baked on Facebook
• Sign up to follow Half Baked on Twitter
• Sign up to follow Half Baked via RSS
• Post about this giveaway on your blog – include a link to this post
• Post about this giveaway on your Facebook – include a link to this post
• Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter – include a link to this post

Giveaway ends Thursday, July 7th at midnight CST. A winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Friday, July 8th . The winner must claim their prize before Tuesday, July 12th or a new winner will be selected. You must be 18 years old and either a U.S. or Canadian resident to enter. Maximum of 4 entries per person.

Good luck everyone! Enjoy swooning over all of the adorable party collections at Bird’s Party!  Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Vendors & Credits:
Styling, photography and printables: Bird’s Party
Cake: Bird of Bird’s Party
Cookies: Whatever Whimsy

When I put together the Milkaholic Baby Shower for our friends, I had no idea the overwhelming response it would receive!  So many of you have left kind comments and inquired about everything from the invitation to the food labels, patterned papers and milk bottles.  I am currently working to make the invitation available for purchase (via a third party…  more on that to come! ).  But for now, I thought we’d start off with the milk bottles.

So today we’re sharing instructions for the milk bottles along with a FREE PRINTABLE file for the labels.  Here is everything you’ll need to make some MILKaholic bottles of your own!

Frappuccino Bottles
Black Spray Paint
MILKaholic Labels {free printable here}
Adhesive Remover
Black Sharpie

DIRECTIONS

1. Enjoy a bottle of Frappuccino!
2. Rinse bottle. Remove label. Spray with adhesive remover (like goo-gone) and let sit for 5-10 minutes.  Scrub off adhesive residue with a sponge or cloth.  Wash the entire bottle and lid in dishwasher.  Let dry completely.
3. Spray paint lid black.   Let dry completely.
4. Print Milkaholic labels on sticker paper.  Get the FREE PRINTABLE labels here.
5. Punch out labels with 1 3/4″ circle punch.  The outer black boarder is thicker than necessary to give you some room for error on the punch.  The final label will have only a thin outer black border.
6. Affix a label on the top of lid and front of bottle. Enjoy!

TIPS:
If your circle punch is old and dull like mine, the outer black border of the label may have some unsightly white fringe.  Before attaching label, use a black Sharpie marker to touch up any white areas. This will make your final product look more polished!

Don’t fill the bottles with milk until you’re ready to use them. The labels will wrinkle with the condensation that pools on the cold bottle!

FREE PRINTABLE Milk Bottle Labels Here!

	Carrie Sellman is the Founder & Editor of The Cake Blog. Her work has been published in BRIDES Magazine, The Bride and Bloom, on DIYnetwork.com, TLC’s Parentables and more. Read more about Carrie on her bio page.

Half Baked is thrilled to announce another great addition to our growing list of sponsors. Just in time for all of your summer parties and events, we’re excited to welcome Bundles of Cookies! Just take a look at these adorable patriotic cookies, perfect for the 4th of July!  From Uncle Sam and Old Glory to fireworks and Declaration of Independence, these cookies are red, white and blue with a sweet coating of delicious!

How adorable are these cookies?  I love the striped sandals and swimsuits!  How perfect would these be for a 4th of July pool party?  It’s pretty easy to see why these cookies have been popping up everywhere to include the Rachel Ray Show, Modern Bride, The New York Times and Southern Living (just to name a few!).

A few thoughts from Sarah, the owner of Bundles of Cookies:
“Cookies are for both the young and young at heart …and since there is a self proclaimed cookie monster in all of us, we took the ordinary and made it extraordinary! We hire talented artists to decorate your personalized one-of-a-kind cookie arrangement. Each cookie is hand rolled, cut and decorated for your custom order. We pride ourselves on creating edible works of art.”

No matter what the event, Bundles of Cookies will have a cookie suitable for the occasion.  From holidays to baby showers, weddings, birthdays and more… they’ve got it covered (literally, covered in icing!).  Cookie arrangements and favors are shipped, delivered or given to the recipient with one objective in mind – to make them smile.  You can see more of these clever cookie creations on the Bundles of Cookies website, blog and Facebook Page.

A special thanks to Bundles of Cookies for partnering with us!  Welcome to Half Baked!

I’ve been dying to share this event with you for months!  It debuted yesterday on Hostess with the Mostess (yay!) and I’m thrilled to share some additional images and details with you today.  My husband and I hosted a co-ed baby shower for our friends, Ted and Meredith, in honor of their newly adopted son, Colin.  Ted and Meredith anxiously waited for Colin’s birth and we were all thrilled when he officially became their son.  We were honored to welcome Baby Colin with this modern Milkaholic Sip & See baby shower.

‘Milkaholic’ just seemed fitting for a Sip & See considering how much time a newborn spends eating!  That meant baby bottles, milk and cow print.  Yes, cow print!  (I was slightly nervous about the cow print but it stepped up nicely into this mature and modern role).  The color scheme was black and white with pops of turquoise.   Swiss dots and stripes were used throughout to add a fresh and modern feel.

I designed the invitation and let it set the tone for the party decor.  Sleek and modern yet baby themed was the intent.  The Milkaholic baby bottle became a logo that was used throughout the party.   The back of the invite featured cow print and a turquoise “I ♥ MILK’ stripe that matched custom address labels from Minted.

With this being a co-ed event, we wanted to keep the decor more modern and less traditional ‘baby’.  To create a unique backdrop for the dessert table, I painted a canvas to match the party invite.  Black and white patterned bunting was hung along the wall above the painting.   Mini bottles were filled with milk and given sleek milk labels.  The bottles were stacked in tall vases on ice and also mixed into the tub of adult beverages.  The theme even permeated the coffee station with mini milk bottles serving up the cream and sugar.  The Milkaholic logo was updated to include the baby’s name and then framed for additional decoration.  White hydrangeas were arranged in tall cylinder vases tied with black satin ribbon.

We wanted to provide an array of miniature desserts so that  guests could sample several different items.  Delicious sweets from Caramel  Swirls were served including their Little Treasures (milk caramel and shortbread cookie dipped in chocolate – yum!), Cafe Caramel Cookies and Espresso Brownies.  Adorable custom sugar cookies were created by The Cookie Jar to match the theme.  Sweeties by Kim created chocolate-covered Oreos to match as well.  Of course, I designed the cake!  Additional desserts included meringue cookies, white chocolate pretzels, cream puffs and cheesecake shots.  Cold milk shots were served to wash it all down (along with some adult beverages and coffee).

So many delicious treats! And with the boys around… we made a serious dent in this dessert table!

Activities for a co-ed baby event can be tricky.   Not wanting the male guests to feel awkward, I opted for non-organized activities that would still be fun and entertaining.  Guests were encouraged to write humorous thoughts onto diapers to provide Ted and Meredith a little chuckle later on.  The Diaper Thoughts station gave the men an avenue to showcase their best and most clever diaper humor!  A Well  Wishes station encouraged guests to write something sentimental on keepsake cards which were then placed into a glass bubble bowl. Of course, the main activity was oohing and awing over the guest of honor, Baby Colin!

Guests were given a small box filled with ‘Kisses from Colin’. Hershey Kisses with patterned labels inside a white box wrapped with coordinating paper and tags.

Everyone had a lovely time meeting Baby Colin and indulging in some sweets.  We could not be more thrilled for Ted and Meredith and were honored to welcome their son Colin into this world!

A very special thank you to all of the amazing vendors involved in this modern Milkaholic Sip & See!

Vendors & Credits:
Party Styling & Decor: Carrie Sellman of Half Baked
Invitation & Paper Goods: Half Baked on Etsy
Address Labels: Minted
Decorated Sugar Cookies: The Cookie Jar
Chocolate Covered Oreos: Sweeties by Kim
Caramel Desserts & Espresso Brownies: Caramel Swirls
Cake: Carrie Sellman of Half Baked
Painted Canvas:  Original by Carrie Sellman.  Duplicates now available for purchase at djDecor.
Milk Bottles: DIY found HERE

	Carrie Sellman is the Founder & Editor of The Cake Blog. Her work has been published in BRIDES Magazine, The Bride and Bloom, on DIYnetwork.com, TLC’s Parentables and more. Read more about Carrie on her bio page.