Nothing cures the Monday blues like a big dose of pretty!  And that’s exactly what we have in store for you today.  We’re starting off the week with a romantic dessert table to make you swoon!  With buttercream frills, ruffled rosette swirls and ombre, this display will steal your heart.  The soft pastel color scheme is a perfect combination of peach and mint with a pop of gold.  Featuring three incredible cakes, a whimsical balloon backdrop and festive streamers…  feast your eyes on this Fresh & Feminine Cake Table, shared with us by Jenna Rae Cakes.

Are you swooning yet?  This charming table included three cakes: a mini buttercream frill cake in shades of mint, an ombre layer cake with buttercream rosette swirls and an incredible fondant covered petal cake as the centerpiece.  Meringues, white chocolate covered cake pops, boxed favors, streamers and balloons completed this lovely display.  Not to mention the oh-so-cute cake menu!

So many great uses of color gradation in this table… both inside and outside the cake!  A peach ombre layer cake is covered in buttercream rosette swirls and the results are beautiful!

Jenna Rae shared a few thoughts with us about her inspiration:

“The inspiration for the table came from a style board my sister, Graphic Designer Ashley Illchuk, and Jessie Thiessen from One Plus One Design came up with.  I loved the colour palette.  Mint green and peach are my favorite colors to work with right now….  This is a great alternative to a big wedding cake, and gives the guests more variety.  It also adds a modern touch to your big day.”

Isn’t it lovely!  It would be perfect for a wedding, bridal shower or even a baby shower.  AND I think it would be a lovely change to the typical reds and pinks for Valentine’s day.  The soft colors and delectable sweets definitely create a sense of romance.

A big thanks to Jenna Rae for sharing this charming Fresh & Feminine Cake Table with us!  We love, love, love it!  Happy Monday everyone!

Vendors & Credits:
Cake :  Jenna Rae Cakes
Photography:  Tracey Kiansky Photography
Styling : One Plus One Design and Ashley Illchuk

Half Baked is thrilled to announce another great addition to our growing list of sponsors…. a fab online resource to take your cake decorating game to the next level.  Sharon Zambito is an incredibly talented cake designer, instructor and the owner of Sugar Ed Productions.  Her work has been published in numerous magazines and she has appeared twice on TLC’s Ultimate Cake Off!  After inspiring cake decorators for years… Sharon shares her tips, tools and techniques at SugarEd Productions!  You’ll find everything you need to decorate cakes like a pro!

Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, Sharon has an instructional DVD for you.  Learn everything you need to know from Successfully Stacking your cake to covering it in Flawless Fondant, or going Totally Topsy Turvy.  Maybe you need to start at the beginning with her Back to Basics, baking for cake decorating series.  And of course you’ll need the tools and supplies shown in the videos!  Who couldn’t use a fondant smoother, bench scraper or some new cutters?  You’ll find all of this and much more at SugarEd Productions!

I realize we’re all moving past Christmas but I just had to include a picture of this adorable Ruffled Christmas Tree Cake!  It’s just one of the detailed cake tutorials on Sharon’s blog.  (You can find the DIY for this cake HERE.)  I can’t wait to see what Sharon has in store for Valentine’s Day!!

Be sure to hop on over and check out all that SugarEd Productions has to offer.  Follow along on their Facebook Page, for new ideas and tutorials.  A special thanks to Sharon and SugarEd Productions for partnering with us!  Welcome to Half Baked!

Quick Reference Links:
Website:  SugarEdProductions.com
Blog:  sugaredblog.blogspot.com
Be a Fan:  Facebook Page

I know everyone is still recovering from the holidays.  And I promise that I’m not about to start with the Valentine’s posts already.  But if you can just wrap your head around the next holiday for one quick moment…  Now’s the time to hit the Christmas Clearance section at Target and grab some of these cute felt ornaments, before they’re gone!  At 70% off, they come out to be 10 cents a piece!  Easily re-purposed for Valentine’s Day…. these felt hearts are a cheap, easy and quick Valentine’s decoration.  Yay for Felt Heart Ornaments!

At 10 cents a heart, the uses for these felt cuties are limitless!  Of course you could use them as sold, but I snipped off the gold ornament tie and added my own white string.  A plaid, striped or polka dot ribbon would be adorable as well!

I’m sure you’ll come up with additional uses, but here’s a few of my ideas for these adorable felt hearts:

• Tie on to your baked goods for Valentine’s treats
• Tape onto envelopes for hand-delivered Valentine’s cards
• Decorate Valentine’s boxes for school
• Center on a plate for an easy Valentine’s place setting
• Create a row down the center of your table for a heart table runner
• String many hearts together to create a heart garland
• Hang several strings of several hearts together to create a mobile

There were oodles of them still at my Target yesterday, but the Christmas Clearance is going fast!  I spotted them in red, white, lime green, bright turquoise and purple.  If you snag some, be sure to come back and show us what you create with them.  Happy Shopping!