The idea of Cake Party started as a random idea. I had found a beautiful cake recipe and posted it on Facebook with a quick caption along the lines of, wouldn’t it be heavenly if I had a cake potluck and everyone brought a cake like this? A lot of friends were very enthusiastic about this idea. Fast forward to my birthday party planning time and if you know me and my cake-loving ways, a cake potluck was the only party theme that seemed right. Here are all the details that made my Cake Party so much fun!

Everyone was encouraged to pull up their sleeves and try making a cake. Non-cake sweets and savory snacks were also appreciated. Behold, the sweet table, complete with DIY tissue paper and cardboard CAKE letters and a DIY tassel garland. Please give all your heart eyes to this beautiful sugar spread. We’ve got M&M fudge, saltine chocolate bark, pecan shortbread cheesecake with caramel, Japanese cheesecake, sesame peanut butter banana cake, red velvet cake, Chocolate stout and Irish whiskey and Irish cream cake, tres leches cupcakes, strawberry shortcake, pumpkin pie, and chocolate peppermint bundt. Whew!

Some friends decided to bring savory snacks to balance the sugar and to them, we will be forever grateful. For the savory snacks, we enjoyed fancy goat cheese and crackers and marcona almonds, chips with salsa and guacamole, and brie and bacon jam pastry on toast. My sweet guy, who would probably say cake is the last thing he would want to eat, made his favorite kale salad for the party. His cake label had a few people fooled/confused at first.

My friend Alicia recently started her own mixology company called a.k.a. mixologist and she brought infused liquors of strawberry daiquiri made with rum and a whiskey drink similar to an Old Fashioned. There’s a lot of science behind the process of creating these fresh and natural liquors that takes fancy machines and time, and all I know is, they were refreshing and smooth! You can learn all about it on her website.

There was a Decorate Your Own Cupcake area for a little DIY fun. It was cute watching friends try their hand at frosting and sprinkling.

My very talented friend Kathy graciously created pretty framed illustrations for the event. You can see the “Decorate your own cupcake” above and the party tagline below.

The result was the king of all sugar comas (similar to a previous dessert party), lots of laughs and community, and me going to bed with a smile on my face, thinking about all my sweet friends who made me feel so loved for my birthday. What an extra sweet way to celebrate a birthday!

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November is easily my favorite month of the year. It’s my birthday month, Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving month and officially THE start of pie season. With the help of Brit + Co and Mrs. Smith’s, I gathered some of my favorite crafty ladies to enjoy a mini Friendsgiving and a DIY pie dish party.

For the décor, I kept it simple with a fall theme of gold and burgundy. I re-used the votive holders from last year’s Friendsgiving and added flowers. Place cards with gold leaf stickers and gold lettering completed the look.

For our menu, we had a spread of favorite Thanksgiving dishes, including Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, and apple walnut salad. My friend Julie made a rich and appetizing pumpkin gooey cake dessert that was a hit! Also for dessert, Mrs. Smith’s provided tasty pumpkin and dutch apple pies that were easy as pie to prepare. They come frozen and they filled my house with the comforting smells of the holidays.

It looks like the apple pie craving was stronger than the pumpkin pie craving!

Perfectly timed for Thanksgiving, our pie dish DIY ensured we have something gorgeous and unique to display our pies in a few weeks. Similar to our other Brit + Co DIYs, this pie dish DIY was all about the pattern. We used porcelain pens to create our best designs.

Here are our beautiful final products!

Little nod to Adele

Thank you Mrs. Smith’s for sponsoring our party!

I hope you have a wonderful pie season and happy Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving!

What’s your favorite kind of pie?

Check out the other Brit + Co DIY parties I’ve hosted.

One of my goals this year is to throw 12 celebrations. This is #14. These are big and small parties for any occasion with the goal of planning and executing something fun. See all the celebrations here.

Disclosure: Brit + Co and Mrs. Smith’s provided me complimentary craft kits and complimentary pies. I was not required to review the kits or pies or write a blog post about the party, but I hope you find inspiration from it.

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Super guests! Find us on Instagram: @ybbalc7, @wanderlustanita, @kathyphantastic, and @pspapershoppe

The post DIY Herb Garden Party with Brit + Co and Lay’s Wavy appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

My friends Dan and Sarah and I are very serious about our food. We went on a whirlwind adventure in Spain in 2013 that was filled with the best Spanish eats. We love discovering new restaurants in Austin. We all have some cooking and baking talents. When Dan got a sous vide earlier this year, it kicked off an unofficial potluck dinner party series between us and our significant others. We’re taking turns hosting and providing the main dish. First, Dan made some delicious sous vide steaks and then, Sarah made an incredible Mediterranean spread. Boyfriend and I got to thinking about what we would do and a seafood boil was the indisputable winner.

Thankfully, cooler weather made this dinner party perfect for the backyard, especially since the boiling part could get messy. We kept the event set-up simple since we wanted to focus our efforts on the star of the show: the food! We lit citronella candles to keep insects away and strung some outdoor lights and a homemade pennant banner.

We used a folding table, created nautical doodles on butcher paper, and covered it with a plastic tablecloth. This table covering simplified the clean-up at the end of the dinner because all we needed to do was roll it up and toss it out. We had cracking utensils, paper towels, wet wipes, shell bowls and trash cans ready.

Ah yes, the food! The spicy boil included seven clusters of crab, two pounds of shrimp and sides of potatoes, sausage, and mushrooms. We grubbed down family style around the table. The drink cooler was full of white wine and beer. For dessert, Sarah made refreshing pink lemonade bars. I ordered these cute crab bibs because no one wants crab and shrimp guts on them!

Simple evenings like this, focused on great friends and food and less about how picture-perfect everything looks, are my favorite. I love themed events with beautiful decor, but at the end of the night, when we’re sitting together, full from fantastic food and laughing from the stories we’re telling, it’s the people and the memories we are creating that truly matters. I hope your adventurous living involves nights like these!

One of my goals this year is to throw 12 celebrations. This is #12 of 12, but I’m not finished yet! These are big and small parties for any occasion with the goal of planning and executing something fun. See all the celebrations here.

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Remember the traditional Nigerian wedding for my friends Aaron and Gloria I attended in August? We celebrated the bride’s birthday and bachelorette festivities last weekend! It was a weekend full of activities, including a Segway tour around downtown Austin, a quick romp at the HOPE Outdoor Gallery, pampering at a nail salon, dancing and lots of food! I hosted the last hurrah on Sunday to close out the weekend – a floral-themed bachelorette brunch – at my place.

The décor was simple, affordable and easy to make. Oversized tissue flowers on the wall and white spray painted vases with big, fake blooms carried the floral theme.

For food, I made a homemade frittata with eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, sausage, and shredded cheese. I make this without a recipe! I mix together the ingredients, season the mixture, and put it in a dish. Then I beat together eggs (I used six here) and pour it over the everything.

I also made Pioneer Woman’s Breakfast Potatoes. Trying to follow my own advice of not over-extending myself when it comes to preparation, I also popped open Pillsbury’s biscuits and cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing, two favorites I grew up eating. Both take at most 20 minutes to prepare.

It was a fun weekend with lovely ladies!

One of my goals this year is to throw 12 celebrations. This is #11 of 12. These are big and small parties for any occasion with the goal of planning and executing something fun. See all the celebrations here.

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First, the set-up. Shaving cream was the magical ingredient in the pretty papers for the backdrop, table decor, menu and place cards. It is slightly messy to make but it’s easy to clean up, it smells good and you can see how beautiful the results are!

I made all of the sheets for the party in less than three hours. Quick tutorial: Cover a tray with shaving cream. Add a few drops of food coloring and swirl with a spatula. Place a sheet of paper on top of the shaving cream. Lift and scrap off the shaving cream with a metal or plastic ruler or edge. Let dry and voila! Be sure to cover your work space with newspapers and have paper towels on hand; if not careful, the dye can transfer to things you don’t want dyed!

Of course, we enjoyed bites and drinks because what’s a party without snacks? Spanakopita and zucchini pizza bites have a slight marble look and were easy finger foods.

When I saw this Almond and Blackberry Pavlova recipe on Camille Styles, I knew I HAD to make it for the party. Not only is the cream on top marbled with blackberry sauce but it is probably the prettiest dessert I’ve ever made! The bottom is meringue and the top is blackberry whipped cream. The taste is light and slightly tart, and it was a hit!

Time to get crafting! We used a tutorial from A Beautiful Mess to make these pretty marbled jewelry dishes. All it takes is oven bake clay: white clay, black clay, gray clay and a pack of bright clay. After the dishes came out of the oven, we had a lot of fun putting a gilded touch with the gold liquid gilding. We resisted gilding everything in sight after that. Gorgeous!

This craft takes 45 minutes at most and is hard to mess up, so give it a try! To make it easier on you, Brit + Co has a DIY marbling kit with all the supplies and instructions ready for you. Check out the kit here.

Want more ideas for a marbling-themed party? Check out the DIY Marbling Party Pinterest board for recipes and craft ideas. I especially like the fabric and glass marbling tutorials!

What do you think? Ready to start marbling?

One of my goals this year is to throw 12 celebrations. This is #10 of 12. These are big and small parties for any occasion with the goal of planning and executing something fun. See all the celebrations here.

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To go along with the craft, Bribery Bakery was the perfect setting. Only a few months old, the bakery delights with all of its scrumptious treats and cute environment. We enjoyed their Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Ganache, Red Velvet Cupcakes, and my favorite – the Pineapple Brown Butter Blondies.

We wasted no time getting to crafting. For this craft, the kit includes a porcelain cupcake stand and several paint pens.

It’s a pretty easy craft and a little big of color goes a long way. Most of us went with simple patterns and I loved how our stands turned out! Of course, we had to test out our finished product.

Perfect for a single cupcake or pineapple blondie!

I made a special dessert topper for our treats. Top Chef and James Beard Award Winner Stephanie Izard created this Cheesy Chippy Crumble recipe using Lay’s Wavy Cheddar Chips that is a tasty topper for cupcakes, ice cream, muffins, parfaits and more. Slightly cheesy, it’s very easy to make and includes mostly Cheddar Chips, oats, brown sugar, butter, and flour. Check out Lay’s Wavy Cookbook, Pinterest’s first cookbook, for more chip-inspired recipes.

Thank you to Brit + Co and Lay’s Wavy for a fun crafting and snacking time!

Make your own cupcake stand with these instructions from Brit + Co. Find DIY inspiration by exploring the #iamcreative and #britstagram hashtags on Instagram.

Check out the other Brit + Co DIY parties I’ve hosted.

One of my goals this year is to throw 12 celebrations. This is #9 of 12. I’m way ahead of schedule! These are big and small parties for any occasion with the goal of planning and executing something fun. See all the celebrations here.

Disclosure: Brit + Co provided me complimentary craft kits and Lay’s Wavy provided me complimentary bags of Cheddar Chips. I was not required to review the kits or the Lay’s Wavy product or write a blog post about the party, but I hope you find inspiration from it!

The post DIY Cupcake Stand Party with Brit + Co and Lay’s Wavy appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

When was the last time you used sidewalk chalk? For me, it was years ago when I worked a children’s spring break day camp during college but that changed when some girlfriends and I got together at Auditorium Shores to make some #SidewalkSelfies for Brit + Co and Crayola. Look, they’ve got glitter chalk and a huge variety of colors now! 

We not only wanted to create art but spread a little inspiration along the way. Auditorium Shores and the hill with the spiral sidewalk where we chalked gets a lot of traffic with people working out and families, so it was a perfect place to spread inspiration! Not to mention the great view of the Austin skyline!

When we finished, we left some chalk in case people were feeling inspired and passed on our box of chalk to a group of kids and their moms.

Feeling inspired? You can do your own #SidewalkSelfies and enter to win a Crayola prize pack while you’re at it. Post your chalk art photos on Instagram, Twitter or on their online form. New winners chosen every week! See more information on the Crayola website.

One of my goals this year is to throw 12 celebrations. This is #8 of 12. These are big and small parties for any occasion with the goal of planning and executing something fun. See all the celebrations here.

Disclosure: Brit + Co provided me complimentary chalk to participate in their #SidewalkSelfies campaign. I was not required to review the chalk or write a blog post about the party.

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After getting married at San Francisco City Hall on April 1st, my friends MJ and Peter went on a wedding tour to celebrate with family in Korea and Taiwan before making their way back to Austin for a final wedding celebration. It was a night of delicious food, fun shenanigans and lots of love.

Photo by Peter Tsai Photography

A few years ago, some mutual friends started a cookbook book club. We would decide on a cookbook and each person would make and bring a dish from it. The feasts were very fun but short-lived since our group of ladies have full schedules of awesome activities and had trouble finding dates that would work. It wasn’t a total loss because I met MJ and we continued to grow our friendship – brunching together, traveling to Greece together, and planning her Austin wedding reception together. While she and Peter have given me lots of credit for the planning, the truth is I merely gave my two cents and moved the planning along. All the beautiful details you see here are the hard work of MJ and Peter!

Photo by Peter Tsai Photography

MJ found this sweet poster by Super Rural that served as their guestbook. She also printed photos of her and Peter’s travels to decorate the table.

Photo by Peter Tsai Photography

Photo by Peter Tsai Photography

The gorgeous floral centerpiece is a collaboration between MJ and Central Market. They did a great job creating a bouquet from the flowers MJ suggested.

Photo by Peter Tsai Photography

Thinking about the name cards, we thought it would be cute to have photos instead of names. MJ printed everyone’s Facebook profile photo and she and Peter cut and painted these wooden cubes to fit the photos. These fun place cards were a hit and a good pop of color on the tables. A frame on the welcome table also had the photos for guests to find their table number.

Photo by Peter Tsai Photography

Photo by Peter Tsai Photography

Planning a dinner and event with a restaurant was an experience we all learned a lot from, and the dinner itself was wonderful. We enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and a four-course meal at Parkside. Note the event hashtag on the menu!

During dessert, MJ and Peter gave a presentation filled with photos and stories of how they met (on Twitter!), how their relationship progressed, how Peter proposed, how they got married and how their Asia wedding tour went. They also showed the video of their touching City Hall wedding. Lots of teary eyes after this!

Peter is a pro and published photographer and had the gear for a photobooth. MJ thought of this bright and fun backdrop for the photobooth. The photos turned out great!

Photo by Peter Tsai Photography

Photo by Peter Tsai Photography

For party favors, their good friends and owners of Polkadots Cupcake Factory packaged blue and pink macarons for everyone.

The night ended with a walk through and drinks around downtown and lots of well wishes for the newly married couple. It was a memorable night and I was honored to be a part of it. Hooray for love!

Photo by Follow My Story Photography

As noted, photos in this post are by Peter Tsai Photography, Follow My Story Photography, and myself.

One of my goals this year is to throw 12 celebrations. This is #7 of 12. These are big and small parties for any occasion with the goal of planning and executing something fun. See all the celebrations here.

The post MJ & Peter’s Love-Filled Austin Wedding Reception appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

There’s something about the pineapple. Maybe it’s the unique look or the way it reminds me of enjoying pineapple drinks on a tropical beach. With the growing enthusiasm in pineapple-themed parties and pineapple goods, pineapples are having its 15 minutes of fame and I am happy to indulge. My friend Rochelle and I put on our own pineapple party at her place in Dallas. It was a tasty and fun afternoon of eating good food, catching up with friends and crafting together.

Our main décor was a pineapple vase for the table and a pineapple prop. Pro tip: put the flowers in a vase and put the vase in the pineapple to prevent the pineapple from leaking and the flowers from wilting.

Rochelle and I created a pineapple-filled feast!

We had sparkling pineapple lemon punch, black iced tea, and pineapple-infused passion fruit iced tea for drinks.

Rochelle put together everything needed for some delicious beef tacos.

I made some pineapple guacamole (easy recipe: make guacamole and mix fresh or canned diced pineapple in it) and picked up a jar of Chipotle Pineapple Peach salsa.

For dessert, we enjoyed slices of pineapple bars, which are a similar consistency to lemon bars but we baked it in a pretty pie pan. Here’s the very easy pineapple bars recipe.

After our lunch, we busted out our crafting supplies and enjoyed some creative time. It was my kind of celebration: a simple, low-key, and creative afternoon with friends I don’t get to see that often.

Want more pineapple goodness? Check out my Pineapple Party Pinterest board to help inspire your own pineapple party!

One of my goals this year is to throw 12 celebrations. This is #6 of 12. These are big and small parties for any occasion with the goal of planning and executing something fun. See all the celebrations here.

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