Party, party, party

We hosted an open house recently to celebrate Calla's arrival.  It was such a joy to see so many special people gather to pour out love on Calla and our family.  We are blessed!  Every baby should be cherished as much as Calla.

In preparation for the party, I had a great time sourcing handmade decorations and treats as well as making many of my own.  Instead of searching all over for recipes and resources again, I thought I'd recap anything here for my future reference.  Plus everything turned out so beautifully that I had to share pictures.  (Disclaimer - I was snapping pictures at the last second with the wrong lens so the quality is not great.) 

DESSERT BUFFET:

• Chocolate Cupcakes -  Magnolia's Vanilla Buttercream will definitely be my go-to icing in the future.  It is DELICIOUS!  If buttercream is wrong, I don't want to be right.  Edible pearls and wafer rice paper butterflies from Sweet Deja Vu were beyond adorable.  I was very pleased with these cupcakes.
• Chocolate Covered Oreo's - I used a candy mold which created a professional looking result.  Tutorial here.
• Mini Strawberry Cheesecake - Used this recipe but made into individual cheesecakes using silicone muffin molds.  They definitely needed to be frozen for at least 2 hours before unmolding but I love the finished result of the individual servings.
• Sugar Cookies - I tried a new recipe which was very good.  Traditionally I have used buttercream to ice cookies but I wanted to try royal icing for a clean finish.  The flavor wasn't as good as buttercream but the cookies were very pretty.  I think adding vanilla or almond extract would help.  I used buttercream to attach these custom fondant monogram toppers from Two Sugar Babies.  Some of the monograms were damaged beyond repair in shipping but I ended up with just the right amount for the plate.  And I think her other designs which aren't as intricate would travel better.
• Petit Fours - I'm not usually a lemon dessert fan but these lemon petit fours from Dulce De Luna were delicious!  The almond raspberry flavor was also tasty.
• Cake Pops - Red velvet, yum!  I met a woman who was selling cake pops as a fundraiser for Relay for Life and asked her to make 2 dozen for the party.  Win-win!
• Chocolate and Vanilla Marshmallows - If you haven't tried handmade marshmallows from A Little Bit of Sweet, you are missing out!  They are light, fluffy and absolutely delicious.
• Meringue Cookies - Huge mistake, most of them broke during shipping and no one ate those that made it in tact.  Oh well, you live and learn.
• Hershey's Kisses - Found clever little stickers from Posh Pixels and had them customized with Calla's name and initial. 

Chocolate covered Oreo's

White chocolate covered Oreo's

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Sugar cookies with royal icing and fondant monogram toppers

Lemon and almond-raspberry petit fours

Meringue cookies, handmade marshmallows, kisses

Kisses with custom stickers

Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream

Wafer rice paper butterfly and edible pearl decorations

OTHER FOOD & DRINKS:

• Tea sandwiches - I don't generally like tea sandwiches plus I tried new recipes so this was a gamble.  Both the chicken salad and cucumber sandwiches (used Best Cucumber Sandwich recipe) were completely gone and received many compliments. 
• Fruit
• Veggies and dip
• Orzo pasta salad
• Scones and homemade blackberry jelly (Jeff's contribution)
• Water - I added cucumbers, limes, strawberries and raspberries to water to make it a little prettier
• Raspberry lemonade with lemons brought from Arizona by my mom
• Coffee and assorted teas
• Champagne bar with pomegranate juice, orange juice and peach puree.  In a flash of frugal brilliance, I bought simple vases from the Dollar Store for the juices since I didn't have enough pitchers.



Food table



Fruit water and raspberry lemonade

Coffee and tea in my mom's silver tea service set (paper heart garland above)

Champagne bar (custom letter blocks in front)

DECORATIONS:

• Tissue paper pom poms came in a kit from Prost to the Host.  I just had to attach the monofilament, fluff and hang.  My mom had the clever idea of using a needle to hang them.  You can't even see the holes!
• Paper heart garland from Paper Polaroid.  I am saving this to use for Valentine's decorations in the future.
• I adore the name blocks from Countryside Sayings.  They were a great addition to the party decor and I ordered colors that will work in Calla's room afterward.
• I made the food labels using frames from DreAm Loft.  It came in a set of 6 different designs but the shop owner sent each design separately as well which worked perfectly since I only used one.
• Using this tutorial, I created a twin heart wreath for the door.  It was a ton of work (and a ton of glue sticks) but I will also keep this to reuse for Valentine's Day decorations so it was worth it.

Pom Poms, glass trays and food table

Pom Poms close up

DIY heart wreath