{A few weeks ago we hosted a party for Ebby's 13th birthday. With my mom as my able bodied co-hostess, we threw one pretty rockin' bash. This week I thought I'd post about a few of the party details, starting today with the Dessert Table.}
Sweets tables seem to be all over the internet these days (thank you Amy Atlas). I see them on blogs, on flickr, everywhere.
How could I not be inspired?
How could I not do a sweets table for Ebby's 13th birthday party?
Obviously, I had no choice in the matter ;-).
I started collecting inspiration, decorations and yard sale serving pieces this past spring. Although the party colors started off as Black & Pink in the very early going, we soon decided on Turquoise and Lime, or as Ebby prefers, Blue & Green. When Bobby Law (aka Mr. Bowles) was at Pearl River Mart in April I may or may not have been in constant phone communication as I sent him all over the store to buy paper lanterns and rice paper daisy decorations... I jotted down menu ideas, presentation ideas and even bought a robin's egg blue flat sheet at a thrift store during vacation on Hilton Head because I knew it would make a great tablecloth.
For the actual sweets, I wanted to do the baking myself. I figured I'd better not overwhelm myself with too many goodies, so I mixed in several store bought sweets as well. Pretty much if it was blue or green, I bought it and put it in the Party Box. In my quest for blue & green goodies I even went a little crazy on a few items, paying $5.99 a pound for 'chocolate gems' (m&m's) in the bulk section of Fresh Market because they were the perfect shades of blue and green. I lucked out with a couple of items as well. For example, I found Cookies & Cream Hershey kisses that had a great blue & silver wrapper. The items I did bake were fairly simple and many could be made a day or two ahead.
On party day there were plenty of clouds around. I was hoping the weather would hold out for us. Unfortunately it started raining about a half hour before the guests arrived, forcing us indoors. Luckily our dining room is painted green so things looked just fine in there. My mom brought two beautiful bouquets of hydrangeas from her yard, which helped give that 'bringing the outdoors in' feel to the buffet.
My mom and I set up the sweets table while the girls enjoyed pizza and pink lemonade in another room. When we finally called them in, they were beyond excited. We had Ebby blow out the candles on her cake and then we let the feasting begin. There definitely seemed to be something for everyone. The best part: they were able to eat the leftovers the next morning at breakfast. Really, is there that much difference between the sugar content of a muffin and a cupcake???
The Menu
- Blue Velvet Whoopie Pies: really red velvet, but we changed the name to fit in with the party theme
- Dipped Oreos: I melted blue and green candy wafers and then coated half of each Oreo, garnished with colored sugar or white candy balls
- Chocolate chip cookie bars: very popular, even though they were neither blue nor green
- Cupcakes: I used yellow cake mix but added pudding mix, vanilla and extra egg & oil per the Cake Mix Doctor. Topped with homemade buttercream, these were delicious. Best cupcakes I've had all summer, if I do say so
- Cookies & Cream kisses: 1 word: addictive
- mini York Peppermint Patties
- Tootsie Pops: I bought a box of 100 for $7.99 at Costco and picked out all the blue & green ones to serve at the party. Yes, I did.
- Green apple licorice: another Fresh Market splurge, didn't go over so well but at least they looked good
- Blue & Green M&M's: I bought the dispenser at a yard sale for $2, so fun and built in portion control (hahahaha)
Decorations
- All of the rice paper hanging decorations came from Pearl River Mart in NYC
- I made the Happy Birthday banner last year and plan to put it up every year for Ebby's birthday. Luckily it looked good with our spread.
- Letter E's were all from Ebby's room. I repainted two of them to match our blue & green theme--which was fine because we're also re-doing Ebby's room. Guess the color scheme...
- Polka dot table runner is just a folded piece of fabric from Jo-Ann that I really need to sew. Love its punchiness though.
- 13 cake topper is two 99 cent wooden letters from the craft store. Actually the 1 is a sawed off K. I waited until a few days before the party and couldn't find a 1 anywhere. I covered them with Martha Stewart turquoise glitter--and didn't serve the girls from that part of the cake, just in case
- Birthday candles are from Target. I'm pretty sure.
Serving Pieces
- White ruffled cake stands, set of 2 from Costco, $9.99. Love them & wish I'd bought more!
- Glass bead cake stand: a gift several years ago from my mom
- Everything else is a yard sale find. I spray painted the tray for the Oreos (used a paper doily for serving). It's just a melamine tray that originally had watermelon slices on it. I also spray painted a ceramic candlestick to use as the base for the white lace plate stand. I was going to glue it, but I never got around to it...
- Paper goods came from Target
So there you have it. Ebby's Blue & Green 13th Birthday Dessert Buffet. I really enjoyed putting all of the elements together and am pleased with how it turned out. Next year though: outdoors!
Up next: The Photo Booth
