Fabulous Product: Sparkling Disco Dust. Marvelous Edible Glitter

Looking for the post about disco dust for cake decorating?  It's moved, along with the rest of the blog, to its new home at Tikkido.com

Disco dust (aka pixie dust)--edible glitter for cake decorating.

Sneak Peek: Harry Potter Cookies

Looking for the Harry Potter cookies?  This post (along with the rest of the blog) has moved to its new home at Tikkido.com.

Harry Potter sugar cookies: a broom, an owl, and the sorting hat.

Fabulous Product: Printable Treat Bags

I saw these new products from Print Your Party and just flipped.  Printable glassine or craft treat bags!

So slick!  So elegant!  So completely custom and professional looking!

And you can do them at home!  Printable collections are getting really amazing and versatile.  Oh, how I wish any of this had been around when I got married!

PYP sells both the blank bags and the graphics designed to go on the bags.  How simple to make, yet how striking!

Love love love.  What an easy way to create an absolutely gorgeous custom presentation for your goodies.

Rapunzel Cake Adventures

Looking for the Rapunzel cake post?  It, along with the rest of the content from this blog, has moved to its new home at Tikkido.com.

Rapunzel Cake, decorated in fondant with gumpaste accents.

Fabulous Product: Birch Bark Napkin Rings with Rustic Elegance

I ran across these lovely birch bark napkin rings from the Vermont Branch Company and just had to share them here:

Birch Bark Napkin Ring from the Vermont Branch Company.

Sweet!  Romantic!  Rustic!  Elegant!  Natural!  Refined!  All at the same time!  Wouldn't they look great on a table along with the birch bark carved initial centerpieces from this tutorial?

Birch Bark Carved Initial Centerpiece

Convey Meaning With Flower Choices and Colors

Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it love-in-idleness.
Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream (2.1.169-72)

You can't help but be surrounded by flowers on Valentine's week.  The grocery store, street corners--flowers, flowers, everywhere.  Because I love history and literature, it got me thinking about what the different flowers and colors represent.  


Encoding messages in floral bouquets has been around for centuries, but it became extremely popular in the Victorian era, when floriography flourished a way to communicate feelings that weren't considered appropriate to speak aloud.  

If you're a history buff like I am, and would like to incorporate some meaning into your bouquet, here are some commonly accepted meanings for flower colors:


Red:  Love and passion.
Pink:  Love, like red, but of a more innocent and youthful variety.
Yellow:  Bright, unflagging happiness.
White:  Purity, innocence.  Not surprisingly, this is linked to Queen Victoria, who is commonly considered the inspiration for the modern trend of white wedding dresses.  
Purple:  Long a color of royalty, purple flowers indicate success, pride, and accomplishment.
Green:  Health, vitality, and youth.
Orange:  Confidence and strength.
Peach:  Friendship.
Blue:  Calm, peace.

Or just pick the colors you love.  We're not buttoned-up Victorians who need to rely on secret pollen-laden messages to show our feelings, after all.  Sometimes, it's just about what is pretty!

Need Direction for Your Wedding Look? Pantone's Fall Color Forecast is Out!

The color experts at Pantone have just released Fall 2011's most fashion-forward colors!

Gorgeous!  I love how bright and cheerful the colors are, but how they still have a warmth that makes them perfect for fall.  (I was clearly prescient when I bought my favorite purse in cedar, thinking that it would look great even through the fall. ;-) )

The Dessy Group is once again working closely with Pantone and has created a collection of bridesmaids' gowns in these colors.

They certainly make it easy to take inspiration from the color experts and incorporate this gorgeous palette into your wedding!  I can't wait to see wedding pictures from our customers in a few months.  Be inspired!

DIY Project: How to Color Sugar

Looking for the post on how to color sugar?  It's moved to its new home at Tikkido.com!

DIY Project: Edible Garnishes for Glasses

Looking for the post on how to make edible garnishes for glasses?  It's moved (along with the rest of the blog) to its new home at Tikkido.com.

Signature cocktail rimmed in pink sugar and embellished with a rice paper edible butterfly.

More Embosser Tricks: Monogram on Satin Ribbon

Did you know that the embosser works on satin ribbon, too?

Imagine the possibilities!  The ribbon wrapping your bouquet.  An embossed ribbon enclosing your invitation.  Ribbon with your monogram on the gift bags for the out of town guests, and adorning the gifts you give to your bridesmaids.  A subtle, romantic, custom touch on the pew bows.  

When embossing satin ribbon with your monogram or logo, squeeze extra hard to get a nice impression.  Just like with the embossed velum and napkins, a little bit of practice and you'll easily create beautiful, personalized elements for your wedding.

More Embosser Tricks: Monogram Velum Votive Candle Holders

Here's another elegant and unconventional use of a monogram embosser:

Votive embellished with velum and a monogram embosser.

To get this effect, simple cut a strip of velum, emboss with your monogram embosser (see yesterday's post), and attach to a plain votive candle holder using the same insanely simple technique used for the lace-wrapped votives.  (Spoiler alert:  it's tape.)

One word of caution when embossing velum:  use a very light touch.  If you squeeze too hard, like you would for the napkins from yesterday's post, or a piece of quality paper, you will tear through the velum.  Just squeeze a little less vigorously, and you'll be creating gorgeous monograms on velum in no time.

This technique would also look spectacular on a vase.  Imagine a centerpiece made from a glass column vase filled with a bunch of tulips (or other flowers with pretty, graphic stems) and wrapped with a strip of velum embossed with your monogram.  How elegant, and how incredibly simple for a DIY bride.

Inexpensive DIY Personalized Napkins

I've always loved embossers.  The sense of history, the tone on tone look, the feel of the raised paper under your fingertips...I love it all.  An embossed monogram is an incredibly classic touch on the flap of an envelope, but that's not all you can do with them.  How about this simple idea for making your own customized napkins:

No need to pay for personalized napkins to set out at the bar and at the cocktail hour when it's so easy to make your own elegant version.

Using a monogram for a married couple?  The proper order is woman's first name initial, shared last name initial (usually larger), man's first name initial.

Did you design a custom logo for your wedding?  No problem--many companies like Made to Order Stamp and Seal are happy to make embossers out of your custom artwork.  How neat and classy would that be?