My Attempt at Making Candy Cane Cake Pops

I admit, for a long, long time I've wanted to try making the famous Bakerella Cake Pops but have just been WAY too intimidated to do so.  When I came across the post Jenn from Hostess WIth The Mostess wrote the other week about how she tried them for the first time, I got inspired.  Following her recipe and tips I dove right into my first attempt at making a cake pop...

Saturday night I didn't have big plans so I headed to my local SuperTarget and Michaels to purchase all my ingredients - one box of cake, one can of vanilla frosting, one jar of peppermint extract, one box of candy canes and one package of white candy melts (I already had the lollipop sticks at home) - and got started.

Here is how they turned out:

I am content with how they turned out, however I need to practice my dipping skills a little more. When I molded the cake mixture into little balls, they were nice and round, but when I dipped them, the chocolate made them look a little crazy (I loved the tip Jenn gave about adding the crushed candy canes on top to take away from the imperfections of a not-so-perfect cake ball).

What else did I learn from this whole cake pop experience?
1. It's a very long process - do not start at 9 p.m. because if you're a slow worker (like me), you will be up until all hours of the night trying to finish (3 a.m. to be exact!).
2. If you are adding peppermint to your cake batter (prior to baking it) for extra flavor... do not measure it out over the bowl - that peppermint extract comes out fast! (Thankfully, the cake pops still tasted good... I think some of the peppermint flavoring baked out.. whew!)
3. Mix, mix, mix your frosting and your crumbled cake like crazy!  I didn't get enough frosting for the cake on the bottom of my bowl and it was hard to form the balls.  If you have too much frosting (which happened toward the top of my bowl), the cake balls become very sticky to form and don't hold their shape as well.
4. Make sure you have enough room in you freezer to fit the cake pops in after you have inserted the lollipop sticks - sticking them in the fridge for 15 minutes isn't long enough and the stick will start to slide out when you're tapping excess melted candy off (if you don't have enough room, be prepared to wait a long while so they can firm up to be able to dunk in melted candy).

Be sure to head over the the Hostess blog post if you haven't read her story about her experience making these awesome candy cane cake balls - I must say, hers turned out much better looking than mine!

I can't wait to make these again for an event... but like I mentioned, next time, I won't start the baking process at 9 at night... it will be an all day affair! :)

I'd love to hear what tips you have for making cake pops?  Do you have a cake pop horror story??

Real Wedding: Modern and Intimate Chicago Wedding

We're spoiling you today - two Wedding Wednesday posts in one day! Whew!

Have you ever checked out Junebug Weddings web site?  I haven't visited the it in a while, and I can't believe how much I have been missing out on!  There is so much great wedding goodness to check out, it would seriously take you days to take it all in {I spent hours on it last night looking at their real weddings}!  I have bookmarked so many of the real weddings featured on the Junebug site, don't be surprised to be seeing a lot of them featured in the Wedding Wednesday series!

So - on to today's feature wedding.  Lynne and Garrett, a very gorgeous couple, had a bright color scheme for their big day (a scheme that I just adore by the way) of white, silver, navy and hot pink.  The wedding took place at The Wit Hotel in Chicago. They wanted their wedding to have an intimate feel, so they kept the guest list to 65 of their closest family members and friends.

I love this quote the bride gave regarding the small, intimate wedding they planned {which also happened to be a destination wedding for the couple and their guests}.

"Although it was difficult to keep the list so small, it allowed us to enjoy the day.  Your wedding day goes by so quickly... some of my best memories are being part of the party after the lights went down instead of trying to get to every table to say hello.  Our guests were away for the weekend and ready for a great time.  Nobody had to get to work in the morning... what a great atmosphere!

Scroll down to see the beautiful photos taken by Chris+Lynn.











Stunning, right?!  I just love, love, love the color scheme they chose for their special day.  Head over to the Junebug Weddings blog to read more information about this fabulous wedding!


We'll be back next week with another real wedding and/or wedding ideas!


If you have a wedding or product or services related to the wedding industry, that you would like have us feature on our Wedding Wednesday series, please contact us today - ckeventsmn{at}gmail.com.

Invitation Love - Captured Moments by Amy Leigh

Normally for Wedding Wednesday we post a real wedding, but today I thought I would mix it up a bit and throw in some invites.  Keeping with the wedding theme, I thought I would feature a wedding invitation designer whose work I adore!  I came across Captured Moments by Amy Leigh's Etsy shop and was drawn to her work - it's so creative!  I love that she has a variety of designs in her shop - designs that will fit any theme or mood for a wedding - anything from an elegant to a modern wedding.

Check out some of my favorites below!

I always love a grey and yellow color scheme - this little birdie design is just too adorable, too!

I really enjoy checking out non-traditional, fun wedding invites.  I love the carnival feel of this one.

How perfect would this be for an outdoor backyard wedding that's held under a large tree?  Too perfect.

Another non-traditional invite, this would be the perfect invite for theatre lovers or anyone who's hosting their wedding at an old theatre.

Hot pink and black - one of my all time favorite color combos... just had to throw it this in there!

White and black weddings hold such a classic feel... these are just gorgeous!

These would be perfect for an outdoor wedding in the Spring.

This set would be perfect for a fall wedding - I'm thinking around Thanksgiving??

Simplicity is always beautiful.  Love the simpleness of this set.

Head over to the Captured Moments Etsy shop to check out her other great designs and pricing!  

Be sure to check back later for the Real Wedding feature for today's Wedding Wednesday!

Pink and Yellow Baby Shower

Some of you may remember me writing about the baby shower I planned for my sister - it will be my first niece, so I was just ecstatic to be planning her shower.  Some of you may also remember that we had a huge snow storm the day of the shower and most of our guests showed up 45- to 30-minutes before the actual start time the event, thus causing me to miss any photo-taking opportunities.  I really wanted to show you all the work I did on creating the custom printables for the party, so I took some at home.  Please pardon the poor picture quality, as they were taken in my basement with poor lighting.

{enjoy}

Custom Welcome Sign

Cute wire basket {from the dollar store}

custom cards for shower

I made vanilla covered pretzels using pink candy melts

custom favor labels were created for the shower, too.  They read "Thank you for joining me to celebrate my sweet baby girl"

Custom Hershey Kiss labels

Cupcake toppers

I hope you enjoyed viewing some photos of the designs I created for my sisters Pink and Yellow Baby Shower.  I'm so sorry I wasn't able to get pics of the actual shower... and after looking at these, I think I need a better camera! :)

Winter Treat: Mixed up Snowmen

I came across the cutest idea for a little fun snack to send away with your kids - or even pass along as a small gift for your coworkers or neighbor kids.  Mandy, from Gourmet Mom on-the-Go, created these fun little packages of "mixed up snowmen" and gave the recipe AND is offering a free printable to attach to your baggie!  Too clever, I tell ya!

What you'll need for your Mixed Up Snowman Snacks:
- Pretzel Sticks
- Junior Mints Candies
- Orange Springs (the long kind, not circles)
- Fruit Roll-ups, cut into strips
- Small Marshmallows
- Mini chocolate chips
- Sandwich baggies
- FREE Snowman bag labels (which you can find by going to her site here)

Directions:
Put desired amount of ingredients into baggies - it's really up to your discression as to how much to put in each bag.  Then, print your free bag labels, attach to bag and voila - you've got yourself a cute little winter snack!

Be sure to head over to the Gourment Mom on-the-Go blog - she offers tons of ideas and inspiration!  Plus, that's where you'll find the cute snowman labels for this cute wintery snack!

Happy Friday!

Real Party: Pink and Green Cookie Exchange

It's Thursday... TGIF tomorrow.  I don't know about you, but I have a ton of stuff to get done this weekend in preparation for Christmas (which I can't believe is in just TWO short weeks). My oh my!  There just isn't enough hours in the day to get everything done that I would like to.  Luckily, I've made time for some blogging this week!  Be sure to check out the photos from the Blue and Pink Baby Shower I threw a couple of weeks ago.  But before then, check out today's great post, which is all about the holidays... and cookies!

Jackie from Jackie Fogartie Events designed this adorable Pink and Green Cookie Exchange party for her mom and neighbors.  As soon as I saw the photos, I instantly fell in love.  One of the things I liked best was that Jackie didn't use the traditional red and green color scheme for a holiday party - she mixed it up a bit with a bright pink and a lime-like green.  Another element of this party I really enjoyed was the fact she used everyday holiday items (and inexpensive at that) to decorate around the house - a good way to throw a party on a budget!

Isn't the door decor too cute!  Jackie used pink and green striped wrapping paper - looks like a pretty present if you ask me!  This is such a great way to carry out the theme of your party - you reach your guests before they even walk through the door!  

Here is the beautiful bow she made as the door centerpiece.  This was created by looping individual pieces of ribbon and stapling them together at the center and adding a cute snowflake to the middle. Easy peasy, right?

I love the look of these tree ornaments in jars.  This is such a quick and easy way to decorate for the holidays - and it looks great, too!

Aren't these glitter trees ahh-maay-zing!?  Jackie found these little gems at HomeGoods - way too cute!

I love the simplicity of the candles on the mantel.  So simple, yet so pretty!

I love how these white flowers pop against the pink and green vases and bottles.

The cookie set up - looks delicious!

Here is a close up of the "cookies" letters Jackie created as a cute backdrop for the cookie table.  Another easy DIY craft - cardboard letters that were spray painted with Snow Spray (that's what gives it the glittery glow).

What kind of cookie exchange would it be without a cookie contest?  Guests judged the cookies in three categories - most creative, most Christmas-y and best overall.  The cute sandwich cookie pops took the prize for most creative - I'd have to agree, you don't typically see cookie pops at a cookie exchange!

I'm loving the little ornament tags Jackie attached to the cookie take-home boxes. 

As another favor for guests (besides all the wonderful cookies they got to take home), Jackie put together a Holiday Cookie Recipe Book.  Before the exchange, she got the recipe of each cookie guests were brining and put together a book to take home - such a great idea!!

I'm a hot chocolate lover, so this hot chocolate bar totally caught my eye when I first saw this party!  I mean, seriously, what's better than drinking hot chocolate when indulging in cookies??

Thanks, Jackie, for letting us share you super adorable cookie exchange party! I'm sure you can all tell why I just loved this cookie exchange party so much - there were no details left out!  Be sure to head over to Jackie's blog to view more photos and read more details about this party.  Stick around and peruse her site, she has some great party inspiration that she spices up with her witty personality!

Real Wedding: Snowy Winter Wedding

Lately Minnesota has been filled with freezing cold temperatures and snow.... gross!  While I love the snow about 3 weeks out of the year, meaning I like it around Christmas-time, I must admit the scenery looks beautiful after a snowfall.  I thought with all the snow we've accumulated the past few weeks, it would appropriate to feature a gorgeous winter wedding.

Today's edition of Wedding Wednesday comes from District Weddings and it's simply stunning!  This wedding truly brings out the beauty of winter... and snow!  I especially love seeing winter weddings because it's not the traditional wedding season, so the ideas people come up with for winter weddings are always so different.

The bride is a native of Maryland and graduate of George Mason University, while the groom is from Hawaii and a recent grad of the United State Naval Academy, where he played as the quarterback for the Navy the past few years.  Given their location and background, the couple got hitched at the Naval Academy Chapel and held their reception at the Navy-Marine Corps. Memorial Stadium.

Scroll down to see all the gorgeous pictures taken by Jennifer Cody of egomedia photography.







I'm LOVING the Navy helmet as the guest book, and the grooms cake that you can see in the background of that same photo.  The venues they chose - the Navy Chapel and the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium - are just too gorgeous for words!  They are sure to make any bride feel like a princess on her big day!

I'm so happy to see the snowstorm didn't put a damper on this couples wedding day parade - and I think it turned out just beautiful!

Check out District Weddings for some awesome wedding ideas and tips, as well as real wedding stories and photos.