Fondant: postive & negative (and, other party business).

So, I settled on a 'theme' for Betsy's big birthday #5! I didn't want anything to0 tacky, or too commercial, or just plain stoooooopid. I stumbled upon this lovely little paper website, Imprintables. I fell head over heels for their 'apple' birthday(see the invite here and the party here), but, I'll be honest, I didn't want to shell out the bucks for the invites. What's a girl to do? I know. Make my own! Using picnik.com, I whipped those puppies up in about 10 minutes, along with favor tags, thank yous, and return address labels. All feature that plump, green apple, and that beautiful green & turquoise damask. Love, love, love!

I have a whole 'apple' inspired menu...

mini ham & white cheddar with apple butter panini sandwiches

beer & cheddar fondue with sliced green apples & assorted breads

apple chips with caramel dip

apple lemonade

Jones Soda ~ green apple and blue bubble gum

cider ~ for the adults ;)

green candied apples for favors

And, what apple party would be complete without bobbing for apples? Who says that's a fall only acitivity?

Decor will include apple green and turquoise tissue poms hanging EVERYWHERE. I also think we will be doing a balloon release. Maybe I'll even make a pennant banner in coordinating fabrics. Hmmmm? I'm also going to make the birthday girl a pillow case dress out of some really cute fabrics I found on etsy...lime green faux bois and an apple print for a darling apple applique (say that three times fast). I can't wait to see it all come together!

I also, really, wanted to make the cake for this occasion. I have been wanting to try fondant for awhile, and thought this would be a good opportunity to do so. Let me stop here, and say that I, personally, think fondant tastes like poo. But, it is just so darn purdy! The clean, crisp look you get is unattainable with butter cream, and the sculptural things you can do with it are amazing. So, with this cake it's all about aesthetics over taste. Well, not entirely. The cake itself will be caramel apple with caramel butter cream. In fact, you need a nice layer of butter cream for the fondant to 'stick'. And, when you get a big, fat piece of fondant covered cake, you simply peel the fondant off like peeling an orange to get to the fruit. See? It's not all bad.

We will have prettiness AND goooooooood cake! The best of both worlds!

Did I mention how much I would LOVE to plan parties for a living? I 'heart' the details!

Party pics coming in August!