RubyJu Blog

Mini dessert table tips....

Mini dessert tables are perfect if you want to do something a little special for a dinner party or even Christmas day. Here are a few tips to make creating one a little easier.

1. Decide on a colour theme. It is always nice to keep the colours flowing on from what you have used on your tree.

2. Instead of using a trestle table for your desserts table, simply use a small dresser or hall table.

3. Find something to use as a focal point. It may be a frame, vase of baubles, mini Christmas tree, pom poms or a bouquet of fresh flowers.

4. Chose a small selection of desserts such as cupcakes, cake pops and/or slices. Also include a selection of lollies that go with your colour theme.

5. Incorporate a selection of vases, candy jars, cake stands and bowls on your table to give height and interest.

For our first table, we hung some white and silver pom poms from a branch. We used a white and silver colour palette with a splash of light blue.

For the second table, we changed the entire look by simply adding some glitter numbers, baubles and a candy jar filled with aqua lollies.

Mini dessert tables really can be simple, fun and quick to pull together!

Love Bec  xx

Kai's Pirate Party

Last month we styled a Pirate party for Tammi's son Kai.  We wanted to move away from the traditional pirate colours of black, red and white. So we incorporated a mixture of browns, blues and a splash of red on the table.

We hand made a ship mast and tied bunting from the mast tip to the other side of the table. The bunting was made from old book pages and stamp with foam letters. We found a wooden treasure chest which we filled with gold coins, lolly necklaces and plastic rings. We then used different sized wooden crates as our raisers. Instead of using glass candy vessels, we simply folded down brown paper bags and filled them. We made pirate cake pops, blue jelly cups and anchor biscuits. The Littlest Cupcake and Cookie Shop supplied us with cupcakes and we printed off some mini red and white striped sails and wave cupcake wrappers. Lastly we included some glass bottles filled with chocolate milk and muslin loot bags which we stamped with a skull and cross bones.

As the birthday guests arrived, they were asked to don a pirate patch, bandanna and a name tag.

We also set up a photo booth with pirate props.

The tables were set pirate paper plates, bamboo boats held a mixture of berries, old lanterns, bottles with notes in them and gold coins littered the tables.

Thanks for looking and we hope that you enjoyed our pirate party.

Love

Tammi & Bec

Vendors List:

Party Styled by Bec & Tammi of RubyJu www.rubyju.com.au 

Glass drink bottles from Sarbe: www.sarbe.com.au

Signs and Photo Booth Props and Backdrop by Zina: www.zinawright.typepad.com/messyart

Cupcakes by The littlest Cupcake and Cookie shop:http://www.cupcakeshop.com.au/

Muslin loot bags & toffee bon bons from: www.sharneldollardesigns.com.au

Printables: Cottage Industrialist: http://www.cottage-industrialist.com/blog/2010/5/2/aaargh-pirate-birthday-party-free-printables.html

 

Stop Sexual Violence

October is 'Sexual Violence Awareness Month' and we were ask by Di from Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence to style two dessert tables for functions that the centre were having to raise awareness.  Both tables were styled with a 'teal and mocha' colour scheme which are the colours associated with 'Stop Sexual Violence'.

Di and her team do an amazing job and we urge you to support their cause as best you can.

Love

Bec & Tammi

Halloween Party

Halloween really isn't an overly celebrated Holiday in Australia but there are definitely still a lot of people who go all out and have wonderful parties.  One of those people would be our dear friend Zina!  Over the years, she has had some fantastic parties and this year was no exception. This year she included a fantastic dessert table with yummy halloween food.

{Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes}

{RubyJu pumpkin cake pops}

{Chocolate mousses}

{Iced biscuits}

{Caramel Apples}

Zina decorates her whole house! The entire inside and outside is decorated with scary halloween props. It looked amazing! Here is what we mean......

Head over to her BLOG to see more of her Halloween decorations and food ideas!

Love

Bec & Tammi

 

 

Teal & Mocha Table...

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of styling our second table for the girls at Against Sexual Violence. October is Stop Sexual Violence Awareness month and the girls went with the Sexual Violence Awareness colour palette of teal and mocha.  A teal ribbon, similar to the pink breast cancer ribbon, represents awareness for this cause and the girls wanted this to somehow be incorporated on their table.  

We decided to feature the ribbons as toppers for the cupcakes and here is a sneak peek of the prepared ribbons waiting to for their new home.   :)

If you know someone that needs help or would like more information on this cause, check out their website.  The girls are so helpful and understanding.  They aim to provide a safe, supportive, woman-centred environment, in which sexual assault survivors can become aware of their own strengths and gain confidence and control of their lives.

Can't wait to share more pictures soon.

Love

Bec & Tammi

 

Country Vintage Pastel Wedding Feature...

This is the cutest, prettiest wedding ever!  We spotted this Country Vintage Wedding over at gorgeous wedding site The Wedding Chicks.  The whole wedding had a warm, casual, homey feel with all the handmade details and timber.

Our favourite detail are the vintage quilts hung as backdrops behind the two stunning dessert tables.  But there were so many little elements that made this wedding such a standout.  The mason jars on the tables, the timber as cake platters, cupcakes displayed in baking tins, the homemade bunting and the pastel colour scheme made everything just so pretty.

Loving how even the bride and grooms look is so relaxed.  Having pockets in the brides dress really gave her dress a lovely casual feel and her hair is so pretty in that that soft, wavy side pony tail.  The boys look so handsome in their braces and the girls so gorgeous and happy in their mis-matched pastel dresses.

Love

Bec & Tammi

 

Gorgeous Pink Elephant Baby Shower....

If Kara from Kara's Party Ideas hosts a party for you, then you know it's going to be good!  Kara's sister must have been over the moon when Kara decided to throw her a baby shower themed with elephants - her favourite animal.  We don't think this party could have possibly been any cuter!  Just dying over so many details.  The peanut backdrop, the cheesecake bites on spoons, the ruffle cake with elephant bunting, the vintage plates stacked on a cake stand and the make your own soda station!  Just gorgeous! And this party would be just as cute in blue.

Love

Tammi & Bec

 

Inspire Magazine Launch

We were recently had the pleasure of styling a dessert table and candy buffet for the launch of the third edition of Inspire Magazine.  Inspire Magazine targets teens and young women by teaching them to respect themselves & providing them with the knowledge & strength to make good decisions.  It's all about liking yourself, appreciating your body and valuing the unique person that you are!  When Di from the Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence contacted us to see if we could design a candy buffet in hot pink and black to keep with the magazine colours, we were excited.

Due to the large number of young girls that would be attending the launch, we decided to split the candy buffet and dessert table.  On the candy buffet table the hot pink Inspire logo popped against the black backboard and black skirt, then the whole look was softened with some draped pink satin material and a mixture of hot pink, light pink and white pom poms.  For the lolly selection we went with old fashioned pink & black lollipops, heart beats, black & white rock candy, milk bottles, mini musks, mini mints, black cats, licorice and hot pink wrapped chocolates.  The takeaway boxes were decorated with the Inspire logo and black ribbon.

For the dessert table, we arranged a mixture of cake stands on a table that stood in the middle of the balcony.  To keep with the black and hot pink colour palette, we made chocolate and vanilla cake pops, mini cupcakes, chocolate brownies, chocolate biscuits, snowball biscuits and coconut ice.  A big thank you to Eve from the The LIttle Cupcake and Cookie Shop for making such gorgeous mini cupcakes that had the most perfect coloured pink icing for our table.

A big thank you must also go out to our wonderful friend Zina who helped us with so many elements of this table!

Love

Tammi & Bec

Vintage 1st Birthday Party

Our gorgeous friend Zina recently celebrated her beautiful little boys 1st birthday. She wanted to style a vintage themed party incorporating blues, browns and creams. Through out the various food table, she cleverly used gorgeous wooden crates, silver trays and cake pans.

The dessert table was draped with brown, navy, blue and white pom poms with a Pumpkin Spice cake as the focal point.

A silver tray was lined with glass jars that were filled with yummy chocolate mousses which were decorated with aqua dipped wooden spoons and cotton twine.

Rice krispy treats and chocolate brownies {recipe here} filled a two tiered metal cake stand.

 

Aqua jello shots were also lined up on a small silver tray.

A three tiered cake stand held an array of cupcakes which were decorated with chocolate, blue and white icing and a mixture of different sprinkles.

Mini lemon meringues were placed on a vintage glass cake plate.

 

Bowls of chocolate dipped strawberries, cake pops, tim tams and caramel corn were also included on the dessert table.

Instead of a traditional birthday cake, Zina had her heart set on a Pumpkin Spice cake with cream cheese frosting. You can find the recipe on the a gorgeous blog called Cake.. For all those cakies out there, this cake is SO good!

The birthday boy and his gorgeous family!

 

 As the guests arrived, they were encouraged to sign the guest book with their fingerprint. Zina had set up a little ink station where guests could ink their finger and place their their fingerprint on a tree. They then had to write their name next to their fingerprint. The fingerprint tree is going to be framed and will serve as a record of who attended Tylers' 1st Birthday! We love this idea so much!

Zina also styled an amazing food table. She hand wrote a cute little sign which hung next to the table to encourage her guests to 'dig in'!

 

The main food table had the most amazing spread of food. It included bread rolls, cheese and dips, lasagna, chicken legs, spinach & feta parcels, sandwiches and salads. Little flags which acted as food labels were placed in all the different dishes.

 

Zina also set up the cutest little table for the kids only. They very instructed to make their on sandwich and had the choice of a few different fillings. They also were able to make their own fruit skewers.

A drink station was which had the cutest moustaches on drinking cups took centre stage. Guests had the chance to make themselves a cup of tea, coffee or soft drink.

A games board informed all the children of what games were installed for the day.

The pillowcase races were a big hit and highly competitive as well!

Musical chairs is always a favourite and of course there was lots of "too close to call" moments.

A photo booth was set up and guests each took turns in grabbing a prop such of a moustache or pair of glassed and have a photo taken with the old fashion polaroid camera.

The polaroid photos were laid out on a table near the front doors so everyone could theirs on the way out.

Zina had baked Tyler's favourite cookie and bagged them all up for her guests to take home with them. She had also printed out the recipe on cards so that everyone had the recipe as well.

This was such a beautiful party and we are so proud of all her hard work!

Love

Bec & Tammi

Abi's High Tea Party

For my daughters 9^th birthday, I wanted to do something small but special. After throwing a few ideas around with her, we both settled on a ‘High Tea’ at the House of Gabriel.  The House of Gabriel is a gorgeous café & gift shop situated on the picturesque Tweed River in Tumbulgum, Northern NSW, Australia.  We chose to have it at the House of Gabriel as it is one of our favourite places to go and have a hot chocolate on our ‘girls only’ days.

Tammi & I decided to colour theme the High Tea around Abi’s favourite colours being pink and green.

The dessert table included the birthday cake, cupcakes, cake pops, coconut ice, meringues, wrapped chocolates and lollies, styled on both antique and new cake plates.

We included the party favours on the dessert table. A white wire basket held the pink and white dotted paper bags, which were filled with a note pad and pen.

Little lolly bottles were decorated with paper doilies and placed throughout the dessert table.

For our garland, we decided to do something a little different and use hand dyed paper doilies. Having never dyed doilies before, we found a tutorial by Charlottes Fancy which was very easy to follow. Our tip is to WEAR some plastic gloves otherwise you will have colored fingernails for days!

Abi requested a six tiered rainbow birthday cake, so we made it with alternate layers of pink and turquoise to keep with the colour scheme.

On the table where the girls sat, we started with some turquoise mason jars and used them as vases to hold an array of different white and pink flowers. We then added some round placements layered with white lace doilies.  We used a mix of old teacups and saucers in different pink & green colour waves for the girls to enjoy hot chocolates from.  We also tied some turquoise vintage fabric around the teaspoons to jazz them up a little.

We bought some gorgeous turquoise glass paint and hand painted some mason jars. These were really easy to do but we found that it worked better if you thinned out the turquoise paint with a glass paint thinner. One tip though, after baking the painted jars in the oven, leave them in the oven until they are completely cool!

As it was a High Tea, we decided that games wouldn’t really be appropriate. But we did include one that we thought would be suitable – A Conversation Starter. We found some cute little pink and white paper pages and popped a luggage tag inside that we had written the start of a sentence eg: ‘If you could be anything, what would it be?’. The girls really enjoyed it and there were lots of giggles when giving the responses.

The High Tea was filled with some of Abi’s favourite food – mars bar slice, chocolate brownies, cupcakes and scones with jam and cream.

  We found some cute bottles with corks in them and turn them into little water bottles.

A small drink station was set up with a drink dispenser of pink lemonade.

To decorate the drinking mason jars, we simply tied different textured & colored ribbons around the jars and added some buttons and flowers as embellishments.

We also must say a huge THANK YOU to our gorgeous friend Zina, for all her help!

Love

Bec & Tammi

Vendor List

Mason Drinking Jars ~ RubyJu Party Boutique

Cake, Cupcakes, Meringues, Coconut Ice & Cake Pops ~ RubyJu

House of Gabriel ~ Tumbulgum, NSW

Ribbons, Lace, Doilies, Glass jars, Glass Paint, Scrapbook supplies ~ Spotlight

Lolly Pops ~ The Little Big Company & Goody Goody Gum Drops

Chocolate Wrappers ~ Green Apple Paperie

Cupcake wrapper ~ Mon Tressor