guest post: cupcake stand standoff

Hi Everyone- My name is Adrianne Bugg and I own Lambchop Designs, LLC. Lambchop Designs is a business devoted to making kid's rooms more fun. We provide a vast collection of "Fun Art for Cool Kids!" (among other things like super great t-shirts!) Anyway, Becca asked me to guest blog today and I couldn't be more excited! I love talking parties so let's get to it.

A friend of mine approached me last summer to help her make a stand for the cupcakes at her son's 1st birthday party. She handed me a bunch of terracotta pots and wondered if we could paint them in a fun way. I thought this was an amazing idea! So, for my "nefew," Mac, I painted these:

This picture isn't as bright as I'd like but look closely, I painted light blue dots all over the white pots.

How did we do it? Easy peasy. I turned the pots and trays upside-down and spray-painted them white. Then, I painted the light blue dots, Mac's monogram, and date of birth by hand. For fun, we added a red Gerber daisy through the top (upside-down bottom) of the smallest, top-most pot. Voila!

Here are some other pictures of Mac's cupcake stand:

The precious family!

The Top Tier

The Top Pot with Monogram

I loved this idea so much, I made one for my son, Davis, for his "Big 2" birthday party! We live in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay, so, of course, we had to have a sailing/crab theme for his party. I painted a sailboat with a monogrammed sail on the biggest pot. I used the pot trays to paint "water and waves." And, rather than cupcakes, I decided to do a cake and cookies. (Side note: We have a fantastic gourmet bakery in the tiny town next to my tiny town called Carried Away Cuisine. DEE-lish and so professional and CUTE! Check it out!)

Here is the desert table. I separated the main "cake" stand for interest and to accommodate the different desserts. I used the pot trays (upside-down) to display the cake and cookies.

The Main Stand: complete with a collection of sassy Gerbers and Zinnias sprouting from the top! (I couldn't just leave it alone, right?!)

Davis' custom cake from Carried Away Cuisine.

(I mean, this may have been the BEST cake I've ever had. I was dense and moist vanilla almond cake with raspberry filling...DIVINE!) You can see how I used one of the "water" painted pot trays to display the cake. It fit PERFECTLY.

I used a bigger pot tray to display the crab and "#2" cookies we had made. They were also amazing!

When I shopped for the terracotta pots that would ultimately become my stands, I found small pots I thought I could use for something. They ended up being great "moorings" for the main stand. (See pic above.) It was also a great way to display the extra cookies and bring in more of the light blue from the table cloth. Also note the Zinnias on the top...again, I just couldn't leave it alone!

It was really fun to have a custom stand for the party. It really helped pull our theme together and add a bit of detail that I always look for and love. Let me know if you have questions or want to have one made for your special party!

If you aren't as keen on the custom route or don't have time to have one made, I have found some other really cute cake stand options:

http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/shalbuds/items/Pottery_Barn_Kids_Opal_Cake_Stand_Green_New_Gorgeous

I love the bright colors in these different height cake stands from Pottery Barn Kids!

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cupcake-stand/?pkey=x|4|1||4|cake%20stand||0&cm_src=SCH

Hmmm....I can't decide what I like better, this funky stand from Williams Sonoma or the beautiful cupcakes on it!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I0LHHW?ie=UTF8&tag=ponparide-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000I0LHHW

What a cutie!! I love this red dot stand from Amazon. Yes, AMAZON!

Well, I hope this gets your creative juices flowing for your next party. There are so many fun things you can do! Also, stop by www.lambchopdesigns.com when you get a chance. Have fun!

Thanks, again, Birthday Girl, for the opportunity to write to your readers today!

- by Adrianne Bugg of Lambchop Designs