Rach Makes Ombre Purple 60th Birthday

I am lucky to have a wonderful sister-in-law. She is extremely supportive of everything I do from crafting to baking to finding a new job. BTW I am back to work at a temp job that I hope turns into a full time job but have no excuse for not blogging. I have been doing tons of projects but have had no want to blog about them.

Anyway, back to my amazing sister-in-law. Over the summer she hosted a 60th birthday party for her mother-in-law and asked if I would help by making some decorations and cookies. She sent me a couple idea of things she was thinking and we went from there as well as the doing purples and gold. I had a blast making everything and may have gotten a little carried away. Below are some of the things at the party. She doesn't live locally so I shipped them to her and she put them up. I was really happy how everything turned out.

The view looking into her dining room. The Happy 60th banner is made of gold and shades of purple paper and is hung from a ribbon I braided made of two shades of purple ribbon and some gold ribbon.

The 60 above was notes from the birthday girl's family about what they have learned from her, what they love about her and what they hope for her in the future. My sister-in-law collected the notes and I formatted them, printed them and provided different accents such as borders. She put it together beautifully in a wall in her dining room. 

She set up a beautiful buffet for the desserts where the cookies I made were displayed along with some pretty flower cupcakes from another friend.

All the cookies with a purple ombre effect with 4 shades of purple and gold around the edges. Some said Laura (the birthday girl) and some said 60.

Near her front entry was a mirror where she hung another small birthday banner.

On the front door was a wreath with felt roses and gold swirls. The pendant banner was only tied on so that the birthday girl could enjoy the wreath all year round. The banner was used for a wedding only 2 weeks later!

I also made some food labels that ran along with the theme. Here they are set up in my house before I shipped them. I was really happy with the final look. It was elegant but still modern and the shades of purple added some neat texture to everything! All of these ideas could be used for a wedding or a birthday party.

Rach Makes Tall Glass Cake Stands

I recently was perusing Pinterest (which I am obsessed with) and saw a display with some beautiful cake plates. I love cake plates. I don't know what it is about them, but every time I see them I want them. And I already own a bunch! However all the cake plates I own are round circles and about 4-5 inches tall. What appealed to me about the cake plates I saw on Pinterest was that were really tall like 10" tall so I thought to myself - "I can make that!"



























So I dragged the poor hubby to good will and bought some supplies. This is actually a really easy project. The hardest part is picking out the pieces. We walked up and down the aisles at good will and found 2 beautiful clear glass candle sticks and 2 clear glass square plates. I wanted to candlesticks to be heavy enough that they wouldn't fall over. I think the plates ended up $1 each and the candlesticks were $2-3. Sorry, I can't remember! Anyway the whole project cost under $10.

 So after bringing them home, removing the prices and giving them a good washing it was time for work. In addition to the candlesticks and plates, I also used a ruler, some clear 100% silicone liquid nail and some q-tips. Hubby had the liquid nail but you can find this easily at any Home Depot or Lowes.

Find the center of your plate then take the liquid nail and place some on top of the candlestick. I found it easiest to turn the plates upside down so that gravity could help me. Then just place the candlestick on the plate. It take a bit to dry so you have some time to move it around a little. Then use your q-tips to clean up any excess liquid nail. Let dry about 8 hours or whatever the directions say. I let mine dry overnight.

And VOILA! Two beautiful tall cake plates that are different from all the other ones I own. They ended up about 10" tall and I like how they are smaller and can display just a couple cookies, cupcakes or cake pops. They allow a beautiful dessert table or any other display. You could use this for any kind of plate or candlestick - think color full plate with clear glass bottom or a silver bottom with a pop of blue. The combinations are endless!

Cake Plates

Supplies:

1 Plate

1 Heavy Candlestick
100% Clear Silicone Liquid Nail

Tools:
Q-Tips
Newspaper

Directions:

1. Lay newspaper down in your work area
2. Clean and dry plates and candlesticks
3. Find the center of your plates
4. Place the liquid glue along all the edges of the top of the candlestick
5. Turn the candlestick upside on the bottom of the plate
6. Push down to make sure proper adhesion
7. Clean off any extra liquid nail withe the q-tips
8. Let dry
9. Enjoy!