Wednesday, December 29, 2010

{Winner} Cake Pops!


And the winner of Bakerella's new Cake Pops book is....


Ms. Domestic Darling!!!

Congratulations!! Please email me (GwynnWassonDesigns (at) gmail (dot) com) within 24 hours with your mailing address to claim your prize.

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's!!!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

{Give Away} Cake Pops!

I LOVE Bakerella's new Cake Pops book!! And I am SO excited to be able to give a copy to one of you as a holiday present.


It is FULL of amazing ideas...


... and fantastic tips!!


Just leave a comment on this post before Wednesday and you could receive this little treasure in your mailbox as a fabulous way to kick off the new year!!!


Good luck and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

p.s. The winner must claim their prize within 24 hours by emailing me or you will forfeit it.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

A Little Christmas Magic


When I was young (really young, like let's say 4 or so) I remember trying to stay up super duper late (for me) to see if I could spy Santa out my window. Mind you, the windows in my bedroom were very, very high off the ground. Or, maybe, I was really, really short? Hmmm... reality is all perspective, right? Anyway...  if I pressed my body and my cheek up against the wall directly under my curtain, I could barely, just barely, get a peek at the darkened night sky. Much to my dismay, I never did see Rudolph, but my Christmas's were not without a little bit of magic.

Every year my parents put a little Christmas tree in my room. I think that it was probably just the top off our big tree, but to me it was so special. I remember gazing at it as I drifted off to sleep, thinking about Santa and the reindeer and presents. And then jumping out of bed Christmas morning to find one little present under my own personal tree as though Santa had actually snuck into my bedroom while I was sleeping!!! 

Last year when I put up our Christmas trees Dashell was delighted.

It was the first year he really noticed them and he kept talking about how big! they were...

...and about the lights and the balls and of course wanting to touch them.

I explained that these were mommy's trees and he could touch with his eyes but not with his hands. And, I have to say, I felt a little like Scrooge. Ba humbugger. What child isn't entranced by the magic of Christmas trees? And isn't part of the fun looking at all the ornaments? It was a feeling I just couldn't shake so I decided to fix it.

We went out and got Dashy a tree of his very own. A tree that is full of little lights which cast a magical glow and is decorated with animal ornaments of all shapes and sizes. Ornaments that can be touched and played with.

And suprise, surprise, Dash loved it!!!

Last year, every morning before he'll even let me lift him out of his crib he'd ask for the lights on his tree to be turned on. Many times during the day, he'd  run over to his tree to look at and talk about the animals on it. And in the evenings, he'd sit on the floor next to it and asks to have his bedtime stories read to him there.

And this year, Dashell had a great time unwrapping all the ornaments and decorating his tree. 

He still loves talking about all the animals and making up little stories about them. And every morning he asks to have his tree turned on, only this year it sounds like, "Mom-may can you please turn on my Christmas tree?" instead of a group on hand signals mixed with a few words.

I love that I was able to make a cherished memory, from my childhood, part of his life too. And, I look forward to creating a special tree for our latest edition next year as well.

It's amazing how much Christmas joy one little tree can bring.


Friday, December 17, 2010

{Winner} Hello, Cupcake!

Happy Friday!! The winner of the Hello, Cupcake! book is...


Tree!!!

Congratulations Tree! Please email me at GwynnWassonDesigns (at) gmail (dot) com within 24 hours to claim your prize.

Please check back next week everyone for another fabulous give away!! (I'm going to try and squeeze one more in before the holidays!)

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

{Give Away} Hello, Cupcake!

I'm so thrilled to announce our next holiday give away!!! A copy of Hello, Cupcake!


As the book says, it specializes in "Irresistibly playful creations anyone can make."


Everything in it is easy and fun!! 


And it is filled with so many ideas you won't believe it!!


Ready to dig into your very own copy??!!


Well, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post before Friday morning!!

Good luck and Happy Holidays to all!!

p.s. The winner must claim their prize within 24 hours by emailing me or you will forfeit it.

THIS GIVE AWAY HAS ENDED

Monday, December 13, 2010

{Tips & Hints} Candy Wreath Tutorial


I've been dying to make a candy wreath since before Halloween but I just haven't had the time. So I was really excited to finally be able to make one last week!! If you would like to make one too, here's what you will need:

- Two 20oz bags of Peppermint Starlights
- One 16" styrofoam wreath form
- One 20 yd. roll of 1 1/2" floral ribbon
- One 4 yd. roll of 1 1/2" decorative ribbon
- Hot Glue
- Shellac (optional)

I started by wrapping the wreath form with the floral ribbon.

This serves two purposes:
1. It gives the hot glue something less porous than styrofoam to adhere to
2. There will inevitably be gaps between your starlights. The ribbon will be more attractive looking than the raw styrofoam.

Next unwrap your starlights and begin to hot glue them to wreath.

Instead of gluing in rows, I glued more in a brick pattern. The starlights are not a uniform size so there will be gaps and areas where the pattern doesn't exactly line up. Do not be alarmed. 

One of the places where your starlights will probably not line up properly is the outside edge of the wreath. So, I cut some of my remaining floral ribbon down to 1" and gently glued (using as little glue as possible) it to the outside edge.

(** NOTE** If you will be hanging this wreath in a warm or damp climate, I highly recommend shellacking it, to prevent the candies from melting, prior to adding any of the decorative ribbon.)

Then I wrapped a 3 1/2' length of my decorative ribbon around the top of my wreath and tied a bow. Next I gently glued the loops and the lengths of the ribbon into an attractive shape. Finally I threaded a length of the remaining decorative ribbon through the bow and tied it off so that I could hang it on my front door.


So, there you have it. Happy holiday wreath making!!!

{Winner} Sweet and Simple Party Cakes


Happy Monday!! The winner of the Sweet and Simple Party Cakes Book Give Away is....


Kristin M.!!!

Kristin, I'll be in touch with you later today to find out where to send your book. Congratulations!!!

Friday, December 10, 2010

{New In The Shop} Retro Holiday Collections

I know I'm coming at the holidays a little late, but I LOVE the Christmas season and I just couldn't resist doing a little collection this year. And then once I got going I couldn't decide on a color palette. There were just too many combinations that said "holidays" to me. Soooo... I did the whole collection in three fun palettes!!

Purple & Aqua

Green & Cranberry

Blue & Green

Each collection includes...

- 8 Gift Tag Designs 

- 6 Label Designs which can be used for Table Labels, Place Cards, Candy Jar Labels and lots, lots more

- 4 two inch Party Circle Designs

- 4 Cupcake Wrapper Designs



So if you're looking for an inexpensive (and I do mean inexpensive! Only $3.50 for everything) way to jazz up your last minute gifts and holiday celebrations hop on over to the shop!!

Happy! Happy!!

p.s. If you haven't commented to be part of the Sweet and Simple Party Cakes Give Away, make sure that you do before Monday!!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

{Give Away} Sweet and Simple Party Cakes!

I know I've been slowly (veeeery slowly) been getting back in action. And, even though I haven't posted yet this week... trust me you'll soon realize that it's been worth the wait!

As the holidays are rapidly approaching, I am gearing up to give away some amazing party inspiration. And to kick off the season, I am so excited to announce that today we are giving away a copy of Sweet and Simple Party Cakes!!

If you haven't checked out this book, run. Run fast! And check it out. It is chock full of AMAZING cake ideas!!



And not only does it have fantastic ideas but it also contains easy step by step instructions on how to make the cakes yourself!!


Are you intrigued yet??! Is your interest piqued??! I hope so!! 


Here's all you have to do get a copy of your very own:

- If you are not already a follower of this blog become one

- If you are a follower (or once you become one) leave a comment on this post before Monday. MAKE SURE THAT YOU LEAVE YOUR FOLLOWER IDENTITY NAME and EMAIL ADDRESS in the comment. (I must be able to find you on the follower list for you to win the book.)

The winner will be selected Monday morning using Random.org. 

Good luck and Happy Holidays!!!

THIS GIVE AWAY HAS ENDED

Friday, December 3, 2010

I Was Wondering If...

Thank you everyone for all the amazing well wishes!!! You gals are beyond fabulous!! We are all home, safe and sound, and working on getting settled. (Well, as settled as a newborn can get!)

Recently, I was asked by several wonderful women to design invitations for their upcoming holiday events. I LOVE it when people ask me, "I was wondering if you do custom work..." The answer is almost always a resounding "YES!!" It is so inspiring to work with people to bring their rough ideas to reality!

Here are a few of the custom invitations that I have collaborated on recently with some of my fantastic clients....


I hope I didn't bore you with these, but I had so much fun doing them I just had to share!