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Noelle’s 8th Jewelry Birthday

My daughter Noelle is the girliest of girls (her ancient-Egyptian themed party of 2009 being a fluke), and for her 8th birthday she wanted a jewelry-themed party. Colors? Pink and purple, of course. Her birthday is in December, so the stores were selling lots of Christmas decorations which doubled easily as jewelry. We decorated the door with ribbon and some Christmas ornaments…I mean earrings.

I decorated the table and backdrop using more jewelry, like the pearl garland (I mean necklace) on the front of the table which I picked up at the 99 Cents Store in the Christmas section. I also filled jewelry boxes with candy bracelets and necklaces, and purchased some pink and purple votive holders.

I’ve been experimenting with sugar recently with moderate success, and I made some edible sugar gems for the cupcake toppers which were made out of fondant and outlined with fondant beading that I made using a small bead mold.

pink and purple edible gems

The cake was white fondant with bows outlined with fondant beading.

Pink and purple fondant bow cake by Erica OBrien Cake Design

When we were kids growing up in Queens, NY, my mom always made treasure hunts for our birthday parties in the park across the street. (Remind me to tell you about the time Alan Schlanger, the neighborhood bully, looted the treasure box.) We always loved the treasure hunts, and now I make one for almost every party. I typed out the clues and hid them all over the house and yard.

Instead of giving out goody bags, I made a bag for each guest and put them in the treasure box.

The kids always take the rules very seriously.

It’s fun watching them run around finding the clues.

Of course finding the treasure is the best part.

No party of mine is complete without some crafts, so I bought a bunch of jewelry boxes and had the kids decorate them with stickers and craft paint (fun but messy), and bought a variety of beads for making necklaces and bracelets.

Some questions you might have are:

1. Who took those incredible photographs?

and

2. Was the party a lot of work?

The answers are:

1. The incredible photographs were taken by Shannon Lee of Shannon Lee Images. I am eternally grateful to her.

2. Yes, I worked my ass off, but it was worth it.

Pastel Mexican-Inspired Wedding

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Erica OBrien in Featured, vintage | 4 Comments

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but when I see a blog post on a wedding, whether it’s a real wedding or a styled shoot, the first thing I look for is the cake. I guess it’s fair to say I’m pretty much obsessed with cake, and since I figure anyone who reads this blog shares my obsession, I focus almost exclusively on cake in my posts. However, I contributed a cake to a shoot for Green Wedding Shoes recently, and everything about it–from the details to the flowers to the models–is just so beautiful, instead of of scrolling down for the cake, I found myself looking at each gorgeous photograph. That said, I’m sharing more pictures than I normally would, but only because they are that good.

Last year, Jenn Campbell from Green Wedding Shoes created an inspiration board for a Cinco de Mayo wedding that incorporates dusty pastels instead of the traditional bright colors.

Jaclyne Breault from Heavenly Blooms contacted Jenn about bringing her inspiration board to life, and created this inspiration board to illustrate some of the other elements she wanted to incorporate.

Jaclyne asked me to design the cake. I really liked the papel picado in the inspiration board, and I recreated it out of fondant using tiny cutters, cake decorating tips and various ruffle and frill cutters. I hand-cut the monogram, and sculpted the succulents out of gumpaste.

Pastel papel picado wedding cake by Erica OBrien Cake Design

Here are some other photos, including the gorgeous model, invitations by Posh Paperie, florals by Heavenly Blooms, styling by Green Wedding Shoes, and photographs by This Modern Romance.

You see? I told you they were good.

Ruffle Cake

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Erica OBrien in etsy, wedding cake | 2 Comments

I get a lot of design inspiration from real-world objects. Combine that with my habit of roaming around aimlessly on the Internet and it seems I was destined to stumble across Etsy. I fall in love with lots of things I see there, like this pillow from PillowPallooza. And while most people who fall in love with a pillow think “I must have that!” my first thought is always “I must make that into a cake!” So I did.

Photo courtesy of Ashleigh Taylor Photography.

Just, You Know, Some Press

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Erica OBrien in press, wedding cake | 1 Comment

I don’t have a page for press on my website. When I think about adding one, I just keep hearing the line from Sugar Hill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight “I don’t mean to brag, I don’t mean to boast…” over and over again in my mind.It’s not that I think there’s anything wrong with having a press page on one’s website, and if you have one, good for you. And it’s not that I’m not proud of the press I’ve received over the years. I’m actually quite proud. It’s just that, as far as personalities go, I’m more the self-deprecating type. Tell me you like my boots, and I’m more inclined to announce that I got them at Target for $39 than to let you think they’re really expensive. (I did, actually, just get a cute pair of boots from Target for $39.)Anyway, I don’t mean to brag, I don’t mean to boast, but here’s some of our press.

The Knot Southern California (Spring-Summer 2010)

The Knot Best of Weddings (2008)

Inside Weddings (Winter 2011)

Southern California Brides (Fall-Winter 2007)

Chicago Brides (Fall-Winter 2008)

Two Cakes

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Erica OBrien in for the baker, for the bride, wedding cake | Leave a comment

I considered entitling this post “Two Cakes I Love”, but thought better of it for fear of sounding boastful. I am extremely critical of my work (and, I like to think, quite humble), so it’s rare for me to say I love one of my cakes, let alone two. Truth be told, however, I love both of these cakes. There. I said it.

Both were inspired by invitations found on Wedding Paper Divas, and photographed by Ashleigh Taylor of Ashleigh Taylor Photography.

For the first cake, based on the Floral Ring invite (below), I cut fondant into the same shapes found on the invitation (roses, leaves, and a large circle for the monogram) and dried them overnight. I used a black food coloring pen to outline each shape, to draw the veins on the leaves, and to write the initials on the monogram. The roses are colored with a mix of food coloring paste and powder. I also added some detail directly onto the cake using food coloring pens. The cutouts are adhered to the cake using edible glue (a mix of gum tragacanth and water).

I used the same fondant cutout technique for the second cake (below), based on the Artistic Maple: Autumn Orange invitation.

Gratitude to Ashleigh Taylor, who knows just what I like in a photograph, and to Wedding Paper Divas, who always have plenty of inspiration to share.

A Tribute to April Reed

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Erica OBrien in cake design, for the baker, for the bride | Leave a comment

When I took my first cake design class in 1996, I was taught that wedding cake tiers must increase in diameter by 4″ increments. A 6″ cake must sit atop a 10″ cake on top of a 14″ cake, etc. Of course, being the consummate rule follower, I adhered strictly to these guidelines, straying only occasionally into 3″ increments (6″ on 9″ on 12″), but never, EVER, less than 3″. Frankly, it never occurred to me that it could be done any other way. Height? A standard 4″. Always. And wedding cake color? Duh.

That all changed for me in 2005 when I discovered the work of April Reed. She was new to the scene from what I could tell, but her work was so different, so avant garde, and she was so clearly NOT a rule follower, that I was smitten (and, I’ll admit, jealous) immediately. I had never even seen cakes that increased by only 1-inch in diameter, like this one:

I had never even considered that cakes could have varying heights, like this one:

Or this one:

A black cake? The thought never entered my mind.

And a cake covered in truffles? Really?

I remember staring at her website for hours, drooling over her designs, and lusting over her creativity. And I wasn’t the only one who noticed. In 2009, Abby Larson, editor of the popular wedding blog Style Me Pretty, called April Reed the “queen of all things gorgeous” and credited her for being “the cake designer that has inspired SO many trends, SO many different cake styles.” According to Ms. Larson, April Reed “literally redefined what a wedding cake should look like.” I completely agree. In a very short time, April Reed was tremendously influential. I’m sure you can see the influence she had on me here:

And here:

Not to mention here:

And, of course, here:

I recently described what April Reed had done for the cake industry to Monica Majors, my friend and colleague of Paper Cut Industries, and how she had broken every rule. Monica wondered whether Ms. Reed simply hadn’t been taught the “correct” way to size cake tiers or whether she was intentionally defying convention. It’s an interesting question, and one I would love to ask her. Unfortunately, when I went to her website, as I often do, I was disappointed to find that it had been taken down.

Whether her style was derived from a lack of professional training or a keen design sensibility makes no difference. Ultimately, April Reed changed the game, and had an enormous influence on me and countless others. Thank you, Ms. Reed, from the bottom of my heart, for your ingenuity, inspiration, and fearless disregard for convention. Wherever you are, I hope that you are well.

Much Ado About Bunting

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Erica OBrien in birthday cake, for the baker, for the bride, wedding cake | 3 Comments

I’ve been going a little (okay, a lot) crazy with cake bunting lately. I first saw it on Etsy, when Charla, my friend and colleague, requested it for her daughter Brooklyn’s second birthday party cake. It seems that now there’s been a proliferation of cake bunting on Etsy, but this artist remains my favorite. This one is particularly cute:

I also stumbled across this fiesta bunting one day on Eat Drink Pretty.

Anyway, when I saw that cake bunting I loved it–loved it!–and decided to make my own. The only difference is that I make mine out of fondant. I use two lollipop sticks and tie the ribbon to each. Fondant does not like to stick to ribbon, so now when I make cake bunting I actually back each fondant piece with a smaller piece of fondant, wet them both with water or egg white so they adhere, and sandwich the ribbon in between. Here are some of my recent cakes with fondant bunting.

For a baby shower:

50th Birthday with Fiesta Theme:

50th birthday cake by Erica OBrien Cake Design

Second Birthday Party:

Halloween:

New Tier I: Introduction to Cake Design Classes

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Erica OBrien in cake decorating, cake design, for the baker | Leave a comment

We just scheduled our first Tier I: Introduction to Cake Design class for 2011. The class will begin on Saturday, January 8 and runs four consecutive weeks {1/8/11, 1/15/11, 1/22/11, and 1/29/11} from 11am to 2pm. For more information, or to register for one of our classes, please visit our website: http://ericaobrien.com/classes.html. Our classes make great gifts, so please let us know if you need a gift certificate.

The Wedding Cake: Big Dreams on a Small Budget {Part II}

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Erica OBrien in for the baker, for the bride, gumpaste succulents | 2 Comments

I wrote this article for Nick and Aleah Valley of Valley and Co., a wedding and event planning company in San Diego. While they were vacationing in New York, they posted it on their blog. Here I’m calling it Part II, because the first installment of “The Wedding Cake: Big Dreams on a Small Budget” appeared here back in April.

In today’s tough economy, many couples understandably look to save on the cost of their wedding cake. Savvy brides and grooms know that the more detail and labor the cake design requires, the more expensive the cake will be. Eliminating or changing design elements can significantly reduce the cost, but you might be surprised to learn which details take the longest. Try to identify the most labor intensive element of each cake below. Then scroll down to check your answers.

Cake 1: Winter white houndstooth pattern

Cake 2: Square off-set with succulents

Cake 3: Sugarpaste flower

Cake 4: Fondant fruits with Envelopments graphics
Cake 5: Lotus flower
Cake 6: Sugared hearts

Did you guess correctly? Read below to find out the most time-consuming elements of each cake.
Cake 1: Star ornament. The houndstooth pattern looks deceptively intricate, but it’s actually a stencil and is quite simple to reproduce. The hand-cut star ornament, on the other hand, requires precise cuts and lots of time. Eliminate the ornament and you’ve significantly reduced the cost of your cake without sacrificing design.
Cake 2: Fondant succulents. At first glance the off-set tiers might look like an architectural nightmare, but stacking the tiers is relatively simple compared to the succulents. This wedding cake was originally designed by the groom (husband to Carissa of JL Designs) and made by Vanilla Bake Shop. The only thing that makes our cake different from the original is that we made all the succulents out of edible gumpaste, a very labor intensive process. The expense of this cake could easily be reduced by swapping the edible succulents for inexpensive real ones.
Cake 3: Custom leaf work. Sugarpaste flowers are undeniably time consuming, but each petal is cut using a purchased cutter, saving the designer time. The leaves on this cake, created to match an invitation from Wedding Paper Divas, had to be cut by hand, which takes a lot longer. Replace the hand-cut leaves with fondant leaves cut with a cutter and you’ve saved your baker a lot of time, saving you money in turn.
Cake 4: Fondant fruits. Although the subtle sutra pattern (from Envelopments) that surrounds each tier would take endless amounts of time to create by hand, here they are done on an edible ink printer. The edible fruits are the most labor intensive element of this cake. Use real fruits to decrease the time spent, thereby decreasing your cake’s price tag.
Cake 5: Olive colored fondant. Yes, the lotus flower was cut by hand, and yes the teardrops had to be hand appliquéd, but coloring large quantities of fondant–especially to match a specific color–takes time. Fondant can be purchased pre-colored, but it’s more expensive than white. To save money, opt for white fondant and introduce pops of color.
Cake 6: Square shape. Icing a cake so that the edges and corners are perfectly square takes years of practice and a lot of time. Some bakers even charge more for square cakes. To cut costs on your cake, you’ll want to literally cut corners and go for a round cake.
Remember, there are many cost effective ways to simplify your wedding cake without sacrificing design. So, before you replace the sugar flowers with real ones, consider the other ways to save your baker time–and save your budget.
Photo Credits. Cake 1: Ashleigh Taylor; Cake 2: Jordana Hazel; Cake 3, 5, and 6: Cory OBrien; Cake 4: Henry Chen

Brooklyn’s 2nd Birthday

Posted on November 11, 2010 by Erica OBrien in cake stencil, edible cake bunting, edible fondant ric rac | 2 Comments

Charla Brummel, of Charla Blue Photography, recently had a 2nd birthday party for her adorable daughter Brooklyn. The theme of the party was inspired by, believe it or not, an Ikea quilt. To translate the design into cake, I made individual panels, some using edible images and others that were stenciled, and fondant ric rac. (I’ll be posting a how-to on the fondant ric rac soon.) I’m on a major cake bunting kick, so I added an edible bunting topper. Charla says she’s not creative, but as you can see from the table she designed (not to mention her artistic photographs), she lies.

This is Brooklyn: