By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey

When your event needs a little more POP, here’s an easy and fun removable idea! For this application, I was hosting in intimate dinner party inspired by cherry blossoms. The environment was very organic and I thought I needed to add a bit of a modern twist. Boom. A simple chair decal on a white ghost chair brought it all home…and was so fun to do.

What you need:
1 Plastic chair
Vinyl Sheets (Available at Michael’s Crafts. For this chair, I used one light pink, one bright pink and one copper)
1 piece thick card stock
Pen/Pencil/Marker
Scissors

What to do:
1. Make a Paper Flower Template: Depending on what your inspiration is for the chair (mine was cherry blossoms), Draw a simple outline of a flower, bud and leaf on the card stock and cut out. NOTE: for this application, I did two different sizes of the same flower. Flower were 2 to 2.5-inches in diameter.
2. Cut Out Flower Template: Cut out the flowers, buds and leaves from the card stock.
3. Cut Out Vinyl Flowers, Buds and Leaves: Working on the back side of the vinyl, use the paper templates to draw around onto the vinyl and cut out. Note: for this application, I did a full sheet of light pink flowers and a used the bright pink for buds and flowers. I didn’t cut leaves.)
4. Apply the Vinyl: Do a simple sketch on paper of the the design you want to start with. Beginning with the limbs, cut out strips (1/4-inch wide and various lengths), peel backing off and apply to the chair. Working one at a time, peel off backing from the vinyl flowers, buds and leaves.

Before and After!

The whole process took me 1 hour and was the perfect modern touch the table needed.

By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey

I find inspiration for meals and events great or small in those things blooming and growing around me. This dessert moment is inspired by the delicate beauty of cherry blossoms.

By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey

An imperfect rainbow of sprinkles, mega marshmallows “clouds” and a balloon dog pot of gold! Don’t worry about everything being perfect, just have fun. The end result will ALWAYS bring a smile.

What you need: 
1 frosted layer cake (we used a 8-inch and 6-inch vanilla cake)
4 (6-inch) cardboard cake rounds
1 cup (each) sprinkles in rainbow colors (we used in this order purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and pink), the full amount of each will depend on the size of your cakes.
1 bag extra large marshmallows
1 Jimmie the Balloon Dog Cake Topper Kit

What to do: 
1. Working with the bottom or larger cake first, place one cardboard cake round on either end and set aside. Using a sheet tray, pour 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the purple sprinkles along the longest edge. Straighten the edge with a ruler or dough scraper and pour 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the blue sprinkles next to the purple. Continue with the green (1/2-3/4 cup) sprinkles.
2. Holding the cake by the ends with the card board rounds, line up the cake at the at the end of the tray and roll (using pressure) the cake across the stripes of colors.
3. Use the extra sprinkles to fill in any gaps. Remove cardboard round on the top and cover the top of the cake (purple will be the bottom) with the extra green sprinkles.
4. Repeat the striping process with the smaller cake, starting with the yellow sprinkles. Then orange and finally pink.
5. Use the extra yellow, orange and pink sprinkles to fill in any holes. Remove bottom top cardboard cake round (yellow will be at the bottom) and cover the top of the cake with pink sprinkles. Remove bottom cardboard cake round and carefully place smaller cake atop the larger cake.
6. Top cake with marshmallows.
7. Top marshmallows with a pot of gold Jimmie the Balloon Dog!

By Libbie Summers
Assisted By David Dempsey

I LOVE a gift from the kitchen. This past holiday I made 4 pounds of Everything Bagel Topping and before then it was Homemade Mega Marshmallows. This year for Valentine’s Day, I was under the gun and needed to Macgyver something fast…but still with some Libbie Fun and Beauty.

Beautiful Candy Bark
(makes 24 servings)

What you need:
2 (11 ounce) packages Ghirardelli white chocolate chips, melted (I used a double boiler)
Food coloring gel, I used purple
Sprinkles or colored sanding sugars (I used light and dark purple sanding sugars and gold dragees. NOTE: It will only take a tablespoon of each)
Edible Flowers (I used violas)

What to do:
1. Prep: Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside. Have all your toppings ready.
2. Divide: Divide melted chocolate into two bowls. One will have 2/3 of the melted chocolate and the other will have 1/3.
3. Color: Add just enough food coloring into the smaller amount of melted chocolate until tinted the color you would like.
4. Spread: WORKING QUICKLY, spread the white chocolate out on the prepared baking sheet. Next, drop dollops of the tinted chocolate on top of the white. Using an offset spatula, swirl the two together.
5. Decorate: AGAIN, WORKING SUPER QUICKLY. Decorate with your sprinkles, sanding sugars and edible flowers before the chocolate starts to harden.
6. Break: Allow the bark to set until completely hardened (about 20 minutes) then lift off the parchment and break apart into pieces.
NOTE: If using edible flowers, Beautiful Candy Bark is best eaten within 24 hours. If not, bark will be good for up to one week. Honestly, you don’t even have to store in an airtight container. We just leave ours on the kitchen counter for nibbling.

Need more help? Watch the video!

By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey

I love giving gifts made in the kitchen –especially on Valentine’s Day. Making something for your loved one just seems to say “hey, I dig you” a lot more than a grocery store card. Add in the extra cool factor of it being the most yummy smelling exfoliant and moisturizer and you are bound to get some action! 😉

Sprinkle Sugar Scrub
(makes 8 ounces)

What you need: 

1/2 cup colored coarse sanding sugar (I used pink)
1/2 cup Toyland Sprinkles (you can sub coarse white sanding sugar)
1/4 cup almond oil
1/4 teaspoon bubblegum extract (you can sub with your favorite extract or essential oil)

What to do:
Add all ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir. Scoop into an 8 ounce jar and seal. Shake before using.
(NOTE: We used pink sanding sugar and there was a visible pink hue that was there when rubbing into the skin, but left when washed away…it was really nice!)

Watch the fun video of making the Sprinkle Sugar Scrub!