Glorious Layered Dessert Giveway!

We are so excited that our friend Glory, from the popular baking blog Glorious Treats, has just released a new book! 

Her new recipe book, Glorious Layered Desserts, puts a modern twist on classic trifles. From combinations like Brownie Strawberry Shortcake to Pumpkin Caramel Banana Trifle, Glory teaches you to create simple & beautiful desserts that are sure to make any crowd cheer with delight. This book is a definite must for any home baker or dessert aficionado!

And just to convince you that you NEED this book as part of your collection, Glory is letting us share a recipe from the book!

Fried Iced Cream Cheesecake

Makes 5-6 servings

Inspired by Fried Ice Cream, often served at Mexican restaurants, creamy cheesecake is layered with cinnamon sugar cereal for an unexpected twist.

Dessert Components:

Creamy Whipped Cheesecake (recipe below)

2 cups Cinnamon Cereal (such as Cinnamon Toast Crunch)

Whipped Cream (use the recipe below, or use canned whipped cream)

Maraschino Cherries

Creamy Whipped Cheesecake

1 block (8oz.) cream cheese

¾ cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 cup heavy cream

Using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add powdered sugar, cinnamon and the vanilla, and blend until fully incorporated and smooth.  Add (cold) heavy cream, and whip until smooth, and increased in volume by almost double.  

Whipped Cream

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Chill the bowl and beater (whisk attachment) of your electric mixer by placing them in the freezer about 5 minutes.  This will help your cream whip up faster, and fuller.  

When the bowl has chilled, pour cream into bowl and begin whipping (on medium-high speed).  

When the cream is beginning to thicken, slowly add the powdered sugar, while continuing to beat.  

Then, add vanilla (while mixing).  

Assembly:

1. Crush cinnamon cereal (in a large ziplock type bag), then place crushed cereal in a bowl.  

2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter, and pour over cereal.  Stir well.  Spread cereal onto a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 6-8 minutes.  Allow to cool.    

3. Prepare Creamy Whipped Cheesecake 

4. Assemble dessert by adding 1-2 tablespoons crushed cereal to the bottom of your dessert dishes.  Add a layer of cheesecake (this will be easiest if you use a piping bag fitted with a large round tip, or add cheesecake to a large ziplock type bag and snip off one corner).  

5. Repeat with another layer of cereal, then cheesecake.  

6. Top with whipped cream and a cherry. 

Enjoy immediately, or keep in the refrigerator (up to 1 hour).        

Are you ready to make some layered dessert? Want to win a copy of Glorious Layered Desserts? Leave us a comment telling us what your favorite dessert is & we will pick a winner at random to receive a signed copy of Glory's book!

Glorious Layered Desserts is available NOW at Amazon, Barnes & Noble,Wal-mart  & Deseret Book

Balloon Bash with The Land of Nod

We had the BEST time this past weekend hosting a balloon bash with our friends from The Land of Nod in Chicago. 

Big thanks to all the families that brought their adorable children & crafting skills to our event. It was a true delight to see so many happy little people proudly waving around their balloon creations!

And we are thrilled to announce that we are now carrying the animal & mini confetti & balloon lolly kits in the shop!! Hip, Hip Hooray!!

We Are Throwing a Balloon Bash!

We are so super excited to be hosting, not one but TWO, events with The Land Of Nod!!

If you live in, or are going to be in, the Chicago area the weekend of March 8th, we would love to chit chat & make balloon crafts with you and your little people!

For more information for the Saturday March 8th event in Chicago, click here. For the Sunday event at their Oak Brook Location, click here

We hope to see you there!

Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Tabletop Ideas

Well, Halloween went by in a blur, and now Turkey Day is on deck. To help you get in "Thanksgiving mode", we thought we would share some creative & non-traditional table top ideas from Oh So Beautiful Paper. So fun, right?

1. floral place cards  |  2. thanksgiving placemat  |  3. acorn boxes

4. glittered food flags  |  5. floral paper straws  |  6. individual pie slice boxes

For even more festive ideas, be sure to check out our Fall Harvest section by clicking here!

mood board courtesy of oh so beautiful paper

Rue Magazine Turn 3!

When our friends Maddy & Shauna over at Confetti Pop asked us if we wanted to help them with their shoot for Rue magazine's third birthday, we couldn't say yes fast enough! I mean seriously, look how gorgeous they made our party pretties look!!

Be sure to stop by Rue to see the full shoot & tips for creating beautiful tablescapes, such as this one, by clicking here

Thanks for including is in all the fun, ladies! 

xoxo

source guide & credits:

styling, DIY projects & concept: confetti pop

photography: paper antler

honeycomb tissue balls, glassine envelopes,  pretty plastic milk bottles: shop sweet lulu

floral design: studio fleurette
wholesale flowers: fiftyflowers

venue: mystical rose gardens
bulk candy: candy warehouse

HGTV

We are super duper excited to have our sweet little ice cream truck cups featured in this month's 
HGTV Magazine!!

source guide:

ice cream truck with cups: shop sweet lulu

Rosenberry Rooms

Rosenberry Rooms recently interviwed us. Check it out here!

Honorable Mentions: HGTV Magazine

We are thrilled to have our farmstand milk bottle be featured in the April issue of HGTV magazine!!

Brides Magazine - January 2013 Issue

We feel so honored to have our tissue paper pom pom kits featuredin the January 2013 issue of Brides Magazine!!

source guide:

tissue paper pom pom kits: shop sweet lulu

Best Friends For Frosting

Best Friends for Frosting recently interviewed our lovely Jessie Senese. 

We hope you'll pop over & check it out!

Family Circle

We are super excited to see so many of our party pretties in the February issue of 

Family Circle Magazine!!

source guide:

cupcake liners, paper stripey straws  & paper fans shop sweet lulu

Amy Atlas

Our Valentine's treat table is being featured on Amy Atlas this morning! 

Click here to see the full feature and for a chance to win $100.00 gift card to the shop!

Hostess With The Mostess

Our paper suitcases & polka candy cups were featured in this amazing "Keep Soaring High" party by 

The Marshmallow Studio that was featured on Hostess With The Mostess. 

To see the full feature & all the beautiful details of this inspiring party, click here

WH Hostess "Glam" Hello Kitty Party

Our amazingly talented friend, Kelly of WH Hostess is the party planning mastermind behind this Glam Hello Kitty Party. This modern, chic & fabulous fete is one that a girl of any age can swoon over! I mean seriously, could the bow topped straws be any cuter? We didn't think so either! Our party pretties have never looked so glamourous! 

To see the full feature of this party, please be sure to pop over to the Hostess With the Mostess Blog

source guide:

Feature: Hostess with the Mostess

Paper straws, Plastic French Milk Bottles, Plates & Napkins: Shop Sweet Lulu

Hello Kitty Printables: WH Hostess

Martha Stewart Weddings/ Winter 2013

It has been a big couple months for us here at Shop Sweet Lulu!! We have gotten to see our name and pretty products in several periodicals recently: Country Living, Phyllis Hoffman's Celebrate and the mother of them all, Martha Stewart Weddings (enter excited squeals!). Oh, and we weren't just "in" the 2013 Winter issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, but a part of celebrity couple ,Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds's, reception!!! (yes, there was a mild freak out in the magazine aisle at Target when this information was discovered!) For those of you that haven't seen the feature, here is a little sneak peek..........

To see the full feature and all the rest of the beautiful photos from this wedding, be sure to pick-up a copy of the 2013 winter edition of Martha Stewart Weddings, on store shelves and available on iPad now!

Honorable Mentions: Celebrate Magazine

Have you seen the latest issue of Phyllis Hoffman Celebrate magazine? If not, you are in for a fun surprise! The winter issue has a 4 page feature of our very own Jessie Senese and some of her favorite Shop Sweet Lulu  party pretties!! Yippee!!

The winter issue of Celebrate is on news stands now!

Kate Landers for Layla Grace

Oh. My. Goodness. Kate Landers has done it again! This New Year's Eve Party she did for Layla Grace is simply fabulous! A dreamy mint green & gold color palette, glitter & champagne. This is my version of perfection! And the best part......those are OUR tiny dot mint paper straws & tissue pom poms!!

For the full feature of this party, click here

A BIG THANK YOU to Kate Landers for making our party pretties look oh so lovely, and for including us in this inspiration shoot! xo


We've Moved!!

Be sure to check out our new gorgeous blog chock full of 
party inspiration & projects!

www.thesweetlulublog.com

Style Me Pretty

We are doing a happy dance after seeing our stripey straws as part of this gorgeous Pasadena wedding on Style me Pretty. Click here to see the full gallery of this stunning party.

credits:

photography courtesy of  Garrett Davis Photography

Oh Joy!

We were super excited to see that Oh Joy! used our lovely lace collection at her daughter Ruby's 1st birthday party!! Click here to see a full feature of this adorable party!

shop sweet lulu shopping guide:

lovely lace paper plates, sunshine yellow paper tableware mix & match, apple green paper tableware mix

Country Living Magazine

I was flipping through my issue of Country Living Magazine over the weekend and was delighted to spot the Daisy Cut Mason Jar Lids from our shop!

People always ask me if I knew that our products were going to be featured in magazines, and the answer is yes and no...the process goes a little something like this:  An editor will contact us to 'call in samples' for possible inclusion in an upcoming photo shoot.  We then send products off to be examined and photographed.  Sometimes we hear back from the editor with a confirmation of placement, sometimes we do not.   Magazines work really far out, often 6 months or more, so even if we know that a product will be featured, we usually don't know when it will hit newsstands. Whether or not it's a surprise, it's always fun to open a magazine (especially one that we normally read anyway!) and spot a mention of our shop!