Cupcake Towels

ast year (December), my best friend Gigi's baby, Julia Yzabelle Garcia, was baptized. You might remember her from my Hello Julia post in October last year.

Zabe (pronounced as zah-be) had to stay in the hospital for 10 days due to neonatal jaundice. Praise God she bounced back quickly and is now every inch a healthy, happy baby.

Gigi asked me to make her christening giveaways. As Zabe's ninang (godmother), I happily obliged. I was excited to get crafty again. It's been a long time since I got my fingers messy with glitter and glue!

A quick search at Pinterest led me to the idea of rolled "cupcake" wash cloths. They look fun to dress up and was useful as a gift as well. I wanted to make something that looked like this, with a plastic cherry on top and scalloped cupcake wrappers. But I had a hard time making the wrappers look like that, and I couldn't find a store here that sold plastic cherries.

So I settled for wrapping the towels with rectangular-cut shaped scrapbook papers. Instead of the cherry, I used the scalloped labels glued to a toothpick with tiny ribbons to add the cuteness factor.

I didn't want an all-pink palette for the giveaways, so I picked soft pastels of brown, cream and pink for the towels (so the male and female guests can choose which they want). I included bolder colors for the ribbons like yellow, fuschia and dark brown to match the colorful patterns of the scrapbook papers.

The scalloped labels are courtesy of a craft puncher using glossy photo papers. I had to hand-write the words on each of the label it after my printer conked out on me, refusing to spit out the photo paper (I think it might have been too thick for the HP printer).

I hot glued two labels together with a toothpick in between and stuck it at the center of the rolled towel. One label had "Thank You" written on it and "Julia Yzabelle Garcia" at the other label.

I was apprehensive at first but the labels turned out ok. Manually writing the words gave it a whimsical and personal touch (although the pen got a tad messy on some of the labels).

They looked so pretty displayed like that (see photos above) around the cupcake tray and the pink, white and lavender ballons on each side. The beautiful arrangement was by Gigi's in-laws. The scattered petals was a nifty touch.



A closer look at the label:

One of Gigi's Aunts-in-law was sweet enough to approach me during the party to gush over the giveaways. Her compliments put a big grin on my face. She even asked if I accepted orders to create party giveaways. Yay! Yes! Gigi joked that orders will have to go through her so she can also get a commission out of it. *wink*

Nothing like sincere appreciation to make a person's heart swell to bursting proportions! :-)

Guests also were offered real cupcakes aside from the look-alike one that they got to bring home with them. These cupcakes made by Gigi's in-laws were just sinfully delicious. There was a generous dollop of cream on top with the colorful toppings of icing flowers, pearls, and choco chips.

I tried all three flavors (chocolate, red velvet and another one that I forgot) and I couldn't decide which one I liked best! They all were yummy. For taste and presentation, I give these cupcakes 100%.

The food was top-notch as well. My best friend's mother-in-law is one of the best cooks in this side of the province (next to my Mom, of course, hehe). Her Ox Tongue with Mushroom Sauce is to die for. I threw dietary caution to the wind and stuffed myself full of that and the pasta. Just remembering that makes me hungry right now. 

I'm posting a shot of my plate (above) with the hope that you will not judge me based on the unhealthy proportions there. :-) Like I said earlier, I threw caution to the wind.

After the party, my friend Rose and I capped the day with a tall mug of steaming blueberry tea and a small bottle of cold Starbucks Mocha Frap over at Poppy's. With our stomachs full and our hearts warm from Baby Zabe's charm, it was an unforgettable day.