Birthday cakes are meant to do 3 things.

1. Taste good.
2. Look good.
3. Hold candles.
4. Excite eaters.

This cake does all of the above. (I assume it tastes good…how could it not?). It reminds me of the cake I made for my husband’s birthday last year with our nieces and nephew that I found here. But let’s be honest, it’s way better.

  

Other rainbow cakes, in case these weren’t delightful enough…

From Incredible Things.

If cake’s not your thing, try this from Tarehna.

And lastly, for individual rainbow love, cupcakes from Baking Bites.

  

For our rehearsal dinner at The Piggy Bank in Beacon, New York, my husband designed these place mats. He divided the heart like a meat cut chart with each section labeled with something about us. We couldn’t find pre-cut kraft place mats, so we bought sheets and cut them individually with a rotary cutter outfitted with a scallop blade. These were silk screened by local Brooklyn artist, Philip Sachs.

Perfect material for tags. From left to right: The Paper Addict ($5.75 for 50 tags); Scrap of Mine ($1.75 for 30); Anna Ruby King ($5.50 for 10 tags)

Book City Jackets (Bookshelf set, $11)

  

Perfect for table covering: Kid’s holiday table cloth, complete with crayons. Instead of place cards, write your guests name in the center of a red wine stain. Genius.

I love this—for 2 reasons. It’s a garland and it’s a stamp. Oh, and it’s DIY. So that’s 3 reasons. Check out how easy it is to make one and how fabulous the result is on Just Something I Made.

Found via Creature Comforts.

I’m not really a fan of conversation hearts (although I hear their recipe is new and improved), but a cookie that tells me that I’m Hot Stuff or a Sweet Heart or a QTπ is alright in my book. You customize the cutters by sliding in letters or premade words to form a name or message. When you press the cutter into the dough, your lettering is imprinted on the cookie.

Message-in-a-Cookie Cutters via Just Our Story.

PS…if you have a soul and love cookies, check out my friend Scott Sternberg’s cookie blog.

It’s kind of amazing when your profession and your obsession are the same thing. I get to craft for a living. For reals, I’m not kidding. I get to wander slowly through craft stores, fabric stores, the flower mart (my favorite block in NYC) and if I’m caught day dreaming at work or playing with pipe cleaners, it’s totally excused. In fact, it’s celebrated.

The other day I had to do some craft errands to finish up a project and visited a few of my favorite sources. I plan on adding a sidebar list to TVH of my favorite stores (I have no problem revealing my secrets), but until then, I’ll be posting “Time for Craft Shopping” posts.

From left to right:

Best for buttons, ribbon, trim, iron-on, feathers: M&J Trimming

Best for cheap findings, wire, colored bells: Toho Shoji

Best for candy, candy, and more candy: Dylan’s Candy Bar