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A Sweet Nutcracker-Inspired Party For Little Ballerinas

Dec 18 2014 - 2:33pm

Are visions of sugarplum fairies dancing in your head? For many of us, it wouldn't be the holidays without a visit to a local production of The Nutcracker. George Balanchine's ballet masterpiece is as much a part of the holiday season as the smell of pine and the sound of wrapping paper falling to the floor.

For Darcy Miller, editorial director for Martha Stewart Weddings [1] and a mother of three young daughters, the New York City Ballet's George Balanchine's The Nutcracker [2] is a holiday tradition. Darcy remembers seeing the ballet as a little girl and loves taking her daughters each year. They've watched the video and listened to the soundtrack hundreds of times, and the ballet inspired Darcy to create a Winter wonderland party filled with ballerinas, snowflakes, nutcrackers, and angels to usher in the season. Keep reading for a look at this dreamy party.

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [3]

A Repurposed Centerpiece

This past Thanksgiving, Darcy used branches [4] as a centerpiece; they make great decor as they last for weeks. She transformed the "thankful tree" for the Winter by adding some paper and doily snowflakes and glitter leaves made from Martha Stewart [5] Crafts punches. Using glue dots, she adhered the assortment to the branches. The paper angels were made out of doilies and also glitter paper [6] cut with the Martha Stewart circle edge punch [7]. The snowy scene was on cotton batting embellished with Crate and Barrel glitter stars [8] and Lindt chocolate reindeer [9].

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [10]

An Angel Dessert Table Filled With Nutcracker Sweets

The dessert table, with an angel centerpiece, was a Winter wonderland filled with One Girl Cookies [11]cupcakes and cakes, and cake pops all with a Nutcracker theme.

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [12]

A Sweet Angel Centerpiece

A tiered cake stand and little bowls with candy, topped with a paper angel, make a great centerpiece. To create the angel, simply use a doily for the body, a circle edge punch [13] to edge the wings, and a doily punch to edge the angel's body. [14]

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [15]

An Adorable Nutcracker Cookie Cake

A simple white One Girl Cookies [16] buttercream cake is made special by embellishing it with cookies. Darcy used Eleni's [17] nut-free nutcracker cookies, but you can use any cookies that you like! The cake stand was embellished with a strip of glitter paper cut with Martha Stewart Crafts' doily edge punch [18].

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [19]

Angel Sweet Cake Pops

Darcy collaborated with NY Cakepops [20] for these sweet angel pops — she sent an image of her paper angels to inspire their creation. For displaying cake pops, Darcy suggests using styrofoam edged with a strip of white paper that can be punched with a doily edge punch [21].

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [22]

A Snowflake Cake

"This quick and easy project makes a big statement on the dessert table or even displayed alone." A simple white One Girl Cookies [23] cake can be made into a Winter wonderland by placing three snowflake lollipops [24] as a cake topper. Darcy crushed up some extra lollipops to make a sparkly border on the bottom of the cake. "Edible gold sparkledust [25] from NY Cake and Bake (they have almost every color!) is sprinkled on the top."

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [26]

Ballerina Cupcakes

What would a Nutcracker party be without the ballerinas? Darcy loves these nostalgic ballerinas [27] placed in One Girl Cookies [28] mini cupcakes. "The lace cups [29] and ballerinas remind me of the 'snowflake' ballerinas dancing in The Nutcracker."

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [30]

Cups of Sugary Sweet Hot Chocolate

Inspired by the Hot Chocolate dancers in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, marshmallow stars [31] were served with mini cups of hot chocolate.

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [32]

A Sugary-Sweet Gumdrop Necklaces

Strung gumdrops can be used in many ways — as a necklace or garlands to hang. Darcy used a sewing needle and monofilament to string gumdrops [33] to make this playful garland.

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [34]

A Fun Gingerbread House

"Last week my daughter and I visited Make Meaning [35] (one of our favorite DIY [36] craft shops) and made this Nutcracker-inspired gingerbread house. We strung gumdrops onto monofilament with a sewing needle for a colorful backdrop."

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [37]

A Twinkling Garland With Hand-Drawn Sketches

Darcy's sketches made an appearance on a garland enhanced with a strand of twinkle lights. She drew nutcrackers, ballerinas, and soldiers and hung them on gold glitter eyelash yarn [38] with paper stars, candy canes, and peppermints.

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [39]

A Nutcracker-Inspired Holiday Scene

Darcy used the Martha Stewart [40] Circle Edge Punch [41] and glitter paper to make angels for this snowy scene, including from big to little nutcrackers [42], and snow houses and trees [43] topped with homemade stars. She then lit the scene with tiny white lights [44]. Silver and gold touches made an elegant, sparkly nutcracker display.

Source: Martha Stewart Living I Photography by Charlotte Jenks Lewis [45]


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