Friday Linkaround: Tom Douglas, deep sea vents, and Instagram

Happy first day of March!

1) I read this inspiring post in Seattle Weekly about local chef Tom Douglas going to extraordinary lengths in the name of customer relations. A food reviewer contrasts his poor experience at a Miami restaurant with his initially poor experience at one of Douglas' restaurants back in 1999:

Douglas expressed his deep disappointment at my treatment as a guest. He mentioned staff and menu changes, and said that feedback like mine was valuable for fine-tuning.

Enclosing a check for $100 to cover the cost of my meal, plus a gift certificate for $150 to spend on my next meal, he requested that "you send me your review of your next experience at Dahlia Lounge." That next meal was much better, and I've held Douglas in high regard for his integrity since the incident.

2) Awesome Science Time! Some incredible undersea pictures were published this week of blind shrimp, anemones, and other newly discovered creatures living near one of the deepest (5000 meters down) and hottest hydrothermal vents (401 degrees Centigrade omg) ever discovered. Go see!

3) This Charming Candy is still pretty new to the Instagram scene, posting occasionally but mostly just enjoying accounts with pretty pictures. Now that there are web profiles it's easy for me to link to my favorites, including...

• The US Department of the Interior, which posts ridiculously beautiful nature photos, mainly of our national parks. 
• Seattle's Trophy Cupcakes, who are currently hard at work on styling gorgeous photo shoots for their upcoming cookbook. 
• Minneapolis artist Brock Davis who specializes in clever portraits of food, styled in unexpected and delightful ways.

If you have favorite Instagram accounts, I'd love to know what they are! 

Creating Lollipop Centerpieces

For a recent photo shoot, we created simple, elegant lollipop centerpieces:

Photo by Heather Immoor

The basis for the centerpiece is the 4" cube from Blumebox with the cake pop insert. They're a terrific canvas for your creativity. In this case, I got some understated silvery wrapping paper from my local Papyrus stationery shop to cover the sides of the box.What I love about wrapping paper is how versatile it is - our customer Sandy used a colorful, playful pattern to decorate Blumeboxes for a baby shower.

The cake pop insert is kraft cardboard, so it looks a bit plain on its own. There are lots of ways to decorate it; this time I used decorative Roost Snowfall - fake "snow" that was given to me by one of my retailers. The result was a very understated look that let the beautiful aqua lollipops take most of the visual focus. The fake snow was really neat stuff, not static-y at all; unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available directly. Still, any similar fake snow or confetti would fit the bill.

Looking for more inspiration? the Ideas in Blume blog has loads of that to spare!

Wedding Favors

With Valentine's Day and New Years' in the recent past, newly-engaged lovebirds are about ready to come down from Cloud 9 and start thinking about their wedding plans... We're here to help with favors!

These luscious, elegant, cream-colored lollipop favors in Pina Colada flavor work beautifully for a wedding with a tropical theme. Call it "Hawaiian Honeymoon" on a stick.

Pina Colada lollipops in lovely off-white

The clean, uncluttered appearance of the lollipops in unlabeled bags can be very appealing and offers a very quick turn around time. Spring green and aqua blue are just some of the beautiful colors we can create:

Spring green lollipops in Black Pepper Melon flavor

Aqua blue lollipops in Blueberry Muffin flavor

Other celebrations opt for our custom initials label service, which was featured in Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom a couple of years ago:

(photo by Lara Ferroni)

We'd love to help bring your dream day to reality with sophisticated, delicious lollipop favors. Drop us a line at thischarmingcandy@gmail.com and let's get started!

Gift Box Set of Lollipops

Thanks to a recent photo shoot, we've updated the photos of the gift box set with all of our gourmet lollipops:

 

The pops come in a snazzy white box with a clear lid that's perfect for gift wrapping. 

Inside, you'll find all 22 of our super delicious flavors:

Apple-Anise

Birthday Cake
Black Pepper Melon
Blueberry Muffin
Bubble Gum
Cherries Jubilee
Hazelnut-Coffee
Honey-Jasmine
Guava Colada
Maple Sugar
Nutmeg Creme
Pineapple Heaven
Pistachio-Marshmallow
Root Beer Float
Salted Anise
Salted Caramel
Sweetened Grapefruit
Tangerine-Clove
Tart Pluot
Triple Berry
Vanilla-Cardamom
Watermelon-Basil 

We nicknamed this variety collection "All of the Above"; before that we jokingly called it "Girlfriend In A (Sugar) Coma". Enjoy!

Photos by Heather Immoor Photography

Lollipop Orgy?

That pile of artfully discarded lollipop wrappers makes the scene look a bit like everyone just disrobed and jumped into the hot tub! After all, these are the Red Hot Love lollipops... 

Photo by Heather Immoor

Simple Presentation for Lollipops

For casual parties, we've found it's easiest to fan out lollipops in a circle and pass them around on a plate or in a small basket. One of our customers did that for her street's block party and we think they look so inviting! Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones.

A tisket, a tasket... lollipops in a basket!

How have you arranged our lollipops for sharing? We'd love to see your photos! You can send them to us at thischarmingcandy [at] gmail.com, or leave a link to your own blog post in the comments below...