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Toppings Bar from Kelly Ripa/Electrolux Event!

Image above by Dimitrios Kambouris via Us Weekly.

































If you were here Wednesday and Thursday, then you already saw the sneak peeks of the banana split event we worked on with Kelly Ripa and Electrolux for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Above are pictures of the toppings bar we created for the event.

An ice cream/toppings bar is a really fun thing to do for summer entertaining. Since our ice cream story in InStyle, we're seeing this trend everywhere! If you want to surprise your guests during 4th of July entertaining, this will really make a splash! Simply swap out the color palette for red, white and blue.

Here are a few tips for creating a toppings bar...
(1) Include lots of toppings (we included nutella, fluff, fruit, crushed cookies, granola, coconut, and sprinkles for this toppings bar);
(2) Decant your sauces (we used caramel, hot fudge, and butterscotch) into easily pourable vessels. Keep the sauces towards the front of your toppings bar so they don't drip on other goodies on the table;
(3) Include some ice cream-inspired desserts (we used ice cream cupcake cones, ice cream brownies, banana split cookies, and ice cream marshmallows);
(4) Dress up your ice cream cones with decorative cone jackets;
(5) Include lots of napkins on the table!

For more ice cream tips, make sure you see our article in this month's InStyle Magazine.

Just a couple of other notes...
Kelly was so incredibly sweet and cute. She is as bubbly and genuine in person as she is on tv. She totally "got" our work and she insisted that we take a picture to the side of the table because she didn't want to block the table. How sweet is that?

Also, the last picture in the post finishes off the behind-the-scenes for this event. It is a picture of me tweeting and blogging at the same time and Eric captured it right after the event. It is what I usually do after every event so I thought you should see how all of the events end!
Have a wonderful 4th of July!
xoxo-a

Behind the Scenes at Amy Atlas Events - Kelly Ripa & Electrolux Event Part II

I'm back today with Part II of behind-the-scenes at Amy Atlas for the Kelly Ripa and Electrolux banana splits event. If you weren't here yesterday for Part I, we did some styling and a toppings bar for Kelly Ripa's banana split for a cause campaign for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Here is a sneak peek into the fun part of the event...Kelly and the kids creating their banana splits. I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of our toppings bar. In the meantime, head over here to create a virtual banana split and Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund for every virtual split created. Okay, on to some behind-the-scenes...

Ice cream brownies on a cone with whipped cream...


The Serendipity guys...


Kelly and Serendipity Owner Stephen Bruce building their banana splits...


This was Kelly's banana split!


Kelly and the kids. The kids were so happy!


Here they are again...


The kids were ready to make their own splits. Time for ice cream!


Kelly jumped in and helped the kids make their splits. She is just as bubbly and lovely in person as she is on tv. The kids adored her!


Peek-a-boo...


One of the kids grilling Kelly on her banana split ingredients...


How cute is she? Did I tell you how much we adored her?


Can that little girl be anymore excited? Precious!


Finally diving in to the ice cream...


This tastes good!


These kids know good ice cream...


Let's throw some toppings on...


The adults loved it, too!


Sugared up and ready to go home...


Kelly and the moms...


The President and Vice President of Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Please go make your virtual banana split for Ovarian Cancer Research now. It's a cause that is near and dear to us.

Behind the Scenes at Amy Atlas Events - Event for Kelly Ripa & Electrolux

I apologize for the delay in posting this week...it's been super busy by us, but this will be well worth it...

I'm back again with some behind-the-scenes at Amy Atlas Events. Yesterday, Kelly Ripa, Electrolux, and Serendipity built banana splits with lots of ecstatic kids at a fabulous banana splits event for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. We were honored to do some styling and create the toppings bar for the event.

A little "scoop" about the event...In celebration of the new stand-alone refrigerator and freezer from Electrolux (that's right, the familiar fridge/freezer duo has “split” up!), Kelly Ripa is building banana “splits” for a cause here. Each day you build your ultimate virtual split, Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, and you'll be entered for a chance to win the daily prize — $50 towards sweet summer treats — and the grand prize — the new refrigerator and freezer. How great is that? It was particularly special for us to be involved in this event because my staff and I have friends who have been affected with ovarian cancer. Please visit the site to donate to this important cause.

Okay, below are the behind-the-scenes of us setting up. I'm "splitting" my posts from this event into three posts. Come back tomorrow to see behind-the-scenes of Kelly and the kids building banana splits. I'll also show close-ups of the toppings bar!

Here I am checking out the toppings bar...


Eric sticking skewers in styrofoam for our ice cream brownies...


Our intern Rachael cutting paper for our toppings jars...


Eric fixing the bow on a cake plate...


Eric and Rachael getting ready to fill lots of jars with toppings...


Just a peek at some of the goodies...


I can't resist...here's another peek (the place was filled with sprinkles from New York Cake and Bake...


Here I am on the day of the event frosting ice cream cupcakes...


The Electrolux new split fridge and freezer...pretty nice!


The kids table...there was lots of fun kid entertainment over here like balloon making, drawing, and face painting...


A peek at the banana splits building stations...


Lots of gooey, yummy sauces for the kids!


Sun flooded through the studio. It was really beautiful. Btw, how gorgeous are those hot pink rugs?


The Electrolux set is ready for banana split making with Kelly!


Another peek...


I loved the ice cream cart...


The event is almost ready to start. Kids had step stools by their stations so they could make their banana splits comfortably.


We styled the catering area also...


Lisa and I right before the event...


The AAE crew right before the event...


Joslyn of Simply Lovely was there with her adorable daughter Audrey. I was so happy to finally meet her after knowing her for so long through the blogosphere!


Kids are starting to come..yay!


The kids looked pretty stoked about making banana splits! Wanna see Kelly and the kids making banana splits? Come back tomorrow to get a sneak peek. I'll also show you the toppings bar.