In July of 2010 I found myself newly married, unemployed and bored in the worst way. What felt like hundreds of resumes later I decided that I wasn’t going to be happy sitting behind a desk…I needed to do something different.

Dough a Deer was born.

From my first batch of fresh baked doughnuts they were a hit…they literally flew off any plate they were on.

Okay…maybe they didn’t LITERALLY fly off the plates but man, it was a blur sometimes.

From my passion for unique product to my mad scientist tendencies in the kitchen my fans and friends and clients and customers all had plenty of choices and I was coming up with new things all the time.

For two and a half years I have bled doughnuts (gross, huh?) For two and a half years I have developed business relationships that turned into friendships, built a company from absolutely nothing with no formal business training and about 50 bucks in my pocket and spread the word of mini baked doughnuts around so far that 90% of my business is other states.

This blog entry isn’t to let everyone know how awesome I am…it’s to say goodbye. It’s to say goodbye to every single person that has ever given me a chance, purchased a doughnut, used my company for your wedding without even trying me first…this is dedicated to every single person that helped Dough a Deer become what it is today. I love you guys, seriously…I will NEVER forget all of the kindness.

Now the important part…Dough a Deer is NOT disappearing.

No no no.

As most of you know, in January of 2012 I found out that my husband and I were expecting our first little munchkin.He was born on August 23rd!

Our lives changed, our priorities changed and my time dwindled. I could no longer bake every batch myself like I had plans to until I had a shop. The shop never came. The money never was there and I hired my friend to do the baking for the company so I could concentrate on pretty much the only thing I could do with a baby..computer work.

I became less and less in touch with the creative part of the company which was my baby until my actual baby arrived.

So as of January 1st, 2013 I am turning Dough a Deer over to my best friend, the baker for the past 9 months and the amazingly creative, perfectly capable super woman who is going to make sure Dough a Deer is going to go the places I have always dreamed about but never had the means to do. So if you get a second, please pop by the page and say hello!!!

A note…ALL orders for 2013 are still on our books and WILL be filled 100%. That includes of the month, weddings, valentines day orders and everything in between. The only change is that Nicole is no longer the face of Dough a Deer…expect everything to be just the same!!

And for me? I am going to take some time and build my new business, Cole Anderson Photography. Feel free to come and say hello! Photography is my absolute passion and has been since before baking! I plan for newborn, children, maternity, couples and birth photography.

My biggest plan is my non profit, in which I plan to gather local photographers to join me in offering free photo sessions to families that are stricken with illness, cancer..etc. A photo is forever and I want every family that has been hit with tragedy of this kind to find their strength and have that forever memory.

Feel free to follow on facebook so you can keep up on it and feel free to nominate families you feel are deserving by emailing or messaging me!

I love you guys…you are in my heart and on my skin forever.

<3 Until next time!

Signing off for the last time,

Nicole

Out of all the holidays I take Halloween the MOST seriously. This year, maybe it’s because I don’t have to move apartments right after the 31st (like we usually do) or maybe it’s because we have a son that we get to get OVERLY excited about holidays but I am going a little overboard.

By overboard I mean the costumes (you’ll see, it’s a surprise) and my Halloween party that I FINALLY convinced my husband to let me throw.

This year I wanted to steer clear of the cutesy themes that Halloween parties tend to fall into and go with something a bit more “classic” or “creepy” without serving my guests food that looks like boogers or organs lol.

So I came up with a morgue/mortuary theme and I’m going to tell you what you need to get to be able to throw together one yourself…let’s just say I’m doing all the work for you just in case you wait until last minute like I sometimes [most of the time] do!

 

Decorations:

Get black tablecloths from the Dollar Tree…while you’re there pick up the plastic brains (2) and a plastic heart as well as 2 of the biggest bottles of lime green soap or shampoo.

Follow these instructions for brains and hearts in a jar:

1. Glue the brains together and let dry.

2. Put the brains in one jar and the heart in another jar. Pour one bottle of green soap or shampoo in each jar then fill the rest with water.

3. DONE!

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Follow these instructions from Marthastewart.com for bloody drip candles

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Food:

Deviled Eggs

Curried Shrimp on Skewers

Guacomole with black beans and chilies served with blue tortilla chips

Mini cups of tomato soup

Mini meatballs in a cup with sauce

Salsa and Steak bites in scoops tortilla chips

Dessert:

Coroners Cookies- Ask this chicka for edible printed Morgue images

Eyeball Sweet Skewers

Mini Red velvet cupcakes in black cupcake liners

Red Velvet Brownies

Doughnuts of COURSE

 

Details:

Get red and white and gray and white striped straws to serve with punch.

Purchase test tubes and put blood orange drink in with these printable labels from martha stewart

Cover wine or other bottles with stickers from this seller

Have a costume contest with a prize of a jar filled with body part gummys from the dollar store!

And the best part? Hello My Sweet made up some pretty amazing printables and guess what, they are giving them to you all for FREE!!!

Cupcake wrappers, dessert table labels, ALES from the Crypt beer labels and MORE!

 

Check them out HERE

I can guarantee they’ll have some pretty amazing things for Christmas too so follow them and keep an eye out!! Have a great halloween and PLEASE send us your photos!!!

 

I was inspired today by my friend Drexelle of D.Park Photography posting the story of the day her son came into this world and decided to post MY story!

The day our lives changed completely came and went right before our eyes so I have to write it all down so I don’t forget it!!(Even though I doubt I ever will)

August 22nd my husband was working late for the first time in a few weeks…our due date was the 31st of August so he figured it would be okay. Around 12 he said he was on his way home and I made him bring me home Del Taco (thank goodness I did because I didn’t eat until 9pm!

We went to bed around 2am and at 4am I got up for what would likely be my usual 5-6 times using the restroom per night. My water then started leaking…I, however thought it could be possible I was just peeing myself like I have been the past 2 weeks lol. I went back to bed to lay down for 30 minutes and get up to see if it happened again (what the doctor told us to do) I did this twice more and it kept happening so I called the doctor on call (yes, we didn’t even get our doctor to deliver us) and he told me to come in.

I then went back into the bedroom to wake up my husband who was on 2 hours of sleep after working a very long day. I remember nudging him and saying “um…babe, my water is leaking I think and the doctor told me to go ahead and come in to get checked.” I’ve never…EVER seen him get out of bed so quickly lol. Me: “yeah…i’m going to take a shower and finish packing my bag, you might want to grab the baby’s mattress out of the car and install the car seat” He ran…he definitely ran. lol.

The whole way to the hospital my husband is twisting his facial hair…it’s the thing he does when he is thinking about something or he is nervous. So I ask him…”are you nervous, baby?”…he goes “um yeah, of course…a little…aren’t you?” Me: “umm, not really…i just hope i’m not peeing myself and it’s not my water, man, that would be embarrassing” lol

I get up to labor and delivery and the nurse takes one look and says “ohh yeah, that’s definitely your water, I don’t even have to do the test. You’re not leaving here without a baby!” YAY!!! We move to our room and since i’m not having contractions we were just sitting and hanging out. I couldn’t sleep I was so excited.(That was about 6am that we were admitted)

At about 10am they decided to start me on pitocin since I wasn’t having any contractions. I chilled on that for a while when around 12 I started feeling a bit of pain. Around 1pm the pain was not very fun and I sent my husband to go eat. My nurse asked if I wanted to try some nubaine…her exact words were “it’s not going to take the pain away but it will make you not give a sh** about it” hahah! Loved her! I went for it. By the time my husband came back up he said it was how he would imagine I would be if I were completely wasted (i don’t really drink so he had never seen me drunk…okay, maybe once). He said he was trying not to talk to me because I kept laughing at NOTHING and I kept repeating “hahah, how do people do this without drugs…sooooo stupid” lol.

The nubaine wore off around 2pm and the doctor came in to check me…I was 4cm so I was able to get the epidural ( i was 2cm at my doctors appointment 3 days before) and MAN, was that guy my best friend…needle or no needle, my bestie and believe me…I told him. He introduced himself when he walked in and I was like “WHAT UP BEST FRIEND!” hahah.

The. Epidural. Was. Glorious.

That was about 2:45pm…i rested and watched tv for a bit. Around 5pm I started to feel pain again so the nurse let me press the button to get a little boost since she thought it was just wearing off a bit. When the 2nd dose hit me around 5:30 the doctor came in again to check me…she was all “oh…you’re probably hitting 7cm and that is why you felt the pain”…a pause…”Oh wow! You’re complete!!! Let’s do this!”

Then everything was a bit of a blur…people were coming in, tables were being set up, a light came down from the ceiling lol.

An hour and 15 minutes of pushing and our little monster was here! It was such a surreal moment. Hours before and for 9 months before, this little person is inside your stomach and you can feel them moving around and then all of a sudden they are here and you can see them and hold them! My husband became 2nd and I became 2nd and it was just a mutual understanding we had haha!

Neither of us cried which I didn’t expect, I definitely thought at least he would cry because he did at our wedding but no, we were just so tired and so happy he was finally here. Although, the waterworks came the next day…I went to the bathroom in the hospital and I came out to my husband laying with our son in his arms and he was just crying and crying. He was so happy to have his son and he is such an amazing father already I am so lucky to have an amazing little family.

Jack Daniel Anderson was born 8/23/12 at 7:26pm

7 pounds 2.6 ounces and 19.5 inches long!

He’s named after his daddy (Daniel) and he is absolutely perfect. Thank you guys for reading! Please enjoy the photos =]

 

Our doughnuts, i’ve found are super versatile which is awesome since more and more parties are becoming more about style and design than just throwing your desserts on plates and in bowls and saying “dig in”.

I don’t think i’ve ever been so excited about a trend (even though it’s a couple years in the making) than i am about the whole dessert table trend.

Why? Well, the short answer is that I am a bit controlling and organized when it comes to a party. I draw out 3 or 4 drafts of what I want the dessert table to look like, I think about every single detail and I spend months and months planning JUST the dessert table.

But just my luck, my clients are just like me! They put their heart into every little detail which is why when I get an order for a wedding, a 1st birthday, a shower…etc I get SO happy that my client decided to include our mini doughnuts on their special day. It’s a joy for me, as a small business owner that so many wonderful people like our product.

So ANYWAYS, enough of the sappy (i love you guys) stuff, here are some AMAZINGLY fun ways our clients have chosen to display our goodies for their event! If you see a photo from your event and I don’t have you cited (i tried to remember/collect everything i could) PLEASE let me know so I can correct it!!

 

A beautiful simple display, in mini cupcake liners for a baby shower.

Our doughbabies sitting on top of adorable mini cupcakes on a cake plate for a baby sprinkle!

Okay, so I’ll admit, this was my display but I thought it was a great example of how doughnuts and doughnut truffles don’t always have to be feminine! On the left are truffles displayed in a cigar box and the right are pops displayed in a vintage coffee can.

I ADORE the way Sandee from Candee by Sandee chose to display our doughnuts for this sexy spanish inspired wedding dessert table! Slip our doughbabies on a straw and you’re ready to rock!

This awesome client put our cute little doughbabies in mini trash cans for her son’s “I Stink” themed birthday party based on a children’s book. SO adorable!

By FAR one of my favourite ways my customers have incorporated doughnuts into their favor ideas!!! SO amazing! Two lime green doughnuts dressed up like cucumber slices in a bag! LOVE!

There are MANY more amazing ideas that my clients have completely baffled me with their creativity and I will keep sharing them from time to time!

2011 is coming to a close very quickly and I thought it would be a good day to reflect on the first FULL year of Dough a Deer and let you guys in on some of our plans for next year!

It feels like it’s been a month long year, gone by so quickly that it feels like NYE 2011 was just yesterday! It’s hard to believe that an entire year of holidays has gone by again and that we’re getting ready again for another year of holidays!

After New Years we all know what holiday we start to get ready for–Valentine’s Day! Pink just happens to be our color so we were pretty excited to put out some fun products!

Our Doughnut Valentines were SUPER popular last year so we’re bringing them back again this year!! They were super fun and we do all the work so all you had to do was take them out of the box and give them out! =] We had 2 different labels last year and we MIGHT have some more this year

Next up was the ‘ol Irish holiday of St. Patricks Day! Nothing goes better with beer than doughnuts (probably a lie, but we’re biased) and we made sure that anyone who brought these to a party didn’t get pinched. lol.

Easter Sunday was up next and we released a fun pack of doughnuts and doughnut holes (no longer available) inside the cutest Easter Chinese take out box!

Then came 4th of July

And our debut of the amazing doughnut pops this year brought plenty of fun opportunities for the fall and winter holidays!

Not to mention our Doughnut truffles made their first apperance

And our gourmet doughnuts

 

But all new products and holidays aside, my favourite thing about this year were the parties and weddings and photoshoots we were able to take part in! Each and every one was a total honor!!! Please enjoy the photos!

 

It’s almost December, can you believe it!!??? That means lots of things to us! Christmas, Hannukah, my husband’s birthday and spreading tons of holiday cheer through doughnuts and truffles and sweet treats!

But what is Black Friday and Cyber Monday without awesome doughnut deals?!

Doughnuts are the new cupcakes. Doughnuts are the new box of chocolates. Doughnuts are the new hostess gift!

This year, from Friday, 11/25 until Monday 11/28 every purchase made through us will get an awesome discount! Every discount is at LEAST 10% and here is how you get it!!!

1. Roll virtual die <——CLICK HERE (make sure it only says 1)

2. Email me at info@doughadeer.com or via etsy to place your order and tell me what # you rolled

3. Enjoy any one of these discounts (we have them written out [#1-#6] and randomized)

10%…20%….30%….50%…$5 off…BOGO

Your odds are PRETTY DANG GOOD with this one!

Not to mention all orders placed THIS WEEKEND will be put into a drawing to win a $75 credit to our shop!!!

If you have ANY questions please don’t hesitate to contact me!

SHOP TILL YOU DROP!!!

We’re talking hostess gifts, stocking stuffers, a treat for the office, little snacks for your child’s class, a unique party dessert…the possibilities are ENDLESS!

We do gift baskets, samplers, packaged doughnuts with stickers, truffle samplers, doughnut pops and pretty much anything you can imagine! =]

 

 

Okay…I am doughist…that means I discriminate against doughnuts that are different from our mini beauties. Now, don’t get me wrong, I occasionally indulge in a fried doughnut wrapped in sugary glaze (i had one today, actually…lol)

But where the nostalgic love for a deep fried doughnut ends (after breakfast) the modern and cozy love for our doughnuts begin. A fried doughnut the size of your hand may not be for everyone but our doughnuts are everyone friendly. Not only can you pop a few without feeling [too] bad about yourself, but they are bite sized for kids and absolute PERFECTION for dessert tables.

Q:But Nicole…why should I buy mini doughnuts from you at your prices when I can just go to dunkin donuts or krispy kream and get them for less?

A: Sure, you can go and spend about $2 less at KK and be done with it. Or, you can come to us and we can spend time on your order ESPECIALLY for you. We can customize your doughnuts ESPECIALLY for you. Not only that but the ingredients are pure, yummy and everything is made just. for. you.

But hey, baked doughnuts aren’t for everyone. They taste NOTHING like the doughnuts you get from your local doughnut shop. They are better.

I’ve compiled some photos of ideas on how to use your Dough a Deer doughnuts (not all photos are ours, credit will be given)! I love inspiration and here is some for you all! <3

Photo Credit: 1. Life is better with Cake. 2. Private Receptions. 3. Martha Stewart Weddings. 4. Event Trenders

Packaged Doughnuts: Favors for weddings, birthdays, bar mitzvahs…etc. Or for school snacks for lunch, valentine parties, dinner parties… =]

Photo Credit: 1. Heather Bullard. 2. Clever Parties Blog. 3. Event Trender ****We can package your doughnuts EXACTLY like these!***

So why should you go with Dough a Deer? The answers are as endless as the possibilities!!

You can buy bulk for your dessert table. We can package them for you. We can have our designers make up custom labels, stickers, tags and MORE for your event!

 

Shoot us an email today to discuss your custom order for YOUR special event!

 

info@doughadeer.com

www.doughadeer.com

 

Love & Dough,

Nicole

 

Dough a Deer is always trying to stay current with the trends! We LOVE cake pops and cake truffles and we decided to come up with a way that we could incorporate our fresh baked doughnuts into truffle form! BAM! We did it! And as always, we have been mad scientists in the kitchen to come up with lots of flavors for every taste bud!

Starting at $22 per dozen (about 2.5 dozen doughnuts go into every dozen truffles) they are 2 bites of absolute heaven! Yummy doughnuts crushed up and mixed with yummy mix ins, coated in milk or white chocolate and then topped with coordinating topping! YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Check out some of our flavors! If you’re looking for something custom we welcome it! =]

Cookies and Cream: Baked doughnut mixed with cookie crumbs and chocolate syrup, coated in milk chocolate and topped with more oreo crumbs.

Maple Bacon:  Baked doughnut mixed with maple syrup and bacon bits, coated in white chocolate or milk chocolate and topped with bacon bits

S’mores: Baked doughnut mixed with marshmallow fluff, coated in milk chocolate and topped with graham cracker crumbs

The Elvis: Baked doughnut mixed with banana, peanut butter and bacon, coated in milk or white chocolate and topped with your choice of sprinkles

Caramel Apple: Baked doughnut mixed with real apple butter and caramel then coated in white chocolate and topped with your choice of sprinkles.

Whopper: Baked doughnut mixed with marshmallow fluff and whopper pieces, covered in milk chocolate and topped with more whopper pieces.

The Doughnutella: Baked doughnut mixed with nutella coated in milk chocolate with chocolate sprinkles.

Email us at info@doughadeer.com to order

The doughmamas that you all have come to know and love have moved out of the house. We never told you but they were the doughbaby’s evil step mother and it was only a matter of time before the biological family was moved back together. Doughdaddy and Doughmama worked it out and she moved back in today. The family is together again and this time it’s forever! Or so they say

 

Now that my completely ridiculous reason for changing the doughmama is done I’d love to explain the REAL reason why we’ve kicked out the OG doughmama and brought in a replacement mother (like they do in commercials with a really happy family when the first mom actress they brought in won’t stop smoking even though the fake child has asthma).

I’m going to be real with you all because I love you guys and I respect you guys and I want you all to know what is going on.

My machine broke for the doughnut holes. Okay, it didn’t break, I got angry with it and I might have cut the cord or something like that? I’m not a violent person, I promise! It’s just that they haven’t been doing what I want them to do. Lately, they’ve been melting and getting dry too quickly and really, I don’t and can’t see them as a good representation of what Dough a Deer has to offer. So simply put, I am PULLIN’ EM!

Isn’t that nice of me? I’d rather take your money and give you stuff that tastes good instead of stuff that doesn’t. I’m sooooo nice. Nah, i’m not nice I just reaaaallly like you guys

So here they are, the beautiful motherly replacement.

I can do the same flavors as the doughbabies except the shipping is different and they are $15 per dozen instead of $11 because they are BIGGER and use MORE DOUGH and MORE GLAZE and even moreeeeeeeeeee sprinkles!!!

 

There yaaaaa go! CIAOOOOOOOOO! <3

 

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited about this giveaway, seriously. SO EXCITED!

We are trying to find some new friends in our area! So how can we do that? We’re giving away an AMAZING party package to one lucky lady or gentleman who enters this contest!!!

Q:So who can enter?

A: Anyone living in Orange County, San Diego or LA.

Q: What do I have to do to enter?

A: Send in a photo of whoever is having a party this summer between June 1st and September 1st (birthday, bridal shower, baby shower…etc). You then have your friends “like” the Dough a Deer page and “like” or comment on YOUR photo to vote for you! My out of town friends can also vote on whose story and/or photo they like best!!  That easy!! The person with the most votes by the end of the contest wins the party pack for their specified date!

Q: So what do I win?

A: Good question You win a whole bunch of awesomess worth up to $150!!

 

YOU WIN:

6 dozen doughbabies ($66 value)

1 dozen baby bunts ($36 value)

1 dozen caramel and chocolate pretzels ($18 – $20 value)

1 dozen doughpops ($24 value)

 

WOWOWOWOWO. Talk about having a SWEET dessert table at your next party!

 

ALL ENTRIES must be in by this Friday, April 29th and the contest starts April 30th and runs until the end of May!! To enter please send your information to info@doughadeer.com!!!

 

Send:

Photo, date of event, type of event, location of event and why you deserve to win this prize!! Then on April 30th, prepare your friends to vote!!! 1 entry per family please!!

 

Good luck!!!