Fab Friday Finds

Found a fab find at Red Red Red interiors in Te Awamutu in their bargain bin ...this whole roll of Designers Guild fabric which usually retails at $350 per metre for only $80 for the whole thing. I LOVE the bold fushia, its just what I've been wanting to re-invent our lounge. So it will be either cushions, an ottoman or at the very least a new pinboard in the office in the very near future. Prob enough to even cover a new office chair.......

Stopped in at the always lovely Lily Pad Cafe for a quick coffee today and came across these gorgeous handmade cookies from a local company Kiwi Cookie Company. I picked the owl for Mila and the frog for Luka to take home as a treat. Only $2.50 each :) How great would these be for a birthday party? Often cookies are the part I find the most laboursome when I bake for parties so if you were looking to cut your workload then buying a batch of these would be ideal. It would be great if they would be willing to do custom cookies to match a particular theme. Hmmmm must investigate. They don't have a website but ph 0277562491 or email Maryanne.W06@gmail.com if you want some. So cute and I love local!

Tutu Teaparty

Mila turned 3 on Monday and we celebrated with a tutu teaparty. I decided on the theme by mixing her two favourite things at the moment - ballet and teaparties. She loves to host teaparties outside her playhouse for teddy and her dolls, and she pretty much lives in a tutu. I've even checked on her in bed at night and often found her asleep in a tutu over top of her pyjamas.

She declared she wanted her party to be pink and later decided she wanted yellow too. So pink and yellow it was. The only tulle fabric I came across at spotlight was more of a mango/apricot pink so I decided to throw this 3rd colour into the mix a bit aswell. That is how my parties seem to grow - from one idea and then as I come across things I add to it. I wasn't going to shop around or make further trips to spotlight just because they were out of 'pink' tulle. I just improvise because if I start agonising over not being able to find perfection then it takes the fun out of it. I just like to 'go with the flow'.

The party was a great success and the kids had soooooo much fun. All the girls looked adorable in their tutus. I've posted lots of photos below and some tips etc. You will see that I get a lot of pretty party things from Dots n Spots www.dotsnspots.co.nz they are a fabulous local online business with heaps of gorgeous goodies. Denise featured in the waikato times article last week - check out her great website.

A mixture of lovely lanterns. Some I've had in the cupboard for ages and the plain white ones from dots n spots.

I got a sewing machine for Christmas and it had its first outing this week. I used it to sew the tutu skirt for the cake. It took a while reading the instruction book to re-learn how to thread a machine but I got there in the end (with a few little helpers). A great tip I had for sewing a tutu is to use elastic and pull the elastic while sewing and then when you let go after sewing it pulls the tulle and creates the gathered effect. So simple. I loved the final product, it was just as I imagined it would look. I'm still a bit useless when it comes to getting a smooth fondant finish on the icing. I tried two layers this time to smooth things out but it was still bumpy. Ohwell, I love the homemade look and when i have time I'll google how to do it properly.

Chippie Bags - I Love how a simple bag and ribbon transforms something as plain as chips into something so pretty and fun for the kids. This is always the biggest hit with the kids.

Once again I got out my dots n spots bottles and straws. Another total favourite with the kids. They are such an affordable way to make a party so pretty.

Time to put the pretty heart shape cookie set to good use :)

I had a brainwave to make these tutu gingerbread ladies when I was making the tutu skirts for the invites. So cute. Just eating one right now as I write this :)

I whipped up some labels for the choccie bars at the last minute. So easy to pop over some Whitaker chocolate bars and what wasn't eaten got popped into the favour boxes.

Gorgeous yellow favour boxes from dots n spots. The pretty glass lolly jar is from dots n spots also.

These miniature preserving jars were a great find from Farmers. I used strawberry dairyfood and thick n creamy custard to fill them. They would look so cool filled with a mixture of pink and yellow m&ms but I'm yet to find a supplier of single colour m&ms.

I love making cupcake toppers they are a simple way to add some personal touch. If you can't be bothered, dots n spots has lots of gorgeous toppers.

This has become my signature icing - mostly because I have no idea how to do it any other way. I was a bit stuck when I realised the night before the party that I was out of piping bags and had to make do with cutting the corner off a sandwich bag. Time to invest in a good piping set!!!

Last year I did a striped cake for Mila's birthday cake but it was a choc and vanilla stack and only 4 layers high. This year she wanted a pink cake and I decided to stripe it in pink and yellow to match the theme. I made the first cake and without really thinking I decided to use some raspberry compote to colour it. Well it turned bluey/purple. I was also using a very dense cake recipe with alot of moisture and the colour seemed to concentrate in the middle. But ohwell, I decided to just improvise and for the other layers I stuck with a simple buttercake recipe and food colouring. But the purple stayed in the mix. Only burnt cakes make it to the bin in my kitchen (and we did have one!!! ha ha) otherwise if its still yummy it just has to work, and I think it worked pretty well. Butter is far too expensive these days to be throwing away good cake.

Homemade tutu invites. I love making the invites.

Well another party done and dusted. So much fun. I'm glad i'm getting slightly better at taking photos with my fancy Nikon camera, as these photos do a bit more justice to my hard work than the photos I usually take. This party was actually supposed to be photographed by a certain fabulous photographer for a certain fabulous magazine but unfortunately the photographer had to cancel at the last minute due to an emergency. Such a bummer as I'd so love to capture one of the kids parties with professional photos one day. Such a memory for them to treasure. Oh well - one day :)

I'm just trying to decide now whether to throw an easter egg hunt party for the kiddies. Not sure because we also have a combined birthday party for my two nieces over easter - could be too much chocolate for one weekend!! We shall see.........

Olivia

Back to Blogging!!!

I have decided to get back into blogging!! I haven't blogged in soooooo long because I've just been soooo busy with my kiddies.

I've just been featured with my beautiful daughter Mila in the Waikato Times (Sat 3rd March - Weekend). The article is about the new generation of stay at home mums who love to bake and throw a gorgeous party. It has inspired me to put some time aside to get back to my love of blogging and sharing tips and ideas. I've decided that I'm going to blog alot more about my love of everything, including parties, craft projects for the kids and of course still home interiors that make me drool :)

Above are some photos as shown in the waikato times of a little 'tea for two' tea party I literally threw together for the occasion. I'm throwing (well less throwing more putting together) Mila's tutu teaparty 3rd birthday party on Monday so I'll be back to blog on that along with a catch up on all the other parties thrown accross the year.

I also promise to post soon on the playhouse my husband and I created for the kids - along with a bit of a sneakpeek at the dollshouse renovation I'm working on.

Once again.....I have no idea if anyone reads this but its nice to have a place to share pretty things!! even if just one of two friends want some inspiration for the day :)