party bags, tablecloths, beads

My little girlie is 7....life whizzes by. But I can hardly remember life before she popped into our world. Well, I did manage to zip together some party bags. I actually started them at 9.30 the night before. Yes - how stupid can you get. I know, but I really didn't have time to do it before then - honestly. I number of cheeky friends of mine commented that they were disappointed I didn't embroider each child's name. Well if I start now, I may be able to complete bags for next year.....and include their middle and last names too! NOT!!!

I have to apologise for my photography, everything was so frantic that I didn't take proper photos of the bags. We had a Bead Party for Es, and it was wonderful! And in the bag, was some chocolate, the necklace and bracelet made by each child and one of these...

....little bunny biscuits with lemon icing. Es is getting a bunny for her birthday, it's currently four weeks old and with it's Mummy. There will be photos of the new member of our family real soon.

I made some afternoon tea for the party little guests - shortbread, chicken sandwiches, meringues (first time I've made these), marshmallows dipped in chocolate and a giant cupcake cake which didn't look like cupcake-ish at all....but it still looked like it had been transported from fairyland (so Gary says!). Note the tablecloth I made (stupidly made the morning of the party - as if I didn't have enough to do!). But I say - why miss out on all the fun things about being a Mum? It's the small things in life isn't it?

The bead party was a massive success! The bead lady turned up with 3 caseloads of colourful beads, she gave a demonstration and off the little girlies went to choose their selection. Brilliant! They were quiet as mice for nearly one and a half hours - RESULT! Some wonderful creations came into being and it was fascinating to watch each child's unique style. Some of the girls said they were making the bracelet for their Mum for Mother's Day, which is this Sunday here in NZ. How sweet is that - without any prompting at all!

This is Es threading her bracelet, she is already wearing the necklace she made. How cute does it look? She chose such gorgeous colours! She made the bracelet to match her dress - vibrant purples and blues!

I was so exhausted the following day and out of the blue our friends called us and invited us to spend the day out on their launch. Awesome - just what the doctor ordered!

Beautiful!

Birthday Bunting Bonanza!

Es' Birthday Bunting.......DONE! (said in Gordon Ramsay style voice)

Well I've just tucked in a very excited, now not so little, birthday girl. I have just made a lovely cup of tea, cut a sneaky slice of birthday cake and finally put my feet up. Had a rather busy day, but had soooo much fun! I managed to get Es' birthday bunting done in time and A. and I spent yesterday evening wrapping presents, blowing balloons, curling ribbon and hanging the bunting. It was well worth the effort, when she entered the lounge this morning....her mouth dropped open.

I am overall really pleased with the end result, although I had a bit of problem with the bias binding. I thought I was being really economical buying the binding which wasn't pre-folded. However, after slipping around with my iron and making many unwanted creases I was rather gutted I didn't opt for pre-folded. Anyhoo, after my initial frustrations with it, I came back to it and it wasn't as bad as I first thought. We do like to punish ourselves for slight imperfections don't we? I completed 9 metres in all and it was just about right in our lounge. I decided not to hang it flat against the wall but across the room with a 3D effect. It was quite effective I thought. I still have 12 triangles left and I'm intending to make one for Es' room. A big thank you to Stacey for inspiring me to create bunting. It really is a great idea to make a birthday decoration which can come out every year, it is something that will become a family tradition and an heirloom.

I made Es our favourite chocolate cake recipe and decorated it with pink butter icing and made some pink sugar for the topping. This is an egg-free cake and it's so easy, it is all done in the saucepan! The cake is quite a moist cake, not too rich and is complimented scrummily with the butter icing. The topping is just plain granulated sugar dyed pink with a drop of colouring. This is the first time I've done this and I am surprised about how effective it is, it adds a different crunchy texture to the cake. I'll definitely do this again - particularly with cupcakes - you could make them in an array of colours!

One Pot Chocolate Cake

125g margarine/butter

2 dessertspoons golden syrup

1 1/2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 c sugar

1 c milk

2 tbsp cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

Melt marg/butter, sugar, golden syrup, 1/2 c milk. Add siften flour/cocoa. Stir well. Combine vanilla, baking soda and rest of milk, then add to mixture. Put in 8" tin and bake at 180 C for 40-50 mins.

I acually doubled the quanity and used a heart shaped tin. I do like a filling in my cakes - the more butter and sugar the better. Naughty but nice!

This afternoon we had close friends around for some birthday cake and then some spaghetti bolognaise for dinner. Es had such fun and the evening ended with some dancing to her favourite songs.....Newton Faulkner, Scissor Sisters and Mamma Mia - funny! It was great to see her amongst her friends dancing, whirling around and enjoying the moment. The day ended with the big reveal of her main birthday present. A rabbit hutch. No bunny as yet, little baby mini lop rabbit is only 3 weeks old and is with it's Mummy. She squealed with excitement! There will be photos to follow of our little bunny. We are going to meet it this week.

We still have Es' birthday party with her 10 school friends on Saturday, so they'll be more party pics too. Have to sew my table cloths and party bags before then. Busy, busy.....off to get some much needed shut eye....nightie night!

Birthday Shenanigans

Had my birthday at the beginning of the week. I had to decide how on earth I could spend the day with four children (I look after my friend's 3 year old daughter). And I erred on the side of complete insanity and headed into town for some shopping! The first shop I entered was a shop called 'Retreat' - start as you mean to go on. Despite the amount of breakable candle holders, vases and other fragile objects: there were no incidents. I think I put it down to the fact that I read them the riot act beforehand, the lovely sales assistant who occupied them while I browsed and the promise of an ice cream at the end for good behaviour.

And then it dawned on me after entering a number of shops, people actually felt sorry for me shopping with four children on my birthday..............so assistants entertained the children. AWESOME! I made it known in every shop I entered that it was my birthday and I managed to buy two tops, a vase, hair products and two gifts for A and Es. Not bad eh? Had sushi for lunch and got ice creams for the kids. A successful morning!

Had a wonderful afternoon at my friend Kate's - she made the children dinner and Glenda brought an egg-free chocolate cake and pudding! Talk about spoilt! Now take a look at this gorgeous card Glenda gave me. I think I'm going to frame it - I totally love it. It's a Phoenix Trading card.

Here is a selection of some gifts I received. The flowers are in the vase I bought myself. The gorgeous tea towels (I do love a classy tea towel and my thread bare, holey ones are in need of replacement!) are also from Glenda and the pretty hand made make up bag is from Sarah. Sarah is just so talented, do go and take a look at what she's been up to. She churns out such lovely things and she has four children! AMAZING!

Very soon I'll have some photos of the bunting triangles. I am certainly not finding the school hols conducive to my productivity! I do love the slow mornings, staying in bed for that bit longer, mooching around and getting breakfast at my own pace. BUT, I'm so tired and the children do need the social interaction, challenges and routine that school/kindy brings. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it, that's what I say - ha ha ha! Catch ya laters! x