Archie the Elephant Themed Children's Party

My son had a second bash at celebrating his first birthday last Saturday! Gorgeous Archie the Elephant stationery from Polkadot Prints provided our theme for his party. We had a small party at home with some of his posse.





I made one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever made!! It was DELICIOUS! I will have to share the recipe in another post, it is my one bowl chocolate cake never-fail recipe. My husband wrote Josiah's name on the cardboard bunting with his mad typography skills :-) No computer neccessary!



There was no big fancy sugar-loaded dessert buffet, just some themed sweet and savoury morning tea that didn't break the budget, wasn't over the top crazy and very achievable for this mum with two young children! I just want to encourage the other mum's, Auntie's, grandmothers etc... that you don't have to go completely overboard to do something memorable and creative for the little (or not so little) people in your life.





Shock horror, un-iced party favours! I ran out of time the night before and know my limitations and the funny thing is our entire plate of un-iced elephant biscuits ran out first before the cupcakes did! They were Vanilla biscuits from my biscuiteers book and they are very tasty - just as they are.



I think the birthday boy enjoyed himself and loved the open door access from the house to the back courtyard thanks to a gorgeous sunny day! I think that was his favourite part of the morning! In and out....



This face makes my heart melt! Oh, I made some cute fringey streamers but didn't get a good photo - they were supposed to look like a circus canopy over the food table! kind of did ;p

DIY ladybirds

My clever friend Jordan made these gorgeous ladybugs and has been kind enough to share the DIY here. I think these would be cute for a bedroom too.





More pics of the party on Jordan's blog and here. Have a fab weekend! I'm off to Brisbane for a wedding :-)

My Creative Space - Party Cakes

As I mentioned yesterday my handsome little guy is almost 1! We had a little family party for him last Saturday on the rare occasion all 4 my siblings were in town and it was my brother Jeremy's actual birthday that day!

My first 'boy' cake! From the "Women's Weekly More Cakes for Kids" book. It was very easy and if you have the book, I just doubled the butter cake mix and used a square tin instead of a loaf tin but I forgot to double my icing so I only just made it! Those flat icing knives really are worth having for this sort of icing!







Best dad ever! Another rare shot, Anya smiling for the camera, she is such a 'contrary Mary'.


The birthday boy a little unsure about the singing (pictured with my sister and niece).



The two birthday boys, Jeremy and Josiah. More creative spaces for your viewing pleasure, at Kirsty's.

Children's Party Ideas - Art Exhibition Party

How gorgeous is this idea for a kid's party - particularly if they like arts & craft! I love the numbered craft stations and those name cards.





Simple paper chains - very achievable and decorate your room as you go!


Face painting!



I don't know that I would have the patience for this cake but how marvellous is that!



This divine site has lots of DIY tutorials and a few free printables not to mention plenty of other great theme ideas on the side bar. I found One Charming Party via Design Mom who has moved to France incidentally - I'm a bit slow!

Circus theme planning....

Thanks to Jordan for hosting a fun facebook sale over the past two nights on her Polkadot prints page. It was fun to be on the 'other side' as a buyer instead of selling this time. I scored these fabulous invites, cupcake toppers, buffet labels and thank you stickers for Josiah's 1st birthday. I was very keen on the plane theme (below) too but exercised A LOT of restraint... (his name was Gordon). J isn't 1 until May but now I have a theme I can start day-dreaming.



Random fact - My husband can juggle - perfect for birthday entertainment (although we may have to use balls instead of fire-clubs and machetes)! I often joke I could hire him out for birthdays parties. See Jordan's entire range here!

Woodland Fairy Birthday Tea Party

I never get sick of these gorgeous themed birthday parties. This perfect woodland tea party belongs to photographer Pascale Wowak's daughter Ellie. Pascale is famous in my world for this shot.



Themed by Lindsey of Blue Egg Events no detail was spared in creating a truly magical tea party in the woods. As a florist, I LOVE the use of moss throughout the theming.





For more enchanting photos go to Pascale's blog. It's always nice to see more on the menu than sweets too - some very cute fairy fruit wands and toadstool cheese :-) I hope you feel as inspired as I did.

Edible Icing Sheets

Aren't these wonderful? I had to leave these images with you for the weekend - they are edible icing sheets from Ticings as seen on Amy Atlas blog! Unfortunately the postage to Australia costs almost as much as the sheets if not more... so you might have to use Cakes Around Town - an aussie company that actually make custom printables - which is perfect for tying a theme together if you are clever at the design part. Have a great weekend.

Aeroplane inspired birthday party

My lovely and talented friend Jordan has some fab photos of her son's 2nd birthday on her blog! Check out the gorgeous spread - mmmm.... What a clever mummy!

Poppies and Posies

I adore moss, vines, berries and fungi of the floral variety! I loved using it in my floristry days and I love the way Poppies and Posies use it in their event arrangements. Don't these floral decorations look fabulous. Using quirky containers can make a lovely arrangement really memorable and fun!





Choosing herb names for wedding tables - cool idea! I came across Poppies and Posies via Oh Hello Friend! Love Danni's style!

Bulk Confectionary Vendors - Australia

{image - Image from Amy Atlas Events}

With the 'dessert bar' trend on the rise in Australia, I saw this post on The Inspired Bride and thought - oh I need to find one of those guides for Oz! Of course I couldn't find one... so I made my own list. It's not as comprehensive as the USA guide, however it may still help in some way! If anyone knows of any other suppliers they are happy to share... then please leave a comment.

• Confectionery warehouse
  
• Goody Goody Gumdrops
• Lollyworld
• Wallies Lollies
• Lollies to go
• Campbells Cash & Carry

Of this list I have only personally used the Confectionery warehouse and Campbells.



The cute lolly scoops can be purchased from Goody Goody Gumdrops with any confectionery purchase or try catering/hospitality supply stores in your area.



Spotlight also have some great cupcake wrappers just like the ones from Robert Gordon along with plain coloured metal tins (white and red) perfect for little bottles of drinks on ice or trays with sides for the same purpose!

If you want more information on baking & cake decorating suppliers see here.

Childrens Birthday Party themes - Pirates!

The very clever and oh so lovely children's author - Tania McCartney is a bit of a party throwing champion and I had to share her son's Pirate themed birthday party with you! When we have girls we tend to lean towards all things girly - it makes sense... but I thought this was a great theme to share for the boys! (and could be re-invented for girls, "Elizabeth Swan style")

No details are missed from the cool treasure hunt invites - to the decorations and the fabulous themed food!



How cool is that cake!





I hope you enjoy these ideas from Tania, she has more photos on her blog and a whole list of themed birthdays for your viewing pleasure!

Anya's 2nd birthday

Finally, I have been able to post some photos of Anya's 2nd birthday party! We had a red and white spotty theme! It was very easy to find something red and white and I made her little top, which I will have to post a better up-close photo of. We were supposed to have it in the backyard but the weather was very cold the day before and knowing we couldn't all fit in the house if it rained or was just miserable, we decided to use our back up venue! We have a great sized hall at the back of our church where we have playgroup and it has a lovely outdoors area too - so we did make it outside for some bubble blowing fun when the sun came out! All in all it was a lovely little morning and apart from being a little overwhelmed at times, she loved having a party, getting presents and blowing out the candles on her cool cake (if I do say so myself).