October 18, 2013

Halloween is just around the corner and I have seen so many fabulous ideas floating around the internet.

Here are my four favourite ideas from some of my favourite US bloggers that you can try out this weekend so you are ready when 31 October rolls around!

 

Number 4 is actually from my pinterest board – I am not sure of the original source but they would look great out the front of our house on Halloween night to let trick or treaters know we have loot to share!
You can see more of my latest Halloween Pins here.

1. Oh Happy Day 2. The Tomkat Studio 3. Confetti Sunshine 4.Pinterest

October 15, 2013

So the latest party to take place in our house was back in June for Indi’s 4th Birthday and today I am excited to share with you the photos from her special day.

From the moment I saw these very cute invitations from Sarah of Style Me Gorgeous I knew one of our next parties in the house would revolve around the Sprinkles and Confetti Theme and the minute I suggested it to Indi she was hooked!

I had lots of fun dipping and sprinkling everything from bottles to marshmallows – lots of very simple food that was easy to eat for the kids with the special touch of the amazing cake and cookies by Hello Naomi.

As is now custom with our parties we keep the numbers small and intimate but have loads of special details that everyone gets to enjoy.  This party was no different with just 5 of Indi’s little pre-school friends coming along.  We had one of those horrific torrentially rainy days on Indi’s party day so I was a little thankful for the small numbers and our beautiful entertainer Phillipa from Fairy Fun who kept the girls completed mesmerised while they were here.  Phillipa has now been part of every one of my girls parties over the years and it was lovely to hear the party girls say to her at the end of the party “Please stay and play with us some more”!

Please enjoy the photos from Indi’s Birthday party – this list of suppliers is at the bottom of the post.

Styling & Photography – Leanne Ambrogio for Sweet Style
Cake & Cookies – Hello Naomi
Confetti Balloons – Born to Party
Party Printables – Style Me Gorgeous
Paper Garlands, Calico printed bags – Penny Lane Studio
Kids Tables, Chairs and Ruffled Table Cloth – Little Wish Parties 
Entertainer – Fairy Fun

There was also lots of fun to be had with the confetti inside the balloons – they make for a fun time if popped while they are still floating but be warned you will be finding confetti for weeks!!

October 14, 2013

Welcome to another Monday on the blog!  Today I am featuring the lovely Karen who owns Sweet ‘n’ Pretty here in my hometown of Sydney.

While Karen makes gorgeous cakes today I am featuring some of the stunning cookies as part of my month of cookies and biscuits for October.    Here is what Karen had to tell me about her business and love of creating.

I owe my love for cookie making to the ‘world wide web’.  I stumbled on some amazing images of cookies about 2 years ago that I had never ever seen before and given my major problem with OCD (hahah) it was a challenge that I really wanted to take on and after starting to make them that very next day I have just gone from better to better.  There is an infinite limit to the ideas of new cookies and of course my lovely customers also come up with orders or things they want.

 I started cake decorating around 25 years ago after being inspired by my mum who used to make lovely wedding cakes just as a hobby.  I took a few cake decorating courses and was encouraged by my teacher to enter my first Christmas cake at a local show and I won first prize in the novice section. I made a couple of cakes for family and friends, but then it was all put on hold for a few years whilst I had a family.  So further down the track when the kids had all left home, I seemed to drift back into making cakes for family and friends again, but they seem to have gotten a bit better along the way and thanks to my daughter Jayde – the lovely creator and owner of Little Paper Lane – who totally encouraged me to do it as my own business – I did not seem to look back.  So I picked Sweet ‘n’ Pretty as the name and it went from there.  So I am pretty well self taught and love to find new ideas for cakes.  I love the prettier cakes, and try to avoid novelty cakes.  So now I am at a point where the cookies are taking over the cakes.

I was approached quite a while back by a lady who used to come into Little Paper Lane (I help my daughter out for 2 days of the week) and we got talking about The Day of Dead Cookies and how much she would like to order some, so I went home and put on my thinking cap and searched “www” for sugar skulls and there was another world full of them.  They absolutely fascinated me as it was just going to be an extension of my love of ‘doodling’ on paper.  My sugar skulls would have to be my fav cookie at the moment and I can see as I compare them from when I made my first skull cookie to the ones I am doing today and there is no comparison.  I just recently completed an order for sugar skull cookies for Samantha Wills to use as her media release for her latest jewellery which included skulls.

To see more of Karyn’s lovely work you can visit her website here or her facebook page here.

October 11, 2013

It was a long weekend here in NSW last weekend and the end of school holidays so we did what we do on most October long weekends and we took the 2 hour drive up the north coast to our family holiday house.

This trip was a little different though as after 20 years of visiting our lovely house on the Bay it would be our last.  We have some wonderful memories of summer holidays, long weekends and winter escapes but sadly it was time to say good bye.

My mum and dad built the house 20 years ago in a beautiful spot on Salamander Bay.  We had been visiting the area for family holidays since I was a young girl and dad had always wanted a place of his own so he could visit whenever he wanted.  Mum and dad had planned to retire up there one day but when we lost dad to cancer 10 and a half years ago things changed and mum knew she would never make the move.

I certainly had a tear in my eye as we drove off on Monday saying goodbye for the last time – no more sitting on the balcony watching the sunset; no more walks on the beach with the kids collecting crabs – the October long weekend had long been special as it was always dads birthday weekend – he would have been 69 last week.   in a way it was our final connection to somewhere my dad had built so it does feel a little bitter sweet to say good bye.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend in the Bay – thanks for the memories Port Stephens, we hope to be back one day.

October 9, 2013

 It is Gluten Free Day on the blog today!  Gillian from Crumbs of Comfort is here to share with us another of her fantastic gluten free recipes.  Here is what Gillian told me about how this recipe came to be …

Recently I had a lovely, relaxing mini break away with the family.  I came across a really beautiful Gluten free muesli.   Having tried literally hundreds of gluten free cereals, I can hand on heart say this is THE best I’ve ever tasted.

In this recipe I use Brookfarm gluten free muesli, but if you’re unable to find it, feel free to use the  gluten free muesli of your choice.  I also used Brookfarm macadamia oil, but again you can substitute with any good vegetable oil.

Gluten Free Rhubarb Crumble Cupcakes

175g caster sugar
175g rhubarb, halved lengthways then diced
2 tbsp macadamia  oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
125ml buttermilk
200g plain gluten free flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the crumble topping
50g light Brown sugar
75g Brookfarm Gluten Free Muesli
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50g butter

Preheat oven to 160*C fan forced .

Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper muffin cases.
Stir the sugar and rhubarb together and set aside while you make the crumble topping.
Mix together the brown sugar with the butter and cinnamon and then add in the  muesli.

Stir the oil and egg, vanilla and buttermilk into the sugary rhubarb. Add the gluten free flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and stir well.
Quickly spoon into the cases, then scatter each with a thick layer of the crumble mixture.

Bake for 15-18 mins until golden and a skewer poked into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Gillian Brown is the owner of Crumbs of Comfort Cake Design in Brisbane, Australia.  Gillian has spent many years working hard developing allergen aware baked goods after she was diagnosed with celiac disease and her daughter was diagnosed with anaphylaxis to peanuts.  Please visit Gillian’s facebook page to learn more about her wonderful business.