Sunday, May 9, 2010

Pinwheels & Pearls

 

Party created by The City Cradle
Just a little something I am loving right now! A very Kate Spade inspired party titled "Pinwheels & Pearls"- love everything about this party and you too can recreate this look!

If you are not into the details, you can simply purchase some amazing Pinwheels here or even some fabulous little cupcake topper pinwheels here OR DIY here...

Not to forget the little men in our lives, here is a different take on a pinwheel party...
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Party by Sharnel Dollar of My Life- My Loves

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Around the house....

 


Image Courtesy of Amy Atlas

Image Courtesy of The Ivory Social

Image Courtesy of The Ivory Social


Today- please excuse my poor excuse for photography- I thought I would show you how to achieve cake plates and stands using items from around your house and how you do not have to go and buy that $80 apothecary jar to achieve something amazing (although granted I have bought many an apothecary jar!!)

In my display of photos I have mostly used candle stands that I have purchased from $2 shops and homewares shops. The mirrored cake stand would look magnificent with little ruffle cupcakes. This was achieved using table centrepiece mirrors- total cost of $10.00 and two candle sticks which were $3.50each- I seen something similar for approximately $240, which equals BIG SAVINGS and easily achievable results. Similarly the jars would make wonderful lolly jars at children's birthday parties- these were purchased for a grand total of $5.50 (for both of them!!). Again bought at a local homewares, gift shop- you know the sort, the cheap ones!

I have included two dessert tables I made, one for Easter- which is where you will see many a candle stand being used, and the other was a party that a good friend let me run wild with and majorly get my girl on for her daughter Charlie. Boxes were covered in wrapping paper from Details Details- very well priced! If you require larger rolls for bigger jobs- like using it as a 'table cloth' for children's parties- try Wrapco, and my cake plates in the front were cardboard covered in tissue paper- used as a colour accent to the table!

The big bulky black candlesticks (bought from a local homewares store) will look incredible with matt black platters on them- I am still looking for the plates but I may end up spraypainting the bottom of an interesting glass platter in a matt black- it works without chipping the paint- voila custom cake stand! Look closely at the Amy Atlas picture I have included- recognise the cake stands???
She has used compote dishes, bowls, cake plates and the candle sticks that I have now acquired- joy joy joy!

The big black urn was bought on sale at Target- I am going to take the lid off this and put phalenopsis orchids in it to cascade down the urns body- another option for this is to add a platter to the top of it (of course remove the lid) and you have a very amazing looking stand. Add your ribbons, accents and signs to it and you would be amazed at just how crafty you can be...

Monday, May 3, 2010

Rainbow Brite...




A flurry of rainbow parties have descended upon us. I am in love with the ruffle table skirt that the girls over at Details Details have created, and will definitely try and make a rainbow cake- all details are via their blog- hip hip hooray.

I am also very much in love with the DIY hanging mobile that has been created by Oh Happy Day. She has included a step by step on how to create this masterpiece- another thing I must try.

The little cake topper is divine, I am not too sure who featured this- but if you know, please let me know so I can credit. It does look like the toppers made by Lollipop Workshop over at Etsy.

Onto another day dreaming of the parties and creations I would love to make- oh no wait, I have an order of 50 headbands to make- back to reality xo
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On a different note...



















I have many a passions in life- interior design and styling is a huge front runner.

My stand out people in this field are Sarah Richardson,Kelly Wearstler, Jonathan Adler, and a little homegrown Anna Spiro from Black + Spiro.

In this post I will be talking Sarah Richardson- and her design side kick Tommy Smyth (he is absolutely hysterical and equally as amazing). Sarah Richardson designs interiors which make you feel like you are entering a room and it is giving you a big warm hug. I am embarking on having some custom designed furniture made in some delicious Mokum Textiles and Sarah Richardson will be heavily influencing my design aesthetic.

Pictures attached judge for yourself...I am in love!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

You don't need to be Masterchef for these ideas...but they may take practice...


Image courtesy of Bakerella


Image courtesy of Bakerella

Image courtesy of unknown


Image courtesy of Amy Atlas








Sometimes you have an aahhh haaaa moment where you think- why did I not think of that- so simple! Cakeballs and Cake Pops are just that and the queen of cakeballs and cakepops is Bakerella!

Cakeballs are very easy to make- I ALWAYS make them for parties- you don't have to put them on a pop- you can put them into pretty wrappers, cupcake cups- whatever takes your fancy and suits your theme. Soon I will show you all how to make cupcake wrappers- it is so very easy and you can then theme your party yourself without paying a fortune for it. But for now, back to the balls- I have found that trial and error is the only way you learn- to make the ball, you really only need a binding agent- so creme cheese (like Philadelphia) or even the Betty Crocker frosting is great- if any of it makes it into the mix. Roll the balls- I insert the sticks here and put them in a tray into the freezer. After about 15 minutes I pull them out and melt the chocolate- the best way to melt chocolate is to use the double boiler method- get the water boiling, turn off the stove and then put the chocolate in- if you are using white chocolate and are going to colour it, you need to use a powder colour- again available through Spotlight. If you find your chocolate a little too thick, add some copha to it, you may need to dip twice and then decorate and voila- a delicious cake on a pop.


Image courtesy of Amy Atlas








Another super way of personalising your party is to create your own lollybags- you simply purchase clear cellophane bags from Spotlight, then get some pretty paper and you can use double sided tape or stapler- the control freak in me is screaming at you all to use the tape...

There are many other cost effective ways of upping the ante in party stakes- purchase a pack of furry friends (this is a chocolate bar available in Australia to all of my non-Aussie friends), wrap them in foil and some beautiful paper and you have personalised chocolates- another favourite party favour of mine, or marshmallows dipped in chocolate with sprinkles- like the bottom picture- these marshmallows are on rockcandy sticks (I will tell you where to get those at a later stage), two up, dipped in white chocolate with white sprinkles and look how expensive it looks.



Image courtesy of Amy Atlas



Image courtesy of Amy Atlas













Anyway, enough for now as I could go on forever about all of this..my posts are very long!

Have a great day and thank you to the people who are supporting this blog, and for all of your positive feedback- I LOVE RECEIVING IT (Big cheesy grin)...

Birthday Planning....

I am in party planning mode and August is a HUGE month for our household. I am helping a dear friend co-ordinate her birthday, plus there is my birthday, and it will be my sons 4th birthday also (the details of his party will follow on another post).

Whilst I will not reveal my friends birthday details- until after the fact, I am more than happy to divulge the details of what will be waiting for my very dear friends for my birthday.

We will be having a wonderful "Beauty Bar"- head on over to Nonpareil Magazine to see the details and FREE downloadable templates and recipes for the products. Now if you dont have time to mix the lotions and potions- my go to place is New Directions. It is where you will find the bases for lotions, lipglosses, mineral powders, sunscreen, shampoos- pretty much any beauty necessity you can think of is here and they also have the recipe mixes too. They also have the packaging which you can dazzle up either with your own design or Nonpareil Magazines downloadable templates.

The second part of my soiree will be a little tea party- if only the fabulous Jessica Claire could put something together for me- like she does for her students.
Don't you absolutely love the "hot air balloons"- images via Jessica Claire for Style Me Pretty.

So these images will go towards creating my mood board- are you getting a feel for what the party will be like- VERY GIRLY! Head on over to nonpareil magazine- it is a wonderful read- so inspiring and the downloadable templates are heaven!

Am I inspiring you to have a party? Has the obsession caught on yet?

Now where are my chandeliers....




Saturday, May 1, 2010

The Devine Miss A...

Second post and I thought it should be about one of my all time favourite people, Amy Atlas. Amy Atlas has revolutionised the dessert world- her displays are a work of art which has started a worldwide phenomenon.
Everyone is doing dessert/ candy/ lolly buffets- be it weddings, birthdays or just because (I fall into the just because category- because I just love to throw or host anything of any occasion)!
Over the next few days I will be showing you how ANYTHING can be turned into a vessel or cake plate (another obsession my poor husband) and where to get apothecary jars and many of the other items required for a lolly buffet...stay tuned

Note- in the aqua picture the vessels used are by Rosanna Inc- they are available in Australia through Villa Mondo.