DIY- Ice Cream party

A few months ago I decided to do an easy birthday party for Sophia and smash the two things she loves in life; ice cream and dancing. The dancing was easily solved by this bad boy:

which you can buy at hard to find and a playlist on the iPod involving a LOT of wiggles.....

The Ice Cream bit was slightly harder..... I went on a mission to get Mr Whippy to come to the party, it all sounded so easy "just call him up, let you know where you'll be and hey presto he'll be there" but about 50 calls later to ALL the Mr Whippy's in Sydney, made me realise you either have to live in Western Sydney or have  like 500 kids at your party.... So the plan swtiched to the much better and fun plan: to do it ourselves....

I didn't want to go too overboard with this party I learnt from my mistakes at Sophia's first party that you really dont need to do too much after a scour on Pinterest I got some ideas to make some simple ice cream cone decorations. I Went to Pulp Creative Paper in Balgowlah and got some cute yellow and white polka dot paper for the cones and multi-coloured honey comb balls for the scoops of icecream. It took me a few times to map out a legit cone cut-out, then cut big and smaller cones for the honey comb balls, 

then squeezed craft glue around the edge of the cones and popped the honey comb balls on top, I put them in a mug to set dry.....

Then I pierced a needle and thread through the top of the balls ready hang from a piece rope I'd cut out beforehand

The day was a hguge sucess with a certain fairy visiting us to do face-painting and singing

 games of pass the parcel, plenty of yummy food- fruit, popcorn, cupcakes, spinach dip cob & risotto balls!

 and lots of ice cream cones!! We put the selection of toppings in little cups with label in paper ice-cream cones we had oreo's, cherries, sprinkles and marshmallows with sauces to add too.....

I'd say from the look on little Sophia's face she had a great time....

xxx

Creative Father's Day Ideas!

Next Sunday is time to celebrate the mega-superstars that our dad's play in our lives, but it shouldn't mean we have to fork out a fortune for the sake of advertising and their guilt trips! I've found Father's Day a hard holiday to celebrate for more than half my life, as my dad passed away just before I turned 13. So it was always a time to reflect on how I missed him; the lead up to it would always be tough watching all the commercials on TV about how great dads are and how much we love em… Meeting my husband was great on a few levels, as I scored a pretty spectacular father in-law and  then with birth of our daughter two years ago I've been able to join in the fun of the day again, it's quite lovely to take the time to congratulate her daddy on what a great job he does!

So this year I've put together a little creative list of fun things to do with your dad & gifts that might mean the world to him....

Picnic:

Weather permitting a fun picnic out is usually what we end up doing on these kind of occasions, we'll be sure to have some craft beers, smiths chips and the paper! 

Handmade cards:

These are pretty much mandatory right? I remember making little flicker books for my dad with activities and cut out pieces, i know he kept them all my mum still has them, cards are the best!

Treats:

Some ridiculously disgusting dish that he loves but never gets, such as this winning combo:

Chocolate dipped Bacon 

Daddy Books:

This is on our list this year, so many of the story books we read are always heavy with the mummy being the main character, so it's nice to have dad's involvement....

here's a wee selection of tales, always get a good deal here

Fishing:

It may sound like a corny Dad thing to do but hey it's super fun! Also living in Sydney we are a bit spoilt for choice, plus it really is great bonding activity- going fishing as a family. You can always throw the poor fish back in if it's too small or you prefer to, after all that's not really the point of it all is it?

A map of the best fishing spots in Sydney is here

Personalised vouchers:

We started this tradition on our first fathers day as a family, we included things like- breakfast in bed, a massage and a sleep-in which are very high commodities in our house, as I'm sure they are in yours too!

there are some cute ones here

Uber cute photo-shoot:

Grab some banners, chalk, costumes…. Hell let your imagination run wild, with a little shoot of his favourite people giving him love shout outs....

Onesies:

Especially awesome for daddy's first Fathers Day! Some cute options at Etsy

Whatever you do I hope you have a great day!... and just remember if you don't happen to have a daddy in your life, not all is lost there's plenty of other cool people in this world who are there! xx

Etsy's Christmas pickings

Tuesday last week I got to drop by the Esty studio to indulge in a little Early Christmas persusing for Etsy.  It was a great morning to see firsthand what some of the clever Etsy kids have been creating, and also the chance to talk to a couple of the artists. Obviously I needed to test out the delicious array of food; it being a Christmas do and all….. Mmmmm mini bagels, meringues and donuts are always a favourite in my mouth. I know I can hear you asking Christmas, really already (i have inbuilt speakers mind reading speakers in your device) But let's face it people, it's August and pretty soon things are going to get crazy; so these are just a few hints at what might make an extra unique pressie this year.

Some snaps from the action:

Some of my personal finds for the day fitting for kids decor were:

Printerella

 Olive and the Volcano

Lovely Jo Olive from this funky letterpress outfit is busy thinking of cool new designs of cards, prints and garlands to pretty up and space. 

Susan Simonini

Crafty Like a Fox

I loved this idea from clever crafter ….. special little bags of cross stitching goodness! What a fantastic present for someone who has it all! I have one that ill be working on in the next fews weeks, let's see how it turns out!

Hope you got some new ideas for your gifts this silly season (i know it's too soon but really is it?!)

Shades Of Pastels

I recently posted this image on Facebook from Charlotte Love's blog

 and got a huge response, grey's and pastels in a nursery or child's room are the perfect combination of fun and soothing. I hear you say…. but it only works for girls rooms! Well no, it doesn't have to! Repainting a vintage cot a light duck-egg blue like the one below and popping a yellow Acapulco chair is a simple, achievable way of blending shades of sorbets in to your room.

A Petite blog

Let's have a look at what's put there for us to work with right now:

Pink print

Grey Deer sheets

Mint wall dots

Yellow Cabinet

Apple Cushion

Love Chair

Pistachio quilt set

Adding a complimenting wallpaper will be just the trick to set a subtle background, hanging found objects like plates and pom poms and your child's artworks will create a more homely feel to your sweet pastel inspired space…. Enjoy! xx

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