The Party round-up...

We had a little celebration over the weekend to mark a very special girls first birthday. Rain was predicted all week for our party but thankfully it never arrived. The wind made a mess of my streamer backdrop but that's all that really went wrong so I couldn't complain. The husband and I decided back when Louise had her first birthday that we would go all out for our children's first party. We don't do religious events or the like, so we really wanted a chance to celebrate our child's first year and thank our loved ones for being apart of such a special time in our lives. 

I started planning (and saving) a couple months back - knowing that the guest list would probably tip the 100 mark, I wanted to be as organised as possible.

As overdone as it is .... I couldn't go past a rainbow theme for Evie, its perfect for her. Especially when I saw a custom printables range from Fairydust Stylist Stationary. I love her work and she sets up the most stunning party tables. Here's Evie's Invite:

The husband conveniently has an air compressor (to lovingly clean his beloved bike) so he had no excuse trouble getting 200 balloons blown up so I could try out Design Moms awesome Balloon Banner I found in Pinterest. It looked great in the morning but the wind certainly took its toll on it and became quite bare by the arvo.

 

  

I had a caterer do the food, so only had to take care of the fun stuff ...desserts and cake!! I have been itching to try out THE Rainbow cake - and turned out a lot better than I thought it would.

A week before the party I suddenly realised we would have about 35 kids with not much to do. The best decision I made was ask the Kindy mums if anyone knew a good entertainer - Benny Blitz had just done a session at the local hairdresser for a Shave for a cure fundraiser. He was fantastic - the kids loved his tricks and he had such a talent for making very cool balloon creations. Honestly if an entertainer is in your party budget I totally recommend getting one. It saves the time, stress and hair loss of planning games a million times over.

I did organise a photo booth area though. I wish we had had more time to use it because the photos I did get were awesome. I haven't had the heart to take it down yet. Maybe I can get visitors to pose to I have an excuse to keep it there?

I used the printables again to make up some different Thank you gifts. Chocolates, Cookies and Lolly Bags. A Big Thank you to Susie at Sweetie Darling for doing the cookies (and the gorgeous flower on top of the cake) for me.

 We had a wonderful day and our normally surly little munchkin, didn't give us a frown all day. 

She obviously enjoys being centre of attention.

 

You can see Louise 2nd, 3rd and 4th birthdays here

My $11 Cake Plate

Yep $11... Isn't it cute? I made it .... so easy I'll show you how.

You only need 3 things - A Candle stick (mines from IKEA), a pretty plate and some hot glue.

Just glue one to the other and wollah....

A Handmade Cake Plate

A fairy party...

Well its taken me all week to start this post and a few bloggy friends have asked how Louise's party went so though I had better get moving. It ended up being quite an event and once again there never seems enough time to take any decent photos so this is the best of the lot.
I love entertaining and really at the moment the kids birthdays are the only excuse I really have. Louise and I made all the decorations and boy was it fun setting up her fairy princess kingdom.
I am still sweeping up rogue glitter 8 days later. She said it was her best day ever so it was probably all worth it.

~A FEW THANK YOUS~

Of course I didn't do it all by myself and wanted to take this opportunity to thank some amazing businesses out there in the handmade community.

First off the fabulosly tallented Cathie from Melbourne Epicure for making the beautiful fairy cake topper and cupcake fondant toppers. Thank you so much - Lou is in awe of her fairy and is most treasured. I'm so sorry I didn't do it justice by making a cake to match - Lou really really wanted icecream cake for the day so icecream cake it was.
Also, I got the scalloped circles I used in the decorating from A Scrap of Paper on Craftumi - Kerri was very helpful and I practically had my custom order the next next day.

I found Party Hire for Kids on facebook - Sue did an amazing job on the balloons she delivered and it was great to be able to have child sized table and chairs.

 

A friend of mine has recently started up a fantastic handmade sweets business with her friend and I was dying to have an excuse to order something. 

Susie made me a custom order of the MOST delicious pinwheel cookies ever. Seriously the hubby and I actually fought over the last one left. You must check out their facebook page. The cakes they have been making are stunning -  but you can order anything from a multi leveled ruffle cakes, cupcakes and gorgeous petit fours. I wish I had ordered more! 

 

You can find them on facebook here but be careful not to drool on your keyboard when you look at the photos...

Louise was lucky enough to have a very special visitor by the name of "Ms. Fairy Floss" all the way from Fairy land, attend her day ~ she really was remarkable. Lou got a beautiful letter in the mail from her a few days before the party and her facepainting skills were wonderful. Having an entertainer for the 20+ kids was the best idea ever and really took the pressure off. It was so nice to actually have a bit of time to enjoy the day.

Also thank you to Louise's lovely Aunties, Nonna and friends that helped her mum on the day too.

A cake for Martha

My brothers gorgeous girlfriend is off back home to Ireland tomorrow so I thought this occasion deserved a special goodbye cake. Totally loving the mini buntings - they make a perfect cake topper. I've been wanting to try a layer cake for sometime now - this one is was especially yummy. Its Raspberry Ripple Vanilla Cake with Cream cheese Icing and a sneaky layer of crumbled chocolate Flake goodness.

Farewell sweet Martha ~ you will be missed

I'm taking part in Point and Shoot once more over here

lovely little parties.....

Have you seen this gorgeous online store yet??

One of my favourite bloggy mums Virginia from Mum/Toddler/Babe has a new venture and I have just spent ages window shopping through it's delights.

"Lovely Little Parties is all about helping you create your own special events with a range of unique and affordable party accessories while still giving you lots of room to get creative yourself and put on a celebration that is memorable for you and your loved ones."

I love party planning and setting the scene of an event, Virginia's style is exactly what I like and there are heaps of things to inspire you to make the coolest of party themes. The range is growing very fast and she has just uploaded some gorgeous Easter treats.
Here are a few of my party favourites...

Rainbow Fun party invitation-set

Retro Wagon Popcorn bags

Snowflake Papel Picado Garland

Cupcake Boxes 

You can find lovely little parties here...

Website

and

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

oh and if your in NSW looks like they will be at the next Matilda's too!!

Market info

Point + Shoot: 35

Sunday 19th Dec 4.30pm

Every year we have a special afternoon tea with some lovely family friends ~ its so nice that our little girls can now enjoy it too. I set up their very own "high tea" table so they could be just like the adults...so cute!!

If you also look closely you can see a sneak peak of Lou's new Big girl room that I have been working hard on - once I get the correct mattress re-delivered (one that actually fits her new bedroom setting) Grrr... I can do a proper tour for you. Its turned out quite pretty

... if you like pink.

I also heard a rumor that a family of fairies are about to move in as well.

How was your weekend.... hopefully not too busy this side of Christmas.

Don't forget to check out everyone else's  Point & Shoot and - Week-a-boo!!

My creative space...

There hasn't been enough time it seems lately to get super crafty but here's a little snap of some yummy Christmas goodies I have been working on. I saw the recipe on one of my favourite tutorial blogs One pretty thing and couldn't resist giving the worlds easiest dessert gift a try. The only problem was I had to quickly wrap it up before the hubby tried to "inhale" it all..

More Creative Spaces here

Point + Shoot : 31

Sunday 5pm 17th October

Wow what a weekend!! Between new couch and coffee table shopping, 2 (yep 2) three year old birthday parties, a 15yr high school reunion, and dinner at my brothers brand new home to test out the pizza oven - I'm certainly tired. 

Luckily it all ended with snuggles on the couch with some very special Aunties.

How was your weekend? What did you do? Why not check out what everyone did in Chantelle's -  Point & Shoot and Claire's - Week-a-boo!!

Point + Shoot : 29

 

We celebrated Louise's 3rd birthday in the glorious Melbourne sunshine yesterday  - I'm shattered I didn't have a chance to take more photos.  

I'm pretty sure she had a wonderful time...

 

All she wanted for her party was a Dora Cake - so "we" compromised and I made her Dora's Castle House... yes I was up all night making that it was a lot easier than I thought it would be :P

How was your weekend? What did you do? Why not check out what everyone did in Fat Mum Slim's -  Point & Shoot and Scissors, Paper, Rock - Week-a-boo!!