The Icecream Party - Details.....

Ohhh I'm here!! Just!!

Finally... I have some details about the cute little Ice cream Party that we held to celebrate Max and Lacey's 3rd birthdays.

As I have previously mentioned, this party was thrown together at short notice but I still had time to organise a few cute touches.

Firstly, I found a free printable pack on the wonderful world wide web, and the colour scheme was just what I was looking for. Being a unisex party, I wanted to keep the colours light but still related to the theme. Best of all? Its a free printable!! You can find more details HERE

Seeing as though pack contained some cute flags for making a bunting , I got my lovely husband to cute 2 pieces of pipe (that stood inside the holes of bricks) and strung the 2 'YUM' buntings above the table. Quick and easy but effective all the same. (And it was free as we already had the pipe)

The printable pack contains lots of tags for the toppings, cupcake toppers, signs etc, and as fate would have it, I had started to collect little bits and pieces and they all fit the colour scheme well.
The ice cream bowls (front left of photo below) are from a local discount store for $2.50 and come with little ice cream sticks. The Serviettes are from IKEA and the plates were bought for Angus' party and didn't arrive in time so I re purposed them.

The cute hanging 'Icecream cones' were made using cheap pom poms (Red Dot are now stocking a pack for $3 for 2) and some brown card stock rolled into a cone and secured with double sided tape.

The gorgeous stands on either side of the table displayed the different toppings available for ice-cream. These are actually Herb planters from Bunnings that I bought on sale for $13 (they came with 4 little wooden pots too) They are foldable, are easy to store and perfect for what I wanted.
The little aqua bowls (my favourite colour at the moment) I bought at the Reject shop a while ago and held crushed oreos, but the other toppings were- Raspberry lollies, chopped nuts, chocolate sprinkles, sprinkles and then strawberry and chocolate topping ( seen in the pics wrapped with some yellow patterned paper to conceal an ugly label)

I attempted to bake cupcakes in Ice cream cones for the first time and it was a success (thanks to all who gave advice on my facebook page).
I simply filled the cones to the top of the small base section and baked for the appropriate amount of time. Iced to look like Sundaes, there were a real hit and super cute too!!
In hindsight, the cones did go a tad soft for my liking , these would definitely be better baked fresh the day you are going to use them, but time is never on my side for Parties so they were just fine the way they were!

The cute Ice cream bowls and spoons on the bottom shelf of the Toppings stands came in a 2 pack of pink and blue, and I bought them from Red Dot also (got to love a cheap shop!). I have received a lot of queries regarding those, and to be honest , I don't think too much when organising a party. I knew last year that I wanted to do an Ice cream theme this year , so I just start to keep a look out for things I like and these were one of those purchases.

The lolly bags were simple white bags from Spotlight for just a few dollars (seen above) but I ran a strip of Washi Tape through the middle and it tizzied them up enough to look cute.


The food was kept simple, as the guest list was too. Immediate family and the twins Godmother and her children, but we had : cupcakes, Oreo Pops, Fruit kebabs, dip tray with vegetables, vanilla custard in small cups , sausage rolls, party pies and of course, ice cream sundaes!!

I LOVED throwing and decorating this party. It was simple, Super duper CHEAP and the kids had an absolute ball creating their own sundaes with toppings that were a bit special (considering our kids don't have ice cream at home ever!)

Lately I have been receiving emails asking advice on throwing childrens parties, and I am definitely NO expert, but I do have one main piece of advice that helps me no end!

Set your theme in advance, and I am talking WELL WELL in advance. 

Like I said, I knew last year that I wanted to do an Ice cream party, so as I saw things in the shops, I bought them. As I was looking on Pinterest etc, I would store that idea to my memory bank. It makes the whole organising experience easier, less stressful not to mention cheaper. When you are buying a few things every few weeks for just $3, it doesn't hurt the bank balance too much. I am not one to get on a website and make an order of a few hundred dollars. To be honest, I couldn't think of anything worse. Plus, making decorations yourself, scouting the net for free things to use, its all part of the fun!!

I am sorry this took so long to write, I have just not had the headspace for much at the moment. 

BIG changes are happening here!! I'll keep you posted x

Ice Cream Party

Last weekend we held a wee little party for Max and Lacey's 3rd Birthday!!

It was quite a rushed party really, with the time and date/day only sent with 5 days to go , but seeing as though I had already picked the theme some months back and started to collect bits and pieces, the prep wasn't too hard!!

We kept the guests to a bare minimum, my sister and her family (4 kids) and my cousin and her 3 kids and my parents (in laws were away). Having a small number of guests was fantastic, as I have held quite a few parties in the past that have got well out of hand in the guest department and it makes the party less enjoyable for everyone. As far as Max and Lacey were concerned, their were kids, lolly bags and cake. That makes for a pretty good party in a 3 year old eyes!

But obviously in my opinion, with more time, I probably could have pulled together a few things a bit better, but I happy with the way the party looked/ran with minimal effort involved.

Anyway, I thought I could share with you some pics, them them speak for themselves and then do an info post to follow tomorrow. So if you have anything in particular you would like to know about, just shoot me an email or message of Facebook or comment on this post.

So without further ado, Max and Lacey's Ice cream Party.

(Please excuse the lighting in the table pics, the party was held under our patio. Very practical but it doesn't make for the best backdrop and certainly doesn't do the camera and lens any favours. But you have to choose practicality over looks sometimes, just sometimes.

There is always one child that doesn't like tot play the game and join in on the group photo. (and a 5 year old that likes to smile with her 'fake' smile!

The kids all LOVED creating their own ice cream sundaes, choosing the sauces and toppings is a real novelty (especially for our kids who don't get ice cream very often, if ever)

Stay tuned for more info x

Stella's Tea Party

A few weeks ago we celebrated Stella's 5th Birthday with a Tea Party for 9 little friends and of course, her.

I have found it hard in the past to draw the line with invites to our kids parties, friends of yours, friends of theirs, invite one child and the parents come with all the siblings etc and soon enough your party is bigger than planned and you are cooking and baking for weeks in preparation.

Well I didn't have the time, as I left the organising a bit late, and Stella has quite a gorgeous group of friends from school and had recently been to 2 parties with the same girls at both, so the decision was easy!

I thought the idea of a tea party for the little girls would be nice. Something different and a little grown up for them, and we all know how little girls like to pretend they are grown up ladies!

We held the party at our home, in the living area, and we borrowed a table from our Playgroup and a few extra chairs that we needed too. The table was a perfect size and it was nice that all the girls had somewhere to sit.
Our dining table was just moved to the side and used as an extra food table.

I have come to the conclusion that afternoon parties are easier, you have the morning to prepare and cook and everything is more relaxed, so that is what we did. I set the table out like this (above) in the morning and just plugged away until everything was done.

This is after I had set out the basics on the table.

A simple pink runner, some gorgeous disposable plates (similar here, I purchased mine in town) and serviettes (from IKEA here) and some roses from our garden.

We also hung a few gorgeous pom poms from the ceiling above the table and they really set the scene off!

(Just hang in the ceiling with a drawing pin)

Each little lady had their own REAL tea cup , glass milk bottle and table setting and the 2 Cake stands were filled with a variety of the yummy food on offer

(My apologies about the quality of the photos, as luck would have it, I had major issues with my beloved DSLR on the day )

I stuck some pretty butterflies (made from cardstock and purchased from Spotlight) around the cake stands and some cute flags on toothpicks to tizzy things up.

Stella, all ready for her girly Tea Party, dressed like a real little English rose too!

The table set and waiting!

Over to the side of the room , where we put our dining table, the main food table was set.

A pretty paper bunting was strung from the ceiling (with drawing pins again, and I have had the bunting for some time but a similar one here) and some more gorgeous roses from our garden.

I used a really pretty paper tablecloth that suited the occasion perfectly (available here)

, some floral disposable plates (again sourced locally but I will try and find some similar and add the link later) and some pretty cups.

The food was kept simple, but still to the theme and super yummy. No tea party is complete without Macaroons and these are yummy and affordable (from Woolworths for around $8 a pack)

Muffin size quiches, fruit kebabs, biccies, Teacup biscuits, cupcakes, fairy bread , scones and some assorted hot food , all disappeared pretty quickly (5 year old girls sure know how to eat!)

The gift bags were kept simple also because each guest received a novelty necklace on their round of Pass the Parcel, but I found the cutest little buckets at our local Red Dot store and knew I just had to have them!

 Inside was a stamp, hair clip, lollypop and a few Starburst lollies in wrappers. I made the tags using a punch and pretty papers and a piece of ribbon to attach them.

So sweet and about $3 for 3 in a pack.

I usually use cupcake toppers for our parties but time wasn't permitting to source, and print and punch them so I made some little flags instead.

Its amazing what some Washi Tape and a tooth pick can look like with a bit of love :)

Of course the cake had to be a tea cup. Well at least that is what it was supposed to look like!! I am not the best at making cakes that is for sure!!

This cake is just a round chocolate cake on the base and a upside down 'dolly varden' tin on the top.

And the moment that it is all made worth it.....

All the kids had such a lovely time at Stella's little party. They felt very grown up sitting and sipping from their tea cups and the party was so so easy to do, everything looked great but wasn't time consuming nor too much trouble! You've got to love that!

On Sunday we are having a party for our twins, Max and Lacey. Again... I am not that organised and the theme is 'Ice cream Party' but I am hoping I can pull something together in a small amount of time with big impact!! Wish me luck!!!

She turned Five!

Last week I kept super busy with birthday preparations for our big Five year old!! I can not believe that our Princess Stella is now 5, she certainly acts it, but its always had for Mum to accept! Right?!

Anyway, we held a Tea Party for Stella and some school friends on Saturday afternoon,  so things for her actual birth day were kept quite simple.

I made some small pom poms to hang in her door way and curled some ribbon. The look on her face when she came in to us in the morning was priceless. So excited and it was all heightened with a bit of effort in her room.

I like to think we don't 'over spoil' our children. They certainly do NOT go without  but gifts for Birthdays and Christmas' are kept simple. Clothing for the coming season, some colouring/activity books, a book to read and a few toys. A few of Stella's parcels didn't actually arrive on time but she was more than impressed with her loot!!

The main present was a gorgeous dolls house that I purchased on sale from Sweet Creations, the roof lifts and stays open and the front opens out. All the furniture came with the house so that was a bonus!!
Everyone has loved the new addition to our house, the boys especially!!

Such a gorgeous girl is our Stella x

Thankfully, the rest of her parcels arrived while she was at school that day, so when she came home she was surprised with another package. Her eyes lit up and she was very happy!!
As you know, we are all bunny lovers here and these are just the best additions to her collection.
These can also be purchased from Sweet Creations

I made cupcakes for school , 34 to be exact, and they were well received. I love how excited they get for taking along goodies like that. Sharing a piece of her birthday happiness with everyone I guess.

Instead of a family dinner where we are rushing to eat , so the kids don't have a late night before school, we decided on an afternoon tea with family. Having their 4 cousins over is a party in itself, so some simple nibbles and everyone was happy.

A birthday in our home is not complete without a green ice cream frog cake. Such a big tradition that everyone looks forward to!

She put all her bunnies to rest on her bedside table that night, so I knew they were a success!!

When saying goodnight and showering her with love and kisses, Stella confessed that it was "the best birfday ever ever" and my heart swelled. As a parent you can't ask for much more!

Fridge To Go - Review

I couldn't believe our luck when the lovely people from Fridge -to- go asked if I was interested in trying one of their cooler bags. I had only just thought to myself that Stella's lunch bag had nearly seen its last day and I was already on the look out for something as practical!

I will be honest and say that we have actually been using this lunch bag for school and everything for a few weeks now ( I have been insanely busy and haven't managed time to write anything lately , but also wanted to try the cooler bag over a few weeks, a true test if I still love it!! )

And I do!! And so does Stella, so that's a bonus!

Fridge-to-go® cooler bags are good for the environment...BPA-free, PVC and lead-safe ! I love that there is no nasties in them and they can be used over and over without feeling worried about harmful chemicals.

I love that the cooler bag comes with this fantastic large but thin ice pack that actually zips into the base compartment and therefore keeps the entire bag nice and cold.

I love that I can now fit more in Stella's lunch box (as she has been eating all her food and I wanted to add a few more thing) because the precious space isn't being taken up with an ice brick , and I love that her cut up fruit (usually grapes and strawberries) stay lovely and chilled , as does her sand which , or the occasionally juice she has (Sunraysia juice packs)

As you can see, the cooler bag can fit quite a lot of food in it, the size is deceiving.

I still like to use the Yoghurt cooler and always multiple containers and everything fits beautifully.

All in all, I really like the Fridge- to - go lunch bag. I like the size, the ice block and convenience.

Perfect not just for school, but family outings, play dates, picnics or car trips.

You can find the lunch bags and more products in the range on the website HERE or on Facebook HERE

Please Note-

I was gifted this lunch bag to use and review as I wish.

All the statements and opinions are my own

I was not paid to write this post, just genuinely like the lunch bag!