On Saturday evening I experienced a major dose of mother guilt as I wrapped Will's birthday presents ready for his birthday on Sunday. You see, the only wrapping I could find in the house was of the Christmas variety and so, that is how they were wrapped. I find it so easy to get caught up in "perfect" - perfect hand made gifts wrapped perfectly, and a perfect birthday party completed by a perfectly decorated cake. I know I can never achieve perfect, I just pretend to aspire!!
In all the fun and rush of Project Run and Play, Will's 2nd birthday crept up on me. Rob and my Dad were very organised and made Will a fantastic gadget board full of locks and clips and black boards and mirrors. It justifies its own blog post - so watch this space!
My birthday crafting started on Saturday afternoon. Will has a new Teddy in a Tin which he loves. "Teddy sleeping" is heard often around here now! The squares in the quilt are 3/4 inches - a perfect contrast to the big picture of Project Run and Play.
I was inspired by
this.
Our party was very much last minute as well - our family, grandparents, the cousins who were in town and our most wonderful friend and nanny, Romy. Although last minute, the party really felt perfect.
There was a cake decorated by big sisters:For those wondering, it's a dog!!!
And most importantly lots of family with lots of love:
Who needs mother guilt when all your little 2 year old needs for a perfect birthday is a cake and lots of love?
Maryanne
To make Lizzy's recent garden party even more magical, I made her some magical mushrooms. They are fast to make, sweet to look at and children seem to love them. I made a stack for Madeleine's fairy party a few years back. I had planned to keep them in a party box and reuse them in the years to come but they were so popular with the children that we gave them as an extra gift for them to take home. So having made over 50, I would say I am now an expert mushroom maker. I might just have to update my cv!
What you will need
Polystyrene balls - I used 75mm ones
Fabric to cover them
A branch about 5cm in diameter cut into 6-10 cm lengths (My ever helpful Dad cut these for me with his drop saw)
A hot glue gun
Needle and thread
Let's get started
Cut your polystyrene balls in half - I found it easiest to use a bread knife.
Cut out your circles of fabric. To work out what diameter you need, measure from the mid point of the flat side of the foam ball up and over the dome and back to the mid point again. I was lucky enough to find a soup bowl that was the right size to use as a template.
Sew a line of running stitch around the edge of your circle quite close to the raw edge.
Put the foam piece inside the fabric curved side down and draw up your running stitch.
Pull up the thread tightly and tie a knot.
Grab your hot glue gun and glue the length of branch to the base to make the stalk.
You are done. Make 2 or 3, make enough for a fairy circle or even more and create a magical pathway through your garden. I guarantee your children will love them!!
Maryanne
Usually, we're pretty blessed with the weather in Sydney. I guess there's always an exception to the rule though- we don't seem to have seen the sun for days! I'm starting to crave some real spring weather and the sort of food that goes with it.
I came across this Jamie Oliver magazine the other day and couldn't stop thinking (and salivating) over the fruity frozen yoghurt cake on the front - yum. It's like so much of Jamie Oliver's cooking - easy, fresh and simple. Blend some fresh fruit with some yoghurt, freeze, layer and ...voila!
I decided to put my own spin on it for Mart's party - single serves of apricot, strawberry and vanilla yoghurt layered and frozen into a a summery treat (even if it is grey and rainy).
They were a bit icy, but if I hadn't been so lazy and churned them in the icecream maker first, I'm sure they would have been a whole lot creamier. They were delicious anyway... not too sweet and very fruity!
There were plenty of sticky hands and fingers to prove it, too!
Caroline
When you're four, like Lizzy, you seem to spend a lot of time on the party circuit.
Now - I don't want to seem like a party wowser, but sometimes there are so many parties and so many treat bags that they just don't seem like treats anymore. know what I mean?
We've just had a magic garden party for Lizzy's birthday (it really was a magic garden as it poured with rain and we had to magic up n indoor a garden for twenty four year olds... argh!) and decided to try something a little different this year for take home favours.
We found gorgeous little tin buckets at the local party store and filled them with colourful springy annuals - marigolds and pansies.
On the morning of the party we 'planted' some lollipops and... voila - we were done!
These were seriously the easiest party favours to make ever. There was no fiddly cellophane wrapping and no ribbon tying at two in the morning.
And best of all? Lizzy and her friends thought they were great!
Caroline
RSS Feed
