Saturday, July 31, 2010

A Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Wow..I can't believe it's Saturday already..hope you have a chance to unwind over the weekend. This is a long post, so grab a cuppa and enjoy. I hope I don't bore you too much, I know your time is precious :)

I wanted to do something special for my daughters first 'Real' party now that she has started Kindergarten. I had envisaged a wonderful Tea Party with all things girlie. She loved the idea but at the last minute decided that she wanted to invite boys as well. I had to change gears a bit but decided on the 'Mad Hatters Tea Party' that would appeal to both girls and boys...as it turned out no boy could attend :)

Here are a few shots of the decorations:
*** (remember you can click to make the image bigger :):
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We found a Teapot tea set on sale and I cut the Alice picture to size and added a bit of glitter and tad of colour.

Running with the Alice theme, we chose 1 red and 2 white roses. Of the two white roses, one was kept white, the other was half painted red as if ordered by the Queen of Hearts. We rested a red tipped paintbrush on the vase too.

Table food included heart choc-chip shortbread, candy sticks, pink heart marshmallows, heart shape fairy bread, fruit platter, pastel shaded lollies. For lunch we served mini pizza, mini hot dogs, sausage rolls and party pies.

I hung a banner made from playing cards, alternating between the cards faces (Hearts) and backs. The word 'Wonderland' was spelt out in glittered letters and simply strung on pink ribbon.

I only made a few pom poms (dress makers pattern and tissue paper). Instructions here.

I glittered a garden twig and wired on the butterflies and birds.

Made the little bird drink cup from a pink thimble and a bottle cap for the plate. The little hat consists of scrap music sheet, glitter and crepe paper.

The take-home gifts: I wanted to make something girlie and fun, but inexpensive too, for all the girls to take home. I found the pink party hats and simply added diamonte dots, a glitter initial for each child, a flower pom pom top and some fake flowers to the band. A little extra glitter and they were right to go.

I bought a bulk pack of bubble blowers, cut a piece of pretty scrap paper to cover the original band, found some pretty glitter butterfly stickers and placed in a cellophane bag.

I jazzed up the paper cups with a strip of crepe paper, ribbon, a pipe cleaner handle and card scrap added to the front (idea adapted from Jessica's post at Such Pretty Things).

Inside each child received a colourful beaded necklace, a bubble blower, a mini wand, a chunky plastic diamonte ring (the ones you find in the discount stores). And of course, you couldn't go without a lolly bag. The lollies had to be pretty as well as tasty (musk sticks, lollypops, candy necklace, pink foil covered chocolates, pink candy canes etc).

The cakes: OMG! I found the easiest and tastiest cup cake recipe (click to follow link). I cheated by using the ready-made canned icing with piping attachments by Cake Mate (available in pink, white and blue). I made a batch for each colour. I found that the recipe makes 10 large muffin sized cup cakes and one can of icing iced each batch.

For the first school day back I bought a store-made slab Rainbow cake and cut into small squares and shaped into a number 6. I used a little icing to keep each slice in place. As there are only around 20 kids in her class this was perfect.

You can't have a party without old fashioned party games.
We adapted a few to suit the theme:
* Pass the teapot (instead of pass the parcel and every child picked out a lollypop) **pictured above**
* The Mad Hatter Says (instead of Simon Says)
* Pin the tail on the Cheshire Cat
* Whats the time White Rabbit (instead of Wolf)
* Bag toss Card Man (I painted a Card Soldier on a Foam-core board. Cut out a heart shaped hole in the middle to toss a sack filled with rice through)

Each child received a winners medal (cheap plastic discount store ones) at the end of the games.

The kids had so much fun, some didn't want to leave and there were no tears!! I remember when my son invited his entire class to his kindy birthday party; the boys were fighting in the first five minutes and we lost a kid..he had climbed up our walnut tree :) Oh you gotta love boys....

Next year I am thinking of planning a sleepover Pedi-Party... it should be fun.

What has been your favourite kids party idea to date? I would love to hear about your fab-u-lous ideas :)

PS. The talented Selina Lake, acclaimed Interior Stylist and Author, is proud to announce the upcoming publication of her latest book 'Romantic Style' in September (click the name to follow the link or select from my blog list). She is offering 5 lucky people the chance to win a signed copy! To enter, send Selina a photograph that you have taken that sums up your idea of Romantic Style.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Collections: Clowns

Morning guys, thanks for popping by! I hope the weather is treating you well. It is drizzling here this morning (still winter).. I am sure it will worsen when I walk the kids to school at 9:oo am. Why does it always seem to rain at school drop-off and pick-up time? It beats me :)

Well I hope you have enjoyed my earlier collections..but wait there is more..much more.
I am amazed that we have nearly 30 different collections!

Mr
T has some collections too, other than Playstation 3 games ha ha:) he collects clowns, watering cans, pennant flags, religious icons and vintage star wars.






What type of things do you collect? Have your collections happened by chance, do you seek them out or do your friends and family know what you collect and give you more?

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Junking Makeover: Candlestick Jewellery Holder


My daughter's necklaces were so tangled in her wooden jewellery box that we needed to find a solution. I picked up this silver candlestick for $1 at Trash and Treasure. We found the plastic top in a toy cleanup last week. We simply blu-tacked the top on so that it could be removed later. The height is now just right.



Do you like to use everyday objects in a different way? I would love to hear what you have been up to and get some great junking makeover ideas from you too...cheers, Tamara

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Queanbeyan Swap Meet '09


It was a miserable morning. It was raining and so cold. The Queanbeyan Swap Meet is held in Spring so the weather is usually warm and the cars in the car show are sparkling in the sun.

Half of the vendors didn't bother to unpacked many of their items and those that did quickly packed theirs away. We did a quick lap, had an egg and bacon roll and quickly proceeded home with only a small load.

Vintage Lloyd Loom commode chair, a birthday present from my sis :)
1930's Japanese Geranium ware tea pot ( I now have 6 pieces) $5, blue folding bed tray $10, Red Tulip lolly lantern $1, faux tortoiseshell shaving set $10
Cute metal table $10

The next Queanbeyan Swap Meet will be held over 2 days at the Showgrounds 23rd-24th September 2010. See you there...


Monday, July 26, 2010

Christmas in July

What could be better than a traditional English Christmas with all the trimmings; roast turkey and pork, cold ham, hot vegetables swimming in a sea of gravy. Eating way to much at lunch. Too full to tea anything for dinner, well maybe a few leftovers...and my mums trifle....yum.

There is a growing tradition to celebrate Christmas in July in Australia when the weather is cooler, though we don't , we always have our traditional hot English Xmas Lunch in December, smack-bang in the middle of Summer.

Can't believe July is nearly over and Christmas is just around the corner...Blimey Charlie!

Do you have a special dinner or traditional lunch with all the trimmings too?
Or do you prefer the more modern approach with seafood and a good cold beer?

Hope you have a great start to the week, bye, T

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Steam Trains in town


The steam train arrived last Sunday morning carrying passengers to our monthly local market. I took a few shots before it settled in at the new station. Enjoy :)






Hope you are having a relaxing weekend ....bye for now, T

p.s. the tooth fairy paid a visit last night :)

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Collections: Crinoline Ladies

This is my favourite collection. Most are made in Germany and impressed with a registration number underneath. Some are candlestick holders, some are napkin holders, some are a combination of both, others are pots and some are just plain figurines. They all sit happily on my little dresser. T








Thursday, July 22, 2010

Junking Makeover: Maxi Dress



Remember the skirt and braces that I bought yesterday? Well, as soon as I saw them, I thought of making a mini maxi dress for summer.

Here are the skirt and braces before:



After a quick pin, cut and sew I made this:


***note the fake Freddo Frog tattoos on the arm and top tooth hanging by a thread... he he***

I had enough material left over to make a rosette to add to an elastic hair band:



Mini-me loves it. As soon as I made it she asked if I could make her a pair of shorts...ha ha ha, somehow I don't think that's going to happen. Bye, T