{goodie bags} sweet little tin inspiration

I seem to have fairy parties on my mind at the moment...

I found these adorable little decorated tins here. My-creative-cafe has filled them with sweet little tags...but I think they would make lovely thankyou gifts for a garden fairy party....or with a more retro colour palette and filled with boiled sweets, perfect for a tea party!

{gorgeous & healthy} toadstools

Just saw these adorable toadstools made from eggs(or is it bocconcini?), cherry tomatoes & crumbled feta on a bed of alfalfa and had to share!!  So cute, and healthy!! 

discovered on Hostess with the Mostess, image from dia on flikr 

{create} mallow pops

Another sweet creation from Aimee's husband, Mark.  

To make them yourself...

1. place marshamallows onto balloon sticks trimmed to size

2. colour melted white chocolate with food colouring powder  (avoid liquid food colouring as it will cause chocolate to separate) 

3. dip marshmallows into melted chocolate and quickly turn over to allow chocolate to drip down sides

4. place smartie on top and sprinkle with sprinkles.

5. to display, cover florist foam with fabric or napkin, create holes with knife or skewer and insert mallow pops.

These would be great for any party, simply change the colour of the chocolate, smarties and sprinkles to co-ordinate with your theme! I could imagine little pirate mallow pops created with dark chocolate, red smarties and white sprinkles...or dinosaur ones... milk chocolate with green smarties & sprinkles...

{inspired by} teabag cookies

How adorable are these teabag cookies? Thanks to Kim @ Frost Me for letting us share! 

To make them:

1. cut a tea bag shape out of wax paper and use it as a template to cut from shortbread cookie dough. 

2. using a round frosting tip, cut a hole at the top of each

3. bake 

4. dip bottoms in chocolate 

5. thread white string through and attach a cute little tag (cut out from paper or card with a cute stamp on each side)

... definately on the menu for my next tea party!!

{recipe} marshmallow fudge

Made this with the kids today...so yummy and quite easy! I've included the recipe (especially for my lovely friend Amanda!)

ingredients:

225g icing sugar

50g marshmallows

50g unsalted butter

1T milk

1/2t vanilla essence

method:

1. Line a small shallow baking tin with baking paper

2. Sift icing sugar into a large bowl and make a hollow in the centre.

3. Combine the marshmallows, butter, milk and vanilla in a saucepan.

4. Heat the pan over a low heat until everything has melted, stir occasionally.

5. Pour the mixture into the hollow in the icing sugar and stir together until well combined and smooth

6. Place the fudge into your prepared tin and using another piece of baking paper, smooth to the desired thickness.

7. Leave to cool and then place in the fridge for 30 minutes

8. Remove fudge from fridge and peel away baking paper. Cut into bite-size pieces and return to fridge to harden 

Store in an airtight container in the fridge and eat within a week (if it lasts that long!!)

{we love} donna hay kids magazine

I just got the latest issue of Donna Hay Kids Magazine....and gorgeous is an understatement! There are so many beautiful ideas for parties...from sweet little tea party to intergalactic space adventure...every page is as delicious as the cover.

My favourite bits....teacup jellies, space invader cupcakes and sugar sanded cupcakes.... 

{inspired by} decorated drinks

Stumbled across these gorgeous little decorated drink bottles at mycreativecafe and had to share!  I love the layered flowers with button and gem details. These are the perfect inspiration for sweet goodie bags or boxes...so summery and fun, and perfect for any little fairy party!

{13th slumber party} sneak peak

a gorgeous friend of the candy tree turned 13 this week... here are a few pics she was kind enough to let us snap after she had set up the decor from us at The Candy Tree

candy buffet...just waiting for desserts & candy!!
 

tissue paper pompoms...so sweet...

table dressing & decor (from our garden fairy theme)

Happy 13th Birthday Brodie!!

{13th slumber party} invitation

Thought I would share the invitation I designed for a friends upcoming 13th slumber party...so bright & happy...a little sunshine on an otherwise dreary day in Perth! I think this will be the design for our garden fairy theme!!

{inspired by} mini meringues

This week we have been working on decor for an upcoming 13th birthday slumber party.  The birthday girl loves bright colours (especially pink), so we agreed on a colour palette of hot pink, orange and lime. 

While looking for inspiration, I came across these mini meringues, aren't they sweet?  And the perfect colours! I love including mini meringues at parties (you may remember seeing some in the photos of indigo's tea party), they are great for dessert tables as they can be created in any colour! But I must admit that I never tried making them...I buy them from the supermarket! These one's are handmade and featured on The TomKat Studio's gorgeous blog, and she has been kind enough to share the recipe from her friend Suzie. I will definately be trying them out soon... I'll let you know how I go!!

{create} mini popcorn boxes tutorial

I have loved paper folding since I was a little girl.  I thank my beautiful mum for that! I have fond memories of her crafting & creating and she always involved us kids! One of the techniques she taught me was bag folding, which I have used to create these adorable mini popcorn boxes. There are quite a few steps, so it may seem a little daunting, but once you have completed one, they are really quite easy.

• Click here to download the printout  and print onto A4 paper.
• Trim excess white paper
• Create 2 folds, equal distance from the star.  I've used the lines as a guide, folding on the 2nd white line away from the star.

• Lay the paper face down, leaving one of the sides folded in.
• Using glue or double-sided tape, join the edges
• Keeping the initial fold in place, push paper to create a 3rd fold line

• Open and (using 2nd foldline as a guide) push paper to create a 4th fold line.  You should now have a 4 sided open box shape.
• Create gussets by folding sides inward.

• Fold gussets outward
• Take the bottom edge and fold up to the top, and crease at fold

• Open out the folded section, and flatten as shown above. 
• Using the crease lines as a guide, fold in the bottom edge of the base.

• Again using the crease line as a guide, fold in the top edge of the base
• Using glue or double-sided tape, join the bottom flaps
• Open, and push out sides to complete!

Fill with yummy popcorn, and enjoy!

Perfect for your next circus or magic party!!

Tanya x

{toby's magic party} costumes

 When the guests arrived, we had magic capes, top hats, gloves and wands to turn them into real magicians!  

Couldn't resist adding another pic of my gorgeous Toby in his magicians costume. I can't believe he will be 6 next week!

{toby's magic party} candy buffet

Have I mentioned how much I love candy buffet's at parties?  They create such an impact, and the kids love them!

For Toby's I used a black, red and silver colour palette to co-ordinate with his magic party.

Drinks 'for thirsty magician's' (and to the right of the photo...christmas baubles came in handy!!)

Lollies in black, red and white - chicos, jaffas & gummi penguins

I don't know why but I love this photo...I think it's the black, white and silver! I cheated a lot for these cupcakes...they were so easy to make!  Packet mix, betty crocker icing and dipped in silver sugar balls...yummy to look at and yummy to eat!

Licorice magic wands for the little magicians

Sour straps rolled and placed into little silver patty pans.

Mini popcorn bags. These are adorable and could be incorporated into any party. I'm putting together a printable and how-to on these...so check back soon!

{toby's magic party} the cake

Ok...not the best ever cake...but Toby loved it!!

I used the pot from my slow cooker to bake the cake, and then covered the sides with white icing.  The top of the hat and the rabbit ears were also white icing, that I cut to shape and let dry out until hard.  Then using food colouring paste and a paintbrush, I added the colour. A length of red ribbon, a sparkly onion pick and a little starry fabric finished it off!

The birthday boy getting ready to blow out his candles! We used sparkling candles which looked great  and added to the 'magic'

{toby's magic party} sneak peek

Because Toby's birthday lands in the school holidays he never has much luck with school friends remembering to come along to his parties...so this year we thought we would have two smaller parties...one with his friends from school before the holidays and another with close friends and family on his actual birthday! 

So this afternoon Toby had his school friends over to celebrate his birthday with a magic party.  He had a fantastic time!  Here are a few pics...will upload more images and details tomorrow!

the birthday boy

candy buffet

birthday banner

 

goodie bags