So, you have downloaded and completed your free printable telling Dad how and why he is so fabulous. If you want another little something special to include with the story, why not try making a personalised plate or cup? All you need is an oven safe cup or plate and a permanent marker. Drawn on your design (you might want to do a practice run on paper first!) then bake in the oven at 175C for about 30-40 minutes. Voila!
Here’s some inspiration I found on pinterest …
I don’t know about you, but my pantry is sprinkled with random stacks of cupcake wrappers, left over from various baking crusades. We are LOVING this fab idea of storing them in a spaghetti jar – genius (and good lookin’)!
(Image: toriejayne.blogspot.com)
We made these little Strawberry Santas last year and they were SUCH a hit we thought we’d share them again this year. Simply cut the top of the strawberry, cut a lid (the hat!) off the bottom, fill with whipped cream (or cream cheese, or crème fraiche) and add blueberries (or choc chips) for eyes.
Easy peasy food the kids can help you make and are sure to help you eat!
image courtesy of veggie-wedgie.com
Summer time is officially here so I thought this little gem was worth sharing. My boys can have HOURS of fun with water balloons – filling them, throwing them and, now, using them as a pinata!
Simply fill the balloons with water, attach them to a high string or surface (the washing line is great!) and then bash away with a broomstick until they burst and shower the kids with water. Much better than lollies in my opinion!
The Festival of Seven has begun.
Our biggest little guy turns the BIG 7 tomorrow so we celebrated with a little Slot Car Party with a couple of his buddies on the weekend.
After a last minute call out for advice on how to best make a road on a cake, I ‘borrowed’ some black fondant from a friend and got to work on it. OK, I know it’s no masterpiece and I think it’s safe to say the road looked more like the half fixed tarmac that Lightning McQueen cobbled together to get out of Radiator Springs in the first movie, rather than a smooth as silk race track.
Nevertheless, my gorgeous 6 year old was terribly impressed and grateful. He also now knows how to make “grass” from shredded coconut and green food colouring – a fundamental life skill.
I’m a serious pinterest addict so of course that was the first place I headed to find further inspiration. I came across these fab free printables from vinnie pearce blog (sooo love a free printable) and used them for labelling food and drinks.
All in all this party was a big hit with the little fellas, was relatively stress free for mama and didn’t cost a fortune. Everyone’s a winner.
Growing up in Lake Macquarie (near Newcastle) a trip to the “local” drive in was a bit of a hike but most definitely a very special occasion. My two sisters and I loved the fancy little speaker outside dad’s driver window, buying popcorn from the kiosk and being able to snuggle under our blankets to watch Herbie the Love Bug.
Drive-ins are few and far between these days but how is this for a fab recreation of one? Makes the perfect setting for a ‘movie night’ party for the kids. Here, a trampoline covered with a large white sheet makes for a fab screen and the little personalised cars all lined up in a row are just too cute for words. You could take things a step further and ask guests to decorate or personalise their own car as part of the entertainment.
Either way, this party idea gets the triple thumbs up from my three little guys.
source unknown
Perhaps not an every day treat due to time involved in execution HOWEVER this is one way to get your little ones eating their 5 serves of fruit and veg a day!
image courtesy of theentertainingelf.com
I decided this year I would outsource the birthday cake for today’s superhero bowling party for 5 year old Dude.
I should explain that I have a big imagination and like to revisit my own childhood whenever I can so I always start with grand plans for my kids’ parties. Then I have a much needed reality check about what I can actually execute and start outsourcing faster than you can say AMF Bowling.
Back to the cake. When I say “outsource” I don’t mean recruit a fancy cake decorator and pay a shedload of money for an absolute masterpiece. I mean I would pop to Woollies and buy a pre-prepared spiderman cake, complete with a gazillion different shades of food colouring and preservatives, and be done with it. For weeks I have TOTALLY OK with that plan.
But this morning it came. The mother guilt.
I decided that since I had outsourced pretty much everything else by opting for a bowling party, leaving the fate of our celebration in the hands of an awkward 16 year old student called Paris, the least I could do is make a cake. Now, again, when I say “make” I mean decorate. Not make from scratch in a Donna Hay frenzy.
So at 7.30am with a heavy dose of mother guilt on my shoulders, I raced to the local supermarket, stocked up on a few key ingredients and whizzed home to gather my little team to prepare the Superhero cake of our dreams (well, kinda).
And here is the result.
I promise if you stand back, squint, and imagine you are five years old, it looks a bit like a superman emblem with an R in the middle.
Good or bad, my 5 year old superhero thinks it is truly fabulous so I’m calling it. It’s a winner.
Our boys are all winter babies so we have a party a month for the next three months.
Yes, yes, we claim to have that “party every second year” rule but, inevitably, my inner child and imagination take over and before we know it, the invitations have gone out and I am attempting to decorate a cake waaaay beyond my capabilities.
So I’ve been perusing my favourite sites for inspiration and along the way stumbled across this little gem of an idea …
Lollipop balloons – so easy to make using a roll of cardboard (or plastic pipe), an inflated balloon and some cellophane over the top. Secure cellophane with ribbon or tape and, voila!
rudy and the dodo 