My vintage 40th

This post is twelve months in the making!  Last January I turned 40. It's taken this long to a) get the photos off my phone and b) to admit that I have indeed turned 40 (but that's another story).

 

I decided early on I wanted a vintage look to the party.  I spent many hours visiting you-know-where for ideas.

 

The theme start with the invitation which was simple and I think gave a glimpse of what was to come.

 

Next was the cake.  I had an idea of what it was to look like but it was a combination of two cakes.  I put together a mock up and sent it to a gorgeous cake decorator, describing colours etc to her and she did an outstanding job of creating my vision.

 

 

 

I had a wishing well and the group of birdcages that made up the wishing well looked fabulous as you walked in.

 

 

I knew a lolly/dessert buffet was to be on offer and it was to all be old fashioned lollies and cakes.

 

 

Flowers were everywhere in vases and vessels sourced from our recycling shop.  Cleaned up and wrapped in lace they fitted in perfectly.

Adding a personal touch were photos of me as a child with my family. 
 

 

 

 

I'm so happy with how it all looked.  I made the most of what I had, the small budget and a room I couldn't do much to.  So many people stopped by and commented and some even asking if it was a wedding reception.  Love it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas traditions

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse....

 

I love those words, because they mark a family tradition that is 20 years old.  Every year on Christmas Eve I would read The Night Before Christmas to my boy, who is almost 21.  Now I read the exact same copy to my girl, nearly 5.

 

Traditions that are super special and something we look forward to.  Ones I hope my children continue in years to come.

 

This one remembers those who have passed, we have an angel on the tree for everyone of our special people who are no longer with us.

 

 

 

Each year we buy a new decoration for the tree, this is last year's from Bali.  Where I can, I add the year and where I got the decoration from.

 



 

 

A few more traditions, leaving out the Santa Key, a snack and drink for Santa and his Reindeer and watching Santa's message to Matilda via the Portable North Pole.

 

 



and my final tradition is wrapping the presents on Christmas Eve.  I've done this for years and I love it.  A nice snack, some good TV and I'm set. 

 

Ok, I'm off to finish this job right now.

 

Thanks again to Larissa from LMR Photography for photographing my tree. 

 

 

Our "Elf" on the shelf ~ Twinkle

Our 'Elf" Twinkle has found her way from the North Pole and joins us nice and close to the big day.  Last Christmas she made her appearance a lot earlier but I just didn't have the time nor energy to plan and do anything with her sooner.

 

Yes, she's not the official Elf on the Shelf.  She is a 'Barbie' style doll who is a friend of Tinkerbell, she came complete with the boots and I just made a little Elf hat.  Last year I gave a few people a good laugh because she's not the official Elf, but that's ok. Matilda loved her and every morning would seek her out to see what Twinkle had been up to.  I think she's pretty cute.

 

Now to check out Pinterest and find some ideas of what to do with her over the next few days.

 

If you have an Elf Pinterest board please feel free to leave a link.

 

 

 

Five minutes with....Claire from Confetti Fair

 

I love planning parties.  It's the details I love,  whether it's my 40th, hubby's Gran's 90th birthday dinner and especially Matilda's birthdays.  But I can spend hours on the net searching for ideas and stockists.

 

This has been made easier now thanks to Confetti Fair.  Confetti Fair has brought everything together in one amazing Fair.  Party ideas, stylists, you can choose stationery, book a planner, find favours. 

 

I'm so excited it is on it's way to Western Australia, Saturday 23rd November to be exact.  Until then I will be sharing some of the fabulousness that is Confetti Fair.

To find out more about the woman behind Confetti Fair, the lovely Claire 'sat' down with me and shared just how she does it all.

 

Successful time management, being a Single Mum and Entrepreneur, how do you do it? 

To be completely honest I am not that great with time management lol, I seem to have a million things open at once on my computer and flick back and forth between things as my brain will suddenly remember oooh I have to do that too. I tend to keep everything in my head (much to my staff’s dismay) but am learning to use the Outlook Calendar. My little one is, fortunately, really well behaved so I do manage to get a fair bit of work done during the day, but if he is having an off day (or I am) I come back to it at night. Thursday and Fridays are my full on work days. Life is a juggle and sometimes unexpected things happen so you just have to go with the flow with time management. In saying that though I think I could still learn a lot about it!

You are happiest when? 
Hmmm so many things, looking at my little boys face when he has just woken up and still has sleepy eyes, looking at an amazing party in awe, relaxing on the beach and when all of the vendors at the fair have finished setup and the visitors come in and watching them see the all of the prettiness for the first time.

 Where do you see Confetti Fair in the next 5 years?
Global domination lol, haha… I am launching Confetti Fair Magazine in February 2014 so that will certainly be an extension of the fair. Next year Confetti Fair will be held in Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Auckland. Who knows in another couple of years it could be even further overseas, I have had a number of requests to take it to America. My son will be school age then so who knows. At the moment I am just looking a couple of years ahead. I like to jump at opportunities when they arise rather than plan too far in to the future. 

What's in your handbag? 
Not a lot, I try to carry as little as possible so if I can go without a handbag I do. It will usually just be my purse, phone, tissues and a nail file. Even my son’s nappy bag (which doubles as a handbag) has the basics in it. 
 

What is the hardest thing about working in a home studio environment?
Being able to switch off and have that work/life balance right now.  My phone is my computer too so even if I have closed the studio door for the night my phone is always buzzing and beeping with updates, messages, emails etc.  The solitude can be hard at times too, thank goodness I have Stephanie in on a Thursday and Friday to bounce off.

To celebrate Confetti Fair coming to Perth, Claire has kindly given me two double passes to give away to my readers.  All you need to do is check out and like Confetti Fair's Facebook Page and leave me a blog comment here. Entry is via Rafflecopter below.

For a list of who will be at the Fair in Perth click here

For your chance to win one of two double passes to the Perth Confetti Fair, simply like their page and tell me "Are you planning a party?  Share with me....details...details."
Please ensure you leave your full name and email address in the comment.


The necessary details;

The competition runs from Thursday 14th November 2013 and ends Thursday 21st November 2013 at 5pm WA time. 

Winners will be announced Thursday 21st November 2013 6pm WA time. 

There are two sets of double passes to be won.  Open to WA residents only.  Tickets will be emailed to the winner.  Your email address must be in the comment for you to be eligible.

The winners will be selected at random, I look forward to reading your responses.
   

 

I love Christmas!

I love Christmas, I love the decorating, the glitter and glitz (but no tinsel).  I love seeing my children's faces on Christmas morning.  I don't love my face waking up to them though after wrapping presents all night (but that's another story)

So here is a little decorating in our home.  I won't even apologise for it being pic heavy. 

I love Christmas x

Thank goodness I have this buffet.  We don't have a lot of walls in the living room ( two sliding doors + window = no real walls)

 

We have an angel for anyone no longer with us. 

 

 

 

We also add a new decoration each year.  This tin Santa is from our Bali trip.  'Joy' was last years.

 

 

 

Our Christmas Countdown corner.

 

 

 

A little dining table love

 

 

 

Miss Matilda's room.

 

 

And finally...our tree.  This year I went with just red decorations, I usually have a mix of red and gold but never with tinsel.  I use gold or red ball garlands.  Love!

 



 

 I should have gone with more lights..oh well, there's always next year.

xx Bec

 

 

 

 

 

Gran's 90th & a Dessert Buffet

Hubby's Gran turned 90 recently which is a pretty amazing milestone and one we definitely wanted to make a big deal of.

We hosted a family bbq at our home and as Gran is a bit of a collector of things, namely tea cups we chose a high tea themed dessert buffet.  The centrepiece of which was a stunning cake made locally which had amazing detail right down to the fondant teacup. 

Gran recently gave me some stunning heirlooms, lace doilies which belonged to her Mother and Grandmother and I decided to use these as bunting.

As Gran's eyesight isn't the best at the moment, I described some of the details to her including her wedding photo and she loved the teacup which she got to see up close after the cake cutting. 

She had a lovely night surrounded with love.

Some photos of the day.