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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winners Winners...

To say I'm excited about this weekends Confetti Fair is an understatement.  I have been stalking the vendors all week and can't wait to meet them and check out their stalls.

 

The fair is perfect timing too as I am in the throes of organising Miss Matilda's next birthday.

 

And without further adieu the winners of the two double passes to the Perth Confetti Fair are;

 

Sallyann Silver & Laura

 

Congratulations ladies, thanks for providing your email addresses.  I'll send you the tickets tonight.

 

 

 

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.
   

 

Miss M's Fourth Birthday

A few weeks ago my gorgeous girl turned 4.  She loves fairies so we I decided on a Woodland Fairy theme. So a hunting I would go (pardon the pun) for goodies to fit the theme.

Pinterest of course was a source of inspiration and I searched page after page.  Here's what I came up with and am so so happy with how it all turned out.  As promised too I'm sharing where I sourced the goodies and how much they were.

I found these little fairy books at my local Red Dot store for $1 each so I popped those aside and amazingly enough I found the bags online some time later and they fitted perfectly.  The bags were around $1 each also.  I bought the stamp locally and it was ideal for the theme.

When the girls arrived they had their faces painted by Fairy Jo, she did an amazing job, there were unicorns, rainbows, fairies and puppies.



Rather than a lolly bag each little guest got to choose a fairy dress to wear on the day and take home to keep. 

A little wand cookie decorating was planned.  My poor table had it's own layer of icing in the end.  The wands were stamped with each fairy guests initial. 

A little pink milk.  The bottles are the Santa Vitorrio nectar bottles from Woolies.  These were on special for 6 for $4.

  

The bunnies are from Bed, Bath and Table which are also our Easter Bunnies.  The bowls are from Kmart for $2. The large mushroom is from Crazy Clarkes for $2.95.  The timber 'box' is from a musical instrument set.  The faux grass was free from my Mother in Law.

The girls loved the little Rosy Jelly pots.  The timber spoons were on clearance from the same store as the calico bags.  The little white house was half price from Thingz $7.95.

The cake was the only thing that didn't turn out as I'd hoped.  I had wanted a four tier ombre cake.  But things didn't go to plan so a two tier it was and we won't go into the icing catastrophe.  The girls loved it and that's all that matters.

So happy with the overall look.

Enjoying a little cake outside.  I cannot believe my gorgeous girl is 4.

Quack Quack...a quacker of a baby shower

I love hosting parties, I love the lead up to it, I love finding ideas.  This baby shower was no exception. 

A friend of ours from Mum's group is due in 10 weeks and our little group have been together for almost 3 years.  We catch up quite regularly especially around Christmas and birthdays and then not see each other for months. 

So we organised a catch up at my place ~ complete with craft for the girls.  I thought it would be a good chance for us to host a surprise baby shower.  We also decided to give the little bundle books to start his or her library.

I originally wanted to do a vintage book theme to go with the gift idea, but then quickly realised I had so many yellow props that a rubber ducky theme was the way to go...thanks Pinterest for the ideas..gotta love that site.

So here are a few photos of the day..

Unfortunately I discovered after the fact that this photo was blurry...it's all thanks to the lens on my phone being dirty.  Note to self, clean the lense before taking photos..lesson learnt

Rubber duckies are soo cute...and this gave us the chance to get rid of Miss M's mouldy ones (ewwww) and replace them with new ones..party decoration then bath toy..win/win I say

I love the lace parasols, I found them at a local 2 buck shop for $1 each.

I love them and know I'll use them again...mmm thinking high tea for Matilda and friends.

Craft for the girls...

Some banana milk for the girls and yummy citrus iced water for us.

I was going to make duck cookies then decided we had enough sweet stuff

so I made duckie cheese sandwiches instead.

Another pic of my drink dispenser...just because I love it haha