Great Fun etc

12 July 2012

A Brilliant Baking Birthday Party

Miss Fab's Eighth Birthday Baking Party was a whole lotta fun. More like hanging out with friends and baking together than the usual stress and noise of a party. Enjoyable, edible and beautiful - what more could you want in a birthday party?

With a nod to the Fifties in the colour choices, polka dots and printables, this was so much fun to put together. Pink and aqua, lemon and red. Lollies and sprinkles of all shapes and sizes, ready to turn cupcakes and cookies into edible bling.

The special guest from China arrived (wahoo!)

The guest list was teensy (my kitchen aint the biggest).
Just four little girls who love to bake, and one mummy friend to help.
I made the felt chef hats and teatowel aprons in one glue-gunning morning. So easy. So cute.
Don't they look awesome? (if I say so myself).

The coolest thing is that these four were all guests at the fourth birthday Fairy Party (my very first blog post), half a lifetime ago. Long time friends; so special.

I made a "Menu" with our "schedule" and some visual suggestions of some cool cupcake creations (which were of course ignored)....

[Printable Party Menu - right click to save to your computer]
........

They melted chocolate and licked spoons; kneaded pizza dough and rolled out cookies...

I showed them how to make fondant roses...

There was a lot of laughing. Creativity was at an all time high...

Perfectionists beware: When kids are in the kitchen you just have to let go of your own ideas. Their creativity is impulsive, colourful, imperfect and exuberant. Control freaks may find this difficult.

Sprinkles went on everything. EV.E.RY.THING.

When it came time to decorate the birthday cakes, the girls just went nuts.

They each had a ring cake to decorate in pairs. The idea was to then put the rings together and make a Number Eight. Clever right?

I was imagining glorious colourful-but-cute kid decor.

The hidden control freak in me stood back in horror as the sprinkles went on.... and on... and on...

*sigh*

Ahhh well it was still a great idea, but I should probably have got them to decorate the cakes first (when energy was high) instead of last (when sprinkles were a quick solution).

Inside the cake was a rainbow surprise, in pink, turquoise and yellow. Lovely.

To finish off we invited all the mummies to come and share afternoon tea with us, eating our carefully crafted colourful treats. We asked our guests to pick their favourite item, and then awarded a prize to the creator of that item.

(Look here's my dear friend Gail, all the way from China...)
The mini pizzas were a hot favourite. Yum yum. The perfect antidote to all that sugar.

After we blew out the candles on the crazy lolly cake, we waved goodbye to our sweet little guests and gave them each a china cupcake to take home, as well as their chef hats and aprons.

Then we set to work sweeping up sprinkles and wiping up crumbs... satisfied that our Baking Birthday was indeed BRILLIANT.

Baking Birthday How To's

MY BAKING PARTY RECIPES

11 July 2012

WW: Snow Day (it's Winter after all)

Take one perfect cloudless day.

Add a mountain, snow and Spanish Cousins.

Ignore cold toes and frozen fingers.

Tune out all whingeing.

Enjoy the sliding.

Savour the kissing.

And the cuddling.

The playing, racing.

Mix well.

Store up memories.

Soak in hot pools.

Winter Bliss.

♥

[P.S. The Photo Layout was created with a combination of PicMonkey *Polaroid* Frames + rotate, with Agfa effect; Then brought into Photoscape *Combine* in a 3 column checker layout, with text added in *Edit*]

09 July 2012

Monday Monday

Thanks to the magic of post scheduling, you can't even tell that right now I'M NOT HERE.
We have headed to Mount Ruapehu for a spot of snowfighting and sliding.
(It's Winter here, in case you hadn't realised. While all you northerners are basking in sunshine, we are throwing snowballs. At least today we are, anyway, since we are up the Mountain).

Best in Blog linky is on holiday (as am I), and will return next week.
In the meantime, here's a few fun quotes I pinned.

(BTW the Baking Party was a hoot. That post to come later this week).

[Source: etsy.com via Meredith@count it all joy on Pinterest]

[Source: wanelo.com via Simone on Pinterest]

[Source: jasonleming.com via Simone on Pinterest]

[Source: tumblr.com via Simone on Pinterest]

[Source: Uploaded by user via Simone on Pinterest]

06 July 2012

Loving What I'm Seeing

It was not too long ago that I was bemoaning the constant bickering and fighting going on between siblings in our house.
I mean, it was exhausting having to break up all those arguments, and demoralising too.
Why can't they like each other? Why can't they just get along?
Through rose-tinted specs I would look back at old photos of them in younger days and wonder where they lost their liking for each other. Could we have prevented this loss of loving.... and more importantly, can we ever get it back?
Well.
I don't want to speak too soon.
(In fact I am almost convinced that as soon as I hit *Publish* an argument will erupt just to make a liar of me even though I am in fact writing this late at night and the kids are all sleepy-byebyes.)

But I'm gonna say it anyway...

My kids are getting along.

It's a miracle.
Not without its moments of course, nobody's perfect. But the general atmosphere, the pervading feel in our house has turned from niggly and snipey to kind and helpful.

Now wait a minute.
There's a clue.
On my fridge I have a sticker chart, the goal of which is currently (and has been for some weeks):

BEING KIND AND HELPFUL TO EACH OTHER.

Hmmmm.
Is this actually working?
Writing down a goal in black and white. Tangibly rewarding and verbally praising every kind and helpful action. Could this be truly bringing a shift in attitude between siblings?

Let's examine the facts.

Before the Goal was written up: Kids fighting every day. Big brother extremely self centred and thoughtless. Middle sister annoying and sensitive to being the only girl. Little brother annoying and whingeing to get what he wants.
Atmosphere between siblings: Cold and frosty
Outlook for enjoying the holidays together: Extremely bleak.

Four Weeks Later: First there was The Gobsmacking Incident last week.
Then there was Generosity Extremo. Big brother listens to little brother's cry for Match Attax (trading cards). He doesn't tell him to go away and leave his stuff alone. Instead he goes and gets TWENTY-FIVE of his precious cards and puts them in his one and only TIN and GIVES THEM to his brother. (Reaction = stunned, heart-warmed, gobsmacked again).

In case we think this is a one-off, we present our next Exhibit: The Ninjago Spinner. Big brother overheard little brother admiring a friend's Ninjago on a playdate. He comes home, digs into his Lego collection and presents his brother with a Ninjago of his own to keep. (Heart = brimming over)

Witness the way big brother played scooters with little brother this morning, admiring his "bar spins" on his Lightning McQueen 3-wheeler and not scorning or running down his excitement. Witness the way Big brother played Wii, soccer, basketball with him for hours so I could do my jobs. How he let him hang out with the neighbour scooter boys at the front gate, letting him feel like he was wanted and part of things.

Witness the way Big brother heard his sister say she was thirsty in McD's yesterday, but was too shy to go and ask for an ice-water... Without a word he got up and went to the counter, returning with a cup of water for his sister. (Did you just see that? I nudged hubby. Oh yeah, we did).

Witness the often spontaneous hugs between them, the affirming words and the the absence of the once-endemic meanness.
Just the sound of the now common refrain, "Hey Ab, guess what?" "Hey Josh, guess what?" "Hey guys, guess what?"... where they share with each other the things that tickle them.

So many examples I could list.
Just writing this all out is giving me a sweet case of the goosebumps. Tears are pricking my eyelids.

They are acting like people who actually like each other.
The way brothers and sisters are meant to: as if they are on the same team instead of being each other's worst nightmare.

I love listening to them play Wii or Buzz together, encouraging each others efforts, giving the little one a chance at winning.
I love how when they have friends over somehow it turns into a big group hangout. His friends and her friends and Scrag somewhere in the middle of it all. They're making room for everyone to play, looking out for each other.

Thinking about this some more, I realise that the biggest change has been in the eldest. He is stepping up and taking the lead and it is filtering through to everyone else.
There is a general rush to help out now. Miss Fab helping me plow through a huge pile of dishes, helping cook dinner, making pancakes for everyone. Scrag rushing to wash his hands and knead pizza dough or set the table. Helpfulness and kindness are top of the agenda. Makes for a much nicer place to live, I can tell you.

My kids are pretty darn awesome.
And so is that sticker chart (and all that playing we're doing so much more of).
I can't help it, I am just really enjoying my kids these holidays.

TODAY'S PHOTOS were taken at Henderson Skate Park where Dash and his best bud rode their (customised) MGP's and remembered they were there to have fun not to be try-hards and just look cool and talk hard. We followed this up with Ten Pin Bowling. If you look closely at the score you will see that I got my butt completely whipped. That's me there at the bottom with *gulp* 26 points and endless gutter balls. I tried to put it down to my sore thumb and a lack of guard rails, but even after I started using the kiddy launch ramp, my score didn't improve. I am much better at Wii Bowling than the Real Thing.

......................

PARENTING LESSONS I'M LEARNING THIS YEAR

04 July 2012

Calling All Sisters

There's something special about the way women support each other when they hear of someone struggling.
A new baby, an illness, a death in the family... the meals and baking and offers of help roll in.
Not always, of course.
Often we struggle alone, feeling forgotten, overlooked.
But if a sister hears of our plight, she will usually try to help.

That's what Sophie over at SophieSlim has been doing... trying to help.
She's formed a Sisterhood of women who have sent love to complete strangers; women who have been struggling alone until a sister heard of their plight and nominated them for a Love Bomb.

The first wave of Love Bombs hit women all over the country, accompanied by this note...

[source]

Now Sophie's at it again, moved by emails about the plight of sisters around the country.
I emailed her with a couple of nominations of my own.

And then I thought, Hey, contributing to the Love bomb myself is not enough. I need to put it out there to my Blog Sisters if we're going to help all these women.

So my sisters, would you help The Sisterhood help some struggling sisters?
Would you to join us in Love Bombing our as-yet-unknown sisters?
Let them know they are not alone in their struggles, not forgotten?
(Whether its parenting alone, nursing a terminally ill child, recovering from multiple miscarriages, a burned down house or the death of a child....)

About the Sisterhood:

The Details:
Here's what to do (from Sophie's post)

Sophie's email address is sophieslim@moo2.co.nz
Please email Sophie if you would like to give to any of these ladies
Once emailed she can supply you with either her postal address or bank details
All postage to get your gifts to Sophie is at your own cost
All money donated goes 100% to the recipient in either vouchers or put towards something big we think they might like
If you are stuck for ideas of gifts to send Sophie can always give you a few hints.
You have TWO WEEKS from today to get anything to Sophie. That's the 18th of July.
You can nomiate more ladies to be recipients and depending on donations we would love to include them. The more the merrier (you must "be a sister" to nominate (you have made a donation previously or will be making one in this love bomb))
Simply email Sophie to nominate anyone you think is deserving of a few treats.
Head over to The Sisterhood Facebook Page - Sophie will be sharing photos and updates as things arrive.

[I really hope you'll join us]

♥

03 July 2012

Make an Easy Kids Chef Hat & Apron (Glue Gun Magic)

You could spend a fortune on kitting out little chefs for a Baking Birthday Party.
Or you could make your own using cheap felt and teatowels, with the help of your trusty glue gun.

It's totally up to you. But I know what I'm choosing - and here's how to do it if you haven't got megabucks and aren't handy with a sewing machine...

We'll start with the Chef Hat. I promise this is simple.

YOU WILL NEED:
2 metres of white felt fabric
Glue gun + plenty of glue sticks
Needle and white thread
Sharp scissors
A pencil, some string and a thumb tack
Coloured felt for letter cut-outs (optional)
A child's head

Cut off a strip of felt approximately 12cm wide, and wrap it around the head of the nearest lurking child.
Pin it into a round band as shown and trim off the excess, leaving enough overlap for gluing. Glue gun the overlapping edges and press together firmly.

3. To measure a large circle for the top of the hat, first tie a knot in your string. Put a thumb-tack through the knot and secure it towards one corner of the felt (have cardboard underneath so you don't mark the table)

4. Tie the other end of the string to a pencil; the pin becomes your anchor point for scribing a large circle (the larger your circle the more pooffey your hat)

5. Scribe your circle onto the felt as shown

6. Cut out your circle (perfection is optional)

7. Get your needle and thread and sew a loose running stitch around the edge of the felt, gathering it as you go. Make sure you have the unmarked side of the felt on the inside (this will become the outside of the hat)

8. When you have stitched right the way round, pull the two ends of the thread and even out your gathers.

9. Put your hat band inside your gathered circle and use this to get the tension right in the gathers. Once you are happy, tie off the ends with a double knot and snip the excess (at the moment you are working with the hat inside out)

10. Apply hot glue the the top edge of the hat band in smallish amounts, then press the edges together quickly for maximum stick.

When you have glued all the way around, turn your hat in the right way - Voila! A chef's hat for less than two bucks!

OPTIONAL:Add some colour by cutting out the child's initial in coloured felt and hot-gluing into place.

(At the party, the little chefs can have fun adding bling to their Chef Hats if you can bear for your creation to be desecrated)

Now for the Aprons. No-one would ever guess that this beauty is made with a hot glue gun from a humble teatowel and the annoying straps off our new electric blankets.

The secret to true apronly gorgeousness is using good quality linen tea towels. (I bought a four-pack in a Farmers Sale. Ten Bucks for the pack.)

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:

The next most important thing is the folding. This is key to the success of your operation. It requires precision guesswork. In fact, you might want to have your iron heating up - a pressed seam is easier to keep dead-even. (Or do a practise run on an old teatowel first).

Fold the teatowel in half lengthways. Then fold back one corner of the teatowel, leaving around 10cm square at the top, as shown.

Press the folded seam with the hot iron (or pin in place) and flip your folded teatowel over. Use the already folded corner to be your guide, and fold the other corner at exactly the same angle.

Hot-glue into place; then flip over and repeat. When you open your teatowel out, it should look like this on the back (seam side):

Now we are ready to attach our straps.

Yes, you heard me right that I snipped the long straps off our new electric blankets - they are perfect as apron straps! (I also found some more white cotton strap-stuff in Geoffs Emporium for .6oc per metre.)

Estimate how long your straps need to be and hot-glue them on. I added another layer of glue on top and then folded the excess strap back on itself a few times for extra strength (helps prevent unraveling). Then snip and do the next bit.

I think it took me all of five minutes to make this apron. Honest. No measuring, no sewing, no trimming (unless you count snipping the straps). Too easy. And too cute.

Phew. one down, three more to make in time for Saturday's Brilliant Baking Birthday (with special guest all the way from China - wahoo!)

More Baking Birthday Stuff

02 July 2012

Best in Blog - Link Up the Best of YOU

I love spontaneity.
Last minute plans give me no time to sweat the details, or overthink things.
Things like What will I wear to the Ball?
When hubby says to me Friday morning 8am, "Hey babe you wanna go to that Ball they've got on tonight?" (The NineteenTwenties Ball that normal people have spent months planning an outfit for).

I hadn't even considered going. We used to always go the Church Ball, but these days... not so much.
Meh, I said, shrugging. I was looking forward to a cosy night in by the fire, boring ole fart that I am.
"Come on Babe, we haven't been out in months.... how bout it?"
Hmm. He has a point. We need some fun, and the fire will still be there tomorrow night.
And hey, if hubby reckons he can get a babysitter at such short notice, who am I to turn down a glamorous night out?

Hubby got a babysitter. Of course he did.
And I've got nothing to wear. Eek!
Oh Cinderella, you shall go to the Ball! All you need is a Fairy Godmother...
I know just who to call.

My friend Justine is a fashion whizz.
I just know that if anyone can help me put together an outfit at such late notice, it will be her.
And she does, from lending me her daughter's headband, jewellery and sequins, to coming by and doing my makeup. She even snapped some photos of us before we headed out.
Thankyou, Fairy Godmother, I couldn't have done it without you.

Best of Me from Last Week
Last week one of my blog tips posts got featured on SITS, and suddenly I had an influx of new followers (hey girls!) who all came looking for my Social Media Buttons.
I've been working some more on the collections, added some new styles and new buttons for other "social media", so if you have a random collection of Facebook widgets, Pinterest and twitter icons and no way for people to email you or find you on Google Plus... go grab yourself some cool buttons and tidy up your sidebar. They're super-easy to use and cute too, I promise.

While I was at it I updated some of my other blogging how-to posts which had become defunct once Blogger changed it's behind-the-scenes layout.
I paid particular attention to my post on Using Pages - you might want to check it out (it's way better now).

If you're one of those who are new to my Blog and are just joining this linky for the first time, visit my updated Start Here page (oh, and Welcome!)

{In case you missed it, my absolute best post last week was "Grateful and Gobsmacked" and I swear every word is true.}

And finally, one of my Best Blog-moments last week was receiving this sweet comment which just made my day to say the least:

Hi, i haven't commented on any of your posts yet, but I guess I will from now. Your blog is among the most favourites of mine. If it's a hard day - I read your new blog entry first, so that it won't be missed if I'd fell asleep while checking unread posts. If I have plenty of time - I leave it to the end, like the cherry on top of cake. "Scrags guide to making girls scream" is awesome - couldn't remember when was the last time i'd burst into laughter tears, nearly woke up my kid. Then i came across the older one - "Scrags guide to getting attention" :) this one is superb! I'm also going through that toddler phase right now so i especially enjoyed it. Keep on, Simoney, you have a wonderful sense of humor and a talent to write. And a lovely family. Good luck! Best wishes from Lithuania. Laura

Isn't that lovely? Talk about warming my heart. Thankyou Lithuania Laura!

Best of You from Last Week

Last week's linky included a wide variety of posts and a bunch of new linkers...

One of my favs was Vegemite Vix's story about her Mum and the Boy Racers - made me laugh out loud.
I also loved Sarah from Catching the Magic's feel-good post about a day that could have gone badly, but somehow didn't. It was full of delicious photos, and was rather goosebump-inducing.
And one of my favourite bloggers (and people) also had me drooling over her magic snaps - Delissimon. Miss you Mon! Drove past your old house last week and wished you were still there so i could drop in for a cuppa.

How to join in with my "Best in Blog" linky.
The "Best in Blog" Linky opens at 7am every Monday (NZ time*) and closes midnight Friday.
You don't have to write a special post, or take a photo on a theme or anything that requires extra work...
All you have to do is pick your favourite post from the past week (the one you are most proud of) and share it with us. I will feature my favourites on next week's Best in Blog.

Just one thing you need to do before you link up... Can you please dress your post with this pretty button I've made so your readers can find our linky too?

Thankyou kindly!

(Oh, and please leave us a comment telling us why you picked this one... even if it was because it was your only one, hahaha!)

*For some of you US readers, that will be sometime on Sunday!