Just Like Martha

Afternoon tea yummies

We enjoyed a yummy afternoon tea last weekend to celebrate Mothers Day. Years ago my grandmother left me a special teaset which she brought with her when she arrived from England...I took the colours of pink and green from this special collection and a 'theme' evolved...

Some of the food I made and some I bought (after all it was "mothers" day), even made a trip to Adrian Zumbo's in Manly for some pink and green (themed of course) macarons...they were delicious!

I gathered up some 'paint chips' (anyone that follows my blog will know that I often use these in card making and other crafts - love their versitility).

I was happy how the table came together, lots of nice yummy treats to taste and share...

Apart from the "Zumbo" macaroons, we sampled baby bannana cupcakes, coconut slice, almond slice, melting moments, Taylors 'famous' scones jam and cream (she is sooo good at making scones), tiny lemon meringue tartlets and these 'newbies' thatre now a firm favourite..deconstructed ginger and salted caramel spoons...a delicious combination of ginger crumbs with sticky caramel topping and a sprinkle of salt flakes...Hmmm delicious and oh so easy!

Mothers Day was wonderful...the day began with breakfast (the girls had been up early and walked to our local baker walking in with 'hot' croissants and pastries (just like being back in Europe)... I was very spoilt...check out the home made cards...

LOL...dont you love the one that says "I heart U that's why I am never moving out"..

Back soon with THRIFTY THURSDAY, wait 'til you see what I found!!

Birhday party Sleepover

Last weekend Lilly celebrated her 13th Birthday with a sleepover party. She invited a couple of special friends and they planned to "dress up" and take lots of fun photos then just "chill" and giggle over a few girly movies...the perfect party plan.

First up 'invitations'....

Then we planned the PHOTO BOOTH, a few fun 'props' to pose with and a plain sheet and we had the perfect place to create lovely memories...

Next on my list for 'party planning' was food! The girls enjoyed healthy home made pizzas on our outdoor pizza oven for dinner but I think it was dessert they were really waiting for.....

The cake of course was the favourite, lots of oohs and aahhs when it was cut (gotta love Martha Stewart's rainbow cake)

Love the new little milk bottles filled with srawberry milk...and the 'marshmallow stacks' were a real hit too!

Way too much neopolitan icecream was consumed...with loads of sprinkles, yum!

And to finish off a selection of favourite lollies (there was a movie to watch after all)

The girls 'party favour' bag (the one I forgot to take a photo of) included these cute sleep shorts and a few other goodies...

The party was a hailed a huge success! What I loved more than anything was seeing a lovely bunch of 13 year old girls having some good old fashioned fun!

A new Year and a new TOY

Slowly starting to feel better, hopefully the second script of antibiotics has kicked in! Its probably a good thing that I have not felt well and have stayed away from the shops and all those amazing sales! Hmmm... well we did manage a visit to David Jones late last week and with the help of some vouchers and nifty price-matching look what follwed me home...

Oooooh yes thats right, its a bright and shiny, brand new, almond cream ARTISAN KITCHEN AID and its all mine, I can hardly contain myself. I have wanted one of these babies for such a long time...sick or not the next day I set about to make my first creation.....

A delicious sponge cake from Donna Hay ("A Cooks Guide")...since then we have also created yummy caramel ice cream and yesterday Taylor created some heavenly slices that sadly disappeared before we had the chance to take a photo!

Did I mentin I am LOVING my new toy? I feel very grown up and almost 'Martha like'! Look forward to sharing more goodness with you as I 'play'!

 

 

 

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well at our house anyway!

We are well on the way to finish our Christmas preparations before we head off on holidays (not too many sleeps to go its sooo exciting!). I feel like this year I have even beaten the mad retail infiltration (or is it that Halloween is now such a big thing that the shops WAIT until after October 31 to put up their Christmas displays???)

Last school holidays Lilly and I had a production line making our Christmas cards...

They are now ready to post complete with 'annual newsy update' and 'cute Chrsitmas pic' !

The girls have organised their presents for their friends, this year we opted for simple lolly bags, I found these great slim cello bags on ebay and had some fun....

Red and green M&M's for some.....and

Red Jaffa's for the others...pretty cool huh!

These cute little Snowman chocolates from Aldi also look great presented in a little organza bag....

So there you have it, it IS starting to look a lot like Christmas and to make it feel even more like the start of the 'silly season' tonight we attended our first Christmas carol singing evening at the school!!!!

Now amongst close friends I am known as "Martha" so craftiness and organisation go hand in hand BUT for those of you reading who are a little scared or repulsed by the mere thought of having your Christmas cards written and ready to send in mid November enjoy this next picture.....

Yes chaos reigns....I know our dining table is under there somewhere!

Back tomorrow with more 'pretty pics' and some great gift wrapping ideas!

Byefor now x

Crafty Catch-up

The days and weeks are flying by way too fast, the countdown has begun not only for Christmas but also our holiday at the end of November...yippee!

Its been a long time between posts so I thought I'd post all the "crafty stuff" I have been up to in amongst all the day to day happenings!

First up some cards...

Now that Anne has received her Birthday card (finally it was late -oops!) I can share a photo...

I went to a neice's Baby Shower last weekend, we were asked to 'bring a book' to start a bubba library, what a great idea...never too young to start a love of reading! I searched and searched the op shops and second hand book stores for some preloved, original Golden Books...you know the ones, "Scruffy the Tugboat" , "Pokey Puppy" and so on. Sadly the ones I found were not in terrific condition so it was of to the local Big W to buy some new ones...combined with a home made toy my baby shower gift was wrapped and ready to go!

These are simple but effecive toys for babies, I always like to fill them not only with soft wadding but perhaps a bell and 'scrunchy' plastic so it becomes sensory.

Presents wrapped and ready to give...

Hmmm have I mentioned I am loving giving gifts in 'bags' at the moment....its a great way of co-ordinating the wrapping and the gift tag...after all it IS all about the presentation!!!

I borrowed a buddies CRICUT machine the othe day (yes Jane I still have it!) we haven't caught up for me to return it (that's my excuse anyway) so I have been making the most of it!

Lastly a 'baby on the way' and a new little one to spoil....I searched around for a few ideas and finally decided to make my own 'blanket'. I purchased a metre of fleece along with some cotton fabrc and simply sewed them together them inside out and finishing with hand stitch. The result simple, but effective baby blankets.

This blue/green combination might just brighten up the ward where our brave little Jack continues his battle, he is now over 2kg!! Way to go there little man!

And a 'neutral' tone blanket for a 'yet to be born' bubby, due just before we head overseas...together with some warm flannel pj's (for next winter) and a cute rattle I think it makes a lovely gift?

So there you have it, I have been slack at blogging but busy crafting!!!

Dessert Anyone????

Inspired by the Spring Styling Workshop I attended a few weeks ago a recent "drinks evening" hosted at our place just had to have a dessert buffet! All the guests bought a 'savoury' plate to share and I organised lots of yummy dessert type treats for later in the evening.

The table began with beautiful spring flowers (which gave me an excuse to head to the flower markets early - yay!) and I added mini Lemon Meringue pies, homemade Rocky Road, Chocolate Mousse in tiny chocolate cups, Creme Brulee and Cheesecakes (thanks Jacki for the tip), Strawberry & goats cheese tartlets and an assortment of lollies and tiny cookies.

 

I was thrilled with the way it turned out and there was nothing much left at the end of the night so I think it was a HUGE success, I will definitely be creating more of these!

 

Some inspiration....

A few weeks ago I attended a seminar which was held in the beautiful home of Leanne. When I signed up for the event I wasn't really sure what to expect, well I was 'blown away' and my head was spinning when I left with all sorts of ideas I couldn't wait to put into action.

First up was Jacki from Blissfully Sweet Cakes who is not only an amazing cake decorator but a wonderful 'hostess' (she describes herself as being halfway between Donna Hay and Nigella Lawson)...we learned lots of tricks and clever tips on hosting guests as well as some clever ways to serve some old favourite foods at your next party.

 
 
Next up was the talented Jo from Show Pony who wooed us with her collection of wonderful storyboards and talked to us about using colour in our homes to invigorate your space (I tell you was hard not to pop on in to Bunnings on the way home and grab some paint - very inspiring Jo)

 
 
Love, love her little 'display collection' of goodies....turned a empty cormer into a warm and inviting space. 

 

Finally it was Leanne's time to share....dessert tables, candy bars, sweet trolleys, whatever you want to call them have beacome VERY poular recently. Thanks to the likes of the very famous Amy Atlas we have bee exposed to a whole new world of entertaining....Leanne from Sweet Style does it with style and elgegance.

 
 
 
 

And check out this adorable "spring themed" cake that Jacki made for Leanne's display...

 

You can see why my head was spinning when I left, three hours of 'inspiration overload'. I have had the oportunity since to experiment and play with some of the ideas so pop back later and I'll share what I managed to create.

Christmas treats in July

Yes, I know its already August (pinch and a punch and all that), but we celebrated "Christmas in July" with dear friends last Saturday night. I offered to bring all the Christmas chocolate treats that I make every year.....

 

We had a lovely night, great food, great company, even Christmas decorations and Gluwien made an appearance...my chocolate treats were also a hit!

 

Happy Christmas in July (posted in August!) xx

 

Chocolates and Treats - all wrapped and ready to go!

A friend of mine has an open house every few months with her business called "Shoperfrolics" ....must say popping into a lovely home filled with lots of goodies for sale is a wonderful way to shop! She asked me to package up some of my yummy treats and chocolates to sell...

 

Its all about the packaging and I LOVE to package up my treats, this time I opted for a more vintage feel using white boxes as my base...what do you think?

 
 
 

I am loving my "repurposed" Op Shop finds...more on that next week!

This morning I thought we were in for a change in weather, it has been chilly and wet here in Sydney for most of the week..but alas,more rain today....fingers corssed it clears for the weekend. Enjoy xx

Been Busy Crafting!

 
Its been cold and chilly here in Sydney for the past few days and like a lot of Sydneysiders I have been 'cold struck', sniffling and coughing my way thru the past few days. In an effort to recover in time for our long weekend I took some sick leave today, rugged up and treated myself to some crafting (after all a girl has got to feel better somehow). Turn out it was just what the doctor ordered!

 

 

 

And some presents are now all wrapped and ready to go...

 

 
 
After all the card making I even managed to catch up on a few taped episodes of my favourite Nate and do some knitting....just in time for my girlfriends Birthday.

 

Well I have to say I don't make a very good patient, I hate being sick....but, I did enjoy my day of 'rest' and crafting! All ready now for the long weekend...and a little trip....more on that later!