Happy 60th Smurfday Party!

My gorgeous dad is about to turn 60!! That's a pretty good milestone and a great excuse to celebrate don't ya think?
What would he LOVE to do for his 60th birthday? hang out with and be surrounded by his family. So just last weekend my parents, sisters, brother and all of our families headed away for a weekend at Bilpin Springs Lodge in the NSW Blue Mountains. It was stunning and the perfect winter escape for us all to catch up, laugh, eat, play and celebrate!
Between petting the horse, pony & alpaca, collecting the eggs from the chooks, bushwalking, paddling in kayaks & playing in the games room we managed to come up with the excuse of no milk left to get my dad to head to the shop so we could set up his little party.
For a little bit of background here, my dad is called Papa by his 11 grandchildren so when mum asked me to "put a little something together for his birthday" I had the idea of a Papa Smurf theme and ran with it....
Quickly we set up one of the rooms at the lodge with balloons, bunting, food, decorations, drinks, cake and games. Then when dad returned from the shop with more milk he was sent to his room with a mysterious bag of clothes and given the instructions to put it on and wait for a knock on his door.

I had put together a Papa Smurf outfit from some red ski pants I found on sale a few weeks ago, a long sleeved blue top and a red Papa Smurf hat I had made from felt. I also made the rest of the family (that's 9 adults, 9 kids and 2 babies) a white Smurf hat and the girls each a Smurfette dress. Everyone else was to wear all blue with white shorts/pants/skirt.

Once everyone was dressed two of the kids went and collected Papa Smurf from his room and bought him to the party to be Smurfprised!!

Party time!! Most of the blue and red party supplies including the balloons, cupcake cases (I used for the popcorn), serviettes, straws, wooden cutlery etc were from Occasion By Design. The striped milk bottles, blue cupcake stand, cake platter stand, table cloth, trays, buckets etc I had in my collection already.

For food I made mushroom shaped butter cookies and some gluten and dairy free snicker doodles, blue jelly, popcorn, strawberries, juice, the birthday boy's fav dessert banana caramel pie and the cake which I had made blue and red to tie in. The little Papa Smurf ontop of the cake I found on eBay and I made the mini bunting.
The amazing macarons need a mention all on their own! I emailed the ever so lovely Sherelyn from Her Macarons to ask if she would maybe, just maybe, attempt some Smurf shaped macarons for me. I thought I was dreaming, but when I popped past to pick up my order I nearly screamed - Sherelyn had created to coolest and most perfect set of Papa Smurf yummies!

Seriously how cool are they?!? I almost didn't want to eat them but not only did they look fantastic on our table they were delicious too!!

Now, what is a party without a few games? (especially with all of Papa Smurf's grandchildren to entertain!) I made a Pin the Tail on Papa game with cardboard and a blue pompom, Pass the parcel with the final gift inside (A Papa Smurf Jibbet) marked so it was given to Papa Smurf himself and we also had a Piñata! The piñata wasn't Smurf themed (who could whack a Smurf until lollies fell out anyway LOL) but the custom made ambulance from The Helium House was perfect none the less as my dad is a Paramedic.

Notice the 'Papa 60' number plate

After we all had a bash of the piñata it was time to sing happy birthday and cut the cake. It's safe to say we all had a laugh and made a few more memories but most importantly celebrated the birthday of one amazing man. Happy birthday Dad xxx

Skiing themed 40th birthday party - decorations!

With hubby's Ski themed party (read THIS post) being at a restaurant we are limited in what we can do for decorations. Never fear though - there is always something we can come up with.
I scoured etsy and eBay for ski inspired things and have a small collection of things that we plan to scatter on the tables for the night.


A handful of these little skier figurines


A splash of some vintage ski cloth patches


A pair of hubby's old ski boots (which will also serve a duel purpose - more on that later)


and these little blue ski's that were hubby's first ever pair as a little boy

All mixed with some very cool bits and pieces designed by Cake Ink. to match the invites (Again, I'll show you those later) and the tables will be themed just right on the night!
Any other ideas you have?? Have you seen something that would be perfect??

Butterfly Party - Number Wreath!

If you have been a long time reader here you'll know I like a good wreath or similar hanging on the front door to welcome guests. Remember my Rainbow Ribbon Wreath, Thong Wreath from Australia Day, Halloween Wreath and the Soccer flag I made for Harris' last b'day?... For Milla's Butterfly Party in a few weeks I wanted something fun, butterfly-ish but also really like the idea of the Number Wreaths I've seen around - so with my hot glue gun at the ready I got crafting.


Onto an old cardboard box I free hand drew the number 4. I then cut it out and used it as my template to cut out another four the same and hot glued them all together just to make it nice and strong.



Then did the same again onto scrapbooking paper in a colour to match the party and glued it to the top of the number (if you were keen you could go around and put paper on all the sides too but I figure no one will see there so I didn't bother)


Once that was all dry I took my three sizes of butterfly cut outs I had left over from the other little projects from this party and folded them all in half down the body so the wings look like they are fluttering. Starting with the largest size paper butterflies I hot glue gunned just the body (let the wings stand) sporadically all over the number.


Next I took my middle sized paper butterflies and glued away.


Then lastly filled in all the little gaps with my tiny paper butterflies.



With a ribbon attached to the back it's all ready to hang - Yay!

Happy Halloween!

Our house is all decorated - bats, a flying witch, a HUGE spider, spiders web, my DIY wreath, a carved pumpkin we named Jacqueline and of course some Halloween Giggleberry bunting all have their spot - What do you think?




And over the weekend Milla and I put together our lollie packs for any Trick or Treaters that knock on our door tomorrow night. With THESE super cool printables from Happy Bug Digital, some bags from Pack It In and a bulk order of green jelly beans we have a selection of 'Witch Warts', 'Sinister Sweets', 'Poison Pills' & 'Creepy Candy' to hand out! Yay!


Happy Halloween xx

Halloween Wreath DIY

I am a lover of Halloween! I wish Australia embraced it more and we decorated our homes etc just like the all out awesomeness you see in the US! Hubby and I were in the States the week before Halloween in 2007 and I could have just driven around the streets all day looking at the homes covered in webs, grave yards in the front lawns, fake witches & ghosts flying over roof tops & orange pumpkins everywhere!!


Last year I carved my first pumpkin and it sat on our door step for Halloween but this year I want to do a little more to make the house look spooky fun!

With the help of trusty (and addictive) Pinterest I spotted a few wreath options but this one caught my eye the most - seriously how cute and fun is that! Originally from Better Homes and Gardens HERE this wreath is just too easy to not make one... so I did!

I made mine a little different to the Better Homes and Gardens instructions but just as easy and still as cute, I think :)


With just a wire coat hanger wrapped in two black feather boas I had the base wreath done. Then with a pack of 6 ping pong balls and some googly eyes I hot glue gunned on the eye balls (I think it could do with some more, maybe in a smaller size?) then add a orange and black ribbon bow and you're done - Easy!


My delivery guy will have a giggle when he knocks on my door in October!

{BRAND NEW} Ric Rac Halloween Bunting!!

Just listed in Giggleberry's Etsy shop are our brand new Ric Rac Halloween Buntings!!


Hand made to order every Ric Rac Halloween Bunting is professionally finished with double sided flags sewn into quality grosgrain ric rac ribbon to add a touch of fun and spookiness to your decorating this year!
Just like the original Giggleberry bunting banners, that are loved world wide, these banners look great in so many spots. Hang your Ric Rac Halloween Bunting above the candy buffet at your Halloween party and make an impact!

Order yours now by purchasing the listing HERE to be sure you have it in time for Halloween!

Christmas with the Giggleberry's

We had a ball decorating our house for Christmas the other day - one of those fun family activities, you just have to pull the camera out for...




Last year we bought a brand new tree and I decided that we needed a new colour palette for our decorations so we went with silver, black and white.


This year I have added a few decorations in this colour theme like our GORGEOUS & persoanlised handmade 'Jingle Sox' - I LOVE them!



I have also made some Merry Christmas bunting that is hanging outside our home and some matching blank flag bunting for inside.


As well as some ribbon garland with black white and silver festive ribbons.


My mum made this for us and it arrived about 2 days before we decorated! There is a gingerbread person for each member of our family - cute!



Are you finished decorating?..... I think we need some fairy lights on the front of our house...

What colour scheme does your house take on over Christmas?