Trick or Treat!

Halloween 2012 is now all packed away safely for another year but just ask Milla or Harris about it and they'll have you know it was LOTS of fun!
We decorated our house again this year with a few changes from last year and added a bunch of orange, grey and black bunting. The neighbours all followed suite with a few skeletons, jack-o-lanterns and witches popping up over the past few weeks on our street!

There was lots of excitement yesterday afternoon when the kids cousins, all dressed up with buckets in hand, joined us for Trick or Treating!!

Batman, a mummy, a butterfly, a princess, a witch and Darth Vader happily went from house to house knocking on spooky doors and collecting treats - our cousins who had never done this before were AMAZED at what they got!!

We handed out over 50 ghost lollipops to other trick or treaters and had people coming to our place to pose infront of and take pics of our house!! I can see Halloween getting bigger and bigger each year and we are loving it!!

Now I wonder how long we can make the treat stash last???

Chalk Drawing Photos

I am always taking photos. Seriously, I have my camera or iPhone at the ready almost all the time ready to snap a fun or silly or lovely or precious or pointless moment. 9 times out of 10 the subject matter is my children. What can I say - I think my kids are rather fabulous (biased much?) and I adore having snaps of time caught that I can share with grandparents, family and friends.
So when I saw the idea of using simple chalk to create a fun backdrop or prop for a unique photo opportunity I knew I had to have a go.

This is a GREAT activity to do with your little ones. My kids love drawing and colouring in the 'picture' before they jump right in for me to snap away. Milla, who is 4 and a bit of a Disney fan, tells me "it's just like Mary Poppins when she jumps into the picture"... awwwwww
The above pic is one we created to use for Milla's butterfly party invites and below are some other we set up while I was babysitting my niece and nephew a few weeks ago

I was then convinced by my niece that it was my turn to be in a photo rather than take them all so we came up with this bunting inspired one... LOL

The limit to these super fun pics is only your imagination... Have a play with some chalk and your kiddies and be sure to share what your come up with!

Whale Spout Pic SOURCE, Swimming In The Ocean Pic SOURCE, Umbrella Rain & Rainbow Pic SOURCE, Surfing Girl Pic SOURCE, the other pics I found on Pinterest but they had broken links - please let me know if they are your images and I will credit you :)

Firefighter Party - Favours!

I like the idea of including a little favour for the party guests into the party set up or game. For example I used soccer jersey bottle cozies HERE and butterfly nets HERE that were part of the event but then one each went home with the kids. So my thinking cap went on and I did a google search to look for something I could use for Harris' Firefighter party that is coming up. I had spotted THESE very cool and unique fire hydrant drink bottles used in a few parties in the US and was struggling to find them n Australia until one random search hit the jackpot! I quickly put in my order from Shoalhaven Kids Parties and had them just a few days later - perfect!


With the addition of a name tag on each of them they will look fabulous on the table but then will be a great take home gift for all the kids.
But wait, there's more! Remember I mentioned that Harris happens to have some real firefighters in the family? Of course I couldn't miss the opportunity to ask for some favour bag help. Now each child will also take home a balloon, tattoo and magnet all with the emergency 000 number on them. Plus a firefighter themed pencil and hose party blower all in a Fire Chief party bag.


I really like how the bag has a good amount of things in it and isn't stuffed full of sweets but I couldn't resist adding one lollie to the mix when I found THESE very cool fire extinguisher spray candies!


I think the kids will be pretty chuffed with their stash!

Butterfly Party Pics!

Afternoon tea was a yummy selection of treats with labels from Occasion By Design.




How ca-ute is my glass drink dispenser from Shoppe With Lily! - LOVE it!





We had all kinds of butterflies fluttering for decoration including some very sweet paper ones from Coco & Chloe



Remember I told you I had made bunting for the party but it would be used in a more 'un-traditional' way??... Anyone for a game of Butterfly Badminton? With a bunting banner net, butterfly net bats and balloons for balls all the kids (big and small) had a play!



We had a few laughs with a butterfly Pinata too (that's me in the white shirt freaking out about getting hit with the bat!)


Happy Birthday was sung to the birthday girl before she blew out the candle on her butterfly cake and she tells me that she had 'the best party ever!'


Happy Birthday Miss Milla, we love you LOTS!

Butterfly Party - Food table!

The party is this Saturday - yay! Finally I get to put all the butterfly goodies, that are piling up in my sewing room, together and enjoy! With just a few days to go it's time to start getting serious about party food. As I mentioned before this party is just afternoon tea so no major operation has to happen to get everyone fed an entire meal but a selection of fun party food is a must I think.
There are party food favourites that can be tweaked a little to tie in with the butterfly theme. Starting with good old Fairy Bread. Make it as usual then using a butterfly shaped cookie cutter cut out a shape and add a must stick down the centre - easy!


And what about coloured popcorn? it's always a hit with kids so I just needed a fun butterfly way to serve it. With some basic clear plastic cups and a butterfly cupcake wrapper placed inside the kids have a little serve of fun popcorn that looks good too.


I'm also thinking I could make a bundle of THESE simple but cute butterfly cookies.


There are a few other sweet treats I will put together on Friday that will complete the afternoon tea menu.
For 'dressing' the table I have made a table skirt from the butterfly fabric the theme & colour choice.


Then the table top with have a selection of white platters (a little trick I have learnt along my party planning loving way is to use scrap booking paper in the colour/theme/pattern of your theme, between your platters and food. It gives the table a nice cohesive look & is super easy!). I also have a set of these cute butterfly dishes in white from Pink Frosting that will hold a selection of treats to munch.


Juice & water will be available for the kids to drink and I will get to use my new glass drink dispenser from Lily Chis Events (yay). All the food will have custom made labels thanks to Occasion By Design.


To make life easy for the end of the party I have gone for just serviettes for eating - it's all little finger food anyway and have also a bunch of the matching paper cups. I chose these ones as they match the theme and colours the best.

Then there is, of course, the cake! Yes, it will be a butterfly and yes, it was chosen by the birthday girl - I'll leave it a surprise for now but your clue is: It's from one of the Australian Women's Weekly kids cake books.....

Butterfly Party - Bunting!

Yep - if it's a Giggleberry family party of any sort you'll find some bunting around :)
Just last week I finished the bunting for Milla's butterfly party. Using the fabric that started the whole theme and colour inspiration in the first place: 'Kumari Garden Sacha Pink'


matched with some 'Kumari Garden Marala Pink' fabric I'm pretty please with the result.




I have plans for this bunting that isn't the 'traditional' way of using bunting - but I'll leave that as a little surprise.