Baby Shower Decorations

Hello!
So I am finally sharing the Baby shower decorations.
I won't share the photos from the actual baby shower, I am sure there are those who wouldn't be happy about appearing on my blog! So I will just share the decorations and baking I did.

These were the decorations above the food table. (except the chandelier, that normally hangs there! :)

Cheap and easy decorations : paper pinwheels made from catalogs, tissue paper pompoms, paper chains, and doily garlands (the doily's I painted, waited to dry, glued and then folded in half over the string.)

Here is a close-up.

My friend liked them all so much that she took them ALL home to use as decoration in her baby's room-some she was going to hang above the cot. I was so touched to know all my hard work was so appreciated and will continue to bring joy!

Here is a picture of the food table. You can't see it clearly, but in front of the table I hung a material bunting which I also gave to her. The idea was to make a few things the guest of honor could take home after I had finished the party.

The cake. It had 4 layers. I am hopeless at ice-decorating and icing, but anyway...I tried!
I made a vanilla sponge cake, the top layer I colored green! (looked a bit strange!) Green icing and some little blue roses to go on top and finally a little bunting made from paper to top it off. (which i made too)

Here you can see the top of the cake a bit better.

And a slice of cake....

My cupcakes. Light blue icing. And the little flags I made to go on top.

I wasn't completely satisfied with my poor attempt to ice them...but anyway!

Some pinwheels and paper flowers for decorations.

I made some craft paper mustaches and lips just for fun! We had a lot of fun with these, everyone was quite game and I got some hilarious shots.

I took one of me so you can see how funny they look! This one is a beard.

And that is it! I am giving another baby shower in January. So looking forward to that.

By the way, the Baby shower bingo game worked really well and everyone really enjoyed it! I printed out some sheets and gave everyone a pencil. Then I gave everyone a chance to fill out their sheets with gifts they thought she would get. Once everyone had done that, I called out random words from a list such as this one.
When the first person to have all 5 words in a row-horizontally, vertically or diagonally called out "Bingo!", the game was over and they won a prize.

Next time I will get everyone to cross off their sheet as she opens the gifts though.

Everybody liked their thank you gift and over all it was a success!

Thanks for stopping by!

Second baby blanket {crochet}

Hi there...
December? Really? When did that happen?

The baby shower was a great success! It was my first time to host one and I must say, I really enjoyed it. I think, having children myself and knowing how much they cost a person, really just makes me so happy for her , knowing, in a small way whatever she got will be a good start to the huge expenses soon to follow!

I will share some decorations etc in a day or two, but for now I wanted to share the blanket I crocheted for her baby. This was really a trial-and-error blanket and next time I know what NOT to do!

Firstly I started making the summer burst granny blocks like I did for this blanket.
I guess I got bored (guilty as charged) and thought I would go with my own ideas! *big mistake*
So then I made some large squares and joined all the blocks together using this technique from Lucy, which I must say I rather like!

I like the fact the blanket seems more compact this way. So after having done that I decided to be "clever" and started on a border going around and around until I had reached the desired size. Mistake number two: I was merrily crocheting along, and had done about 8 rows before I realized the blanket just wasn't sitting right! It seemed to be rather bulky in the center and wasn't hanging nicely when I held it up. I then did some "googling" and realized I had been forgetting to increase the stitches at each corner to make a "corner" just you do in a granny block. (silly, silly me!!)

After plenty of sighing and kicking myself on the butt, I decided NOT to unpick all 8 rows and just hope and prayer that If I now proceeded with the right pattern, it would magically come right. So I did another 5 rows of double crochet using the correct pattern. I then steam-ironed the blanket and stretched it a bit whilst ironing it and it came out okay. Not brilliant, not perfect, not 100% straight, but okay. It has character!

I am glad she liked it! I cannot wait to give my second baby shower and the first baby blanket I made to the other friend of mine in January.

And for now my little hook must rest...

Pin It

Filling the paper cones

Hello there!
Remember this tutorial here....

I thought I would show you what I filled them with and the result after they are sewn shut!

The goodies....

First in went the chocolate peanuts and then the candy coated peanuts...

The finished,sewn cone...

And there you go! The scent of those chocolate covered peanuts is wafting around in my study driving me insane, making me want to rip open the bags and devour them!!!

{Tutorial} Easy Cupcake Toppers

Hi there!
It's been a while since I posted...been frantically making decorations for the baby shower for Saturday.

I thought I would share this very easy little tutorial. If you are anything like me, you love to have an excuse to make every last decoration rather than buy it. Not only does it save money but it's fun too!

So Instead of buying pre made icing decorations to go on the cupcakes I'll be baking, I made these little flag toppers.

what you need:
toothpicks
double sided tape
craft knife
ruler
scissors
punch

step one

I used a sheet of 15cmx15cm card stock paper. (like for scrap booking). I then cut the sheet into strips of about half an inch.

step two:

Then cut each strip in half.
Fold each strip so that the sides you want to show are at the front and back.
I do this with all the paper first. Making a pile of strips.

step three:

Now with your craft knife, cut a little V-shape into each strip at the open side.
Do this with all your folded strips.

step four:

now place a piece of double sided tape on the inside of each folded strip.

step five:

Now remove the double sided tape and place your toothpick in the middle of the fold, making sure the top of the toothpick is not sticking up at the top.

step six:

punch out your mini butterfly (or punch of your choice) and attach with a small piece of double sided tape in the center. Fold up the sides of the butterfly.

Your mini cupcake topper is finished!

I will be sure to show you the finished cupcakes next week!
I hope you enjoyed this easy tutorial.
The little toothpick flags can also be used on scrap booking pages and cards.

Music Sheet Favor cones {Tutorial}

Hi there!

First I have to tell some exciting news!! I got a spot on the Ruche blog!! My Paris travel photos
made it on there...
So exciting! You can read how to become part of the Ruche family (with super benefits) here.

As promised here is the tutorial for these super-quick and easy (but pretty) favor cones.

All you need for this tutorial is:
*scissors
*double sided tape
*stapler
*newspaper or music sheets (I used pages from a vintage book)
*doileys
*a clear acrylic stamp and acrylic block
*ink pad

okay let's get started...

step 1:

The sheet of paper you use should be a rectangle shape. So along the length, fold the paper towards you, making sure you get the pointy shape in the corner. Don't press the fold, sort of roll it towards to, you only need to press it down in the corner. Roll it towards you over again about 3 times.

step 2:
Once you have the cone shape, you can know staple the bottom.

Step 3:
Place a piece of double sided tape along the edge to secure the edge to the cone.

Here you can see it all secured.

step 4:
Next take you acrylic stamp and attach it to your block, ink it and stamp your small doily. If you are making large quantities, it's a a good idea to get a little assembly line going. I first do all the sheets, then I stamp all the doilys etc.

step 5:

Next I attach a piece of double sided tape in the middle of the doily at the back.

step 6:

And then finally attach the doily to the cone. I like to attach it along the "seam" of the cone, to help hide it.

All you need to do now is fill it with your favor treats. I like to fill mine with candy-coated peanuts. Make sure to leave about 2cm space at the top so that you can fold the "flap" down and secure it in place. I like to sew my flap with the machine and you can even embellish it further with a bit of ruffled crepe paper or a ribbon.

I made close to 4o of these for a baby shower.

Weekend activities

I trust you had a lovely weekend!

Weather wise, ours was quite strange.
Saturday we had a boiling hot day of over 30 degrees 'C.
Sunday was cooler and it rained.
Chalk and cheese.

One minute summer is here and the next it's not and I am wondering if it's ever going to come and just stay!

Saturday my daughter and I made cupcakes.
I am hosting my first baby shower next Saturday and another one in January!

A lot of planning, list-making, crafting and organizing going on around here!

So I was trying out cupcake recipes and different icing decorations. I still need more work in the icing department, I can't say I am any good at it or have much experience icing anything, never mind cupcakes! But with close to 40 guests I can't afford to have professional ones made, so everything must be home-made as far as possible, from the food right down to the decorations.
I enjoy it though, the invites have gone out (forgot to take photos of them! ) and the decorations have started!

With a million and one ideas running through my head, I am trying to reign them in otherwise I might end up over doing it!

The only thing I am struggling with is baby shower games. I don't want anything that's embarrassing, anything that is gross (like guess the what the baby ate by the poo in the nappy- yes, I read there really is a game like that!)or crude. Just decent, enjoyable games for everyone. I will have ladies ranging from 20 to 80 there, so it has to be things they can all enjoy.

Any ideas?

Be sure to pop in tomorrow for a easy-peesy favor tutorial

Crochet bag and shoes.

Hello there! It's done!
I finished the bag I was working on! Did you guess that's what it was? I know one of you did!

The pattern I got from Lucy at Attic24.
It seemed quite complicated but I think it turned out well. Next time, though, I will use a double knit or a chunky yarn. The bag turned out more "floppy" than I anticipated. But I am still happy with it. It will make a nice beach bag! (and won't collect sand!)

And I had to show you the lovely shoes I got. So summery and "beachy"....nice with dresses and Jeans.

Baked some blueberry muffins yesterday, so yum!!!

And on that note, I bid you a farewell and a happy weekend!!