Ella celebrated her third birthday last weekend with a gorgeous duck themed birthday party.  The gorgeous Suzi from Alannah Rose put together this sweet theme for little Ella’s birthday party and we loved it so much we simply had to share it with you!

Here are some images of how Suzi put the party together in stylish red and white polka dots with a yellow accent.

Little duck invitations by Alannah Rose at Pink Frosting.  Ducky themed laser cut cupcake wrappers from Pink Frosting. 

Above Clockwise from top left: Mini Hotdogs from the 4 Ingredients book – super easy and a hit with the kids; Happy Birthday banner by the very talented Mel at Paperklip; Lanterns, at Pink Frosting; blowing out the candles; home made cupcakes, duck icing decorations Sweet Dreams cakes, polka dot cupcake wrappers Pink Frosting.

Above clockwise from top left: The party table; flowers in white pots from Ikea; Drink bottles – wrapped in fabric from spotlight; the Duck cake by Designer Cakes, Donvale; homemade gingerbread ducks in cello bags; Pin the Beak on the Duck – a themed variation on the party classic! – homemade usiing felt from spotlight; the birthday girl loving the duck pinata.

Happy Birthday Ella! x

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn ]]> http://www.australiaentertains.com.au/2009/07/23/ellas-little-duck-third-birthday-party-theme/feed 3 http://www.australiaentertains.com.au/2009/05/10/cake-of-the-week-happy-mothers-day-cupcake-pops http://www.australiaentertains.com.au/2009/05/10/cake-of-the-week-happy-mothers-day-cupcake-pops#comments Sat, 09 May 2009 17:19:11 +0000 Kathryn http://www.australiaentertains.com.au/?p=1391

Happy Mother’s Day!  Baking for Mum has always been a bit of a tradition in my family, and I wanted to find a cupcake this year so that I could share the baking experience with my young kids.  The fabulous Bakerella featured these cupcakes with a flower pop recently and I thought they were so cheerful and gorgeous for Mother’s Day.  Who could resist?

Here are Bakerella’s instructions on how to create these gorgeous cupcakes:

Make your cake pops following the basic cake pop instructions, but instead of shaping the pops into balls, make them more oval-shaped with one end flat so you can glue the flower parts on. Also, if you don’t want to make the entire recipe into flowers, you can divide the baked cake into fourths and freeze the unwanted sections for later use. Yay!

12 cake pops = 1/4 9 X 13 cake
24 cake pops = 1/2 9 X13 cake
36 cake pops = 3/4 9 X 13 cake
48 cake pops = One 9 X 13 cake

Man… I’m good at math.

Make sure you divide the frosting appropriately also.

Dip the pops in the color candy melts you want for your base. I used white here because it blended in with the white part of the candy corn and camouflaged the gaps a little.

Once dipped, let the cake pops dry standing up in a styrofoam block.

When dry, dip the flat tops back in some of the melted candy coating. This will act as the glue. The coating should be starting to cool off so it takes less time to dry when you attach the pieces.

Now for the balancing act.

Lightly grip the cake pop in your left hand, so your thumb and forefinger can act as a ledge for the candy corn to rest on when you attach them to the top of the pop. If you can do this without letting your hands touch the sides of the cake pop… even better because your body heat can start to melt the sides if you’re not careful. It helps a little to let the lollipop stick rest on your leg if you are sitting down.

I know. I know. Sounds like a lot of work. But, I had come this far and they were for… you know… the person who gave birth to me.

Hold them in place long enough for the pieces to set/dry in place and not slide down the side of the pop… which will happen if you remove your hand too soon. Did I mention that this was an experiment? Anyway, when attached, place a tiny bit of candy coating in the center and attach the yellow candies to finish off the flower. Right about here, I realized how happy I was that I decided to only make a dozen of these.

Another method is instead of dipping the top of the pop in candy melts is to apply one petal at a time by dipping the bottom of the candy corn in some of the melted candy coating and then glue it to the top. Wait a minute. Did you get all that? Because I think my head is going to explode.

I wish I had a picture to show you all of this, but my hands were kinda busy.

It’s a good idea to get all your pieces ready before you start any glueing. The centers in this case were yellow mint candies from The Fresh Market. (But m&ms would work, too.) And, if you’re like most of the population, and don’t have extra bunny corn laying around, you can try using licorice pastels and licorice buttons or check out the nearest candy aisle and get creative.

These licorice candies give more of a wildflower look, but still pretty. I like them (also from the Fresh Market) because their shapes are a little more irregular. You can also get Good & Plenty brand licorice candies in this colour pink. They are just a little bit fatter and more uniform in shape.

When all the flowers are made, you can arrange them in a small heavy basket or vase (The heavier, the better, so it doesn’t tip over) with at least 2-inch thick styrofoam in the bottom. Also if you decide to transport, keep the flowers from touching each other. The petals can be knocked off easily if they fall into each other.

As for shopping for all of the pieces in Australia, the best candy shops online are:

My Lollies
Goody Goody Gumdrops
My Favourite Lollies
Wallies Lollies

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

I love the Easter weekend because it reminds me of the wonder of birth, the fragility of life and how much we all need a little magic in our lives.  It’s even more enjoyable with children around you, and this morning the complete and unabandoned joy of my kids when they discovered what the Easter Bunny had left them is an absolutely priceless moment I will never forget.

I was careful to ask the Easter Bunny not to leave too much chocolate this year (a 3 year old and a 17 month old don’t need that much sugar to keep their energy levels high!), so I whispered a request in the Easter Bunny’s ear to leave some soft toys for the kids as well.  They received some gorgeous Baby Aspen toys which they ADORE! 

However you are celebrating today, have a wonderful time. 

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

Yummy!

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

Given my last two posts (one on Little Miss Cupcake parties and one on the most amazing little birdhouse decorations and favors), I simply had to show you this tweety bird cupcake design which brings both of them together so perfectly!

Thanks Martha for this beautiful design.  Whilst Martha doesn’t have instructions on her site, it looks like a relatively simple operation to me:  dessicated coconut for the twigs with buttercream icing piped into bird shapes.  Simple but so delightful.

Perfect for baby showers, bridal showers, kids parties, christenings and Easter.  I adore them.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

The personalised chocolate bar favor has had a revamp and hip, hip, hooray!  They are amazing!

For only $3.55 each, they won’t break the bank either.  Available at Pink Frosting’s online celebration shop.  Perfect!

And on a very serious note, these chocolate bars are produced in a nut free U.S. facility and are guaranteed safe for anyone with a nut or peanut allergy.  Phew…

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

A colour party is a wonderful theme for just about any event.  From a child’s birthday to an engagement party, a bridal shower to a baby shower, an anniversary celebration to a graduation party, a simple colour theme for your celebration is a great place to start.  With a colour as your theme, it’s easy to achieve party fabulousness!

Firstly, choose the colour for your party palette.  Once you have the colour, you can decorate your party in various shades of that colour and know that the tones will complement one another perfectly.  If you choose blue, you have shades of periwinkle, sea-blue, navy and Tiffany blue to choose from.  All will look amazing together.  For pinks, you have from the softest baby pink through to the hottest fuschia to use.  Mixing the shades together means a much easier time for you – no trying to match rose petals to stationery – and it also is a contemporary and dramatic decorating effect.

Stationery and Favors

Do it yourself with beautiful hand-made pretty in pink invitations.  Origami dresses on hot pink card are the perfect announcement for a bridal shower, baby shower or girl’s party in this theme.  They set the scene, let the guests know just how to dress and give an impression of the type of event your party will be.  Here are some amazing pink coloured hand-made party invitation ideas using the range of designer papers at Pink Frosting’s online stationery store.

For your favors, choose pretty pink personalised candy jars filled with strawberry-flavoured jelly beans, pink silk hand fans with cherry blossom thank you tags, pastel pink cones filled with dried rose petals or candy-pink handbag favour boxes filled with yummy and decadent chocolate buttons.

Decorating Your Party

Take your colour and go wild!  In these amazing shots from Annick Van Wesemael’s beautiful book, Tasty Tables, marshmallows and baby roses are central to creating the pretty in pink theme.  Cones made of pretty pink paper, filled with roses and marshmallows act as whimsical centrepieces.  Bouquets of baby roses secured with flowing satin ribbon dance delicately from their stakes in the soft green grass.  The cake is not what it seems!  Annick has created a fantasy cake made of tightly packed roses and baby’s breath.  Candy tables are filled with the sweetest of pink sweets – from marshmallows to fairy floss.   The ornaments are edible – a beautiful treat reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel without any of the scary moments!

Your best friends are one-coloured linens, crepe paper, candy in the colour of your choice, balloons (giant round balloons are a gorgeous decoration that packs a punch on a budget) and satin ribbon in every shade of your colour imaginable. 

Whatever your colour fantasy, happy celebrating!

Kathryn

The beautiful Japanese artform of origami no longer needs to be complex, now that the Origami Club has arrived online.  This incredible site gives free instructions on creating just about anything in the whole world by folding paper. 

There are step-by-step instructions on how to create beautiful paper decorations which make wonderful party mobiles, table centrepieces, favours and invitations, among millions of other things. There is both a diagram and an animated how-to that you can follow, making it pretty easy.

To avoid frustration, they’ve even ranked each design by difficulty, so you won’t get involved in something that will drive you insane.

Given we’re moving to Japan later this year, I’m thinking I have our farewell party decorations to start on right away…

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

I grew up eating some incredible traditional European cooking and as a consequence, there’s nothing more divine to me than European shortbread.  From the delicate German variety my babysitter taught us to cook to the heavy Greek Kourabiedes my Godparents family would serve at every important occasion such as Christenings, Christmas and anniversaries, this really is my “sin” food of choice.

My little girl and I spent some time today cooking some traditional Greek shortbread crescents to relive a little of my childhood and also to delight my Mum who has been staying with us.  It was a messy afternoon, but they turned out so fabulously that I wanted to share the recipe of yummy Greek goodness.