Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you have had an enjoyable relaxing day with your family. I have had a very busy week, hence the lack of posts, but will fill in the blanks shortly. For now it's off to bed.

Another birthday

Happy birthday to my mum for today. We had a lovely lunch out with some friends at "Taste" at the Bahai Centre in Hobart. I had never been there before and it was really peaceful and relaxing. The food was lovely (perhaps a bit on the small side as serves go), but still tasty. Sophie especially loved her little strawberry cupcake and of course had to help herself to my flourless chocolate cake. I think we have another chocoholic in the family!

Sophie found this lovely window seat as soon as we arrived and Steph had given her a little gift box with coloured paper and stickers to keep her occupied, which she really enjoyed.

A close up shot of Sophie enjoying her cupcake.

Happy Birthday - The Big Six!

Today marks the anniversary of my daughter's 6th birthday. I truly can't believe she is 6. Last night I made some cupcakes for her to take to school and they we're a big hit.

She received some lovely presents yesterday from her party and of course a collection of items from us today.

1. Pair of Pyjamas

2. Pink Clock Radio

3. Smiggle Pencil Case, Gel Pens and Sketch Pad

4. Walle Painting Canvas

5. Wizard of Oz Book with Ruby Slippers Necklace

6. Tickets to stage production of "Wizard of Oz" in Hobart 2010 (she is very excited about this!)

Emma absolutely loves the Wizard of Oz at the moment so when I heard that a stage show was happening I just had to get tickets.

She had a play date this afternoon with a friend from school and then we headed out to dinner for fish & chips and to catch up with my mum, who's birthday is tomorrow.

Emma wanted to dress like "Dorothy" so she wore her blue checked school dress, red sparkly shoes and her hair in plaits. She also carried a stuffed dog in a doll's baby carrier, as if it was "Toto" in his basket. Here she is enjoying an ice cream after dinner.

Happy Birthday Emma! :) xox

Little Choopie Secret Santa

I received a lovely little parcel in the mail today from Little Choopie. I was lucky enough to find one of the Secret Santa presents on the Little Choopie website a couple of days ago and was very excited to open the parcel. This is what I found.

A lovely card and parcel wrapped with a beautiful red ribbon, and a hand written note - "Merry Christmas from Little Choopie Secret Santa".

And this was the present, a lovely set of spotty hair clips. What a lovely surprise, thanks Amanda.

Another busy day

After a late night out (got home at 1am - catch up and some "Guitar Hero" with good friends!), we headed off to Kidz Bizzzz Playcentre in Kingston for my daughter's 6th birthday party.

It was a great day, as the kids ran around had a lot of fun, followed by food and cake. Emma received a lot of lovely gifts - creative crafty kits, books, jewellery and a lovely summer dress. I've spent the afternoon doing some of the activities with her - rubber stamp kit, bracelet making and stain glass window decorations.

I've also cooked some cupcakes for her to take to school tomorrow. I still need to ice & decorate them though. I am not sure if they will be any good though, as I have used an "egg free, dairy free" recipe (due to allergies in her class). I've never cooked with this recipe before and the consistency was quite different to a normal cake batter. I'm sure the kids will like them all the same.

On a different note I had to post a picture of the reversible cross-over pinafore top I made again. I had a lovely phone call this afternoon from a friend who saw this top today, being worn by little Ruby. She liked it so much she rang to order one as a Christmas gift for her great niece. I am very excited because this is my first sale and custom order. It's lovely to know that others like my creations.

Today I .....

.... made my daughter's birthday cake - the Number "6". I am really happy with how this turned out, especially the vine, leaves and the chocolate lady bugs. This icing is a lovely rose pink, but the cake also looks rather Christmassy with it's red & green decorations.

I'm looking forward to the party tomorrow, as this is the only bit of organising I have had to do. We are going to an indoor play centre which will keep the kids entertained and they provide all the catering & lolly bags as well. A great idea for this busy time of year. The best part of all is there is no cleaning up!

Last Night I .....

.... made these button hair ties as gifts for all the girls who are coming to my daughter's 6th birthday party tomorrow. I hope they like them. It will also serve as some advertising about my business as I haven't really told many people yet, so it will be a good talking point.

Christmas Rocky Road - yum!

I made 2 trays of Rocky Road last night which was enough for 12 bags. These will go to Emma's school teachers, Sophie's carers at childcare and other family & friends. I will have to make more though, as we have already eaten a bag ourselves! I also intend to make some star biscuits.

This weekend is "busy baking weekend" (apart from other things), tomorrow I will be baking Emma's birthday cake - the "Number 6" and cupcakes for her to take to school on Monday. A busy weekend ahead indeed :)

Here's the Rocky Road recipe if you'd like to make your own - very easy!

500g Chocolate, melted (I used Cadbury's Dairy Milk)

200g Marshmallows, chopped (I actually used about 100g of Mini mallows)

2 x 55g bars of Turkish Delight, chopped

1/2 cup Unsalted Peanuts, chopped

1. Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

2. Pour mixture into a lined slice tin and refrigerate until set.

3. Use a warm knife to cut the slice into small squares.

You can substitute the turkish delight with glace cherries, red jubes or raspberry lollies. You can also substitute the peanuts with rice bubbles for crunch if you are allergic to nuts.

Enjoy!

Little Choopie Made with Love - Secret Santa

"Little Choopie Made with Love" is running a Secret Santa Giveaway for the 12 days of Christmas. Today is day 10 and to be the lucky winner of a secret item from their range, all you have to do is head over to the website, sign up as a new customer, then search through all the lovely products until you find the "Secret Santa" logo (as below). You don't even pay for postage, it's all FREE!

And guess what - I found today's Secret Santa - yeh! I am very excited and will post a photo of my present when it arrives. Thanks Little Choopie.

Special Birthday Present - Reversible Cross-Over Pinafore Top

This is the latest addition to my collection, and I think it's the best yet! This particular pinafore top has actually gone to a little girl who just turned "1" - Happy Birthday Ruby. I will be making more however.

I decided to have one side in a neutral tone and the other a lovely red and white print - quite Christmassy but can be worn any time of the year. Ruby's mum loved the red fabric (it's her favourite colour and her daughter's name is "Ruby"). I love the way the applique bird turned out and I even made a matching birthday card with fabric balloons. I added one of my new swing tags and wrapped it in lovely brown paper with a beautiful red ribbon.

Ruby's mum was very impressed and just loved it and I can't wait to see little Ruby in the top.

Oh, I almost forgot....

I almost forgot... whilst looking through my recent photos I realised I hadn't posted a picture of these lovelies.

I purchased these cute "Babushka Doll" decorations from Notions at the recent Homemade Market in November. I realised I hadn't put them on the Christmas tree, so I have fixed that, as of today.

Don't you just love the packaging - just like a Christmas Bon Bon!

Christmas is Here

I finally got the Christmas Tree and other decorations up around the house this afternoon. I know it's a week late, but better late than never right?!

It now definitely feels like Christmas is upon us. I especially love sitting at night with all the lights down, looking at the lovely coloured lights on the tree. We only have a small tree (about 1 metre tall), because when I bought it a few years ago I had a tiny house, no floor space in the lounge room and a toddler. Now we live in a much more spacious home and both my girls are older now so they don't tend to want to pull the decorations off.

I would love to have a larger tree but it's a want not a need at the moment, so I will probably wait until next year to upgrade.

I started my Christmas cards today and hope to get them all mailed out by the end of the week. I have also wrapped all but 3 Christmas Presents & the girls "Santa gifts", so I feel pretty organised.

I am trying to get as much done as possible, because this weekend will be taken up with cake making on Saturday, my daughter's 6th Birthday Party on Sunday, followed by her actual birthday on Monday. It's then my mum's birthday on Tuesday (15th) and then my sister-in-law's the following Monday (21st). It's a crazy time of year, but lots of fun.

I have some more photos of items I have been sewing (will post soon), which I am really happy with especially one item that I made as a birthday gift which was very well received.

That's all for now :)