Strawberry Fizz Party Ideas: March 2014

Sunday, 30 March 2014

Fancy dips

Looking to serve your dips in something a little fancier than a bowl? This is perfect and less washing up too.

Saturday, 29 March 2014

Chocolate sprinkled Marshmallows mmm

Even on holidays I can't go passed anything with sprinkles on it! Thankfully I have no birthday parties to cater for any time soon but these look so good I might make them any way.

Ingredients

20 Marshmellows

50g melting chocolate

1/4 cup sprinkles

How to:

1. Melt chococlate as per packet instructions and let it cool a little

2. Dip half the Marshmellow into the chocolate and then stand chocolate end facing up

3. Let cool for 2 minutes and then dip the the chocolate end into the sprinkles

4. Chill for 30 minutes and serve or pack!!

Thursday, 27 March 2014

The idea even though I know its jelly turns my tummy a little and I'm not a squeamish person but here is how to make edible worms!! Should delight most little boys and a good few of the girls too. Its really easy.

Pack straws into a cup and secure with a rubber band, if you want the wrinkle look you need to use the bendy straws (the correct technical term of course)
Pour in Jelly
Once the jelly is set rinse with warm water to release the worms from the straws

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Pirate Banana's

Any more pirate parties out there? Love these cute little fella's.

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Spring wishes - Cans as decorations

I'm over this humidity and am wishing for cooler weather and spring flowers and rain ahhhh, I couldn't got passed this when I saw it, it wraps up what I'm in need of and it's going to be a while before we get it.
Outside or in I think these cans covered in paper with either potted colour of just some flowers make a beautiful addition to any party.

Princess party

My Miss 4 had a ball at her Princess Party, my new stock I am getting in soon was a hit and we are all ready to get back to normality!

This was our arts and crafts table, we made crowns and royal jewelry. The jewelry was made from lifesavers, jellies and fruit loops, possibly the most tedious job I have done in a very long time sorting fruit loops into colours and incredibly boring.

Our Princess centerpiece and cupcake cases with 4 different princess toppers is part of the new stock due in soon. The butter icing was made from the same recipe that I used in an earlier blog and I just added some pink food colouring. http://strawberryfizzpartyideas.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/buttercream-frosting-my-attempt.html.

My little miss loved the centerpiece and ooohhh and arhhh over it, it is now settled in her in bedroom with the 4 princesses that came with it and has been played with happily.

This was the table was set up for the kids, we made watermelon sticks, crown fairy bread, crown sandwich's and crown and star sugar cookies (yes I got value out that crown cookie cutter). The recipe for the cookies was on a previous blog http://strawberryfizzpartyideas.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/its-sugar-cookie-day-and-i-am-all.html

The plates, napkins and cups are all part of the Princess Party packs due to arrive in soon.

These berry and marshmallow kebobs were the first to go.

I found a recipe for Oreo Pops! This is what they should have looked like:

And this is mine! They where a lot harder than the recipe and took ages, I can promise you, I will not be making these again in a hurray but below is the here's how.

Ingredient's:

White chocolate
Double Stuffed Oreos
Sprinkles
Sucker sticks

Melt the chocolate as per the instructions on the packet
Remove one side of the Oreo cookie and place sucker stick in the filling. Put a small amount of melted chocolate in the cookie to help create a bond to the other cookie.
Place the other Oreo cookie back on top of the cookie filling.
Let the Oreo cookie pops sit for several minutes to allow the chocolate to setup and create a bond.
Dip the Oreo cookie pop into the melted chocolate. Cover both sides then tap off the excess chocolate.
Place one side of the Oreo pop in the sprinkles.
Place the sprinkled Oreo pop on wax paper and allow to setup for 20-30 minutes.

*Notes

The cookies do break when you try to get them apart, so buy extra if you have a set amount you need to make
I did this on a warm day and after 35 minutes of waiting for the "bond to set" I finally thought to put them in the fridge and they set pretty quickly
When you take them out of the fridge if it is a warm day do so in 4 or 5 at a time as the chocolate started to melt again and I lost one in the dipping process!
I used baking paper and they didn't stick once I had dipped them I placed them back in the fridge

We had a great day and while I spent days slaving away in the kitchen before hand and could sleep for a week now, my princess loved it and I did enjoy discovering all the wonderful things I could do to add to the theme.

Friday, 21 March 2014

Banana Pops

Are you wondering where I have been? Well this weekend is the Princess Party and I have spent the last 2 days baking, the fear has some what subsided to be replaced by dread, I still do not like it and I'm not good at it!

I have learnt so much and the All details will follow next week but for now here's a little bit of mmmmmmmm for your weekend.

PS This looks easy but a big thing I have learnt is that is not always the case I will try making these down the track and let you know.

Magic Shell

1 1/4 cups dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup coconut oil

Frozen Banana's

Pop in the microwave for about a minute and stir together well.

Done.

This will harden as soon as it hits frozen bananas or say some homemade vanilla ice cream.

You will need to decorate pretty fast and I would also put the sticks into you banana's before you freeze them

Pretty Vintage Candle Jars

For all of you that love the vintage look, add a bit of vintage atmosphere to your next party or to pretty up the home. Just paint the jar with clear glue and stick on your lace.

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Bow Tie Cutlery

Using plastic cutlery and want to make them look pretty?

Love it, so easy, the ribbons has been held together with clear tape. If you are using proper cutlery and linen napkins you can hold them together with Washi tape which you could match to tea lights, garland (linked to DIY Garland Blog) and drink bottles!!

Monday, 17 March 2014

Captain Safety idea

A girlfriend calls me "Captain Safety" so this appeals to me! It's a great idea to protect your little ones hand!

Sunday, 16 March 2014

Fairy Lights in a Jar

Are you having an evening party? Sleep over and you want to light the way to the toilet or like our house just have a love for fairy lights. Check out this jar of fairy lights, you can put it any where you have a power point and its so much nicer that just leaving lights on. Better still use your solar lights outside and you can place them any where!

Miss 4 turns 4

My Beautiful Miss 4 enjoying her Birthday Cake!

Miss Almost 4's Birthday Cake

Today has been flat out, the reason why? My Miss Almost 4 will be Miss 4 tomorrow and this afternoon I had to make a cake! Arrrhhh more baking and I'm going to have to suck it up because I have a whole week ahead of it.

I have learned a few things from this A) How to make butter frosting and B) Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and in this case the eyes of My Miss Almost 4 who thinks its wonderful!!

On a side note next year I'm paying someone to do all this, it completely stresses me out!! he he

Friday, 14 March 2014

Confetti/Glitter wands

I love these, they are so pretty, so sparkly, so very girly.

I wanted to make them for Miss Almost 4's Birthday Party but while I hunted high and low I could not find clear straws, (my sister did inform me that Boost Juice have them and I just need to buy 30 drinks, each with a spare straw, which was a little to much commitment to craft project!). When I do find them, I am grabbing as many as I can ready for the next 10 parties! He he If you can find the clear straws below is the how to..

You will need:

—Large, clear straws (about 1/2″ wide)

—Stapler

—Confetti

—Glue

—Glitter

Instructions

1. Take your straw and staple one end closed. Try to get it as close to the opening as possible while still being secure.
2. Fill up the open end of the straw with confetti. Depending on the size straw you are using, just make sure the confetti pieces can fit!
3. Staple the other end closed, just like in Step 1.
4. Brush on some glue in a thin layer on each side, making sure to cover the staple.
5. Dip each end in the color glitter of your choice.

Thursday, 13 March 2014

Buttercream frosting - my attempt

Further to my post yesterday on how to Frost the Perfect Cupcake, I gathered my courage and frosted Miss Almost 4s cupcakes for school!

Turns out I do not have a the right tip and mine came out all over the place, while I went into "arh that's not how the picture looks" Miss Almost 4 was delighted as they looked like the ice-cream out of the truck and she liberally applied the sprinkles with a very satisfied "see"!

Oh well back to the baking books!!

I have 2 recipes for this one is the way from the lovely lady at i heart nap time which I really want to use but as the only mixing utensil I have is my ThermoChef I adapted it to suite so both are below!

Standard:

Classic buttercream frosting recipe

Ingredients

2 stick of butter (softened)( is 226g for those of us in Australia)
4 cups powdered sugar(icing sugar)
2 tsp vanilla
2-5 teaspoons of cream or milk

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl whip the butter. Slowly add in 2 cups of powdered sugar. Mix until combined. Add the vanilla and 1 more cup of powdered sugar and continue mixing. At this point you may need to add a teaspoon or two of milk to thin the frosting down. Add in your last cup of powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add more or less milk depending on the consistency. You want the frosting nice a creamy, but for it to be able to hold a point.

Thermo Chef

Ingredients

2 stick of butter (softened)( is 226g for those of us in Australia)
4 cups powdered sugar(icing sugar)
2 tsp vanilla
2-5 teaspoons of cream or milk

Instructions

I add my butter to my TC and mixed on speed 8 for 8 seconds
I turned my TC down to speed 4 and slowly added 2 cups of icing sugar through the top, once I had finished the two cups I gave it a few seconds and then turned it off and scraped down the sides
I added the vanilla, 3 teaspoons of milk and turned it back on to speed 4 and once again slowly started adding the icing sugar from the top, once finished I gave it 5 seconds and it was perfect.

Wednesday, 12 March 2014

Perfect Frosting - Party food

The Princess Party is creeping up on me very soon and as you all know baking is not my thing so frosting cakes is in the "scary" section of my world. It needs to be done and I found these wonderful instructions from the lovely lady at i heart nap time.

Go forth and frost people

1M frosting tip (can be found on amazon or your local craft/baking store)
Large coupler
Disposable decorating bags
Frosting of course ;)

Instructions:
1. Cut off the tip of the bag and place the frosting tip and the base of the coupler inside. Screw on the top of the coupler on the outside of the bag.
2. Fill the bag with frosting about half way and place a rubberband on top to hold the bag in place.
3. Hold the tip above the middle of the cupcake and squeeze out the icing to form a star.
4. Raise tip slightly and form a tight circle around the star.
5. After completing the first circle, move the tip back toward the center and go around to make a second circle around the inside edge of the first circle.
6. Slowly pull the tip away at the center of the cupcake.

Tuesday, 11 March 2014

Elegant Cherries - Party food

Looking for something elegant to dish up at your next party? Try these white chocolate dipped cherries with silver edible balls.

Ingredients

2 big handfuls of cherries

150g white cooking chocolate

1 packet of silver sugar pearls

Method

Line a baking tray that will fit in your fridge with baking paper.

Melt chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over a barely simmering saucepan of water. White chocolate can be trickier to melt than milk or dark, so watch it carefully because once it starts to burn, there’s no going back.

Dip the cherries into the melted chocolate a few times then place on the baking tray. While the chocolate is still wet, drop tiny pinches of sugar pearls onto the chocolate. You may have to pick up the cherry to get good coverage, though there’s no need for precision.

Place the cherries in the fridge until the chocolate is set.

Monday, 10 March 2014

DIY Garland

Looking for a pretty garland to match your theme? Make your own! This is gorgeous and all you need is string, washi tape and some scissors. You can always you use the tape to wrap around drink bottles and tea light candles after to make everything matching!

Sunday, 9 March 2014

Western Party - Panning for gold

In honor of the Western themed party we attended yesterday! Here's a game the kids will love and as long as you don't mind a bit of mess, success is guaranteed (what child dosn't love mud!!)

Panning for gold!

Cowgirl/boy party

Today we did 2 parties in one day, here is our second! A cowgirl and cowboy party. Great home made photo booth!

It was very early to bed tonight and a big glass of wine for Mama.

Saturday, 8 March 2014

Pirate Party - All dressed up

Here they are all dressed up and ready to swash-buckle arrrrr

Walk the Plank......Pirate Party

Today is "Madam almost 4's" Best Friends Pirate party and she is very very excited. (It could have something to do with watching a bouncy castle go up at 7am) but in honor of day here is a DIY pirate game that is sure to get a heap of giggles. Walk the plank...

Happy Birthday my little Pirates xoxo

Friday, 7 March 2014

Chocalate Sprinkle Spoons - Party Food

I'm a 37 year old women and sprinkles still make me smile, they take me back to happy times in my childhood. Birthdays, Christmas, Party's of kind always had sprinkles on ice cream, cakes or fairy bread. Now I watch my daughters absolute delight at them. So why would these precious drops of joy not appeal to me?

Ingredients

6 oz. (180 g) quality chocolate (milk, dark, white--anything!), chopped
sprinkles, jelly beans, confetti quins or any other small confection

You will Also Need:

24 coloured plastic spoons
cookie sheet lined with parchment paper(you could try wax paper)
some spatulas (or a book) for resting party spoons while filling

Instructions

Place your plastic spoons on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, resting the spoon handles on a rubber spatula or book, to level them out while filling.
Temper your chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave (or in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water on the stove), by warming for 20 second intervals and stirring in between. When the chocolate is almost (80%) completely melted, remove from the microwave and keep stirring until the last few pieces are completely melted and the chocolate is smooth.
Spoon melted chocolate into your plastic spoons, about 80% full (the sprinkles and candies will fill the rest)--any more than that, and they will likely overflow (trust me, it happened to me).
Add your sprinkles and small lollies. Place cookie sheet in the freezer or refrigerator for about 20 minutes to set.

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Pretty Things - Wall Decorations

I have an ever expanding "idea's" file, most things in it are useful DIY party ideas.

Some are just because they are pretty! This is one of my, I love it, will never have to the energy, time or the ability to recreate it but looking at makes me happy! (plus trying to get these baby's to stick on the walls, would require a re-paint once I had taken them down!)

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Wishing Tree - Christening idea

Are you looking for something a little different to do at your child's christening party? I love this. Wishing cards, you don't have to have the tree (though it looks very pretty) and you can go as mad as you like (or not) on the wishing cards.

People can add a little message, some advise or just a wish for your little ones future. Such a wonderful keepsake of their special day.

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

Baby Shower Decorations

Throwing a baby shower and stuck for decorations? This is easy, cheap and while requires some creativity you don't need to have gone to art school to pull off! Blue drops for boys, pink for girls and these pretty rainbow drops for the surprise baby!

It is a baby shower after all!

Monday, 3 March 2014

Slime

Slime - This is any time fun. I think you could make it for any occasion and it's so easy. Get the kids involved it would be great for an after school play date.

MAGICAL MONSTER SLIME

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon Borax powder
1 1/2 cups. water, divided
1/2 cup clear glue, but you can also use the white.
Food coloring (there have been trouble when using blue food coloring. I'd choose a different color.)
Glitter (the secret ingredient that makes it magical!)

1. Fill a small bowl (or measuring cup it you have two) with 1 cup of water and add 1 teaspoon of Borax powder. Mix until the Borax is dissolved and set aside.
2. Pour glue into a medium mixing bowl and add 1/2 cup of water.
3. Add about four drops of food coloring to the glue mixture.
4. Stir it up a bit and add a bunch of glitter.
5. Now add the Borax mixture to the glue mixture and watch it begin to solidify
6. Stick your hands in and and start mixing it all up.
7. Pour out the excess water and knead the mixture until it becomes more firm and dry.
8. When you're done playing with it, store in a Ziplock bag or other air tight container

Sunday, 2 March 2014

Fairy and Princess Party - Catching petals

Have you got an upstairs? Or even something high to climb on? Your little fairies or princess would love this! Rose petals, glitter, home made butterfly's!!

Saturday, 1 March 2014

Grape caterpillers - Party food snack

I'm not sure I could eat these little fellas (with their little eyes looking up at me) but I'm sure my little ones would love them!

Look out fussy eaters this could get you enjoying grapes and maybe blueberries, strawberries, melon balls - the possibilities go on and on!