LEt's GO to a party. A Tale of Two Lego Men.

In the midst of this very busy week, today was my nephews 10th Birthday.
He loves Lego and so I spent this afternoon making a little party tea for him.

There where two extra special guests, who snook in and had a right old time.

Check that out down there.

A cupacake mountain.

Lets climb this thing.

Look at me, I'm at the top.

Hmm, what is this?

Ah my foot is stuck!

Not sure I'll get this in my mouth.

It's a bit shady over here.

Are you touching me?

We best get off before they light these candles.

I am pooped!

Proper party photos to follow xxx

How To........Cake Pop !

Hi everyone. Sorry you have all been neglected a little. I have had one sick baby boy. Logan came down with Measles and was rather poorly. Just hoping that Baby Rowan (Logans Twin) does not get it this week. Fingers crossed.

Cake Pops have just started to take off here in the UK. They have however been around for quite sometime. I first came across them on one of my favourite baking blogs Bakerella.
This lovely lady makes the most delicious things and sadly at the moment is really quite ill. Hopefully she will be feeling better soon and baking up more tasty treats for us all.

So what is a cake pop ?
Basically a cake ball made from cake and frosting on a stick. I am making 120 for the Christening and thought I would share with you how I make mine. You can use any flavour Cake / frosting. Let your imagination run wild.

You will need Cake. Frosting. Candy melts or Chocolate Cake Covering. Lolly sticks. Polystyrene block. Large Bowl. Spoon and Jug.

I used Vanilla Cake and mint Frosting.

Crumble the cake in to fine crumbs.

Add Frosting.

                                                                       

Mix Frosting thoroughly with cake.

 

Take some frosting.                              Roll into a ball

Do it over and over again.  

 Melt chocolate in jug in microwave.

Dip end of stick in some chocolate and insert into cake ball.

In one motion. Dip the entire cake pop into the chocolate and remove.

Tap the stick on the side of the jug to remove excess Chocolate.

Place in block until set.

You can add any decorations whilst the Chocolate is still wet.

I want mine to be plain this time.

Bite into this delicious morsel and be delighted with the results.

Cake Love on a stick, it does not get better than that. 

Good night xx

Deconstruction and Reconstruction. The story of a dress.

About a month ago, I had a long arduous discussion with my 11, 7 and 4 year old girls, they decided they did not want to wear white for the christening and so we selected a Taupe/Mink colour.

My middle daughter Willow, is, at the grand age of seven, already well on the way to being a Fashionista.
She turned down dress after dress, as she had a clear image in her mind of what she wanted. In the end she opted for a 1920's style sequinned chiffon dress, but she pointed out to me that NONE of the other girls were to have the same dress as her.
So I set about finding dresses in the same colour and style, (but not the same) as Willows.
After spending hours on ebay, (yes I am thrifty, I have six kids). I managed to win auctions for both Poppy and Rowan in similar style/colour.
I picked up bargain Linen waistcoats and pants for the boys as I wanted them to be casual and definitely NOT in full suits. If you knew my boys you would fully understand this choice. But that's where my luck ran out and led to the story of The Dress.

My eldest daughter Jasmine is very tall for her age. She is 5 foot 5 and is already wearing ladies size 14.
I trawled the internet, bridal shops and ebay, and after a month, I had still not found anything suitable.
All the women's dresses were too old for her and inappropriate. I just wanted a simple style in the right colour.
That was when I came up with the idea of deconstructing and reconstructing.
One of the first dresses I had purchased for Willow for £10 (ebay) turned out to be far too big for her tiny frame, but too small for Jasmine. As it had a really full skirt, I knew that if I was to take it apart, I would be able to use the fabric again.
Last night, I got out the seam ripper and set to work.

Original Dress.

                                                                 Partially deconstructed  

  

                                                              Cutting new bodice

Vintage Pattern

Reconstructed NEW dress.

I know it is far from perfect, but it fits, its the right colours and she is happy with it, and that is what matters most.

Check back next week as I will be showing you some really simple, cheap, home made party decorations.

Nannies Afternoon Tea.

Right, so by now, you should all know that I have six beautiful children.
Fitting everything into each day can sometimes be difficult for me. I am up most mornings at 6am and since setting up this Blog, have been staying up well past my normal bedtime.
Being a busy mum includes on a daily basis, doing the school run, getting through an inordinate amount of laundry, lunches, dinners, bottles, baths, nappies, swimming lessons, play dates, homework, reading books, bedtime stories, hugs, kisses and not forgetting that I also work full time from home too.
A lot, yes it is. Am I complaining, not at all. (Well sometimes, but only to the hubby when I am in a sulk)
In actual fact I am mentioning all of these things to you because there is a reason that I actually do get through each and every day.      
The Nannies. I am not talking about hired help. I am talking about my lovely Mother and my fabulous Mother in law.  As corny as it may seem, my Mum is truly my best friend. I love her in so many different ways. She is ALWAYS there for me as is my Mother in Law, who I am very very glad to have been blessed with. Both of these fabulous ladies help me out a great deal with my Kids.

So this was when I had An Amy Atlas moment.

I decided to spoil them a bit. I set up this Afternoon Tea for them in my Adult sitting room (Adult as opposed to the kids living room).
It had the English classics, Earl Grey Tea, served in Vintage china cups. A home baked Victoria sponge with British strawberries and Cream and they also had mini Scones, with clotted cream and butter. ( I forgot to photograph them)

So here it is Nannies Afternoon Tea, my Amy Atlas Moment.

 

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Hope you liked it, The Nannies sure did xx

Rustic Supper for Fathers Day

Hi everyone.
Well we had the most marvellous evening yesterday. My whole family came over and we all celebrated Fathers Day together.
We had 13 kids, 6 adults and one hot, hot, hot BBQ.

I threw together a bit of a rustic style mini treat table. The colours where mainly Green and Orange/Peach.
The main reason for this was
1, Because I had a Watermelon on hand.
2, Because for the past six months my dad has been going on about Peach Cobbler. So for an extra special fathers day treat, I baked one for him. It made him smile and rub his tummy, and when he went back for seconds, it made me smile from ear to ear.
I also planted some salty snacks, which complimented the Real Ale, Larger and Ginger Beer we had.

Here's the pics, hope you like them.

What did you all get up to for Fathers day?