Half Dozen Design

Inspiration: Sweet Shop Theme

2012-02-24T03:46:00.000-08:00

I have been asked to do a Dessert table for a christening.
As the table is for older children and a mixture of boys and girls, the client asked for bright colours in a sweet shop style.
I already have a good idea in my head about which way the design is going to go.
So I thought I would share some of my favourite Sweet shop style dessert tables with you.
Don't you just love the way they balance the pastels colours with a pop of red?

Amy Atlas

Karas Party Ideas

Scissors.paper.cake

Scissors.paper.cake
I can't wait to show you all the finished table, I am super excited about this one.
Watch this space.
Love
Natty xxxx

Sweet Valentines.

2012-02-14T09:49:00.000-08:00

We have had some fun today.
I got Valentines Breakfast in bed courtesy of hubby and kids.
Cupid came and delivered some gifts for the kids.
We did Valentines craft, which the kids just loved.
The craft was so simple it was silly.
Pop on over to Sharnel Dollar to see the original easy peasy post on her blog.

Hope you all had a lovely day, Natty xxx

'Somewhere in a galaxy far far away'

2012-02-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

'Somewhere in a galaxy far far away'
A boy saw a girl.
She was skipping (literally) a long the corridor in work, wearing her dungarees and skate shoes, carrying her Spiderman lunch box in one hand and her bag of fresh comics in the other.
"Is it possible he" said?? "That a girl can like all of those things and still be cute?"

Not much later, well after many games of Mario Kart, A Back to the Future marathon and numerous trips to the comic store, true love had well and truly blossomed.

I walked down the aisle to The Star Wars Theme tune.
We named some of our kids after George Lucas (Lucas) and Wolverine (Logan), and although our Collectors figures are now sadly the play things of our ever expanding family, we would not have it any other way.
When people stare at us and say "are they all yours" referring to our six kids. I simply smile, then wait for the customary joke "Have you not got a Tv in your house" If we had a pound for every time we have heard that joke we would be millionaires.

Anyway, back to the point.
A while ago I made these cute little Star Wars cupcakes from my hubbys birthday.

He sent me a link the other day to the most amazing cake I have ever seen in my life, and I simply had to share it with you.
When we renew our vows in a couple of years, we are so having this cake.

You can check out the whole cake plus video still shots here.
Love Natty xxxx

Get Well Soon cupcakes, Raspberry and white Chocolate.

2012-02-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

My lovely mum has been poorly for a few weeks now.
In case you don't know, my mum is my best friend.
We spend every day from Monday to Friday together.
She has always been a massive inspiration to me.
I remember watching her when I was a child, fascinated that she could do some many wonderful things in the space of one day.
I used to dream that one day I could squeeze as much into my everyday life as she did.
Well, twenty years on, I sure hope that I have developed into just a sliver of the marvellous lady she is.
Mum these muffins are for you, get well soon

Raspberry and White chocolate Cupcakes/muffins

1 Basic Vanilla Cake recipe. (Find it Here)
2 Tins of Raspberries in Juice
2 Bars of good quality white chocolate.

Ok, to be honest fresh raspberries work better in the recipe, but they did not have any in the supermarket.

Make up your basic Vanilla recipe.
Open and drain the raspberries.
Open and chop up the white chocolate,
Mix in the raspberries and then add the chocolate chips to the mix.
Combine well.
Using an ice cream scoop, measure out your 12 cupcakes in to a lined tin.
pop in a pre heated oven at around 180 degrees for between 12-18 minutes.
Poke with skewer after 12 minutes to see if done, if skewer is clean take out and cool. If not bake for a few more minutes testing every two.
Once cooled enjoy with a cup of tea and in my case a big hug for your mum.

love Natty xxxx

Spring, please hurry along, because it's cold out there......

2012-02-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

I am not a fan of the cold weather.
In fact, I might even go as far as to say I hate it.
I hate that bitter wind blowing on your face in the morning. The grass crunching under your feet because it is frosty, and even worse still, when the sun pretends that it is warm outside by shining really brightly, when really she is just lulling us all into false hope.

So, moan over, when I was asked recently to do a Cupcake order for a lovely little girls birthday I went with a Spring theme.
you know, something to try and cheer us all up.
Bright pastels, with an array of Butterflies scattered here there and everywhere.
Ok, so maybe our friendly butterflies don't really come out until Summer, but hey I am allowed some artistic license.
I really hope Millie liked her Cakes and that you like them too.

Love Natty xxxx

Love Tarts !!!!!!

2012-01-25T11:01:00.000-08:00

These are the most simple, easy, yummy treats for your loved one, or in my case the kids.
I did manage to save a dinky one until my lovely hubby came home but the majority of them were scoffed down in two or three bites.

Why are these so easy, well let me tell you.

Use ready made sweet pastry and a Greens Egg custard mix.
1 hour later delicious tarts for all.

Take fresh pastry and roll out on a floured surface.
Line all your flan/tart dishes with the pastry. Fill with ceramic baking beads and blind bake for around 12-15 minutes until golden.

Whilst your tart cases are baking, follow the instructions on the packet of the egg custard mix.

Take out cases and pour in the custard mix.
Place in a refridgerator for 1-2 hours until set.
Dust the top with Nutmeg.

Devour mini tarts in one bite and let the kids gobble the rest.
Love Natty xxxxx

Bruised Apples to Beautiful Cake.......

2012-01-23T12:06:00.000-08:00

My kids love fruit.
Bananas being the fruit of choice for the baby twins or "AnnAnnas" as they call them.
The big twins and Poppy love apples. Jasmine, well not so much but we try.
Any how, today I discovered that the baby twins have made up a new game.
It's called throw the fruit as far as you can.
Yes, you guessed it.
Fruit disaster. After much squealing and joyous laughter from two naughty little rascals, I tried to rescue the half dozen apples that had been launched down the stairs and hallway, oh and did I mention that they even attempted to post them through the letter box?

Well you can only imagine that the apples by this point were in a very sorry state.

I decided, frugal as I am, not to waste them but to quickly grate what was left of them and make them into a delicious Apple and Cinnamon Ring.

Here is how to use up bruised apples, if like me you have mischievous little monsters.

Recipe:

4-6 apples (bruised or not depending on your children's habits)
6 oz Self Raising flour
6 oz Golden Caster Sugar
6 oz Butter
3 medium eggs.
Cinnamon to your own tasting.
Icing sugar (optional)

Throw the Butter and Sugar in a mixer and cream together until soft and fluffy.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk till combined. Then add to butter and sugar and mix for 30 seconds or so.
Sift the flour in to the mixture one cup at a time.
Continue to combine until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Grate the apple (or what is left of them) and add to cake mix.
Once you have folded in the grated apple, add your cinnamon to taste.
We are cinnamon lovers here in our house so we use about 2 dessert spoon fulls.

Once the cinnamon is in, pour into a ready greased ring.
I used a silicon ring, but I still always grease it first to ensure it comes out clean.

Pop in a preheated oven at around 180 degrees for between 20-25 minutes. Check with a skewer to see if done, if not pop it back in for 5 minute intervals.

Allow to cool slightly before turning out.

Drizzle over glace icing or sift with icing sugar.

Enjoy with custard, cream or on its own and feel happy with yourself for not wasting those apples.

Love is in the air !

2012-01-21T11:25:00.000-08:00

Well, as we are fast approaching Valentines Day, I thought I would share with you today a Dessert Design I did a while back but never got round to putting on.
The design brief was Red, Black, White and Hearts.

Sweet treats included:

Red Velvet Two tier cake with heart decorations.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet and Marshmallow Woopie pies

White chocolate Cake Pops

Liquorice fudge

Sherbet Shots (Always go down a treat)

Decorated sugar Cookies

A selection of candy and sweets.

Love Natty xxxx

Christmas, a distant memory.

2012-01-12T04:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it has actually been just over two weeks since the festive season officially came to a close.
I am feeling a bit fed up as I know the cold months are creeping up on me just so they can chill me right down to my bones.
I find I struggle to get motivated in January. It always seems a bit strange to me really why January is supposed to be the start of all things new, diets, resolutions, kicking old habits.
We are all spent out from Christmas, we are probably carrying a few extra pounds, which lets face it makes it even more difficult to get off our butts and do something with our selves.
The return to NORMAL life seems like such an up hill struggle that just getting out of bed in the morning seems like a mammoth task.

For me January is slow. I would rather bake a banana cake, cover it in custard, get under the duvet and read a book.

However today I have forced myself back into action.

I am hoping this year turns out to be a good year for my dream business.
I have hopes of it really taking off. Allowing me to set in motion my plan to take over the world one party, wedding, christening at a time.

In the mean time, I thought I would share a few of my favourite photos from Christmas. I must have been one good girl last year as Santa slipped a brand new Canon Eos under the tree for me.
Oh let the joys of photography begin.

Happy New Year Everyone

Love

Natty xxxx

Happy Hogwarts Birthday

2012-01-08T12:00:00.001-08:00

Oh dear.....I know it has been so very very long since I last posted and for that I apologies.
We have had poorly children it seems for the past two months and I had a serious bout of Flu too.
On the mend now and four of the six are back in school and the normal routine is starting to emerge from the depths of some hidden abyss.

I thought I would finally share the Harry Potter Party we hosted for the Big Twins birthday back in September. The party was actually held the first weekend in October, it was a clear day and the rain stayed off, so we felt very lucky indeed.
Here is my little narative about the party.

"As we have Boy/Girl twins they normally always argue about what style of party we are going to have for them.
However this year they told me right from the start that it was to be a Harry Potter Party.

I made each child a home made Wizards robe with the different house badges on. Everyone wore them on the day accept for my fashion conscious daughter who wore a hermione dress (purchased from ebay).
I even got my mother in law to knit my baby twins and my husband Griffindor Quidditch jumpers and scarves, they looked super cute).

The party was held in my front yard.
I had handmade a Platform 9 3/4 sign that hung above the entry way. We had a fake wall which was a made out of a vinyl brick patterned backdrop, the children loved running through this to enter the party.

We had different activities to entertain the children through out the day. We had Potion class, Herbology, Quidditch practice and Harrys Dress up box.

In quidditch the children threw a golden snitch through home made quidditch rings.

Potion class was really fun. Each child was given their own beaker in which they made magical potions. They had an edible potion first and then they had an exploding potion which made them squeal with delight.

In herbology the children planted Screaming Mandrake Seedlings (daffodil bulbs) in their own little plant pots. They got to take them home at the end of the day.

Harrys Dressing up box was full of various different potter clothing, all the children took turns to get dressed up and have their photo taken to take home with them.

The children all visited Hagrids Hotdog hut for their savoury food and then they all got to enter the Griffindor common room (my living room) for the dessert table and treats.

The Dessert table was done in the colours of Griffindor ,Gold and Maroon.

The sweet treats where all named after Harry Potter characters and houses.
we had.
Lunas Lemon Drops
Professors Pumpkins
Ravenclaw Raisin treats
Golden snitches (orange coconut mallow balls)
Gringots gold
Snakes Skulls
Hermiones Honeycomb
Hufflepuffs honey Pops
Wizard Wands

For the twins birthday cakes they wanted the cake that Hagrid made for Harry in the first Potter movie. I did two of these cakes one for each twin.

The whole day was a big success, all the children had an amazing time and the twins were delighted with their party.

For favours to take home, I made custom printables.
They were Rons Rainbow cookies, Bertie botts every flavour beans, chocolate frogs and glass vials filled with poisonous dust (sherbet).

The children loved their favour bags and all the kids in school are still talking about the twins Harry Potter party. It was definitely worth all of the hard work."

Here are the photos courtesy of Abi booth Photography

Happy Birthday Willow and Lucas xxxx

Birthdays, Bangs and Bon-Fires

2011-11-08T06:31:00.000-08:00

Last weekend saw the whole of the UK celebrate the night the Gunpowder plot was foiled, we call it bonfire night.
Well I have an even better reason to get the fireworks out. Twelve years ago (yes twelve) was when my first child was born.
Jasmine came screaming into the world at 6.45pm on Friday the 5th November 1999.
I was just nineteen at the time and thought I knew it all.
Well twelve years on and five more kids added to the collection, I think I am perhaps getting there but I still have lots to learn about being a parent.

jasmines birthday was lovely. we had family and close friends round and we shared good food, firework fun and a mini treat table for the kids, erm and adults. (Nanny I am so sorry you never got your toffee apple.)

Jasmine took the camera and got some lovely shots of her sweet treats, (just making sure I give her credit before she tells me off again).

Happy birthday Princess, hope you had a fabulous day xxxx

Horrid Happy Birthday Table

2011-10-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

So as you all know, it was my dads birthday last weekend.
I made him a peach cobbler and a variety of other treats too.
As we are so close to Halloween, I decided to go with a horrid theme for his mini treat table.

We had Poisonous Peach cobbler, Murderous Meringues, sinister Stripes (everton mints), Malicious Marshmallows, Crazy Cupcakes, contagious cookies and Jealous Jellies.

The evening was laid back and relaxed. We had good food, delicious desserts and lots of laughs.
All in all it was a lovely bithday bash.

Hope you all have a lovely Halloween

Natty xxxx

Easy Peasy Peach Cobbler.....for my Dad x

2011-10-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

Birthday season continues in my house, this weekend my lovely dad turned 64.
Now my dad is not the biggest fan of chocolate or sweet things in general. His Preference is for puddings containing fruit.
I usually make him his favourite Banana cake for his Birthday , but this year I made his all time favourite Peach cobbler.
Here is my fools guide to the simplest Peach cobbler ever.

You will need:

2-3 tins of Peaches
2oz Brown Sugar
Cinnamon (as much or as little as you like)
1 pkt Scone mixture
A little milk (for above)
1 pan
1 pie dish
spoon/spatula.

Step 1
Open the peaches and pour contents into your pan (including syrup from tin). If they are peach halves, cut them into smaller pieces.

Step 2
Add the 2oz of Brown sugar and settle over a low heat.

Step 3
Let the heat dissolve the sugar and gently stir with your spatula.
Add the Cinnamon.
We love cinnamon so we added quite a lot but you only need a couple of teaspoons.

Step 4
Let the Peaches simmer over the low heat for about 5-10 minutes until bubbles appear at the edge of the pan. This means the syrup is starting to come to the boil and starting to thicken.
Test the syrup with your spatula, it should be getting darker and almost sticking to the back of the spatula.
Remove from the heat.

Step 5
Pour the Peaches into your Pie dish.

Step 6
Get your Ready made Scone mix, follow the instruction on the back of the packet.

Step 7

Roll out scone dough to about 1/2 inch thick.
Take a cutter and cut out discs of dough.

Step 8
Place the discs on top of the Peaches until you have almost covered all of it. Allow for spaces between the discs as it is supposed to look like cobbles.

Step 9
Place the cobbler in a preheated over at 180 degrees for 12-18 minutes until the top is golden brown and your syrup is bubbling.
Take out Cobbler and enjoy with custard or Cream.

Happy birthday Dad

love

Natty xxx

Easy Heart Garland

2011-10-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

In a couple of weeks I am going to be attending The Wedding house for a Spooktacular Gothic Fashion Show in aid of Alder Hey Clothes Throw Appeal.
Not only is it for a really good cause, but it gives all the lovely independent businesses an opportunity to show off their work. Its free entry and free parking, so you have to pop in and say hi, I will be on the top floor.

My Gothic Dessert Table has been running around my head for a few weeks now, and I think I am about ready to start work on it.
I saw the most adorable Pumpkins made from old books and just totally fell in love with the idea. My plan is to make some in Black, grey and white, which is my colour pallet.
Check out the paper pumpkin tutorial here.

I also adore bunting, but I wanted something a little different than the normal triangular style.
When I saw this, I knew what I had to do, there really was no other choice.
So this morning I set off for the craft shop and braved the blustery day to get my hands on some new punches, heart ones.
Here is my tutorial on how to make a cute, cheap, cheerful Heart bunting.

Step 1.
Go and purchase a Heart punch. (I bought three. I could not help myself, as I ended up getting craft shop fever as usual)
If you have not got access to a heart punch, its ok, you can fold your paper into squares, draw a half heart shape and cut it with scissors. ( a cheaper option)

Step 2.
Choose some paper you like.
I chose old books as this is going to be part of my theme.
A cheaper method is to get some old scraps of paper, envelopes, catalogues, paint charts even newspaper and use them instead.

Step 3.
Punch/cut out a variety of hearts.

Step 4.
Get some thickish cotton and a large needle and then simply thread the cotton through your hearts.
Another option is to make small slits with a craft knife and use ribbon, this is a pretty option and just depends on what look your are going for.

Step 5.
Find somewhere delightful to put you bunting, stand back, observe and feel happy and proud of yourself. what a star you are.

I like the top one best.

Which one do you like?

Love

Natty xxxx

Zumbathon Charity Table for Postnatal Depression

2011-10-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

A little while ago I did a small treat table for the lovely ladies who were taking part in a Zumbathon for Postnatal Depression charity.

I tried to keep some of the snacks healthy an opted for Apples, Raisins, dried fruit and of course some sweeties and cupcakes.

Being a mum to six, I know how Postnatal depression can affect peoples lives.
Its really hard sometimes for ladies to seek help or advice if they are feeling low, especially after they have just had a beautiful baby and should be feeling overwhelmed with joy and happiness.
Sadly however if these feelings are left they often become worse and can cause great problems for the whole family.

If you feel you maybe suffering from Post Natal Depression, please talk to some one or contact the PND support group.

If you are wanting to try Zumba, a lovely lady I know in Liverpool has some rather marvelous classes.
Yes you Jenny Mason. Go check her out here.

Love
Natty xxxxx

Halloween....It's a coming

2011-10-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone.

The leaves are finally falling from the trees, the wind is blowing, everything around us is starting to turn Autumnal.
I love the autumn, it is my favourite time of year.
I love breezy walks in the park with my kids, coming home to a tasty soup or hot chocolate.
Snuggling up in front of the fire enjoying a family movie night.
Baking delicious seasonal pies and just having that cosy feeling when you shut the windows and doors and settle down for days indoors.
There is just something magical for me about this time of year, I even gave one of my children the middle name Autumn. Maybe it is to do with my fiery orangey locks tying in with the colour pallet of fall, or perhaps some childhood memories of hearing the rain on the windows whilst wrapped in a blanket reading with my mum. What ever it is, I just adore Autumn.

It also means one more thing....its almost Halloween.

Halloween is always a big do here in my house. We have parties, decorate the whole place, make costumes, Trick or Treat and we bake up some fabulously fiendish Delights.

Soon I am going to be doing a Gothic Stlye Dessert table and so I thought today I would share soem inspiration boards with you.

Do I go with the Traditional Halloween colours of Orange and Black, or something more elegant like white, grey, silver and black.

What do you think then?

Traditional or Elegant?

Love Natty xxx

Parma Violet Cupcake Recipe and Give Away

2011-10-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

A dear friend of mine asked me to make her mum some cupcakes for her birthday.
When her mum was a little girl her favourite sweets were Parma Violets, so I was on a mission to recreate this sweet subtle flavour for her birthday cupcakes.

After a bit of investigation on the internet, I found that you can purchase Violet Extract for cooking, however I could not get hold of this in time.
So my plan was simple.
Buy some Parma Violets, crush them in a pestle and mortar, add them to the icing sugar for the butter cream and voilà, Parma Violet flavoured cupcakes.

Recipe

Ingredients: Makes 12

The Cupcakes

4 oz plain flour
5 oz caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 Oz unsalted butter or baking margarine
1 egg

The Frosting

4 oz white cake margarine/ butter
9 oz icing/confectioners sugar

5-6 Large Pkts Parma Violet sweets (12 mini packets)

Preheat oven to 170 C / 325 F/ Gas Mark 3

The Cupcakes

Sift flour and baking powder into bowl. Sift in sugar and add room temperature butter.
Beat with electric hand mix or free standing mixer on slow until all ingredients are combined.
Break egg into separate bowl and beat, then add to batter and mix until all ingredients are combined, making sure you scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
Place mixture in cases (I use an ice cream scoop, so all cakes are even). Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until cooked.
Remove from oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Whilst cooling, take your Parma violet sweets and pop them into your pestle and mortar. Crush them to a fine dust, making sure there are no large pieces left.

The Frosting

Combine icing sugar and cake margarine in your mixer/bowl. Using a paddle, beat until the frosting is all combined. Turn the speed down to slow and carefully add the Parma violet powder until it is all combined.

Then dye your frosting if you wish. I used Wiltons gel food dye in purple. I add just a little at a time using a cocktail stick, until desired colour is reached. I chose a pale pastel shade, however you can make it as deep as you feel.

Once the frosting is finished, spoon some out on to each cooled cupcake and spread with a spatula or knife. Alternatively, you could pipe the frosting into swirls.

I found these cupcakes to be a real delight and am now hoping to recreate a lot of Sweetie flavoured cupcakes, any suggestions?

The give Away.

I am going to give a way a set of Cupcake toppers like the ones shown in the picture.

There will be 12 full toppers and 12 flags to match.

You simply, stick these toppers into the top of your cupcake for an instant decoration.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on my facebook page under this blogs title post, saying what your favourite childhood sweets are or were.

You have until Friday evening to leave your comments and then I will use random selector to choose the lucky winner.

I have to give all photo credits to my daughter Jasmine once again and also the credit for styling the shoot.

She arranged the backdrop, props and decorations and photographed the whole thing, thank you Jasmine x

Hope you like them

love

Natty xxxxx

Crafty Cakepop Creation

2011-10-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I received a lovely email from a lovely lady.
She was looking for something a little different from the traditional birthday cake.
After a few friendly emails, we discovered we were completely on the same wavelength and between us came up with the idea of a Cake Pop Birthday Cake.

The birthday party was to take place in Leaf, a fabulous little Tea Bar in the centre of Liverpool.
When I checked out their website, I was in awe.

As my husband will tell you, I have a little bit of a Tea obsession. I drink around 15-20 cups on average a day. So when I saw that they served a variety of Teas and a gorgeous selection of food I knew this was the place for me.

The lovely lady is a bit of a crafter, and she made the most beautiful paper flowers I have ever seen.
She sent me over some of the paper she had used to create some of the flowers and I used it to decorate my Cake pop holder to match the flowers.

Now, I have to be honest here. At first my husband and I went to the local D.I.Y shop and bought sheet wood and batons and all other manner of things, and spent a night constructing a wooden cake pop stand. It was awful. I was very upset and started to panic. The party was the following day and I had no way of displaying my pops. So I turned to the old trusty Styrofoam blocks.

I really did not want to use these but I wrapped them all up in co-ordinating paper and added a few little embellishments, and in the end, I think the overall look was pretty good.

The cake pops were a light lemon flavour with Candy melt coating in pale cream and black. I added a cute little black flower to match with the paper ones and was very pleased with how they turned out.

When I got to the venue I nearly fell over. the party was held in their function room upstairs. Truly a beautiful space for a party, wedding, christening just about anything really. I am honestly contemplating just having a party so we can use the space. I was going to spend ages describing it, but I will let the photos speak for me.

All photo credits go to my 11 year old daughter who spent a good half an hour snapping away, I was rather impressed with her shots.

Party Season....and so it begins.

2011-09-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I have six kids. Their Birthdays start in September and finish in January, with Halloween and Christmas in between.
I did not plan this very well at all, and so from September onwards I am very very busy with parties, at least one per month.

The big twins birthday come first.
As they are Girl/Boy twins, we have the same dilemma each year. What theme are we going to go with?
Last year we had a carnival theme. I turned my front yard into a carnival which included stalls with pluck-a-duck, tin can alley and hoopla. The kids had lots of fun and they had a Merry go round carnival birthday cake and dessert table too. Sadly we were burgled not long after and my camera was stolen along with ALL of the photos from their birthday.

This year the twins decide on a Harry Potter theme party. We are massive Harry Potter fans in our house. We have been lucky enough to visit The Wizarding World in Universal Studios and my eldest even got chosen for the Wand Experience in Olivanders which really made her holiday magical.

So for the past few weeks I have been sourcing my Harry Potter props in order to transform my home into Hogwarts for the day.

I have grand plans for the party including a Sorting Hat Ceremony, in which each child will be sorted in to their houses. Then on to the Triwizard cup. This will involve the houses taking part in Harry Potter based games to score points. I am transforming my living room into the Gryffindor common Room. This is where the children will get to visit the dessert table. I was going to go for the obvious HoneyDukes style, but after some thought, I decided I wanted it fit in with the setting in the Common Room.

I have been making Hogwarts hanging banners to decorate with, and intend on having the children enter through platform 9 3/4. We will see how that one turns out.

The invitations took a while too. I spent hours in the craft shop on my hands and knees trying to find the right kind of paper. Then I spent hours searching the internet for the best font to match that on the actual envelope Harry receives. I ended up using a combination of five fonts.

I included a replica acceptance letter for Hogwarts, but included some details about the party. I also inserted a map of Diagon Alley with our home address on it.
The bit I struggled with the most was the sealing wax on the back of the envelope. Let me just tell you, using a regular candle does not really work. Find a shop that sells proper sealing wax.

Right well here are some photos of the Hogwarts invitations. hope you like them, the kids sure did.
Love Natty xxxx

Ooh La La France

2011-09-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

France.
Our holiday.

Liverpool and the Summer

2011-09-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

As I said in my last post, the summer holidays can be a real struggle with six kids to keep entertained.
As our family is so big, days out tend to cost us a small fortune.
On average it costs us around £100 for one trip.
My husband and I decided this year that we where going to try and find FREE days out locally.
We took our children to various places in Liverpool through out the summer. One of the best days we had, was when we visited the New Museum of Liverpool.
We took a packed lunch and sat and ate it in the sun outside the Liver buildings.
There were lots of pigeons around, and the kids had more fun chasing them, than they had doing anything else all day. It was free, simple and lovely.

Another free day out was going to the Beach.
We drove over to West Kirkby and had a pleasant day building sand castles, eating ice creams and getting sand in our knickers.

Free days out are the best xxx

2011-09-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.
I know it has been a awfully long time since I have written a post, I am sorry.
The summer holidays this year was a challenge, especially since the babies are on their feet and into absolutely everything. Trying to keep six children entertained for six whole weeks is no easy feat.

We were lucky enough to have our holiday this year in France and I have got some lovely photos to share with you soon.

Today's post though is to tell you all the exciting news about my website.

It has finally gone live.

http://www.halfdozendesign.com/

I am really happy with it, but would love some feedback.
I have tried to make it user friendly and designed it in a style I love.
I did all the images and art work myself, which has made me learn new skills and work in new programs, so I am pretty pleased with myself.

Please do pop over and take a look, and let me know what you think of it.

Love for now
Natty xxxxx

A Celebration to Celebrate.

2011-08-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

If you read my last post, you will know it has been my birthday.
We had a small party at my house with close family and friends.
It was a lovely day and I got some super cute gifts too. I am especially loving my new K-Mix Hand Mixer.
I do have a stand mixer which is great, but I love using hand mixers especially when making butter creams and frostings.
Lately though, I have burned out TWO motors on two separate hand mixers and so hubby, knowingly got me the aforementioned.

The reason I am celebrating this celebration again, is that my Birthday party was featured on one of my favourite sites.
Amy Atlas is one of the worlds leading ladies in the Dessert Table market. I fell in love with her work a good few years back and have dreamed of one day being featured on her site.
I finally achieved my goal and yesterday she featured my Birthday Table here.
Thank you to all at Amy Atlas, you truly have made my dream come true.

Here are some snaps I took on the day.

Hope you liked it xx

My Birthday.

2011-07-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today I turned 31.
Where do those years go?
I woke up to breakfast in bed (made by the kids) and some very special treats from my family.
My husband knows that I am very particular about how I wrap my presents, and so he got my Birthday gifts professionally wrapped at John Lewis.
I love you David.
This may seem like a really insignificant thing, but to me it showed how much he cares.

Happy Birthday to me xx

The Icing Sugar Incident !!!

2011-07-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well. It was bound to happen at some point.

You would have thought we would have learned something after The Paint Incident.

This is the result of leaving 20 month old Twins for literally 60 seconds (to go pee) with a 3Kg bag of icing sugar in their vicinity.

Oh Dear!!

And so the clean up begins.

Kids, who'd have 'em?

Spring Blossom Dessert Table

2011-07-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello.
All of you in the UK know that it is currently School summer holidays.
Here in my house it is hectic. As you can imagine trying to entertain Six kids of different ages can be some what trying at times.
We have had a few days out and due to the rainy weather a few days in.
As I have been super busy with the kids I am falling behind on my blogging.
So today I am showing off a party I created a few months back for a lovely little girl Called Lily.
The party was for her First Holy Communion.
The theme was Spring Blossom and the Colours Chocolate and Pink.
I was very happy with the outcome and the little girl adored it.

Hope you liked it x

Leavers Prom.

2011-07-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Oh how time flies by so very quickly.
It seems like only yesterday that I was holding my eldest daughter in my arms, staring down at her lovingly the way a mother does with her first born.
Hard to believe that it has been almost 12 years since that moment occurred.

Anyway this post is all about her leaving prom. Each year the Year 6 children get to have a special party to mark their graduation.
This year, Jasmine roped me into helping with the Prom ( I would not have had it any other way).
I have been bursting to do a CANDY LAND theme for a while and thought this would be the perfect opportunity. I had grand ideas, there was going to be an actual Candy Cane forest, Giant Lollipops and a life sized Gingerbread tree complet with sweet plums.
A handful of dedicated parents got together to make all the arrangements. However there was just not enough funds for my grand scale props and stations and so we had to scale back on a lot of things.

I had a dear friend of mine work all week on producing some large character paintings to decorate the walls with, Thank you Sharon Brown, oh and also my mum, who has obviously been hiding her mad art skills from me so she does not get asked to produce work all the time. Thanks Mum x

We had the following stations for the kids to enjoy.

Lollipop Woods - A table full of Lollipops and licorice twists.

Gumdrop Mountain - A table full of sweets, candy, cookies and gingerbread men.

Frostine - A table with the drinks and a cooler box filled with Lolly ices.

Molasses Swamp - A chocolate fountain with lots of goodies to be covered in warm chocolate-yummy.

Candy Cane Forest - A table full of Cupcakes topped with candy and a Cake and Candy Castle.

I had not realised how hard it would be to decorate such a vast space. We asked the children to get involved and they made some giant candies, lollipops and candy canes in class.
With all the help from the kids I thought it looked pretty good on the night and made the room feel a little like Candy Land, not to the Grand Scheme I had been planning, but all in all it was nice.

Here are the photos I managed to snap. I did not have much time as I was setting up in quite a hurry.
hope you like them.

Prom Night 2011

Football FAN-tastic Table.

2011-07-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I was asked to create a Football themed party for a little boy who loved Chocolate.
I was asked to keep the colour simple and not too fussy.
I decided to go with a Green, Cream, Black and Chocolate scheme, which I thought worked well together as these represented the footballs and the grass.
To start the party off, the boys had a penalty shoot out in the garden.
They all wore bibs with numbers on the back, and I used this in the theme so the boys could tell which favours were for them to take home.
This was followed by hot dogs, burgers and lashings of limeade.
After the boys had had their fill of savoury food, they moves onto the dessert table.

I made a simple banner as the decorations and followed this theme through the whole table, using it around the cake and on the favour bags.
We had Candies, snowballs, doughnuts, popcorn and cookie treats and the boys loved the Double Chocolate Oreo Mud Cake and Oreo Cookie pops too.

The day was a marvellous success and they all went away happy.

Hope you liked the Football Fan-tastic Table x

A Lazy Lavender Day.

2011-07-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

I have to put my hands up here and say " I am not much of a Gardener ".
In the time we have lived in out current home, I have planted a few flowers and clipped a few bushes, prefering to let my husband do most of the dirty work.
Now and again, the kids and I plant some herbs and fruits and each year we get some strawberries, tomatoes, mint, rosemary and thyme.
One of the only other things I decide we should plant was a Lavender bush.
As a child my Grandmas house always seemed to smell of this subtle fragrance and it has always been a favourite of my mums too.
The plant is thriving and I love to brush my fingers along it and then breath in the scent. I had been curious about cooking with it and I recalled seeing a recipe for Lavender cupcakes somewhere.
So yesterday, my eldest daughter and I decided to give it a go.
We used our tried and tested Vanilla cupcake recipe, but submitted the Vanilla for Lavender Milk.
To create Lavender milk, place 2 cups of Whole Milk in a pan with 10-12 flower stems of Lavender.
Heat until the milk comes just to the boil, remove from hob and leave to cool.
We both thoroughly enjoyed baking these and even though Jasmine did not like the taste of the final product, it was nice to have had the quality time together.

Right so here they are, our Lavender Cupcakes.

I really enjoyed the very subtle flavour of the Lavender.

It reminded me of Earl Grey Tea.

These were really simple to make and very moreish.

Hope you liked them xxx

A Spring Wedding.

2011-07-07T02:34:00.000-07:00

A few months back, I had the absolute honour of making my first wedding cake. My dear friends Susan and Michael were getting married and asked me to make them a tower of cupcakes in a myriad of different colours. They also asked for a Dessert table which I was so excited about creating.
As weddings can be one of the most stressful times of our lives, Susan let me have free reign over the sweets and desserts for the table. I decided to choose a simple pastel pallet to represent Spring.
The sweets and candies were mainly Old School Favourites from our childhoods. Flumps, Flying saucers, Parma Violets, Love hearts, Rainbow Drops and Bon-bons.
For desserts I made mini mouth sized Lemon Meringue pies, Apple tarts, Brownies, Miniature Eaton Mess, and a Profiterole and Doughnut tower too.

I had the absolute privilege of working with one of the most talented Photographs too.
Rhian Askins did the photography for the whole day, you can see the pictures here.
Rhian has also been featured on Rock My Wedding.
She is such an amazing photographer and captures things in such a quirky and unique way, I honestly can not wait to work with her again.

So here are the photos of my part of the wedding day and one of the gorgeous couple.

I am truly blessed to have shared in my Friends special day.

I enjoyed everything about it.

Hope you like it too.

Make sure you go and check out Rhians Work x

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

2011-06-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

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 !

2011-06-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-06-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-06-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

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?

Friday Night Sneak Peek

2011-06-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

I have to tell you all, it has been one tough week.
Kids poorly, a big party to put together, appointments that had to be kept. Fathers Day Preparations and of course I still have loads to do for the Christening, which is getting closer and closer, only two weeks.
So as it is Friday, I am once again treating myself to an ice cold beer and an early night.

But not to disappoint, here is a sneak peek of yesterdays Red, White and Black party.

I was really pleased how it turned out and well worth the effort I thought. The clients were delighted and I was a little overwhelmed with their reaction. *Blush*

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Fathers Day xxx

Baking , then Raining, Baking, then Raining.

2011-06-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

Oh my, what an awful day today. The rain has not stopped for a moment.
At least I have been inside all day as I have been baking for tomorrows Red, White and Black Dessert Table.

So far I have made The Cake, The Woopies, The Cookies and the Cupcakes.

The Cake is a five layer Red Velvet Cake, with White Vanilla Buttercream filling and Black chocolate Frosting filling. topped off with a smaller three layer cake of the same flavours. Here it is halfway through.

Next we have a simple shortbread Heart cookie, which will be decorated to match the theme.

Then the Woopies. They are Red Velvet too and will have Marshmallow filling inside as request by the client.
Here they are before filling.

Right well, I am am a very tired Natty tonight, so I am off to bed to get some sleep. Good night xx

I scream you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

2011-06-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hey !

This is going to be short and sweet, as it has been a very busy day today and tomorrow sees the start of a mammoth baking session for Thursdays dessert Table.

I am a lover of ice Cream. Ben and Jerry's is my ultimate favourite.
Did you know that in the USA they even sell Cake Batter flavour Ben & Jerry's?
Yes its true, and lets be honest, the best bit about baking cakes is licking the bowl at the end. My kids always argue about who gets dibs on the bowl, the spoon, the beaters, and so on.

I have been saving a tub of Caramel Chew chew in the freezer for a while now, it would normally only be there for one night, but alas I am on a diet (again) and so to resist temptation, I gave in and surrended the B&J to the kids.
Ice Cream sundaes have been a topic with my kids for a while now and so I decide to give them an extra special treat tonight.

What's your favourite flavour?

Peanut Butter Heaven.

2011-06-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows me well, will know, that when it comes to my confection of choice, there is only one thing I desire.

Peanut Butter M&M's.

I am so enamoured of these delicious morsels, that once when holidaying in Florida, I purchased an extra suitcase and filled it entirely with these rainbow coloured delights.
I am so utterly in love with them, that I even contacted Mars in the UK and queried as to why they did not sell them here?
They shattered the dream of my midnight munchies being those scrumptious sweeties, replying only to tell me there was not a market in the UK for them. Not a market ?
Silly Mars, I would purchase enough bags to create a market alone, and of course there has to be others like me out there, craving their Peanut Buttery Goodness !?

This has led me to fill my Peanutty void with making any possible dessert that contains Peanut Butter. Cupcakes, Big cakes, Cookies, Bread (the bread did not really work, too sticky).

So here is my latest offering to you, my mouth watering Peanut butter cookies, even better when dunked in your tea.

P.S Does anyone else love them ?

Red, White & Black Request.

2011-06-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hello. Busy day for me today, I am exhausted and so glad that it is Friday.
Hubby has just handed me an ice cold beer and that has made me smile.
I have had a special request this week for a modern, simplistic Red, White and Black Dessert table.
The brief is for Hearts, Rubies, Marshmallows and Red Velvet Cake. Its a rush order for next Thursday, so after raiding my craft cupboard, here is what I have come up with so far.

I was thinking of perhaps adding Playing cards into the design, Hearts of course.

What do you think?

The Invitation !

2011-06-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

Evening all.
Kids are finally all in bed and I thought I would spend a moment sharing today's project with you......The Invitation.
As some of you may know I am about to get all six of my Children Baptised.
I sat down with my brood and enquired of them what theme they would like for their dessert table. Well, we had everything from Twilight to Pokemon, from Barbie to Barney, things that only children can dream up. Then we (or should I say I) finally decided on a very simple design.
Each child got to choose a colour and I represented each child with a simple dot.
And so I went straight to it and designed the image we will be using through out the entire table and decor.
The colours chosen where from some of their favourite sweeties and chocolate of course. I used my pantone colour guide to match the colours of the sweets and spent the afternoon printing out the finished article.
It is printed on a narrow cream card with the details of the day on the inside.

So here it is, hope you like it, please feel free to leave a comment.

My Cake Station.

2011-06-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

We all love decorating cupcakes right ? Pretty Butter cream swirls covered in sprinkles and emblazoned with decorations and the likes. Well there is one downside to it, where do you keep all this decorating malarkey?
After much grumbling from my hubby about my cake stuff invading ALL of the kitchen cupboards, I decide it was time for a move. So I went about looking for an old dresser. I found one, painted it up and adorned it with all (well some) of my cakey stuff. It is now officially my CAKE STATION, and the focal point of my dining room. Does anyone else have a Cake Station, or is it just me?

What have we here.

2011-06-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well Hello.
With Fathers day almost upon us, I have been looking for nice things for my Husband and Dad. I have found the most adorable card from Papermash

Whilst you are there check out their NEW Heart Hole Punch.

They also stock lots of lovely patterned Masking Tape, but I think this one has to be my Favourite.

National Doughnut Day

2011-06-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ok all. If you did not know already, today is National Doughnut Day. Here is a bit of info on what it is all about:

Wikipedia "National Doughnut Day is on the first Friday of June each year, succeeding the Donut Day event created by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the women who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I.[1] The holiday celebrates the doughnut (a.k.a "donut") — an edible, torus-shaped piece of dough which is deep-fried and sweetened."

So here is my photo to represent National Doughnut day. Go eat some, I did nom nom xx

Baking for my Brothers Birthday.

2011-06-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last year my big brother Phill moved to the USA to start a new life with his lovely wife Anna. Sadly this means my kiddies miss him an awful lot, and as this was his first birthday without us, we decided to bake him some cupcakes.
For all of you that do not know, I am a self confessed Geek. Comic books, computers, Sci-Fi (yes including Star Trek) A lot of this was passed down to me via my brother and so in honour of him on his birthday the kids and I thought that an old gaming classic would be a good fit.

So here are my Jet Set Willy Cupcakes, taking us back to 1984 and the ZX Spectrum.

Lets break some eggs.

2011-06-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there.

My name is Natalie. I've been wanting to do this blog thing for a long time. So here I am, finally ready to go.

I love all things crafty and cakey and spend all my free time (not that I have much) dedicated to making, baking, stitching and loving my six kids.

I am hoping to share with you, the things that make me smile each and every day.

So here we go, lets see what we can make of it.

Natty xxxx