Paper Fruit Pouches

These are really cute paper pouches to serve your guests in. A few simple folds of paper and you're ready to roll 'em out. For the how-to click here.

"For each cup, start with one sheet each of glassine and parchment paper. Cut whichever sheet will form the inside of the cup to 9 1/2 inches square; cut the other to 10 inches square. Center the small sheet on top of the large sheet, and attach in center with a piece of double-sided tape."

Lollipop Balloons

Materials: balloons, cellophane, dowels, paintbrush, scissors, black tape, white paint, string

This is an adorable idea I found online which is absolutely simple in execution as well - lollipop balloons.

What you can use 'em for you ask? Try a Candyland theme or a Willy Wonka theme or a Sweet factory theme to name a few.

Children will love it! 

Make Your Own Hobbyhorse

As promised this is my post on teaching you how to make those cute hobbyhorses I made recently. 

Here we go. 

Kids just love running around and pretending to be one thing or another. One say they are superheroes, the next cowboys and cowgirls and the next Bob the Builder of Dora or Little Einstein and the list goes on and on and on. Their life is filled with  imaginary adventures. So I thought, why not use that to my advantage and create a birthday activity out of it.

I did. And the children LOVED it.

So here’s how you, if you have pony themed or just want to give something fun to your kid to play with, make hobbyhorses just like I did for My Little Pony Birthday.

You will need:

- A wooden stick or pipe (I cut it to 3 feet according to the children’s height)

- Poly-fil

- Socks (medium or large)

- Felt or fabric paper (I used fabric paper)

- Yarn for hair (I used fabric paper as hair)

- Scissors

- Glue

- Needle (should you choose to make the hair out of yarn)

- Jute or yarn string

Here’s how: (I’ll use reference images from the internet since I didn’t take any while  I was fussing over mine)

Step 1: Fill the sock with poly-fil, put it all that you can. Stuff, stuff, stuff. 

Step 2: Now start cutting your accessories; eyes, nose, bridle, harness and hair out of felt/fabric paper. I kept the size of my bridle and harness 1” in width and measured the length according the horses head size.

Step 3: Glue the ears on the head, pinching them in first to make it look more real. You can also sew them in. 

Step 4: Glue the eyes and the nose in place. 

Step 5: wrap the bridle felt/fabric paper around the mouth and glue it in place. 

Step 6: Hair. There are different ways you can do this. If you are doing it with yarn, be ready for a tedious task. I found the easiest visual tutorial for you here. I just used 1/2" wide strips of fabric paper or felt and glued them on the top of the head, fanning them out.

Step 7: Add the harness connecting it to the bridle by merely gluing it together.

Step 8: Take the wooden dowel  or pipe (whichever your choice), make a ridge around it at about 1 foot.






































Step 9: Insert it into the sock opening, pushing it as far as the sock ankle. Now fill in the rest of the sock leaving about 2" at the end empty.



Step 10: Tie the end of the sock securely with a string of yarn exactly where the notch is.

And now giddy up!

Have fun with colours and techniques. Like this - 

or this -

or these -

Until next time. YEE HAW!

Inspired By Lights

I keep meeting clients who want nothing to have to do with lights, for them flowers is what makes an event look fabulous. It's true, flowers can lift the face of any event no matter how big or small (ask our local caterers who copy Preston Bailey unashamedly and by copy I mean photocopy to the tee! I went to one of the very top ones and in a conversation asked him who designs his florals and very proudly was told, "I do", with this oh-so accomplished smile, and I point out how they are exactly like Preston Bailey's and on being caught he takes out PB's book and says, "this is the bible." *facepalm*). 

The so-called bible - own it and you can be the best caterer (notice how I don't say event/creative planner) there is in Karachi.

Continuing on, lights can be used in so many effective and glamourous ways that it will boggle your mind. Most of the time clients can't visualise when I tell them this, so I researched a few example to help you understand the power of lights, lights, light!

 Preston Bailey's genius (I bet it's in the bible)

This is from an Indian movie. 

And this is from an American TV show (I forget which)

Harry Potter inspired. Just for fun!

Game of Thrones Cake Pops.

I saw this.  I HAD to share this.

These Game of Thrones cake pops are original and inspiration for TGOT themes parties. A homage to Ned Stark by Not Your Momma's Cookie. 

You have, have, have to check out the recipe and the ease with which you can make them here. 

I will, however,  give you a sneak preview of what is ingredients so that you know what you are getting yourselves into:

Ingredients:

• Red velvet cake from a mix, cooled completely
• 16 ounces cream cheese frosting
• Bamboo skewers
• White candy melts
• Yellow candy melts
• Pink candy melts
• Red candy melts
• Brown candy melts
• Black food writer

Happy cooking!

Make Gradation Push Pops yourself

I saw these superbly deliciously innovative push pops by Bake At 350 and I thought of sharing the secret to make these instantaneously with all of you.

I'll give you a quick rundown here for those of you who don't want to jump another page, for the rest, may the source be with you.

You will need:

• Large "button" sprinkles
• Sour spaghetti
• Ghiradelli square chocolates
• Mini Reese's peanut butter cups, not the super tiny ones
• Frosting for "glue"

You will do:
Add some frosting to the bottom of the peanut butter cup,

1. press on an upside-down chocolate square,
2. add a bit of frosting to the sprinkle and attach to the square,
3. use a toothpick to "draw" a line of frosting from the sprinkle,
4. press on a sour spaghetti strand (you may want to trim it),
5. place these in the refrigerator to set up while you assemble the pops.
6. Press the push-pop container down onto the cake to cut to size. Slide the cake into the container (I used another push-pop "plunger," trimmed of its raised edges to press the cake down). Use a paper towel to wipe away any crumbs before piping the frosting.
7. Pipe in some frosting. Keep adding layers until you reach the top. Add a graduation cap topper.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

1 & 1/2 sticks salted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup Crisco shortening
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 lb. box powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup milk

Beat together the butter, shortening, and peanut butter until combined, about 3 minutes. On low speed, add in the sifted powdered sugar in three additions, scraping down the sides and bottom of bowl as needed. Once the sugar has been added, increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute.

Add in the vanilla and the milk; beat until smooth.

Simple yet unexpected Mother's Day gift ideas!

Millions of ideas online, yet all of them pretty conventional. Not that there is anything wrong with convention, but I wanted to look for something different for you guys to pick from and then I came across THIS -

Tom Barlow gives us these fantastic ideas for Mother's Days out-of-the-ordinary gifts:

Why not surprise Mom with something other than the flowers, candy and dinner out this Mother's Day? How about something that shows thoughtfulness and even an investment of your time, energy or creativity? We've compiled a quick list of 10 such items to spur your thought process.

1. Garden plants. Why spend on a dozen roses that will wilt in a week when you could buy a few rose bushes that will bloom for years? Or tomatoes she can enjoy all summer long? Of course, if your ma isn't a gardener, you could include taking care of her rose bushes or plants as part of your gift, if you live nearby. Time is the most precious gift most of us have to give.

2. A Skype video call with a distant old friend or relative. If your Mom isn't technologically savvy, she may not even be aware that teleconferencing is now a breeze. Although this might take some setting up on the other end, Mom might really enjoy a face-to-face chat with an old friend or relative in another state or even halfway around the world. Tip: Facebook makes it easy to find old classmates.


3. Her heritage. Though this is certainly not cheap, a study of Mom's DNA to trace her ancestry would serve you as well as her. For $119, Genetic Geneology will trace her maternal or fraternal lines back centuries to reveal who her ancestors were. She might even find she is related to someone famous. 

4. Ready-made meals. Sure Mom's an incomparable cook, but even she might enjoy having some home-prepared soups in her freezer. Take the time to make a batch of you best and freeze it into meal-sized portions for her. She'll think of you every time she thaws one out. 

5. A tiara. You mom is a princess, why not treat her like one? Every woman needs at least one tiara in her wardrobe. 

6. Premium silk flowers. The best quality silk flowers look better than the real thing, especially a few weeks after Mother's Day. Make them even better with a vial of matching floral scent to sprinkle on them from time to time. 

7. A digital photo viewer or iPod-like device preloaded with family photos. Sneak her favorite photo albums out of the house, scan the contents and load them onto a portable viewer (there are many options available). She'll be delighted to have them with her to share at a moment's notice. If you go the iPod route, preload some of her favorite tunes, too.

8. Buy a goat in her name. Through World Vision, for $75 you can buy a goat for a Third World person in her name. Long after the flowers are gone, she'll have the satisfaction of knowing she'd helping make some distant mother's life better.

9. Buy her a nice pair of 3D glasses or even 3D clipons and take her to the movies. It's a 3D world now, and who wants to wear a pair of glasses that have been on thousands of noses? Not your Mom, I bet.

10. A locket with a photo of her mother inside. After all, even on Mother's Day, she's still the child of her own mother.

For printable of the images above click  here.