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.

How to make paper spheres

I was browsing through the net as usual and I came across this module of a paper sphere that has intrigued the creative minds of Karachi for quite some time. I couldn't believe my eyes...






WHUT! I CAN MAKE THESE MYSELF??!!


And so can you, thanks to Wanessa who tells us how:

Since I wanted to use bold and trendy colors, first I thought of making them with colored cardstock, but then realized that would be expensive. So here what I did…
First I attached wrapping paper to brown paper with spray adhesive. Then I traced the module pieces using a module template and cut them out. At first it seemed like a lot of work but I can tell you it was worth it!

I bought the roll of brown paper at Walmart for $6.50 and the wrapping paper for $5.00. With the length of the wrapping paper I could trace up to 100 modules!
But here is what I figured out. This method just works for the round shapes, to make the oval, diamond, and the other shapes you will need the module to be colored on both sides, so you might want to try cardstock.

Materials:
Brown paper
Colored wrapping paper (about 8 feet)
Spray adhesive
Scissors
Damp cloth

*If you don’t want to do this process, just use colored cardstock

Instructions:
Lay down the brown paper and spray the adhesive covering about 12″ (it is better to do this little by little)
Lay the back of the wrapping paper on the brown paper over the spray adhesive, and rub the surface using a damp cloth to attach (using a damp cloth will avoid scratching the paper)
Spray more adhesive and continue the process of adhering the wrapping paper to the brown craft paper
Once both papers are attached, trace out 30 modules and cut them out. Download the module template here.

As you start putting the pieces together, you will make something looking like a flower at the bottom, using 5 module pieces to start. Here you can see the beginning of the process of putting them together.

Here's the middle process

Here's the end

 To hang the sphere I cut out some circles (cereal box cardboard) using a scrapbook punch, made a hole in the middle of the circle and the module using a needle, passed through the holes a fish line (made a triple knot an burned the end).

These are the different shapes you can make using the same module.

Using different materials will render different effects, for example if you use vellum and put light in it becomes a light fixture!

I honestly feel like Sherlock Holmes right now, mystery solved!

Rainbow Party Ideas

There goes the April Fool day with not much hype, in retrospect  I think I should have done some mischief on my blog or at least the facebook page, but since I'm such a great person instead I'm letting my virtuous side rule by bringing you a party theme idea. Rainbows! 

Who doesn't love rainbows? Except, perhaps the Grinch, but to be fair there are probably no rainbows on his side of grumpville. 

Sleighing on.

This is is a theme that is not gender specific and has a lot of potential to be explored. Here are a few ideas you can work with. 

Playdough party favours.

Rainbow of cakes

Rainbow coated cookies

Rainbor yarn decor

Rainbow candies.

rainbow cake. 

These are just a few things you can do. You can even bring back streamers into style by making streamer chandeliers or streamer canopy. You see, when colour is not a limitation the possibilities are unlimited!

Oh, and don't forget to put gold at the end of the rainbow!

source

Be A Host The Most...

.... leave the rest to me!

But I understand, sometimes you want to it all by yourself. In which keep in mind:

Plenty of food +Plenty of favours = Plenty of fun tells us Gina

1) Plan Early 

So many of us pile 200 things on our daily to-do list that we are still working on tasks from 2010. Work through what could be an otherwise very stressful situation by sitting down in a calm and quiet place (away from the kids, of course!) and figuring out what needs to be done and when. Things you will want to tackle first include: choosing colors and a theme for the event, putting together a guest list (try to keep it small and intimate-the more folks that attend your event, the more work you will have keeping everything in order), deciding on decorations, creating a menu, and sending out invitations. If your party is going to be somewhere other than your house, venue selection is something else you want to take care of sooner than later.

By planning ahead you will allow yourself plenty of time to handle unforeseen situations and get some of the work out of the way long before the event is scheduled to take place. By doing as much pre-party work as possible, you are making it possible to relax and enjoy interacting with your guests the day of the event.

2) Be Present

Sounds easy, right? Well it is harder than it may seem. I cannot tell you how many times I have attended parties for my son’s friends where the hostess of the party did not make more than a five minute appearance throughout the entire party. This is especially a problem for moms hosting a party for smaller children (say under 7).

Everyone knows that a child’s party is just as much for the parents as it is for the children. Adults want to have a good time too! So being present requires party hostesses to have things prepared ahead of time so when it comes party time, they are free to 1) Plan Early 

So many of us pile 200 things on our daily to-do list that we are still working on tasks from 2010. Work through what could be an otherwise very stressful situation by sitting down in a calm and quiet place (away from the kids, of course!) and figuring out what needs to be done and when. Things you will want to tackle first include: choosing colors and a theme for the event, putting together a guest list (try to keep it small and intimate-the more folks that attend your event, the more work you will have keeping everything in order), deciding on decorations, creating a menu, and sending out invitations. If your party is going to be somewhere other than your house, venue selection is something else you want to take care of sooner than later.

By planning ahead you will allow yourself plenty of time to handle unforeseen situations and get some of the work out of the way long before the event is scheduled to take place. By doing as much pre-party work as possible, you are making it possible to relax and enjoy interacting with your guests the day of the event.

3) Be Plentiful

Make sure you have more than enough food, drinks, favors, and games and activities scheduled for the party day. Shorting some children party favors or not having enough food is a recipe for disaster! If you are unsure, plan for extra attendees. My rule of thumb is: take the confirmed guest count and add enough for 5-10 more for everything. That means more favor bags, more soda, more snacks, more cake and more prizes. You may have to spend a little more but you can always give out extra and you can never compensate for not having enough. Besides, everyone loves party leftovers. Besides everyone loves party leftovers.

I will tell you this though, throwing a party is not easy on your own, help is definitely advised, especially from a professional, that way you don't need to worry about warm drinks and cold food, all you have to do is focus on smiling.