Sunday 29 June 2014

An Orange, Black and White Affair

This was her day.  What all the sleep counting for months (literally), led to.   A celebration all about her, all for her.  A morning filled with so many smiles, so much laughter and so much fun.




The end result: Mummy that was the best party ever! I had so much fun. Thank you Mummy, I love you!

Details:
Zebra crossing stairs. Paper chains, streamers and balloons everywhere!   Each guest received a zebra stamp on their hand upon entry, and a zebra tail pinned to their outfit.
Couches were covered in leftover fabric. As weather is unpredictable in winter we decided on cushions for floor seating, which were used for "musical cushions" and each guest got to take their zebra tail and also a cushion home.
My sister-in-law did the awesome face-painting, and there was an "activity table" with colouring sheets, mazes, and play-dough for kids who were in between games.
We played: pin the tail on the zebra, musical cushions to a zebra song, what's the time Mr. Lion (instead of Mr. Wolf), and had a lollipop scavenger hunt.  There was a lot of scootering, bouncing, running and playing in the tunnels too.
The lollipops were on special from here, and we had oranges, mandarins, orange coconut ice, orange mosaic jelly, orange juice, and wee orange cheesy cocktail sausages, along with some other standard party fare.  And naturally - there was birthday cake too!
The most adorable felt zebra faux taxidermy head was a birthday gift from here. Various zebra fabric (all half price!) and zebra balloons from Spotlight, cushion inners at a discount from Harvey Furnishings, lion ears from the zoo, zebra paper and napkins from a $2 shop, straws and plates from here.   Everything else was handmade or we already had.  Costs were low, fun factor was high!

26/52


L:   Our little Lion - much better this week and truly getting back to form.  Always fire in the belly - even closing farm gates are serious matters at time, although you try hard to hide that grin. : )

A:   One of the best parts of my day is collecting you from school.   I love seeing your face burst into that radiant smile with those twinkling eyes.   Melt!   Here you were having a ball on the scooters with Daddy, your sisters and some friends - the smile permanent :)

H:   First day of school.  You and your sister walking along, hand in hand, like so many times before, but so very different this time round.  You love finally being a school girl and have had a great first week.   One more to go before we have a break and do it all over again!

L xx


Joining in with Jodi @ Practising Simplicity.

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Show & Tell: Not a Neigh

Howdie!  First, a warning... you are likely to see a lot of Zebra and Orange themed things around these parts for a little while... The big bash has been and now... now we digest and reflect : )

Show & Tell Thursday's

You're probably aware we had a big 5-year old birthday recently.  The girls go to/went to a wonderful kindy - they celebrate the children and love them like their own.  It is a really warm, loving environment and when the kids leave you can feel and see the excitement mixed with a pang of sadness in the teacher's faces. They put on a bit of a leaving ceremony and read out the child's "diploma" of strengths, qualities and achievements on the last day... a special moment.

So last day of kindy arrived for Heidi. And of course we wanted to do something a little special, a little different for this big moment. Last year for her birthday we did some Zebra inspired cupcakes, the year before was orange popcorn... extreme brain-wracking ensued.


Ahha! Zebra biscuits! I have a recipe that I normally use but the bikkies are quite soft. For little kids I wanted them to be a bit more robust and crunchy so used this recipe.  They were delicious and very crisp cookies!


Finding a zebra/horse cookie cutter was a bit of a mission but we got there. not to mention then stacking the layers the wrong way and almost ending up with horizontally striped zebra's... We got there : ) The ones at the end looked a bit more like motley cows given all the rejigging of the scraps but they were tasty and still fun!

They went down a treat with young and old. I can see more of these in future - the end result is definitely worth the extra effort!

Ok lovelies - your turn! What have you been up to?
Cant wait to see your delightful goodies!
L xx

PS: Just so you know, there is no expectation to go as nuts as I do for occasions as Kindy. You know me and my tendencies to get a little carried away.... : )



Sunday 22 June 2014

25/52




H:  My sweet birthday girl. You loved your birthday weekend filled with the things and people you love - and have told us so non-stop. You fill our hearts and make us smile, you gorgeous precious little girl. Mummy loves you so xx

A:  Nothing like a party and games to get you going! You were a wonderful big sister and co-host, kind, gracious and helpful. You've come right back to life this week after your wee concussion last week - life just cant keep up with you xx

L:  That little face... ironically you were starting to feel much better on this day but your panda bear face made you look the way you had most of the week suffering from croup and sickly bugs. Almost back to your old self now, our little fire-cracker xx

L xx


Joining in with <a href="http://www.practisingsimplicity.com/">Jodi @ Practising Simplicity</a>

Thursday 19 June 2014

So she ran away in her sleep, and dreamed of...

Specially for my Birthday Girl on her special day - her favourite song xx

Have a celebratory weekend everyone!
L xx

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Show & Tell: Zebra's will come out to play...

Wahey! Hello there!

Show & Tell Thursday's

It's party time around these parts!  Our wee Heidi is turning 5 - my little lover of zebra's and orange.  It also means she gets to have a "big" party.  For all other birthdays we have some cake with a few friends, nothing formal, nothing serious (though no less special!).   But 5... 5 is a biggie for us and means serious business!

So it's only apt we have some serious invitations :) We tossed around lots of ideas for a fun invitation and finally settled on this one. A moving Zebra card invitation. Of course!

I researched how these cards worked and it was really simple! Bonus! And hubster had not long returned from an overseas trip with lots of little coins fit for this purpose.

Though wanting to have various different components, it meant a few layers and a lot, A LOT!!, of cutting! My hands did not love me for it, but we loved the final results : )

She was thrilled, and the girls all loved playing with them. Always makes a enjoyable experience that much more rewarding doesn't it?

What clever, crafty things have you been working on? Anything finished? Any sneaky peeks to share?
Cant wait to see what you've been up to!
Hope your Thursday is full of fun!
L xx

Show & Tell Thursday's





Monday 16 June 2014

24/52


Photo's from this week are pretty non-existent, but we managed a couple on Daddy's phone on Sunday. At a little friend's party, enjoy the games, the food and the dress up box. A - relishing doing the girly girl thing and watching yourself in the mirror. H - dressed up, ready and off playing quietly. L - copying your big sister and enjoying the attention.

Fingers crossed Mum remembers the camera this week and captures it all!

L xx


Joining in with Jodi @ Practising Simplicity

Thursday 12 June 2014

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Show & Tell: Fuzzy Covers

Hiya, how're you doing?

Show & Tell Thursday's

This week I'm still on the hottie covers... Have you signed up, or made any yet? There's still time if you're keen!


During the week I hooked up a couple of "girly" covers to join the space-ships from last week.

Nothing complicated - a rainbow and a warm cosy red one with a snowflake on it. But they are soft and feel delicious!

They'll be joining the other covers and wing their way to Christchurch in a couple of weeks. And hopefully keep a little one nice and warm on these cold nights.

What scrummy things have you been working on? Looking forward to seeing your inspiring link-ups!
Thanks for popping in!
L xx


Show & Tell Thursday's





Monday 9 June 2014

Only in fairytales...

For the last few weeks a bit of magic has been happening down our street... We captured the moment... carefully so as not to disturb this fairytale scene come true...











L xx