That Cute Little Cake

{Recipe} Chocolate pudding

2012-02-13T11:28:00.000Z

These chocolate puddings are deliciously creamy and because they can be made the day before, they are the perfect party food.
They are really quick to make and little ones love them.

Chocolate pudding
Will make approximately 6 ramequins

250 ml milk
250 ml double cream
3 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
150g good quality dark chocolate, chopped finely
1 sheet gelatine (sizes vary a lot depending on brands, mine was 7cm x 15 cm)

Place the gelatine sheet in a bowl of cold water and leave for at least 10 minutes.

Pour milk and cream in a pan and gently bring to the boil.

Beat egg yolk and sugar in a bowl until the colour changes to a pale yellow. Add the hot milk and cream, mix well and return to the pan. Gently heat until the mixture thickens.

Place chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour in half of the hot cream. Mix until all the chocolate has melted.
Add the gelatine sheet (squeeze well before adding to remove excess water) and mix well.
Add remaining cream.

Pour into the ramequins. Leave to cool and then place in fridge for at least 2 hours.

Linking to Sundae Scoop Party @ I Heart Naptime

and Sunday Showcase @ Under the table and dreaming

{Craft} Decorated children wooden hangers

2012-02-11T11:29:00.001Z

I decorated these hangers for a friend who just had a baby girl, let's hope she likes them...
I intend on making more to keep, it would be easy to find designs matching our children's bedroom themes.

Just cut out some shapes in pretty papers (having a cutting machine helps but you could use a paper punch or templates) and glue on the hangers using Decopatch glue/varnish (Or Mod Podge). Apply 1 or 2 more coats of varnish to seal. To finish, tie a little ribbon.

The Ikea wooden children hangers are ideal since they are completely flat.

Original idea from Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts

Linking to Sundae Scoop Party @ I Heart Naptime
and Sunday Showcase @ Under the table and dreaming

I am looking forward to seeing your pictures

2012-02-10T09:43:00.000Z

Hi
I have just created a Flickr group so I can see how you have been inspired by this blog to create and bake.
I would really love to see what you have been up to so please go to the That Cute Little Cake group and share your lovely pictures !

Have a sweet day !

Virginie

Features

2012-02-07T20:10:00.001Z

I am so excited because my Valentine's Day table was featured on several webites this week !!!
Thank you to Kara's Party Ideas, Catch My Party and Oh My! Creative

Parties recap

2012-02-05T20:33:00.000Z

To all my dear readers and new followers (thank you so much for following, and if you don't follow me yet, please join in !!!), here is a little recap of my parties and tables.

Girly Pirate Birthday party

Rainbow Birthday party

Hansel and Gretel Christmas table

Valentine's day table

{Party table} Valentine's day table

2012-02-01T19:37:00.000Z

Hope you will enjoy the pictures.

I was really happy with how the completed table turned up.
The light could have been better but unfortunately the weather was terrible on sunday... Also I do need a "proper" camera, mine is just not good enough (sorry, writing it down for my husband to read... just in case !)

I would love to know what you think !

*** UPDATE***
I am hoping this will answer most of your questions but please leave me a comment if you would like to know something else.

Dessert and treats:
- Vanilla panna cotta with raspberry coulis
- Chocolate brownie bites
- Chocolate mud cake with chocolate cream cheese buttercream, covered in red sugarpaste roses (Inspired from Peggy Porschen Bed of Roses cake)
- Red velvet cake with vanilla cream cheese buttercream. Visit I am Baker's tutorial to find out how to make the piped roses.
- Red velvet cake pops
- Heart shaped chocolates (From John Lewis)
- Cherry lips sweets (from local sweet shop)
- Bailey's individual Cheesecakes: now this was my first attempt at making cheesecakes and since I was using the glass containers (not suitable for oven use) I had to use a no-bake cheesecake recipe. Unfortunately they were not so good so I have decided not to share the recipe since I would not recommend them.

For party decorations you can read this previous post
- tutorial for the paper flower ball from the House of Smiths
- Subway art printable from Every Creative Endeavor

Linking to
Sunday Showcase party
Sundae Scoop party

{Craft} I just couldn't resist...

2012-02-01T14:15:00.000Z

I saw an adorable felt LOVE sign over at Heartfelt Handmade last week and I just couldn't resist, I had to make one.
It had to be pink to match the rest of the items on my craft desk but I have to say I do like the grey and red one from Heart Handmade very much. Grey it always so "chic" !

Linking to
Sundae Scoop party @ I Heart Naptime
Sunday showcase @ Under The Table and Dreaming

{Recipe} Panna Cotta

2012-01-31T11:27:00.001Z

Panna cotta has got to be the easiest dessert you can make. And it is so quick to prepare that you can actually manage to make it during the day with the children around (that in itself is a achievement !).

Now the recipe calls for gelatin and you might have to play a bit with the quantities to find your perfect recipe. The gelatin is here to thicken the cream but remember you are not making jelly !! So just go easy with it.

To make 4 little pots of Panna Cotta

400ml double cream
1 small sheet of gelatin (or half if you only have big sheets)
50g caster sugar
1/2 sachet of vanilla sugar (or some vanilla extract)

Topping of your choice: fruit coulis, chocolate sauce, etc

Put your gelatin in a bowl of cold water and leave until soft (about 10 minutes)
Gently bring to the boil the cream+sugar+vanilla.
Turn hob off.
Take the gelatine out of the bowl, squeeze the excess water and add to the cream.
Mix well (DO NOT WHISK ! as you can see on my picture, if you whisk, you will get foam and it does not look pretty.... so just mix well with a spoon).
Fill 4 little pots or ramequin and leave to cool.
When cool, place in the fridge overnight.

Add the topping when serving.

Linking to Sundae Scoop party @ I Heart Naptime
and Sunday Showcase @ Under the table and dreaming

{Valentine's Day table} Sneak peak

2012-01-28T10:48:00.002Z

Red roses cake... I went to bed REALLY late last night....

{Valentine's Day table} Work in progress

2012-01-27T17:57:00.005Z

This week I made cheesecakes, panna cotta, red velvet cake pops and more, but my favourite is this little beauty: chocolate mud cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting, quite simply delicious !!!

Pictures of the finished table to follow very soon, I just have about a hundret sugarpaste roses to make tonight...!

Have a sweet week end.

{Valentine's Day table} Baking, baking and more baking !

2012-01-25T23:35:00.002Z

I have finished the decorations for my Valentine's day table, so now it is baking time !
And today I am sharing with you some of my favourite recipes that I will be using for the table.

Chocolate brownie bites
I love the recipe from Nigella Lawson's How to be a domestic goddess.
This is a very rich cake, but it is delicious !

Photos from Nigella's website

This is a very good Brownie recipe but beware of the quantities, it will make quite a lot!
I did not put any walnuts in and instead added some chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

375 g soft unsalted butter
375 g best quality dark chocolate
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
500 g caster sugar
225 g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
300 g chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Line your approximatley 33 x 23 x 5 1/2cm brownie pan with foil or baking paper.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy based saucepan.

In a bowl beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla.

Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.

When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar mixture, and then the nuts and flour.

Beat to combine and then scrape out of the saucepan into the lined brownie pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes.

When its's ready, the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark and dense and gooey.

Keep checking the brownies as they cook; remember that they will continue to cook as they cool.

Chocolate Mud cake
I like the recipe from The Home guide to cake decorating by Jane Price.
Click the above link to browse the book on Amazon.co.uk and read the technical section of her book (including all her recipes...).

Ingredients for a 22cm round cake tin or 20cm square cake tin

220 g unsalted butter

220 g good quality dark chocolate
6 tsp instant coffee granules
160 mL water
125g self-raising flour
125g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
480 g caster sugar
4 large eggs
7 tsp vegetable oil
110 mL buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C (less if fan oven)

2. Put the butter, chocolate, coffee and water in a pan and stir over low heat till melted. Remove from heat.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flours, cocoa, caster sugar and bicarb soda and make a well in the middle.

4. Whisk together the eggs, oil and buttermilk in a separate bowl till combined.

5. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and carefully whisk to combine.

6. Grease and line your cake tin with non-stick baking paper.

7. Slowly pour the chocolate mixture into the well in the flour mixture.

8. Mix well to combine, then carefully pour into the lined cake tin. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes, or till a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake in the tin till completely cooled.

Red Velvet cake

I will be making a red velvet cake for the first time. I have decided to use this recipe from Cake Ink and I will let you know how I find it.

{Sweet table contest} And the winner is...

2012-01-24T19:46:00.000Z

The winner of the 2011 Edition of the Sweet Table Contest has been announced.
It wasn't one of my favourites but still a very nice table and it is very original.

Congratulations to Vanessa

from South Africa

More pictures here.

{Sweet table} Valentine's Day inspiration

2012-01-22T13:18:00.001Z

I am in the process of creating a mini table for Valentine's Day and today I though I would share some of my inspiration.
My colour scheme is red and white with a little bit of black too (to allow for some dark chocolate treats...!). And the theme is based around red roses...

Let's start with two beautiful tables:

From Just call me Martha

What a genius idea to use envelopes for the background !

From Green Wedding shoes

I think having an all white table can be very challenging but they did

a brilliant job and I love the red accents. How cute is that ruffle mini cake ?

Now for the decorations:

I will be trying to make a paper rose ball like this one from The House of Smiths, in red to match my colours. Their tutorial is pretty good.

I find these love tickets from the Silhouette store so cute, so I will have to try and find them a little spot on my table.

What would Valentine's day be without love words:

Subway art form Every Creative Endeavor

Now I "only" have the baking left to do !!!

{Craft} Hair clip Holders - Last pictures, I promise !

2012-01-20T16:30:00.003Z

Here are the last pictures of the hair clip holders I made for Christmas.
Next week I promise, it's back to cakes! I am preparing a Valentine Day table so there is going to be a lot of baking involved.

I made the pink fairy Toadstool for a little girl who has a fairy theme in her bedroom.
I liked this little house so much that I then made another one using different colours.

And the last one was a little birdie:

That's it. Next year I will be making stockings !

{Craft} Owl Hair Clip Holders

2012-01-17T20:48:00.000Z

Today I am sharing with you the pictures of my felt owl hair clip holders. I used the same design in 3 different colour combination. What's your favourite ?
I found owls were quite fun to make. You can make them look a bit funny by playing with the eyes.

Now this one was one of my favourites. I just love the bright blue with the red.
My daughter liked it so much that it stayed with us !

On this one I added a loop at the bottom to hang head bands.

The little snowflake detail is from a felt ribbon I found in Marks&Spencer with their Christmas wrapping supplies. It is similar to this one from Martha Stewart.

Linking to Sunday Scoop @ I Heart Naptime

{Craft} Triple hair clip holder

2012-01-16T13:59:00.001Z

As you know I made quite a few hair clip holders as gifts for Christmas and now in January I have decided it is high time to finally post the pictures !

I really enjoyed making these. Felt is so easy to use and no sewing machine is required ! you just need felt sheets, buttons and fabric scraps.

Today I am sharing with you the triple hair clip holder I made for our little neighbours, they are triplets !
I just love this owl, isn't she cute ???
I copied the owl design from a baby T-shirt we had and I just added the branch.

More tomorrow...

Linking to I Heart Naptime Sunday Scoop

{Recipe} Nigella's Christmas pudding truffle

2012-01-13T15:00:00.000Z

Just before Christmas I watched Nigella Lawson's Christmas serie and one of the episodes was about stocking fillers, homemade, of course. (Watch it here on youtube).

Picture from www.styleathome.com

I fell in love with her Christmas Puddini bonbon. They are quite simply adorable !

She basically mixes Christmas pudding with chocolate to create the truffles and decorates them with white chocolate and candied cherries so they look like mini Christmas pudding.
You can find the recipe here.
My advice: let the mixture set in the fridge for 15 minutes before attempting to make the truffles.

I could not find green glace cherries so my truffles did no look nearly as nice ( I used lime zest instead and the look is messy...) but they tasted really good !

I used my silhouette to make the boxes and cards, so they are completely homemade little presents.

Linking to

{Book review} Super-cute Cookies

2012-01-11T13:10:00.000Z

Today I am reviewing the book Super-cute Cookies from Chloe Coker

I was delighted to find this book under our tree at Christmas, what a treat !

The books is really well made and I find the technical chapter at the beginning of the book very good. Techniques are explained clearly with lots of photographs.

The author really goes back to basics and shows the reader everything there is to know to make her beautiful cookies, from cutting the dough to covering the cookies with fondant or royal icing. She even shows how to make cookie cutters and piping bags.

In this sections you will also find recipes for cookie dough (vanilla, gingerbread and others) and royal icing.

The rest of the book is divided into 4 chapters:

Celebration and Gift

Fun for children

Holiday cookies

Love and wedding

In each section there is a beautiful selection of designs. You will be spoiled for choice. There are so many I want to try !

For each design there is a step by step photographic guide on how to decorate the cookies. Every technique required is well explained here or at the beginning of the book therefore all bakers should be able to follow the steps and achieve a beautiful cookie.

Templates to cut the cookies are included at the back of the book or can be downloaded here.

Some of my favourite designs:

Cookie bunting

What a fantastic idea this is !!!

Fabulous for a princess birthday party: Crown and Wand

Love the cherry blossoms

Fresh colours for Christmas

You can see further designs from the book on Chloe Coker website here.

All in all a very good book. Definitely a recommended buy for anyone who does not know all the techniques involved in cookie decorating since they are really well explained here.
Lots of inspirational pictures and a good collection of designs for every occasion.
At RRP £14.99 I think it is a great buy.

Please note that my opinions are my own and I am only reviewing books I already own.

"Home Made" cookie stamp

2012-01-09T14:03:00.000Z

What would Christmas be without gadgets and stocking fillers ? You might have guessed that I usually get some cooking/baking related gadgets in my stockings...
Well this year was no exception !!!

I got this very cute cookie stamp that says "Home Made" and I love it. Any excuse to bake cookies ! I was already making these on boxing day....

Just prepare you favorite cookie dough, roll, cut circle shapes with a cutter and stamp before baking as usual.

Delicious.

Love Homemade !

Linking to Sundae Scoop Link party @ I Heart Naptime

{Sweet Table Contest 2011} My personal favourites

2011-12-28T19:16:00.000Z

Submissions are now closed for the 2011 edition of the Sweet Table Contest and I can't wait to find out who won it. There are some pretty amazing tables in competitions and here are some of my favourites:

Vanessa - French Chic
From New Zealand

Amanda
From Australia

Grace
From Indonesia

Christine
From Germany

Etta, Dada e Chiara - Alla festa di natale
From Italy

Monica Lorena e Andriano - Al Natale
From Italy

Nicole
From USA

Ning Fathia - Wild West Birthday
From Indonesia

Idoia Torres - Batman Party
From Spain

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T10:00:00.000Z

Have a very sweet Christmas

and see you all in the New year !

{Dessert table} Hansel and Gretel Christmas table

2011-12-21T10:00:00.000Z

I am very excited to share this project with you. I have been baking like mad this past week and my table is finally finished !

I had this vision of Hansel and Gretel discovering the gingerbread house surrounded by a very tempting forest of sweet. I wanted to create a table that would be exciting for the little ones but still had a rustic woodland feel.

I am pleased with the result, and I hope you will like it too...

Ferrero Raffaelo Tower

Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate gingerbread men toppers

Chocolate lollipops

Christmas pudding truffles

Thank you favors:

Felt ornaments

Lemon Christmas Tree cookies

On the sweet side...

Candy bar

Mini Marshmallow topiary

Chocolate cupcake with Candy Cane hearts

Meringue Tower

Standing gingerbread Christmas tree cookies

Vendor credit:
Candy Christmas Printables from Shindig Parties

Linking to Bird's Party Blog

{Recipe} Lemon Christmas Tree Cookies

2011-12-19T17:19:00.001Z

Today's recipe is one of my favourite: lemon cookies. And this time, I covered them with lemon drizzle to make them extra special.
Recipes at the bottom of this post.

To make little presents for Christmas I made mini Christmas Trees by staking the cookies.
I cut 3 different sizes of stars. For each mini tree you will need 2 large stars, 2 medium stars, 2 small stars and you will need an extra small star to stand on top.
Then simply stack the cookies by starting with the biggest stars and attaching each layer with a little bit of royal icing.

I brushed the last small star with gold sparkle before standing it on the tree and securing with yet more royal icing. You will need to hold the star standing for a couple of minutes.

{ Recipe } Lemon Cookies

200g soft butter
200g catser sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
400g plain flour
zest of one lemon

Cream the soft butter, sugar and lemon zest in an electric mixer (paddle attachment) until well mixed. Stop when it just starts to look creamy. If the dough is overwork, the cookies will tend to spread during baking.
Beat in the egg until well combined.
Add the flour and mix on low speed until the dough forms.
Spread and cut using 3 sizes of star cutters. Place the shapes on a tray lined with baking paper and chill for about 30 minutes.

Bake at 180 degrees C for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on size.
The cookies should just start to look golden brown at the edges and should spring back up when pressed gently.

{ Recipe } Lemon drizzle

Simply mix 125g icing sugar with 1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice until well combined and drizzle over the cooled cookies.
I recommend placing the cookies on a rack so the excess drizzle can just run down.

{How to} Make a meringue tower

2011-12-18T19:41:00.001Z

Today I'll share with you how I made the meringue "tree" for my Hansel and Gretel Christmas table.

First up: make the meringues.

Ingredients
140gr egg whites (you'll need about 4 medium eggs)
120gr caster sugar
120g icing sugar
Flavouring: a few drops of vanilla or almond extract

Beat the egg white at medium speed (Kitchen Aid speed 4) for 3 minutes
Add half of the sugars and any flavouring and beat for a couple of minutes at a slightly higher speed (Kitchen Aid speed 6).
Add the rest of the sugars and keep beating for a further 5 minutes.
Finish by beating for 3 minutes at full speed (Kitchen Aid speed 10).

Pipe the desired shapes on a baking tray. I used a big star tip.
The colour effect is achieved by painting stripes of gel food colouring inside the piping bag before filling it with the meringue. More info and pictures here.

Dry/cook small meringues for 1 hour 15 minutes at 110° C (fan oven) followed by 1 hour 30 minutes at 100° C.

Preparing the tower

You will need a polystyrene cone, some foil paper and royal icing.

In order to make the cone food safe, you will need to completely cover it with foil. Wrap and secure with a little bit of icing. This also keeps the cone clean so you can use it again.
Spread royal icing and completely cover the cone so that no foil will show in between the meringues. Leave to dry overnight.
The following day, use a little bit of royal icing on the back of each meringue to "glue" on the cone, starting at the bottom.

Tip: Choose which side is going to be the front and make a little mark to identify it. Keep all the best looking meringues of a similar size for the front and use the slightly misshaped ones for the back. Also you might need to use some smaller ones (or cut some big ones in half) to fill the gaps, this should be "hidden" at the back.

That's it, the tower is done. You can use this technique for any shape, you could easily do a topiary.

Linking to Sunday Scoop link party @ I heart Naptime

{Recipe} Gingerbread

2011-12-16T13:00:00.000Z

I just finished today my very first gingerbread house (photos to be revealed soon) and to make the task a little bit easier I used a template from Delicious. (my favourite food magazine) to cut the panels of the house.

I followed their recipe which you can find here.
It works well for me since it is quite light on spices, but f you prefer a stronger taste I suggest increasing the quantities.

Photo from www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk

I also used this recipe to create the Standing Tree Cookies from yesterday.

{Cookies} How to make standing gingerbread Christmas trees

2011-12-15T09:53:00.001Z

There has been a lot of baking in our house lately and this is because I am preparing a little Christmas sweet table. I am going for an "Hansel and Gretel" theme, so the central piece is a gingerbread house and the rest of the table will be representing the forest of sweets and treats.

Today I am sharing with you a little tutorial on how to make standing Christmas tree cookies.

1.
First you need to prepare your favorite gingerbread recipe (I will be sharing mine tomorrow).
Cut some tree shapes as well as some circles or squares for the bases and bake.
Decorate the trees with royal icing and let them dry.

2.
You then need to prepare the bases by digging a little slot for the base of your trees to fit in. I used a vegetable peeler and it worked quite well.
Use more royal icing to cover the bases (that's the "snow") and fill the slot.

3.
Just insert the tree in the slot and let dry overnight.
The icing being quite thick you will not need to hold them once they are in position.

Linking to Sundae Scoop @ I Heart Naptime

{Cupcakes} Christmas tree cupcakes

2011-12-09T20:10:00.001Z

Found these cupcakes over at And Everything Sweet and I just love them !

I need to try these soon. My girls love the icing so these should be quite a treat for them since there is hardly any cake under the mountain of icing !

Follow the link for the tutorial

{Cookies} Christmas ornaments

2011-12-07T20:43:00.001Z

Today I'm going back to where it all started: my passion for cake decorating. After all this blog is called That Cute Little Cake !

I got distracted lately... I have been really obsessed with birthday parties this year (so obsessed actually that I have already started planning my daughter's birthday.... July birthday !) and I have dedicated very little time to sugarcrafts.

There are so many things I want to try my hands at. Too often I see something and think "I could make this !" and so I am now trying to craft as much as possible. This is my ME time, away from the chaos of my days (well we have 3 children so our days are busy to say the least).
Therefore, this blog is not just about cake decorating anymore. It is about all my "mum crafts": cake decorating, birthday parties, sewing and paper crafts. Because in the end (nearly) all I create is for my children...

So in 2012 (I know I am starting early with the new year's resolutions !) I have decided to try and bake more because this is my thing and I enjoy doing it so much !

These cookies are the first step I am taking to re-ignite my passion for cake decorating. Hope you will enjoy looking at them. The designs are inspired by Peggy Porschen.

Linking to
Sundae Scoop Link Party @ I Heart Naptime
Skip to my Lou made by you mondays

{Book review} Cupcakes & fairycakes by the Australian Women's Weekly

2011-11-29T19:05:00.000Z

Cupcakes and fairycakes By The Australian Women's Weekly
Soft cover
120 pages

This is truly MY cupcake bible ! Everything I have baked using their recipe was delicious and the photos are mouthwatering and inspiring.
Judge for yourself:

Toffee-apple towers

Lemon meringue cupcakes

Recipes

Each recipe is well written with step-by-step instructions and illustrated by a splendid A4 photograph.
It is a pleasure to flick through the book because it is not "crowded', just one recipe per page.

Measurements are in cups&spoon AND metric which makes the recipes very easy to follow.

There are advices on the presentation. You may want to simply go for a cupcake with icing but this book inspires you to go for extraordinary decorations.

You can find recipes suitable for pretty much any occasion. From a simple afternoon tea to a birthday party or even a wedding.

Coconut kisses

Technical section

The last pages create a technical section with details of the equipment you may need (with picture) and tutorials on different techniques (working with chocolate, toffee and fondant, piping and more techniques such as making sugar-frosting fruits), also with pictures.

Cloud cupcakes

Review

A very complete book. Suitable for all levels of bakers and inspiring to even experienced cake decorators.
Look inside the book on Amazon

Pictures courtesy of www.cupcakes.net.au

{Parties} 3rd Birthday Monster party

2011-11-27T21:19:00.000Z

Today I am featuring this adorable monster party that my neighbour and friend Diane organized for her son's 3rd birthday party.

I cannot believe this was all put together in less than a week !!!
Diane decided on a monster theme at the last minute so she had very little time to organize and craft it all. But I think she did a brilliant job !

It is all completely home made, from the food to the decorations.

Birthday Banner

She designed her monsters on the computer and used them to make the banner and decorations.

Monster cake

This was a delicious chocolate mud cake !

Monster infested water

Monster jelly

Eye balls cake pops

Party bag

These very cute bags were so simple to make. Just cut some monster shapes in foams of different colours and glue them on plain bags. Add the eyes and there you have it: Monster party bags

Not only did she do a good job with her first party table, she also crafted all the games as well (well she'll admit, with a little help from her husband !)

Pin the eye on the monster

Feed the monster game

(little bean bag were to be thrown in their mouth)

Photo booth

This was truly a great party and all the hard work showed Diane !

{Craft} Hot air balloon decoration

2011-11-21T18:53:00.001Z

I decided on a hot air balloon and vintage plane theme for my baby's room. This is quite a flexible theme colourwise since pretty much all colours can be used on a hot air balloon. And I thought this was a theme my little boy could grow into, I don't find it too babyish.

I first made him a little door plaque (blogged here).

I then made a hot air balloon decoration to hang in his room.

The cardboard balloon and the papers are from Decopatch, I found them at the Hobbycraft fair at the N.E.C. two weeks ago. I already had some Decopatch glue/varnish.

The Decopatch technique is fairly simple. There are loads of "how to"videos on YouTube, including this one.
In my case the hardest bit was to cut pieces of paper of the right shape for the balloon itself.
I used a tissue to make a first template. It was easy to position and I was able to draw the shape on it. I then cut it and used it to create a more sturdy paper template.

I used the blue and green papers for the ballon since each sheet features 3 designs: spotty, checked and striped.

The orange checked paper had to be for the basket.

And I added a little stripe of hearts at the base of the balloon.

I replaced the original strings with blue ribbon, added a little passenger and voila !

{Craft} A baby boy door plaque

2011-11-20T15:08:00.001Z

Two weeks ago I went to the Hobbycraft fair at the N.E.C., Birmingham, UK, and I bough loads of supplies ! I was mainly after some nice scrapbook papers but obviously I bought a ton of other things too.

I found a fantastic shop selling wooden buttons. And because they are not varnished, you can draw on them or colour them with felt pens or paint. Even glitter pen works on them. And they have hundreds of designs, all very very cute. I bought far too many really !
I also bought a little oval door plaque from them, ready to be decorated, and some letters to form my baby's name.

I simply coloured the wooden buttons with my daughter's felt pen. And I used the scrapbook paper to cover the plaque.
It was very quick to make and I love the result.

Linking to IHeartNaptime Sundae scoop party

{Craft} Busy crafting for Christmas

2011-11-20T14:30:00.001Z

I have been fairly quiet on the blog for the past couple of weeks and this is because I have started crafting little presents for Christmas.
The past two year, I spent the weeks before Christmas making felt decorations to hang in our tree (here and here). As we have quite a few now, I needed another felt project. I don't know why but this time of year seems like a good one to sew...

Last year I really enjoyed making two hair clip holders for my daughters and since there were a few further designs I wanted to try, I decided to make hair clip holder for several little girl this xmas. They should make lovely presents.

This one is my favourite so far. It is for a little girl who has a fairy theme in her bedroom:

I've made 8 so far so plenty more pictures to follow !

Linking to
IHeartNaptime Sundae scoop party
Skip to my Lou Made by you monday

My new motto...!

2011-11-10T14:26:00.003Z

Somebody must know me very well to have got me that card...

I liked it so much that I framed it and it now sits proudly on my craft desk !

{Parties} A wine and cheese evening

2011-11-07T23:07:00.000Z

A while ago I posted about this idea for a wine tasting evening and I thought the use of a blackboard was a great idea. So while we were in France for a holiday earlier this month, we shopped for cheese and wine and planned to have a little tasting evening on our return.

We decided to draw a map of France on the blackboard to display the different wine region.

And to stay with the "blackboard" theme, I wrote on black card with a white pen for the food labels (Labels were cut by my Silhouette and I used a glue gun to stick them on cocktail stick)

{Parties} Work in Progress

2011-11-06T20:38:00.000Z

Planning a little evening with friends....

Any idea what the theme is ?

Come back tomorrow for the end result pics !

{Party Planning} Part 3 - Activities

2011-11-03T22:38:00.000Z

This is based on personal experience only, and of course every child is different.

2 Year Old
Don't bother preparing games, they are too young to follow rules. What they like at this age is to run and scream so a bouncy castle is probably your best option !
This can look more like a friends and family gathering so enjoy the company of adults while the children all play together, and make sure you cater for the grown ups too.
A little craft corner with colouring pages and stickers can present the children with a quiet option.

3 Year Old
They are still quite young so they may not be able to play a game with rules, but they will enjoy basic carnival/garden games, pass the parcel and simple crafts.
Don't try and plan too many games though as they will get bored quickly, a few games and free play should work.

4 Year Old
Now it is starting to be a bit more interesting gamewise. Most kids will expect the standard birthday games like pass the parcel or pin the tail on the donkey and enjoy playing as long as it does not last for too long.
Most children can't read yet but a treasure hunt with pictures for clues works really well at this age.
I have attended a few 4 year old birthday parties with an entertainer and although the children enjoy themselves, they don't really seem to follow the whole show so well. They get a bit lost and don't seem to follow all the stories and activities.

5 Year Old
I have noticed a real difference this year: they expect to be entertained from beginning to end !
You have to be prepared for an afternoon packed with activities !!!
Games (lots of them !) followed by lunch/dinner and cake, then free play outside seems to work.
An entertainer would definitely be a good option at this age.
I found they need more challenging games from now on. It's not just the case of having a few party games, they want more of an activity. A treasure hunt or building something should be exciting for them.

THEN...
I will tell you next year, this is were my personal experience stops !

{Shop} Meri Meri

2011-11-02T23:49:00.000Z

I just adore this shop. Meri Meri produces the most adorable stationery. They also have a wide range of paper products for baking. Check these out:

I love their cupcake kits. Isn't the British one fantastic ?

And they now also have card table centrepieces as part of their party range:

Last week I walked into my local lakeland only to find the most amazing cupcake gift boxes... I couldn't resist and I left with both the Patisserie and the Christmas ones. They will make very special gifts. What do you think of them, aren't they sweet ?

{Halloween} Our decorations pictures at last

2011-11-01T22:22:00.001Z

A bit late but finally here are the pictures of our halloween decorations. As I mentioned before, Halloween is not so big here in Leicestershire, UK, so our decor is pretty basic. But we still had fun putting together this little mantel.

The candelabras are from the silhouette shop:

and so are the witch and web:

Paper pumpkins "hand decorated" by my daughter !

The spooky garland is from Paper Crave.

The free banner printable is from Shery K Designs

The purple background for the witch frame is a free printable paper from Shery K Designs

See previous post for more inspirations here.

{Halloween} Let's get the house ready for Halloween

2011-10-09T21:04:00.001+01:00

Well Halloween is fast approaching and although we do not really celebrate it that much here, I thought I would still decorate our lounge for the children. it is giving us the opportunity to talk about witches and ghost without sounding too scary for them !
And since I got myself a Silhouette, I might as well find some projects to use it !

Here are a few inspirational projects. I decided to do our decorations on a budget so I looked for free printables.

To start with, I found this sign over at Craftily Ever After. Brilliant idea. The "Keep calm and carry on" sign has been such a big trend this year.
This one will proudly hang from our front door on the 31st.

A few weeks ago, Char @ Crap I've made posted about these frames. She used some new die cuts to create simple Halloween art. Definitely a job for my Silhouette ! I love the orange and white damask paper.

Now this Halloween garland from Paper Crave is super cute ! I am going to make the garland but also use the individual shapes to stick on our windows.

I have found this FREE party kit at Shery K Designs. It includes a banner, bottle labels, cupcake toppers and even party boxes. Shery K Designs has loads of free downloads on her blog.

Hope these will inspire you to create a little Halloween decor too.

Keep reading this week for pictures of the result.

By the way, while searching for free printables, I come across mygraphico. They have pages of freebies, you can easily find one for every occasion.

{How to} Make colored sugar

2011-10-07T23:16:00.000+01:00

Last week I baked some cupcakes for a Macmillan fundraising Coffee morning organized by a friend.
I decided to stick to the charity color which is a bright green. I used the cupcake toppers I designed (free printable here) and I decided to sprinkle the cupcakes' white vanilla icing with some homemade green sugar (sorry no pics, forgot to take some shots before I sent the cakes away...).

Here is how to make color sugar. Choose any color, even bright ones. I was pleasantly surprised to see they do not run on the icing at all.

What you need
Some granulated sugar (the picture shows a packet of fine caster sugar, this is what I used first but the result wasn't good for sprinkling, you need some coarse sugar)
Gel coloring
A plastic bag
Cocktail sticks

How to
Pour as much sugar as you need in the bag
Drop in some gel coloring using a cocktail stick
Close the bag and "massage" the color in the sugar

Once the color is uniform, spread the sugar in a dish to dry for a few hours.
If you need the sugar to dry quickly, you may place the dish in the oven on a very low temperature setting (like 50 degree C).

And voila: colored sugar !

{Shop} Edible markers

2011-10-05T22:55:00.000+01:00

I usually try and make do with I have or what I can find locally, but when I decided on the doodle cake I chose to follow the advice of Sweetapolita and ordered a pack of AmeriColor Gourmet Writer food decorating pens.
I have used edible markers before, but I wasn't impressed. I found the tip too hard and the result was a dent in the fondant every time I used them.

But I have to say I so please with the AmeriColor ones. The colors are bright and the writing is excellent. I followed Sweetapolita's advice and cooled the cake for a few hours in the refrigerator before my daughter drew on it. And it worked perfectly.
I ordered them through The Cake Decorating Company on ebay uk. They were dispatched the same day and delivered the next ! Can't beat that.

Sweetapolita's cake
Doodled on by her 4 year old daughter ! Isn't she clever ?

Cute words

2011-10-02T13:53:00.000+01:00

This is from a Pampers leaflet I got through the post this morning and I though it was too cute not to share... Happy reading !

A mother's dictionary:

Family Planning
The art of spacing your children the proper distance apart to keep you on the edge of financial disaster

Feedback
The inevitable result when the baby doesn't appreciate your pureed carrots

Full name
What you call your child when you're angry with him

Independent
How we want our children to be (as long as they do everything we say)

Temper tantrum
What you should keep to a minimum so as to not upset your children

Verbal
Able to whine in words

{Party} Chloe's Rainbow Party

2011-10-01T21:18:00.000+01:00

I decided on the theme for this party months ago when I first spotted the now famous layered rainbow cake. I was really excited by the idea of making this cake for my daughter, I figured a 2 year old would love such a colorful cake.

The sign was created using a free coloring page from Style me gorgeous

as the template for the rainbow

So here are all the pictures and details of the party, hope you will enjoy them !

We decorated the house with lots of colorful garlands. I made them by sewing some circles of paper together. This was so easy. Making the circles was a bit time consuming, but making the garlands only took a few minutes. Just feed the circles one by one in the sewing machine, and make the garlands as short or as long as you want. You can also drop as many stitches as you want in between circles.

I tend to always have a little craft available for the children. That way they can escape from the party madness for a few minutes if they so wish. Since the guests were all very young, I kept the craft simple. I prepared some cotton wool and bits of tissue paper for them to glue on rainbows.

I set the drinks on a table outside. I made all the labels for the party myself. The glass bottle is actually a Paul Smith limited edition from Evian. Couldn't have found a better match to the party !

I created the birthday banner using digital papers from PixelPaperPrints on Etsy.

I made the paper flowers with different types of paper (plain coloured, printed with the same paper as the banner and I also found some shimmery papers in a craft store). There is a tutorial for similar flowers on Martha Stewart here.

I designed the cupcake toppers too, apart from the rainbow ones which are free printables from the TomKat Studio.

Now for the cake. A week before the party I still wasn't sure about the cake decoration. There was going to be enough colour on the table and I wanted it to stand out. So I was going for a white cake, but how exactly, I did not know.

As I was browsing some favourite blogs, I came across a cake from Sweetapolita and I knew straight away this was the perfect cake for me ! She had made a rainbow cake, covered it in withe fondant and had a daughter draw on it !!! The result was brilliant.

Chloe was too young to draw on her cake so I asked her big sister if she would doodle on the cake and she accepted straight away ! She was so excited to be able to join in with the preparations.

And finally the birthday girl and her big sister:

Linking to

{Party Planning} Part 2 - Party Food

2011-09-30T14:12:00.000+01:00

A few observations I made:

- No buffet for kids. They seem completely unable to make a selection and they will end up picking the first snack they see. If you want them to have a decent meal then lunch boxes seem to work really well. The kids are excited to get their own box and they usually eat most of what's inside.
- Seating on the floor is very messy. I would recommend seating them at a table if you can, unless you are having an outdoor picnic.
- Have more boxes than guests. Siblings may turn up unannounced and it is better to be prepared.
- Give them food that they find easy to eat. You won't have time to help every one of them.
- They will spill and make loads of crumbs. And they can't use napkins !

Lunch box
Here is what I served them for the Bear Hunt party.

A small cream cheese and ham sandwich, a packet of crisps (bear crisps !), a cone of carrots and peppers, a yogurt and fruity treat. This was actually quite a lot for them and I will prepare a smaller picnic next time. Since most yogurts and treats were left, I won't be including them in the future. There are usually enough treats on the dessert table.

I also always have fruits available. I made fruit skewers for the Rainbow party and the children seem to have enjoyed them.

Drinks
For drinks I always have water bottles available.
Chocolate milk last sunday was a big hit, they loved it.
Otherwise I tend to include a juice in their lunch box.

Cake(s)
Not two children are the same but I have noticed that mine are not too keen on their birthday cake. It is just for show and required to blow the candles but they'd much rather eat cupcakes.
Therefore I always have cupcakes for them to eat during the party and the big birthday cake is for the grown ups. A slice of the cake is also given to every child to take home, it seems to be the normal thing to do here in the UK.

Safety

Remember to ask parents about dietary requirements and I think it is better to stay clear of nuts altogether.

A note to parents with younger siblings. Beware of hard candy lollipops. My 2 year old nearly chocked on one during the party last sunday when the candy broke off the stick. I will not have those lollipops again.

I never use tooth picks/cocktail sticks or very pointy skewers.

{Book Review} Bake me I'm yours...Cookie

2011-09-28T22:08:00.000+01:00

Today I am reviewing Bake me I'm yours...Cookie from Lindy Smith

This is a cute little book packed with ideas for decorating cookies and although I'm not keen on the taste of fondant covered cookies, most designs can be reproduced with royal icing.

Click here to have a look inside the book on Amazon.co.uk

The book opens with is a good technical chapter. The author details the equipment you may need and shares basic cookie recipes. There is a step by step guide (with pictures) on how to ice with fondant and royal icing. All the different techniques are really well explained and make cookie decorating accessible to all.
The big advantage of using fondant is that you can achieve pretty good results even if you are a beginner. I would say this book is suitable for all levels.

The rest of the book is full of ideas for different occasions (wedding, christening, Christmas...). For every design there is a good size picture and a detailed explanation of the decorating process.
I like decorating cookies because the scale of the project is smaller than a complete cake. With just a few cookies you can try different designs. They also make great presents, for a birthday or christmas.

Here are a few designs I like (pictures from www.lindyscakes.co.uk)

There is an extensive cookie picture gallery on Lindy Smith's website here.

I fell in love with this Happy Feet design and reproduced it with royal icing as a thank you favor when my daughter was born.

My cookies:

The bake me I'm yours range includes the following books:

- Cupcake

- Cupcake Love

- Cupcake Celebration

- Cake pops

- Chocolate

- Christmas (a new one, definitely on my xmas list !)

- Woopie pies (a new trend apparently)

Amy Atlas Guest Dessert Feature

2011-09-27T19:31:00.002+01:00

I am ecstatic !!! Today I was featured on Sweet Design, Amy Atlas's blog !!! This is a bloggers dream come true.

I was waiting for this feature before I could share the Rainbow party pictures with you.

So here are a few pictures and I will share some more details tomorrow.

{Party Planning} Or how to learn from my mistakes - Part 1..

2011-09-26T21:04:00.000+01:00

Well this is it ! My eldest daughter's birthday party is over. All this planning for 2 short hours of fun (on the kids side...).

Two parties in one month was a bit more than I could chew. The Rainbow party was in august and the Bear Hunt one today.
Now I can finally breathe (or start thinking about next year's parties !) and I intend to share the party pictures ASAP.

I have decided that I should share with you one or two things I learned along the way about kids parties. This is not advice you should follow, just a few thoughts on what works best for me.

This first part is about general party planning. I will talk about the food and activities in further posts.

PARTY PLANNING - Part 1

- START EARLY
Having 3 children under 5, my craft time is very limited. My evenings all start with cooking and sorting out the laundry, and when I'm done with that I have little energy left for crafts and I usually just want to get a few hours sleep before baby wakes up...
So I just start really early, like 6 months before the party (that might sound a bit mad I know). This way I have time to research ideas, find supplies and make all the decorations.
I also get carried away easily, so with more time on my hands I can step back and consider all my options before deciding on what I really want.

- GUESTS
When Noemie was younger I tried to stick with age = number of guests. This worked out quite well.
In any case, do consider the size of your house when deciding on numbers.

- SIBBLINGS
if you have family or friends willing to help look after the younger ones then use them ! Today we really struggled. A baby that needs feeding and a toddler overexcited with the food buffet: not good ! I really thought we would manage, but it was hard work and sadly we ended up not having time for pictures during the party.
I feel parties for younger children can be more of a family / friends gathering. But when they turn 4 or 5, it becomes a party. They expect to be entertained and you then need to be 100% available.

- BUDGET
I always try to keep the budget "reasonable".
I shop around and I look for free printable. I also spend time designing my own printable in publisher. There are loads of digital papers you can buy online (Etsy being my favorite place to shop) and with these you can easily design cupcake toppers and labels to match your theme.
I try and buy prop that can be used with several themes. White plates and platters can be used with any colour.
For tablecloth and background, it is often cheaper to buy fabric by the meter. Also wallpaper turns out to be an affordable way to create a stunning background. Do think about how you background decor should be attached to your wall. If you live in a rented property and cannot drill into the wall, you may have to make a frame to hold your fabric.

- GETTING READY ON THE DAY
If you think you are doing ok with time on the big day, then think again, perhaps you're not !
I remember one birthday when I opened the door to the first guest literally dripping with sweat from stress. I had just finished setting everything up and I had no time left for pictures or freshening up.
My advice would be to do a trial run a couple of weeks before the party. If you are doing a dessert table or a buffet, set it up without the food. This will not only help you see what you are missing, it will also show you if you have achieved the look you want.
Then the week before I make lists, loads of them ! What I need to do, day by day. What I need to buy. Etc.
The house gets decorated the day before (apart from balloon which sometimes deflate during the night).

Only last minute tasks should be left for the party day. This includes food that cannot be prepared in advance (be careful not to have to much of this), pictures, and any outdoor decoration if it might rain.

- PICTURES
Allow at least 1/2 hour before the party starts to take pictures.
Also it may be possible to take further pictures the next day. I find it really difficult to get my children to stand still long enough for pictures during the party. So we sometimes make portraits the next day. Just remember to leave the decorations up.

{The Great British Bake Off} Week 4

2011-09-22T20:23:00.000+01:00

I am two weeks behind due to Birthday party madness but thanks to iplayer I'm catching up !

Week 4 was biscuits.

I don't bake biscuits that often (apart from classic shortbreads and plain biscuits to decorate) and this program did not really inspire me to bake more...

I was not tempted by the biscuits of the first challenge and I am not a Brandy Snap fan.
As for the 3rd part, I myself thought Macaron was an unfair challenge. These are amateur bakers and BRITISH, why on Eart should they know how to bake the perfect macaron ??? I am French and I have never made some (yet...) !

Recipes for week 4 can be found here.

{Parties} My new friends

2011-09-21T19:26:00.000+01:00

Let me introduce you to my new soft (reeeaaaally soft actually) friends.

Since we are going on a Bear Hunt I figured a DIY bear workshop was appropriate. I was going to buy only bears but then I decided to go for a selection of soft animals instead.

I got them from Be My Bear and I only have compliments for their products and service.

The website (or should I say websites since Bear Factory is the same one, and you can also find them on ebay.co.uk) is good. The descriptions are accurate and they have a very good selection of soft animals (in 8", 12" and 15") and clothes.
Delivery was £10, a little dear I thought.. Saying that, items were dispatched and delivered quickly by courier (and they will do rush orders with next day delivery if needed), so it seems worth the high delivery charge.

I called them twice and got an answer straight away. The company is based in the UK and the person I spoke to was polite and helpful.

Now for the product itself. I have to say I wasn't expecting the skin to be so soft. They are truly gorgeous. If it wasn't for the small parts (eyes and nose) it would actually be good enough for a baby !
Each party package comprises of one no-need-to-sew-to-close skin, one bag of stuffing (new), a wishing star, a birth certificate and a party bag. You also get party invitations. On top of that I ordered some T-shirts for the kids to decorate with fabric paint (paint also available to buy with your order).
In your parcel you get a leaflet on how to stuff the bears and a letter with loads of party ideas.
Quite honestly I think they have done a brilliant job. I hope the kids will like them and I believe having the party at home is so much more personal that going to a Bear Workshop in a shopping centre (and more affordable)....

I forgot to say, they have a little video to demonstrate how to run the party. It is good to see how the bears get stuffed and closed. It was a selling point for me to see how easy it is to close them up.

{Parties} A Bear Hunt Birthday party

2011-09-20T09:15:00.002+01:00

My daughter will be 5 on Thursday and we are really busy getting everything ready for the party on Sunday.
Back in January she asked me to have a "We're going on a bear hunt" party because she loves the book so much. And she hasn't changed her mind since, I'm very impressed !

At first I though "Oh dear!" but actually we came up with a really nice theme, mixing bears and picnic, and creating a decor using a color scheme of Brown and Red gingham.
We initially wanted to have the party in our local country park. We really would have liked a real picnic and a bear hunt in the park.... but the weather has been so unpredictable lately that we decided on a party at home instead. And seeing the weather today I think we chose right... We will be lucky if we have no rain on the day.

So I have been real busy. Crafting for the bear hunt and the party table.
The bear hunt is going to be a little challenge with a prize at the end. The children will be given a card and they will have to go through tasks to collect bear coins and fill their card. Every task relates to the book and they will have to go through grass, mud, a river, a forest and a snowstorm to eventually find the bear in its cave !

Here is a little preview with the invitations. I used a drawing my daughter made and the background is simply red gingham I got from SheryKDesigns on Etsy (it cost me $2 for 40 gingham digital papers in every color you can think of, a bargain).

{Recipe} Little caramel pots

2011-09-18T22:51:00.000+01:00

I made these little caramel pots for a girls' night at a friend's last week (hence the not-at-all-pretty plastic film on the pots for transport purposes !). The printables are freebies from the TomKat Studio.

This is a twist on a more traditional caramel pot recipe. It uses some famous candies for the caramel and so the taste reminds me of my childhood.
They are creamy, tasty and quick and easy to make.

Little Carambar pots

Makes 4 ramequins

200ml Milk
150ml Double cream
3 egg yolks
4 Carambars
50gr Sugar

Heat milk and cream together and when hot add carambars cut into small pieces. Leave caramel to melt slowly in the pan.

Beat sugar + egg yolks until the color turns a pale yellow. Add milk+cream+caramel.

Fill 4 ramequins and place them in a deep oven dish. Fill with water till halfway up the ramequins.

Bake in oven at 170 degrees C for about 35 min.

{Halloween} Glam Pumpkins

2011-09-17T22:28:00.000+01:00

Well, this summer is pretty much over now and we are starting to see loads of post about Halloween everywhere in blogland !

My eldest daugher's birthday party is next week (more about that later) so until then, I can't really start crafting for Halloween. I have to much left to do for the party....!
But I though I would just share with you a couple of cute ways to decorate pumpkins. It seems glam's the word this year.

How about this VERY glamourous pumpkin ? Choose a squash with a white skin for more impact and wrap with pretty lace fabric or why not stockings ? Make a hole at the top for the stem and gather the fabric under the pumpkin.
More ideas like this one on the Better Homes and Garden website.

Or jewel it up like Glorious Treats:

Full tutorial here.

{Free Printable} Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning Cupcake toppers

2011-09-16T10:47:00.003+01:00

The Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning is on 30th September 2011 and one of my friend will be hosting an event. I am part of the "baking team" so I should be making loads of cupcakes.

I have looked on the internet for Macmillan cupcake toppers but since I could not find any I created some using the media available online on the Macmillan website.

Please feel free to download and share.
Just print, cut and fold around a cocktail stick.

Click here to download.

{How to} ...Make a candy centrepiece

2011-09-15T22:04:00.000+01:00

I have just found this post on AndersRuff and this is exactly what I have been wanting to know for a while... : How to display those pops which are so trendy ???

I have used cardboard boxes filled with polystyrene in the past but they were bulky. I guess I was always afraid foam would not hold the weight of the pops. But apparently it does.

They have used styrofoam block for the base. You then cover with paper to match your party theme.

Read the complete tutorial, advice and the party details here.

{Cake} Mini handbags

2011-09-13T22:40:00.000+01:00

Here are some mini cakes I made for a friend's birthday. The design is from the book Cake Chic by Peggy Porschen (review here).

They were very enjoyable to make and they are the perfect birthday present.

They were chocolate sponges with chocolate ganache.

The brown fondant is actually chocolate fondant.

{Book Review) Peggy Porschen's Cake Chic

2011-09-12T22:16:00.001+01:00

This is truly a gorgeous book.
The pictures are splendid and every single project looks amazing !

I have several of Peggy Porschen's books and as with all her books, this one is divided in 3 sections: cookies, small cakes and celebration/tiered cakes. This is really nice since I don't have many opportunities for very big cakes. Instead the cookies and small cakes can be made for smaller occasions (or at least for fewer people).

Her recipes are very good and on top of the instructions for each cake there is a "Basics" section at the end of the book describing basic recipes and techniques such as piping and cake covering.

This is not a book for beginner but if your have some experience in cake decorating, this should inspire you.

I would highly recommend this book and here a few reasons why:

And of course her magnificent fondant fancies as shown on the book cover...

{Party idea} The most amazing party decor

2011-09-09T23:26:00.000+01:00

I am completely in love with this party from Tradewind Tiaras. The details are gorgeous (what about that cupcake on the swing!!!) and such a fantastic backdrop.

There is a tutorial on how to make the paper flowers for the backdrop here

{Book review} Cake decorating books reviews

2011-09-09T00:37:00.001+01:00

Since I have quite a collection of cake decorating books, I have decided to share with you which ones are, in my opinion, the best ones.
When I lived in Essex, our library had a fantastic selection of cake decorating books and I probably read a couple of dozens before deciding on which ones I would buy. This was definitely a sensible things to do since many hide behind an attractive cover but don't deliver much.
I have to say that two authors/cake decorators particularly amazed me: Debbie Brown, for 3D children party cakes, and Peggie Porschen, for slylish grown up cake.

My first review will be about 50 Easy Party Cakes from Debbie Brown.

This was one of the first books I bough, and this is where the design of my first ever fondant cake comes from.

When I started cake decorating 2 years ago, I enrolled for a class at my local college. Unfortunately, since the information about the course was poor, I ended up in a Royal Icing class, instead of the fondant course I was keen on doing.
After my initial disappointment I realized that this was a lucky mistake since Royal Icing is so difficult to work with. The class was great and gave me the confidence to start decorating cakes. And thanks to the many video tutorials online, I was able to complement the course and learn how to ice a cake using fondant.

This is my first cake:

Of course it was far from perfect and my little indian character ended up being quite pale... but still a good enough first try.

The book gives clear instructions and the recipes are good.
The materials and equipment needed are well listed and the assembly process is easy to follow.
I would say that some knowledge on cake decorating is needed to succeed in making a good looking cake, but this is appropriate for beginners.
There is a design for every occasion. Some are easier than others so you will most probably use this book several times.

I also made the Fairy Toadstool form this book:

original design (bottom left):

A little tip: Most cake decorating shops will rent tins out so you don't need to keep buying cake tins of different sizes. For square cakes, I myself purchased this fantastic piece of kit which allows me to make square and rectangular cakes up to 30cm/12in. A little dear but well worth the investment.

{Craft} Mini paper pumpkins

2011-09-08T21:53:00.000+01:00

I have just find a tutorial to make these adorable mini paper pumpkins on Craftaholics Anonymous.
Linda always some fantastic craft ideas so be sure to check her blog.

{Free printable} Luggage tags

2011-09-05T03:30:00.000+01:00

These gorgeous tags are free to download from One Charming Party.
Just print and laminate to personalize your little travelers luggage.

{Party idea} A wine tasting evening

2011-09-04T03:30:00.000+01:00

I found this idea for a wine tasting evening on Rock UR party the other day and though it was great.

We happen to have some chalkboard paint and an old table top so this could be the perfect theme for my next girly evening...

You can find advice on How to Host a Wine and Cheese party on the Rock UR party website here.

{Recipe} Blueberry muffin

2011-09-03T20:24:00.000+01:00

Today was a dull day. Cloudy and not very warm. The kind of day when you wear your pajamas all day (well, my daughters did, not me !) and need comfort food !

We had some blueberries in the fridge so we decided to bake Blueberry Muffins.

Here is our favourite recipe.

To make 12 muffins

280g plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
110g caster sugar
1 egg
240ml milk
90g oil
140g fresh blueberries, whole

Preheat oven to 190-200C
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in sugar.
In another bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Add milk and oil.
Pour all of wet ingredients into dry. Stir just until combined. Gently fold in blueberries at the end, using only 2 to 3 strokes to avoid crushing the fruits.
Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. Muffins are done when tops are lightly browned and spring back when pressed gently.

Note: if using frozen fruits, add an extra 4-5 minutes baking.

{Craft} Bag embellishment

2011-09-02T23:03:00.000+01:00

When gathering my daughter's things for school this week we realized her P.E. bag looked a bit dull, so we decided to make a little embellishment.

Before: Very dull bag

She rummaged through my craft drawer to found some ribbon, buttons and felt decorations and together we made this:

After: much better bag !

The bag looks so much better and she was proud to personalize it !

{The Great British Bake Off} Week 3

2011-09-02T22:24:00.000+01:00

woww ! that was a tough one ! I would love to have the time to bake bread, maybe when my life is a bit less hectic (i.e. when the kids can finally stay on their own for more than 5 minutes at a time...). In the meantime I will have to make do with the bread I make using our bread maker. It is still pretty good I think. I even manage a decent brioche with it.

Recipes from week 3 can be found here. I should try baking Focaccia soon.... At least the show illustrated all the mistakes that can be made !!!

Next week promises to be good. Not only will the participant have to master biscuits, they will also be expected to present perfect french macarons.... on air next tuesday.

The Great British Bake Off

2011-08-28T23:20:00.000+01:00

The show is back on the BBC and I am loving the new season! On top of all the good advice from Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, the contestants come up with beautiful recipes. Definitely a good place for inspiration.

Week one was all about cupcakes and celebration cakes. Some of the cupcakes looked pretty amazing. Shame all the recipes are not online on the Bake off website though...
One I would really like to try is the Bakewell cupcake.

All the available recipes from week one can be found here.

Week two was Pastry. The challenge of the week was to make Tarte au citron. It seems quite tricky to get it right but I will have to try it one day. Mary Berry recipe, which was given to all contestants, can be found here.

On the second day they had to come up with miniature pastries. They all looked pretty good but two that especially caught my eye were:
- Mary-anne's Apple rose tart.
She explains how to make those beautiful roses on her blog Time to Cook

And Jason's mini blueberry Bakewell Tarts (sorry, no pic...but this is his blog Preheat the oven)

Recipes from week 2 can be found here.

Week 3 will be all about bread. Can't wait to see it.
Enjoy the show.

Summer time... It's Pimm's o'clock !

2011-08-24T21:01:00.000+01:00

What better way to celebrate British summer than by inviting a few friends over and have a glass of Pimm's outside in the garden ?
Well there is a better way, a glass of Pimm's AND a Pimm's cupcake !!!

These are delicious and are the perfect excuse to organize a girls' night ! So give them a go and let me know how you like them.

Makes 12 cupcakes

CAKES

125 g unsalted butter, soft

125g caster sugar

2 tbsp Pimm's No.1

2 eggs

125 self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp semi-skimmed milk

Preheat oven to 180C and line muffin tin with cases

Add the butter, caster sugar and Pimm's and cream together using an electric mixer for 7 minutes, or until light and fluffy

Add the eggs, one by one, and mix for 2 minutes

Add flour and baking powder and mix until incorporated

Add milk and mix for a further minute

Fill cases and bake for 20 minutes

Remove cupcakes from tin and leave to cool on a wire rack

FROSTING

125g unsalted butter, soft

1 tbsp Pimm's No.1

250g icing sugar, sifted

2 tbsp semi-skimmed milk

Cream the butter and Pimm's together in the mixer for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy

Add icing sugar and milk and mix for a further 2 minutes

Chill in refrigerator until ready to use

HEART

2 strawberries

5 raspberries

2 slices peeled orange

2 slices peeled cucumber

A few mint leaves

Make a fruit puree by blending fruits and mint together

Use an apple corer to remove the centre of each cupcake and fill with the fruit mixture. Pack in gently with your finger then replace the sponge core.

Top the cupcakes with the frosting and decorate with some fruits and mint leaves

Family necklace

2011-07-06T09:00:00.001+01:00

I ordered this necklace from Annie Reh on Etsy a few weeks ago and I just love it so much ! I get nothing but compliments on it and it is great to "wear" all my loved ones this way.
I chose to have my children's names on the heart and tag and my husband initial on the star.
The seller was very helpful and the delivery was quick, I cannot recommend this shop enough.

Little favors

2011-07-05T21:32:00.001+01:00

Found these the other day at my local supermarket. I don't even have to change the labels as they match the Rainbow theme perfectly. They also happen to make good bubbles. I find that most bubble bottles do not really work (the liquid is rubbish or the ring does not make nice bubbles) but these actually work well.
Anyway, they are always a favourite at parties, so I could not go without them.

Too much ?

2011-07-04T21:19:00.000+01:00

Right, I think I am becoming more than obsessed with this birthday party !!! I am now even decorating the pen pots for the crafts !!!
Truth is I am so happy with my new silhouette SD that I take every opportunity to use it... I just couldn't resist cutting another "happy birthday".

These are just some biscuit tubs (from M&S) covered in cardstock.

Mini Cupcake Stands

2011-06-29T23:19:00.002+01:00

They seem to be the latest trend and I have to admit, they are super cute. I can't wait to find an occasion to use them !
They can be used as a display on a dessert table or better still as a place marker for each guest.

This handmade pottery stand is from Vessels and Wares on Etsy. It is $28 plus shipping so it is more of a unique piece but I just love the linen colour and sweet stamping.

Now the good news is you can quite easily make some yourself. Here are two option .

You can go for a wooden mini stand. It is quick and easy to assemble and you can paint it to match your colour scheme. It was created by Modern Moments Designs and you can find the complete tutorial here.

Or you could choose the even easier option of a paper printable ! You can download the free template at A House Full of Moxie. Thanks a lot for the freebie !

Fruit salad anyone ?

2011-06-29T10:04:00.000+01:00

Tried to make a rainbow out of fruit yesterday evening...
Good thing is the girls loved watching me prepare it and were eager to eat it !!! Should try and make rainbow food more often... I wonder if it would wok as well with vegetables !

Favors

2011-06-27T10:00:00.001+01:00

Right, I know I had tons of ideas in mind for party bag favors, nice homemade gifts such as funky shaped recycled crayons but it's not gonna happen ! I have so little time these days that I have decided to buy the favors. However I still wanted something crafty, and no sweets as my little girl is still not allowed to have them.

So I wondered what a 2 year old would enjoy playing with and automatically thought of play dough. I purchased some mini tubs of PlayDoh and a box of colourful cutters (both from ebay) and voila ! They fit well with the rainbow theme I think, and that should look good on the dessert table.

Supplies:

The perfect ribbon (from the local craft shop, brand is Dovecraft), it matches the party colours perfectly:

Favors:

The bucket is from the gardening section at Asda (a supermarket here in the uk)

Creativity

2011-06-25T10:05:00.000+01:00

A couple of days ago while my older daughter helped me stick the rainbow labels on the bottles for her sister's party, we started talking about her birthday. She decided back in January that she wanted a "We're going on a bear hunt" party this year. And although her birthday is not until september she hasn't changed her mind on the theme and talks about it nearly everyday !

She is going to be 5 this year and very keen to get involved, so I have agreed to let her help with the party prep. With this in mind I have tried to think about some labels that she can assemble herself. We are going to use a bear punch, a circle punch and some nice scrapbook paper and she will be able to glue them all together.
I showed her what I had in mind and she liked it. I then let her play with with the punches and some paper and here is what she came up with.... so sweet !

Getting ready for a Rainbow Birthday !

2011-06-23T20:04:00.000+01:00

Chloe's birthday is fast approaching and it is time to get ready for her party. With the birth of our third child 2 months ago, I now have a limited amount of time and also a limited amount of energy due to sleep deprivation, but as I tried to plan early, we should be fine !

During the winter months I spent a few evening designing some labels.
I purchased some clip art circles from viveradesign on Etsy and used them with a spotty or stripy background I created in Publisher. The circles are actually quite cute with their line of hearts.

The water bottles are ready:

Update

2011-04-16T21:48:00.000+01:00

Our little boy Romain was born on Wednesday. Now I'll have a reason to make more cakes and craft, but possibly less time to do so !

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Inspired

2011-04-12T12:10:00.000+01:00

This very cute Birdie was featured on Torie Jayne's blog a few days ago and I just love it. The colours are beautiful and I like the ribbon tail !
Since I am going to need a new Hair Clip Holder for the girls soon, I will most probably base it on this design.

Mothers' day cookies

2011-04-07T18:55:00.000+01:00

Some cookies I made last year. I like the idea of a "bunch" of Cookies, a bit of a change from the traditional bunch of flowers.

Mothering sunday

2011-04-06T11:19:00.000+01:00

Last sunday was Mothers' day here in the UK so I took the opportunity to try my hands at cupcakes again. I haven't had much time for cake decorating lately so I thought cupcakes made the perfect project to get back into it.

I used Glorious Treat's recipe for the cupcakes and the frosting. The were divine. Honestly this frosting is so so good ! Thanks for sharing Glory !

I have been following Glorious Treats on Flickr and then on her blog for a couple of years now and I love her work. She is such an inspiration.

An other Flickr page I love is Zalita's one. Honestly her cupcakes are a work of art.... She is so talented.

Settled

2011-04-06T11:00:00.000+01:00

Hi there
I cannot believe it has been two months already since my last post!!
So here I am, now in Leicestershire. I finally have an internet connection ! (it took us 5 weeks this time...)
Still pregnant and now overdue.
At least the sun is shinning and spring is here !

Let me leave you with a picture of some treats I made yesterday: chocolate shortbreads !

Recipe here. I just added some chocolate chips to the original vanilla shortbread recipe.
The texture was really light, I liked them.

Have a great day.

Moving... again

2011-02-07T10:12:00.000Z

Well this is it, we are moving again on Thursday... Let's hope this time it is going to be a more permanent move...

Because we are moving to the country, to a village, it seems we might not get an internet connection for a while, up to 8 weeks actually !!! this is a lot worse than the 3 long weeks we had to wait last time.
So please, be patient. I will return asap, but with the move, lack of internet and my baby due in 7 weeks, I might not be able to post for a while.
Thanks for reading.

Having fun....

2011-02-03T09:06:00.000Z

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Valentine Cookies

2011-02-02T10:18:00.000Z

Here are some pictures of the Valentine cookies I made last year.
The labels are from the Sweet Love collection of the TomKat Studio on Etsy.
The stencils used are from Designer Stencils.

Linking to Sundae Scoop Party @ I Heart Naptime

Ruffled fabric flower tutorial

2011-02-01T11:16:00.000Z

After seeing those lovely T-shirts by With or Without Nap I couldn't help but wonder how to make the fabric flowers.

I have found a tutorial on Favecrafts. It is a step by step picture tutorial so should be easy enough to follow.

Rainbow party inspiration - 3

2011-01-31T12:39:00.000Z

The last party I would like to feature is this adorable Rainbow of ribbons Party from Giggleberry Creations.
I really like the way Amy used ribbons to create a rainbow of colors. She has other posts about this party's preparation if you want more rainbow inspiration.

The kids made rainbow artworks by gluing some ribbon cutouts on sheets of papers.

Cute t-shirt

2011-01-27T11:16:00.000Z

I have decided to take a break from all this Rainbow madness today to bring you this very cute project from With or Without Nap.

Aren't those little t-shirts adorable ??

I will definitely have to try and sew more in 2011, it is so great to be able to accessorize plain t-shirt like this.

Thank you Margaret for sharing !

Rainbow Crafts and Decorations

2011-01-26T14:31:00.000Z

Here are a few ideas for the party decor and some crafts to make during the party.
Honestly ladies, where do you get all these ideas ? They're fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

I found this very cute DIY Wind Chime on All Things Made By Kelly.

Kelly has created a tutorial, so just follow the link.
I love this. You can make it yourself, it does not cost much and it uses one of my favourite things: ribbons !!!
I will most certainly be making some, for the party decor or the goody bags, I don't know yet.

I found this origami garland on Etsy. It is from a shop called Jikits. I am thinking of making a simple version of this, using some coloured carboard.
This could be a great craft to do with my daughter before the party. She seems to really enjoy being part of the preparation.

Of course I could also make some Pinwheels again. I think they look so pretty. And they do make a good gift for the children to take home.

Pinwheels form With or without nap

Buntings look great.
I love the fabric ones but the paper ones are also great for a party, super quick to make like the one I made for the pirate party last year.

Fabric bunting from With or without nap

Rainbow paper party bunting from Paperklip design on Etsy

Ribbon party bunting seen here

Finally, I think this mosaic activity from Fun In The Making could make an interesting craft for the older children attending the party.

Full post here.

Rainbow cake decorating

2011-01-21T14:16:00.000Z

I would like to keep the outside of the cake quite simple so we can get the full impact of the colours inside when we cut it.

One possibility would be to use a mini bunting on the cake, it seems to be the trend...
One of my favourite blog, The TomKat Studio, has a free printable here.

Thank you Kim for the freebie !

Rainbow treats

2011-01-19T11:51:00.000Z

RAINBOW COCONUT ICE
How cool are these ? Just perfect for a rainbow party and homemade, what else could I ask ?
Thank you Kate at Mini Eco for this original idea !

You can find the recipe Kate used here.

RAINBOW COOKIES
Now I just thought I would feature these beautifull cookies. Not difficult to make but they look great.
Thank you Sweetopia for sharing. You can find the complete post here.

Rainbow party bags and favors

2011-01-18T09:53:00.000Z

I like my party bags to be sweet free. Whenever we come back from a party, I end up taking all the sweets away as the girls aren't really allowed them. Problem is, once the sweets are gone, well there isn't much left in the bag....
Last summer we went to a cute little party where the children got some adorable pots and planted some seeds. We took the pot home and Noemie was so glad to see the plant grow. She still has the pot and we will have to put a new plant in it comes spring. She remembers the party and the friend who invited her.... this is so much more enjoyable than a bag of sweet don't you think ?

For Noemie's pirate party, the children picked a cookie and a spinwheel from the birthday table and they were also given a little pirate activity book (all homemade) with some pirate balloons.

So what could I put in my Rainbow party bag ?

Well, every craft blog I read has recently had a tutorial on how to make funny shaped crayons by melting broken ones into little moulds.
This would make the perfect favor but could be a little expensive as I would have to buy the crayons especially... We don't seem to have many broken ones at home.... I will have to look for bargains in the next few months.

You can make them any shape you like !

Pictures from Hop Skip Jump

You could use this tutorial or just search google, there are tens of them

Or I could make Chalk !

How does she ? has a tutorial here

I also like this eraser and crayon (I found very similar items on ebay):

Rainbow eraser

Rainbow crayons

And finally, what about a cookie mix:

This Rainbow cookie mix is from Scarlet Bakes and it can be purchased directly on their website.

This is a very cute idea and they also do Party Bag mixes.

Look what Bakerella came up with for her Cow girl party last year, these are stunning.

Now for the bags.

I have already shown you this goreous one from HeartFeltHandmade

I also like this one found here., it has a stamped rainbow on a simple white bag.

Or it could be as simple as using a rainbow of tissue paper

Bird Crafts sell nice Rainbow party Printables in their Etsy shop

Rainbow garland

2011-01-17T11:08:00.000Z

Last year I spotted these fantastic decorations. They are definitely on my To-do-list for the party !!!

Great Tutorial on Project Wedding.

I have also just found out that they look great as a garland. Thank you Kate of mini-eco for sharing the instructions on how to make the garland.

Rainbow party inspiration - 2

2011-01-14T19:07:00.001Z

This beautiful party is from Buggie and Jellybean. What a fantastic job Amy did !
You can find all the party pictures here.

I like the rainbow Pompoms.

(You can find a tutorial here)

I am completely in love with this clothes pin cake topper from Wee Cute Treasures

Colouring page with rainbow ring crayons from Lil Boo & Co

Thanks a lot for inspiring me Amy !

Rainbow Party Inspiration - 1

2011-01-12T19:17:00.000Z

Funny how there seems to be party trends ! For some reason, Rainbows were "in" last year and suddenly every party blog was featuring Rainbow parties !

Although I might be a year late, the talented ladies behind the beautiful parties I saw inspired me, and I have decided to try it myself.

This first party is from HeartFeltHandmade. I really like her work and not surprisingly, she put together a lovely Rainbow party last year.
The cake is gorgeous. It is made by Nieve-Pie cakes who I have been following on Flickr for some time.

I especially like the party bags

Those marshmallow treats are a great idea.

Rainbows

2011-01-11T10:58:00.000Z

Hi there and Happy New Year !!!

January is always a bit gloomy for me so I need a project, something to focus on... I have decided to use this month to research party ideas for my youngest daughter's 2d birthday....in July !!! It's never too early is it ???
Truth is, with a baby due end of march, I'd rather look for ideas now, while I still have the time...

Last year I completely fell in love with rainbow cakes like this one from Whisk Kid. They make such a nice surprise as you only get the colours once it is cut ! I think they are perfect for younger children who are not usually that bothered by the cake...

So the cake will set the theme: Rainbows.

A 2 year old birthday party should be fun and simple, and I think the Rainbow theme should be perfect.

In the next few days, I shall share with you some great parties and party ideas.

Keep reading !

Lemon Cinnamon Stars

2010-12-17T19:59:00.000Z

You will need:
2 lemons
250g icing sugar
400g ground almonds
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 egg whites

Makes about 40 stars (using a small star shaped cutter)

Heat the oven to 200°C.

Line a Baking tray.

Grate the zest from the lemons.

Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl.

Mix it with the lemon zest, ground almonds and cinnamon.

Whisk the egg whites until they are really thick.

Gently fold the almond mixture into the egg whites to make a stiff dough.

If it's too sticky, add more ground almonds.

Put the dough onto a work surface and roll it out until it is about 1cm thick.

Use the cutter to c out star shapes and put them on the baking tray.

Bake for 5 minutes (they have to stay chewy).

Put on a wire rack to cool.

When cool, ice with 125g icing sugar mixed with 1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice.

Teacher thank you cookies

2010-12-15T13:40:00.000Z

This year we made lemon and cinnamon stars for my daughter's teacher.
I was sruggling with packaging until I found these lovely free printables from the talented TomKatStudio. They were exactly what I need !!!

I will be posting the recipe of these delicious biscuits tomorrow.

Snowflakes cookies

2010-12-15T13:06:00.001Z

Unfortunately, I have very little time this year and will not be able to make decorated cookies. But these are from last year.
I really like snowflakes, they always look stunning.