Thankful for fun with kids!

DAY 1 - I am thankful for my marriage to a great guy who enjoys being a kid with our two gorgeous boys!

Dolly Vardon Cupcakes

I have just had so much fun making these and needed to share them! Mini Dolly Vardon Princess cupcakes!

I have 2 boys so the opportunity to bake for a kind fundraiser was a good opportunity to try something new!

I got these little babies from a cake decorating shop (but I have seen them at craft stores and $2 shops also).

They needed a bit of a makeover to make them look "princessy" but that wasn't too trick with some icing. I stuck them in a tub of pearl barley to keep them upright while the icing dried.

I then made normal cupcakes, poked them in the top, added a bit of glitter and voila!

Simple Necklace Display Idea

I am such a lover of brightly coloured beads. I think I was a Bowerbird in my past life! My friends and family all know of my love so I am lucky to receive them for birthdays and Christmas and I also pick some up on my travels. I am not one for an expensive purchase so most of them are simply cheap and cheerful, but don't you love the colours!

I have been trying to think of a way to display them for ages that gets them out of my draw and makes them more visible so I don't forget about what I have!

Well here is what I came up with. A couple of cheap towel rails from the local hardware store a a few packs of shower curtain C hooks and voila! I hung these up on the back of our walk in wardrobe door and I am thrilled by the result! Don't you think I could open a shop!

Hanging them up was like opening the presents on Christmas morning! I had forgotten about some of them and it was like finding a long lost friends again! I also found myself looking at them and remembering happy occasions, parties and events where I had worn them!

Gosh it was a fun de-cluttering job!

Environmentally Friendly Sandwich Wrap

I love to make a whole lot of school sandwiches at once and freeze them to save time during the week. I make them up and store them in a Tupperware container in the freezer until they are required.

I am really grateful to Waxed Paper,which keeps them all separate but is not a landfill issue like snap lock bags are.

Available at the local supermarket with plastic wraps and bags. It has really lost it's popularity but why that is so is unknown to me! Perhaps I will start a Facebook Page to get it a following again!

So easy!

Rocky Road

Another of my favourite Christmas treats is Rocky Road. I take it everywhere at Christmas and always seem to have a batch on the go! I love that it is different everytime I make it, all depends on what is in the supermarket and whatever craving I am having at the time!

My core ingredients are:

1 x pack of Nestle Chocolate Melts

1 x pack of Allens Marshmallows and 

1 x pack of Ripe Raspberries (chewy jellies) Allens are great but Black and Gold are just as good.

To that I sometimes add a couple of handfuls of unsalted peanuts, some coconut, some honey comb (Violet Crumble or Crunchie smashed up), maybe some kind of caramel chocolate bar chopped (Mars) or some Crunchie clusters.

Chop up the choc bars to small pieces, and halve the raspberries then melt the chocolate melts and add it to all the other ingredients! Stir to combine then spread onto a tray that is covered in greaseproof paper and refrigerate! Simple and soooooo yumm

So much fun to make!

 

And I can pretty much always guarantee at least one little helper will help me clean-up!

Christmas Reindeer Tiny Teddy Cookies

Don't you just love these! We made them today at school with the reception kids!

Arnott's Milk Arrowroot biscuits, basic white or butter cream icing, choc bits, jaffas and Tiny Teddies for the antlers! How easy are they?

I love the whole assembly thing for reception kids as cooking can get a bit tough as they want to eat everything straight away and get so frustrated having to wait for it to cook!

Any hoo, I am off to make more for Chrismas gifts now ....toodles!

Festive Food

So I have a new favourite party favourite that I absolutely have to share with you....... Bambino cones from Gelatissimo!

Check out these little delights! Great for an after dinner sneaky treat, fab size for the kiddies and the perfect gift for the hostess with the mostess who insists that you shouldn't bring a thing!

They are yummo bite-sized mini cones filled with chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut, mint, raspberry and mango gelato then dipped in coloured chocolate.  They sell them in store and you get to take them home in an insulated foam packs so they don't melt!

 

We serve them at the end of the dinner with coffee and put them in a short glass so they look like a festive bunch of flowers..... Excuse me for a little while, I just have to pop out and pick something up....I have a hankering for something sweet!

Love naughty little indulgences!