April Memories

: : When she looked at this photo she had to feel around her head for the tiara :P : :
She couldn't understand why she could see one but not feel it

: : Well, that's the easy part done :P : :

: : Taupo with this one : :

: : Selfie after games at Rebecca's bridal shower : :

: : Still have a saddle from Dad's days as a jockey : : 

: : Known each other for a few years . . . finally met at the Wintergarden : :

: : When you're designing recipe books : :

New Year's Day

: : Fresh pav coming up! : :

: : Well okay, if you think that's comfortable : :

21st Birthday Party Plans & Preparations

Before we get into the *actual* party shots I thought we might set the scene a little with some shots of the preparation. ;) 

: : Invitations : :

I thought with a few hours I could have these done and ready to post . . . yeah, not quite.
All printing is black ink onto brown paper, with the woodgrain stamped over in VersaMark.
Paper mounted on black card, ribbon tied around, and photo glued on :)
Envelope stamped to match (let's not mention how many VersaMarks I ran out . . . hehe)

: : Wall decor : :

These are cardstock as opposed to paper; since I didn't need to run them through the printer I opted for the greater strength. Most detailing was traced around a template with a black Sharpie, and the red/sliver is glitter paint. We also cut out some black pistols which didn't make it into this shot.

: : Costume #1 ready to go! : :

: : Maria & Laura wanted to be involved too but were disappointed a lot of things needed to be done by someone older : :
They got to help make up the trail mix though

: : Trialing the table layout : :

The day prior to the party we picked up the cake and made nearly 40 dessert pies, along with too many other things!

: : Keeping the theme : :

: : After spending the day travelling up from Wellington with his mum,  Alex jumped right in with constructing the pies : :
{The tidy ones were his :P }

: : Isaac helped a lot as well . . . ask him about zesting lemons sometime :P : :

: : Horseshoes = pumpkin pie : :
Second row = lemon meringue pies
Lattice top = strawberry pie
Can't remember which other ones were on the table, but we also made apple pies and peach pies :)

Obviously there was a lot more planning + preparation that took place than was photographed and shown here; several of us were busy working on things in the months prior and as we approached crunch time it was all-hands-on-deck. So thank you to everyone who was involved!

And now! Drumroll for the actual event photos please! :P

Monique's Birthday || Stampin' Up! Party

For Monique's 13th this year, she organised a Stampin' Up! party which she ended up having at the manse, since our pastor was away and Monique really wanted to have Mrs. Smith (our pastor's wife) at the party. It turned out to be great for us because when Mum and Monique left, we had baking utensils, ingredients, you name it (just about . . . ) all over the kitchen and dining table (lol). 

Overall I think the cake turned out pretty good, no?

: : Talking before making cards : :

: : Cardmaking! : :

: : Treble Clefs!! : :
{Guess who piped those lol?}

: : Amelia Smith (7yrs) made this for Monique's birthday cake since I only made a cake last minute : :

I melted more chocolate than I needed, so I piped this pony as well. I think we ended up using it for Danielle's cake (photos still coming of that one lol)

Do you think?!

17!

For my birthday this year I decided to have a Stampin' Up! party with some of my friends and their mums. I had hoped to have it soon after my birthday, but with busy schedules September 2nd (two months late lol) ended up being the date. I realised on Saturday night that I hadn't done any planning (the 2nd was a Monday) . . . oops! So Monday saw me hurriedly writing lists and then {seemingly} visiting every shop in Manukau. I discovered balloons, tablecloths, and ribbon is hard to find in specific colours :/ I ended up missing the ribbon but I got the rest of the food et cetera that I wanted (phew!).                    

       

Meanwhile, the others were baking (usually I try to do that a day ahead, but being a Monday night that couldn't exactly happen this time!) and cleaning/tidying the house. When I got home I passed the balloons out to be blown up, and made several more desserts. Somehow the afternoon flew by, as the clock seemed to speed up!

Finally, we {mostly} completed our last-minute preparations, and guests began arriving.

Somehow, we squeezed all fourteen of us around our dining table; the next two or so hours quickly passed as we made our cards.

: : Making cards : :

: : Fun times : :

After we finished our cards, we made for the dessert table. (I'm sure it was feeling lonely having been on it's own all evening ;))

Dad must have had something funny to say lol

: : Yup, the food : :

And thus concluded the celebrations for my seventeenth. Thanks everyone who helped/attended etc. ;)

Preparations for holiday

Well I have several posts about our holiday ready to go up, but I was just looking through photos and noticed one of the baking I did in preparation for the holiday and thought I'd post it quickly. Mum decided we needed HEAPS of baking for our trip, so she got some of the others to bake on Friday, and I had a go on Saturday. Below is what I ended up with.

: : Chocolate fudge, two banana bread loaves, two banana cakes, chocolate maple biscuits, chocolate vanilla biscuits, and my fav - 5 star choc chip cookies : :

Baking and New Years Gifts

Hey Everyone,

Going back to January, (from where i left off before posting about Maria), first, here are some photo's to make your mouth water!!!Yes, I had a couple of baking days!!

Next, we gave/recieved New Year's Pressents on the ninth of Jan.

Here are some pics of what I recieved.

CYA, Bee