day 361: pineapple flowers

the flower ... in progress, takes 24 hours for them to harden and mould in the flower shape!

day 361 and i have been SO desperate to try these flowers to see if they actually work for mere mortals!  the picture below has been trending on pinterest and i know why, aren't they amazing!

the beautiful sunflower made of pineapple .. photo sourced from here

the picture comes from the duitang website but apart from that i can tell you very little as i think it is written all in han (?) and google wouldn't translate it for me! so i went to google image search and found a how-to by brown-eyed baker that was totally in-depth and right up my alley as the images from here went perfectly with the words from here.  as such, both tutorials are pinned to my party ideas board on pinterest :)

you start with a pineapple, take the outer green layer off, then using a spoon or similar take divots out all around the pineapple so it no longer has a uniform flat face.  then slice very thin pieces of pineapple and put into a low (~100 degrees celcius/225F) oven for 30 minutes.  you then flip them over and bake for another 30ish minutes until they are dry.  take them out of the oven and mould them into a muffin tray where they are left to harden overnight.

my holed out pineapple, it was at this stage i had real doubts!

still the doubts as my pineapple slices weren't as thin as i though they should be

doubts starting to abate as they seemed to be looking more flowery now!

and into the muffin tin they went for 24 hours of hardening

outcome: my pineapple was so juicy i just wanted to eat it but for the sake of art i ate a mandarin and left the pineapple ... so pleased i did and the result is still pending ... more tomorrow after they have dried and hopefully hardened in place.  looking good so far though :)

my sincere thanks to the duitang website for the totally inspiring photos that went so well with the words from brown-eyed baker ... together these two websites made the perfect tutorial for making these pineapple sunflowers.

and because i am a proud mama, i thought i would show you what the peeps baked today, venus transit cookies ... all by themselves, in honour of venus making its transit across the sun :)

ben and pollyanna's venus transit cookies

day 328: edible toothpicks

we love you ma ... couldn't be prouder of you :)

day 328 and it's the big day so its a QUICK and i mean QUICK post ... my mums last day of work forever ... bring on retirement :)

I couldn't be prouder of her and the wonderful life she gave me sister and i because of all the hard work she has done over the years.  for me it is beyond gratifying to see her retire and start this new phase of her life where every decision she makes is for her and her alone ... love you ma.

as such, we had some celebrating to do tonight ... so i made these

cheese on pretzel sticks!

they were inspired by the ones made at women living well and are pinned to my party ideas board ...

what you need, plus 10 minutes

chop the cheese, hold the pretzel low, push down ... 

... and whala a plate of nibbles are prepared :)

as for the outcome ... they were gone SO fast, i had to make more.  and then the ideas on how you could add fruit (like pineapple), use chocolate, antipasto goodies, and all sorts on these edible toothpicks .. yes, these are my new favourite thing to pimp ... go by yourselves some pretzel sticks and see what creations you can come up with.

awesome idea by women living well, these are going to be my new party go to for all types of different occasions!

day 324: popsicle stick bird feeders

happiness is a bird feeder made with a little peeps hands :)  she also took the photo ;)

day 324 and we are well and truly back into the swing of being at school.  today polly's art project came from pinterest!  she had to make a bird feeder out of popsicle sticks.  art is polly's favourite subject and i use pinterest ALL the time to find new and different creative projects for her to tackle.

today's project comes from tonya staab, who used the bird feeders as a craft at her x-treme craft party for 4 and 5 year olds ... brave woman!  it is pinned to my home school projects board on pinterest.  the party tonya hosted looked so amazing i also also pinned it to my party ideas board ... in my wildest dreams i would host such a party, but that's what pinterest is about, right? dreams and ideas to hope for in the future !?!?  any ho, even if you don't want to make a bird feeder, check out the post to see the party :)

for today's creation you will need 50 popsicle sticks, glue, and some twine.  we altered from the actual instructions and didn't use the tongue depressor sticks as i couldn't find any, instead using two popsicle sticks together.  you will also need something to feed the birds with once the project is finished :)  polly was very enthusiast as she took on this task, and as you will see in the photos the concentration levels were very high ... yes that tongue remained out during the entire project~!

what you need

look at the concentration ... ;)

that tongue hanging out is clearly important to the whole artist process :)

so she didn't have to thread the twine through i made sure it was put through and then the popsicle stick was glued on top to make it easier for her

pollyanna's goodies for the birds

filling the new bird feeder

big brother checking out the progress of the completed bird feeder, hung and ready for the native birds!

outcome:  she was one happy little lady with her bird feeder!  and so she should be, it is really neat and not too difficult a project to take on by herself.  pollyanna really appreciated being able to do it independently as she was really proud of the bird feeder she had "made my(her)self".  the birds i am sure will be gathering to give it a go too, especially with the fruit and nut mix polly put inside ... actually made me a little hungry ;)

my thanks to tonya staab for this wonderful craft that peeps can take on and do themselves.  i love it when polly takes on a project and shas such satisfaction at the end, knowing she was able to achieve it under her own steam :)  i shall definitely be back looking for more inspiration from tonya, who is clearly one very talented lady.

day 128: smurfette's house birthday cake

smurfette in the luscious green grass!

day 128 and we interrupt our halloween month for a very special reason ... pollyanna's birthday cake!  for the last several weeks polly has declared she would like a vanilla cake with strawberry icing on it ... SWEET, nothing hard about that!

then yesterday she decided as she was going to the smurf movie with her friends for her birthday she would actually like smurfette's house as her birthday cake ... something along these lines went through my head #$!@#*#&#&*^&* ... what came out of my mouth was "we will see how we go for time shall we".   when you are having a hard time with your children growing up too fast, sometimes it's hard to crush their confidence in your abilities, i mean honestly who wants to let their children know this early on in their lives mum's and dad's don't know everything.

so to pinterest i went today looking at the AMAZING smurf cakes, thinking #$(*@&(#^$)@ well i have no training in decorating cakes but i own a round tin and a bowl that i can at least make the shapes of smurfette's house with .... good start!  in denial i pinned a comic picture of some smurf houses to my party ideas board so at least i knew what to aim for :)  AND because i know this hot milk cake works so well from making it on day 40 i ended up with two beautiful cakes from which to construct the house.

as for the decorating, i went with the limited icing skills i have and frosted up a storm, added smurfette, some m&m's, a couple of chocolate fingers, and some lego flowers and trees; not to mention some very festive looking coconut grass.

the finished cake

outcome: well the cake was a complete success for pollyanna ... not for me because i thought it didn't look anything like a smurf house!  but for me this cake was all about my little girl and she was stoked, her face says it all!

yes, it was definitely a surprise

she was so so happy

make a wish my seven year old :)

maybe it wasn't perfect but for a seven year old it was a dream come true and thanks to pinterest i know i can at least attempt things without fear :)

happy birthday pollyanna
i am honoured to call you my daughter

day 124: halloween treat bags

the finished treat bag for halloween

day 121 and its a REALLY busy creating day today.  i have a stack of kids coming to our halloween party and they are all going to need a treat bag for their goodies! given the number i need to make i wanted a simple, quick bag that i could personalise for each child.

found the simple, quick bag on pinterest from the purl bee ... love this website it has the best tutorials and they come with brilliant pictures that demonstrate every step as well :)  the bag is also pinned to my party ideas board.  i couldn't find any cute unisex halloween material so i have opted for calico and some home-made decorating!

so my bags look as good inside as outside, i am using french seams ... honestly where was my life without these beautiful seams!  and to make things even easier i am using one piece of fabric as i don't need to worry about the pattern orientation.  for the decorations i used my other favourite thing, fabric printing, and printed out a whole lot of free halloween printables i found on my biggest favourite ... pinterest!  all the free printables i used come from the twinery, southern accent, over the big moon, and catch my party.  how nice is it that so many people offer up their incredible talents for free, totally awesome i'd say and i am incredibly grateful :)

i also stamped each persons name onto some calico so each person would know their treat bag.  the names and fabric printables will be attached using heat'n'bond ... yip another favourite of mine!  i thought about sewing all these bits on but with so many to make the heat'n'bond was too enticing!

cut, stamped, printed, and ready to sew!

the finished bag without embellishments

the fully decked out bag!

outcome:  awesome, love my little creations, love that they are personalised for each little peep, and love that the bags themselves took no time to make but look so very cool!  the tutorial from purl bee was (as usual) brilliant, clear, and so easy to follow ... and the best part was these little beauties didn't even take the 20 minutes suggested once i got into the swing of things!  love the fabric printables, they add a really nice touch of colour on what would otherwise be a fairly plain treat bag :)

my sincerest thanks as always to the purl bee, its fast becoming one of those websites i visit daily!  and for all the wonderful people who provide freely downloadable graphics THANK YOU from my heart to yours.

day ninety two: cupcakes for the start of the rugby world cup :)

rugby cupcakes :)

day ninety two and the start of the rugby world cup is FINALLY here!  all the flags are going up and people are really starting to get excited.  i thought a day like today deserved some party food and these football cupcakes from about.com looked perfect!  they are pinned to my party ideas board on pinterest.

we have slighty different goal posts than american football (ours look like this H) but apart from that i figured with some scorched almonds for rugby balls these would work well!  i baked up my favourite cupcake recipe  in wrappers and once they had cooled i set to work with my rugby pitches!

rugby ball ingredients

the procedure .... :)

instead of green icing i used a white butter cream icing and then pushed the icing into some green coloured coconut on top for grass.  i always dye my coconut in a ziplock bag so there's no mess!   i then used a ready made white chocolate icing pen to put some stitches on the scorched almond rugby balls.

tonight's half-time feast!

outcome:  the flags are up, the cupcakes are made and i am buzzing and completely excited for tonight's opening ceremony and the first game!  it is tradition in our house to have traditional foods from the host country for dinner, as new zealand is the host it was pretty easy .... and we went with the REALLY easy option of fish and chips with kiwifruit pavlova for dessert!  these cupcakes will be perfect for half time in the rugby and the response from the kids was great ... and you know what, i was pretty proud of them as well!

my thanks to about.com, this site always has what you are looking for even when you don't know it!  i often use their worksheets for my kids and now i know they also have fantastic party ideas!

if you want some quick easy printables for the kids to do during the rugby world cup head to activity village for some great inspiration and there is plenty more on the official RWC website :)

day seventy two: chocolate lego minifig's

the chocolate in the ice tray worked well but not the m&ms!

day seventy two and it's time for some more lego fun!  my sister and i went shopping this morning to haji lane where we found a gorgeous shop called threadbare and squirrel.  it has the most beautifully designed clothing, locally designed bags, and awesome bits and pieces! we also happened upon this lego necklace i had pinned to my whimsy board which i adore!  we are ALL lego lovers and this made me so happy.  my sister bought the ring with flowers and we felt like kids in a candy store where all your dreams come true!



our lego finds :)

that inspired me to carry on with the lego theme of the day and make some chocolate lego minifig's using the ice tray to adorn the top of the kids ice cream for dessert :)  this idea is pinned to my party ideas board and is inspired by justJENN's recipe website, she uses hers on top of cupcakes and they look SO cool!



the ingredients!

we decided to try and jazz them up a bit by adding a mini m&m to the lego minifig tummy :) apart from that all you need is the lego ice tray and some melted chocolate, and a cold fridge!



the lego minifig's with their m&m tummy's

outcome: not loving the m&ms but the rest of it is really cool an i would just stick with the chocolate for next time! simple is best, and am loving the fact that it worked awesomely well in the ice tray ... this is definitely something i will be using at ben's lego birthday party :)

my thanks to justJENN's for such a cool, simple, and totally doable idea ... it made us all smile and that makes it a winner with me :)

day fifty seven: on the road in singapore with a fish bowl jelly/jello



fish bowl jelly/jello

(ice cream icebergs will added when served!)

day fifty seven and welcome to pinterest 365 on the road!  we have made it to singapore and it is HOT! we have gone from 10C to 33C and there is great excitment being with my sister and her family. 



ben taking in the stunning cityscape :)



cool off time ... thank goodness for the pool

since its so hot i figured a great dessert tonight would be something the kids could have with ice cream ... luckily pinterest has come up with a gem ... a fish bowl jelly (jello), inspiration from martha stewart and its pinned to my party ideas board :)

the ingredients for the fish bowls :)

the original makes its jelly up from scratch using gelatin, flat lemon-lime soda, and blue food colouring ... since i'm on holiday i went for the even easier option of lemonade jelly and my fishes are the nice and natural marine fruit mix :)  i waited until the jelly was half set before adding in the fishes so i could place them at all different levels ... otherwise of course all your little marine life will literally sink to the bottom!

outcome:  seriously cool! i picked up some vanilla ice cream to put icebergs on top for the kids (if i remember i will take a picture and put it up tomorrow) ... the kids have hovered by all afternoon and their excitement over these fish bowls has been awesome ... so worth the little bit of extra effort.  if you are having a pool/beach themed party or its just a special occassion with a bunch of kids these would be awesome on the menu and take little time to do and can be made well in advance ... the perfect sweet treat!

update on the travel kits:  a ten hour flight is a really LONG time for little peeps and the kids were awesome, thanks in a big part to the travel kits.  ben and pollyanna sat next to eachother and entertained themselves so well, steve and i relaxed the whole trip.  the lovely people sitting behind us even mentioned to us how impressed they were with their behaviour ... its worth the effort to do a little preparing most definitely!

pollyanna and her travel kit .. it was a brilliant success
thank goodness :)

fyi .. i am really sorry if today's blog post has taken ages to load, i wasn't able to downsize my photos today, but will sort out for tomorrow :)