16th b'day party - candy bar / dessert table

warning - loads of photos! (scroll near the end for all the details).....

  

glass jars = from dollar discount type store and freedom - found them in the vase section. would have loved fancy jars with lids - however plain jars were by far the least expensive option.

jar labels & lolly bag tags = free download of cath holden labels printed on white card - then cut out and added onto red card. blue ribbons and red & white bakers twine ordered online from sweet style.

lolly bags = blue spotty bags purchased online from the party people.  

cake platters (x3) = donna hay.

straw flags = blue straws from dollar discount store - flags made from white washi tape (ordered online from inky co.) - on the night a marker was used to write on girl's initials to keep track of drinks!

16 numbers = paper mache numbers from spotlight - painted red / then painted white / then rubbed back lightly with sandpaper. red & white bakers twine ordered online from sweet style.

lollies / candy = blue jellybeans (ordered online from sweet style) / jaffas and strawberry creams (purchased at woolies) / blue sugar almonds and cool mints and blue choc wedding hearts (ordered online from lollyworld) / choc kisses and freddo frogs (purchased at cosco) / blue sour straps and  milk bottles (ordered online from the professors online lolly shop) / cup cakes (made from cosco cup cake mix & betty crocker icing from woolies - super yum!)

cookie pops - made from crushing tim tams with cream cheese - then adding sticks & dipping in melted white chocolate - the favourite item by far (recipe kindly shared on the blog of mrs a. in the cove - owner of sweet style - recipe and great tips found here)

paper lanterns & balloons = from dollar discount store.

paper pom poms = made by me from tissue paper purchased at woolies.

napkins / plastic bowls / paper cups = dollar discount type store.

little tongs = purchased from provincial home living.

this party was all put together in under two weeks - and all the online shopping mentioned above was really convenient and it all arrived super fast. I would recommend any of the above online suppliers.
(if I've forgotten anything - of if you have any questions - please don't hesitate to drop me a message either on this post - or via email)

must again mention the amazing inspiration from Leanne from the blog mrs a in the cove and owner of the online shop sweet style. she does this stuff for a living - and her style is amazing. thank you so much Leanne for sharing your wonderful talent with the world. you make parties o - so - beautiful.

make sure you go have a visit -

I leave you with a picture of my beautiful (now) 16 year old - goob - who had a wonderful party - despite the torrential rain that came down that day!!!!

and I promise to be back soon to show you some of the fun of the photo booth we set up for the party.
(sneak peek seen at the end of this post here)

hope all's well in your part of the world.

loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

linking to these lovely blogs this week.....please do go and check them out......

package arrived safe & sound

today I received a big package in the mail.....

(oh - and I've been testing out that instagram app on my iphone today also!! I like it so far.)

inside this package are two saloon doors from the lovely Sally and Steve at Us+House=Home - which I hope to convert into a message centre near our family room. (doors can be seen in this post)

in other news - we survived the in-law visit over the weekend (and the speaker is all fixed from my cleaning mishap which I posted about last week - love having such a handy husband!) - trying to get back into the swing of things once more.
exam time starting on Thursday for goob (year 10) - and finishing up of assignments for eky also this week.
the year is winding down - and I'm very happy for that.

hope things are well in your world today.
hugz,
cheryl xox.

cleaning fail

I mentioned yesterday that we're soon to have a visit from my in-laws.
they arrive tomorrow.
they haven't visited for over 2 years due to health issues - and they're Dutch (ie incredibly fastidious about cleanliness) - so I've gone into mega cleaning mode to try to exhume some of the piles of dust and mess that are around the house after weeks months of neglect due to university commitments - and living life with a busy family!

here's a peak of our tv in the family room which I've yet to show here in blogland.....

all nicely dusted - and I grabbed some potato-vine-flowers from the garden to pretty things up.....

here's a super close-up of eky's gorgeous clay bird she made at school last year.....
 

cute yes??? he sits well with my little collection of birdhouses - including the large one that once sat outside - and then later broken in the shed. (I found it recently - dusted it off - and marvelled at it's nature-made rustic-ness!!).....

and just before I took these photos - I climbed up to give the surround speakers a little dusting - 'cuz once you start looking closely around - you always find more dust around the place.........

here's a pic of one of our surround sound speakers that sit up high near the ceiling.....

that one didn't get a clean (there is in fact lots of cob-webs and dust on top -I've taken this from a more forgiving angle!) - because when I dusted the first one - this happened......

eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkk!!!!
(sorry mr w. I didn't mean it!!! I was being super gentle - I promise!!)

the flippin noggin in the roof came unstuck.......

and now we have a hole (and some touch up painting to be done just for good measure!!).....

I shall try to avert my eyes from the chaos I've caused near the ceiling - and I shall carry on with making rooms look pretty-ish for the visit......

hope you're having a lovely day!

cheryl xox.