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......

my head hurts.....

the downside of the big 16th celebrations on the weekend ........  all day - I have had the headache from hell!!!

me thinks I indulged a little too much in the table of sugar I shared with you yesterday - here.

oooooooo - I'm off to grab some painkillers and then it's off to bed for me.

cheryl xox.

16th party preview

we survived!!
the party went off without a hitch - apart from the 17 degrees c and heavy rain!!! (eeek - we've plunged straight into winter from a non-existent summer!)
previously billed as a 'pool' party - plans were changed - and we all stayed indoors for the festivities.

also - party participants ended up being only a half of the original 40 that were invited - as there were many last minute messages from unwell girls. with fewer bodies having to fit within our house  - it all worked out much better in the end.

all in all - a great night was had by all.

here's a sneak peak of the table laden with sugar......

....and the lounge-room photo booth all ready for photogenic superstars.....

I'll post more about all the fun when I manage to upload more photos.

hope you are dry wherever you are this weekend. Canberra is wet and dismal - I'd advise not to come here for the next few days!!!

loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

some party preparations...

as mentioned in my last post - yes - we will be holding a 16th b'day party for our miss goob next weekend - and - yes - there have been just over 40 guests invited.
I know. insane.
one thing though - as goob attends an all girl school - and she has lots of friends - she has decided to only invite girls - and I pray that many can't come!!!!!!!
there have been 3 definite 'no's' - my praying thus far has been working!!

here's a peak of the colour scheme we've chosen for party day.....

and there are plans for a lolly table of grand proportions.....

some call them dessert tables.....or candy buffets.....for now let's call it the lolly table!!
and yes - I'm a brilliant drawer - thank you for noticing!!!

a heap of inspiration has come from the lovely Leanne over at Mrs A in the Cove (and I ordered just a few little things from her lovely online shop Sweet Style). I'll update you on those next week when they arrive.

Leanne also shared her recipe for Cookie Pops on her blog - seen in her wonderful image below - and I'll be trying to make some this weekend so I don't have a disaster trying to make them for the first time on the actual party day!!!

photo from here

don't they look amazing - can't wait to try making and eating these goodies. (ingredients include tim tam biscuits and cream cheese and white chocolate - oooooo yum!!!!)

anyhoo back to me!!
I have been gathering supplies and here's some messy pics of the acquired stash so far.....(mostly from discount stores to keep the costs down).....

 

jars above were great bargain buys from a discount store (similar to '$1 store' or 'crazy clints') - large $13.99/medium $11.99/small $6.50 each. they are the start of my jar collection for the lollies!
(very grotty - and ready for a wash!)

and the below trays were not so bargain - however they are actually made out of melamine - but they look so much like crockery. they are wheel & barrow brand.

the narrow plates were $19.95 each - and the square was $39.95.
(hope you like the artful placement of the crepe paper!!!) ha!!

having a pool and loads of pavers (outside) and tiles (inside) - the option of having platters that won't smash into a million pieces if dropped is a very good thing!! I think these are really lovely. good weight too.


I have started to make some labels - the below will be added onto the lolly bags.....

I downloaded some great free labels (found here) - played around with them a little - printed them out on white cardboard - cut them up - then stuck them onto disks of red cardboard.

a little wonky in places - but I'm pretty happy with them.
I'll be sure to take loads of photos and give you all the details as things move along.

yes - this is all a huge outlay for a party - however all three girls will be having parties this year - and many in the future - so I'm positive all the major items will be used many many times through the coming years.
and besides -there is that mother's guilt thing in play here - they didn't get parties last year - I wasn't working - and we just couldn't afford it.
we're making up for it big time now.

as for activities to keep the teenagers happy - we're hoping the weather plays nice and is warm so the pool can be used. we are also putting together a back-drop and props for a photo-booth of sorts.
other than that - this mob all love to hang out and chill - so I'm sure it will all go well. they're a great bunch of kids.

so that's where we're at with the party plans.

tonight we're off to the first brumbie's game of the 2012 season. (rugby union - our local team - we're members - and the weather is looking great for a lovely evening!)
tomorrow is netball grading for eky early - goob and I are going along to help out.
Sat night - a lovely friend and her baby girl are coming to tea. (her husband has been posted away for 6 weeks)
Sunday - loads of volleyball training for the girls - and loads of homework to fit around in between.

oh - and some huge news - that job I spoke of at the end of the year (here) - well the full-time permanent position (education section) I applied for went on hold - and now it's going ahead again - and I have an interview next Tuesday.  (I'm currently working there now - different section - part-time contracted until the end of April. permanency would be great - and the money is pretty good too!).
fingers crossed for me if you can please!!!


have a wonderful weekend ahead where ever you find yourself!!

loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

crazy busy weekend

greetings from our mad house to yours!!

it's been a super busy weekend - and I think I need another to get over this one.
alas - it's back to work tomorrow. boo!!

saturday saw mr w. and the girls head north to pick up new bikes for eky and goob. no photos sadly - however we will be taking some family rides soon - and I'll be sure to take some snaps along the way and post soon.
early b'day presents for the girls - and they love them. great news.

I stayed home and dabbled with housework and study - procrastinating whenever possible.
I'm good at that!

sunday morning goob and I went for a short bike ride - then both eky and goob had 2 hours of volleyball training each.
hard work - however they are learning so much and getting better with every practice. they are really enjoying this new level of volleyball as they have some fantastic coaches at state level. (fingers crossed the girls both make it onto their age teams)

sunday afternoon - miss eky had 8 peeps over for a pool party.

glasses added by me!

a beginning of the year thing - she had one last year.
they squealed a lot - as girls sometimes do - however they had a great afternoon.
we were super lucky with the weather - it was warm and sunny - phew!!
lately the weather has been mad!
huge storm came through friday night; another on saturday that filled the pool to the brim; then another storm threatened just before everyone was about to go home today.
luckily it blew around us and headed out to the coast.
it's been a terribly non-existant summer down here. green - yes - but not very warm or sunny!

triple j also had a friend over for the fun.

best friends since preschool (age 4) - and still going strong (both turning 10 this year)!!!
it kept triple j busy and out of the big girls hair!

this evening - somehow I got hoodwinked into helping goob make 40 party invitations for her upcoming 16th birthday. (in 2 weeks)

yes - you read that right - 40 invites.
I think I have officially gone mad to allow this to happen.
I'll let you know if we survive this one.
for the invites - goob typed them up online (at invys.com) - we then printed them out on card - did a little hole punching - then added some ribbon for pretties!

oh dear what have I done?!?!?!

the week ahead - we have work, uni, school happenings, more volleyball training for the girls - and the start of netball grading for the year.
oh we're in for another busy week.

hope your weekend and week ahead were/are calmer.

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.