pinterest parties

i had some friends round for drinks and a pamper party this weekend. i had a good look through pinterest for ideas and as always it didn't disappoint. i got a great idea for gin cocktails using herbs and edible flowers. they looked and tasted amazing... i froze the edible flowers {i used pansies, viola and flox} in ice cubes, for best results i found cooled boiled water worked best and i froze the cubes in two parts so the flowers floated. the cocktail itself was a shot of hendricks gin, a shot of elderflower gin, a tea spoon of rose essence and a sprig of thyme. oh, and some tonic! if you dont have elderflower gin then there is a lovely elderflower tonic that would work just as well...

and then there was the birthday party for the five year old! can leave out the preparations for that one!

the safari passes were printables i found online and the binoculars were toilet rolls with animal print duct tape wrapped around. pretty basic stuff!

the pinata was bought ~ i thought about making one but really time ran away from me and a trip to tescos ticked that off the list!

 

the cake i made with two batches of batter, one white and one chocolate... then i layered the batter in dollops one on top of the other to make the stripes in side the cake.

the party favours were just old jars that i collected from friends, i glued an animal to the lid and painted it then i filled them with the crayons ~ i had thought about sweeties or marshmallows... but thought there was enough sweet treats going around!

my favourite part was making the crayons... i have done this before here but this time i got to use lego moulds! and i love lego! who doesn't? so i collected all the crayon ends i could find... i even begged some from friends and family {i had a lot of jars to fill!} and melted them down... it was like i was making a miniature army! and they turned out better than i had hoped

 

i had plenty of games planned including the usual musical statues and musical bumps... but had to find a use for the binoculars... so we went on an elephant hunt to find dung! this was just flour, water and some old coffee grounds formed to make a dough, i then hid an insect inside {toy insect!} and baked them in the oven for ten minutes...the kids then went on a hunt to find them in the garden {luckily the weather was nice!} and cracked them open to see what was inside! fun.

we moved house

we were busy bees this summer, we managed to pack up home and move near the sea... just like we always wanted.

it's a bigger house with a bigger garden. and we are five minutes walk from the sea, poppy's school, all the main shops and cafes and an amazing play park.  it has been the best decision we have made so far {except the decision to have children of course... and to get married... ok, the third best decision}

so we have been busy moving and filling our home with stuff and most of all we have spent a lot more time doing things... so many projects... so many crafts!

during the move we decided to de-clutter. everything. and we also decided to make the things we already had, nicer! so plenty of up cycling going on here too!

first of the projects was the kids craft cart. we decided to collect all the broken crayons together and make nice new shiny ones...

step one ~

fill a silicone baking tray with all the ends of crayons (wrappers off) you can make them all the same colour/shade or you can go multicoloured.  melt them in the oven for about five ~ ten minutes on 180. and leave out to cool {i found that giving them a stir at this point stopped the wax and colour separating}

step two ~

tip them out!