Have a fabulous New Year

Photo Sharnel Dollar Designs

How we celebrated Christmas Day

Here is a little peek into how we celebrated Christmas this year. It was just the four of us so we opted for casual fun!

The kids woke at 5.45am and managed to play with Santa's presents until 7am then we all gathered around the tree and exchanged gifts.

Our lunch was very relaxed. Ham, moreton bay bugs and salads. Dessert was so delicious, a simple banoffee trifle.

How did you celebrate the day?

Glitz and Glam and NYE

Earlier this month I designed a festive New Years Eve table for the ezine produced by My Little Jedi. Thank you to Amy Atlas for featuring it today on her blog.

The gorgeous cake, cookies and cupcakes where made by the super talented Coby from The Lemony Cupcake here in Brisbane.

Photography by Sharnel Dollar Designs

Traditions - Gingerbread House Decorating

Only 2 more sleeps until (in the words of Michael Buble) the big fat man with the long white beard arrives.

We have been busy doing nothing really. Lots of visits to the park, Manly Esplanade, kite flying, swims, morning teas with friends and sending off the last orders before Christmas.

One of our family traditions is building and decorating a gingerbread house. There is something so magical about it isn't there? Like you are in your very own version of Hansel and Gretel.

Here is Olivia and William's finished house. Absolutely no help from Mum. One year I will do my own. I dream about it. What lollies to decorate with, where I would place them. What sort of roof I would make. Maybe next year?

I hope everyone is enjoying the lead up to Christmas. We are having a very quiet day here. Just the four of us enjoying each others company. Lunch will be ham and seafood (bugs and prawns!) and salads. Perry has requested a trifle. Easy. Trifle is such an unrated dessert in my opinion. It's up there with pavlova. Dead set winners in my humble opinion.

Mini Picnic Baskets

Our miniature picnic baskets are now available and are making quite an impression. From a small garden picnic to a sophisticated garden wedding. They are sold in a set of 6. Available here now.

Holiday Cheer

Ivy & Piper Christmas Drinks

On Wednesday night I had the pleasure in attending the Ivy & Piper Christmas Cocktail Party held at their beautiful newly refurbished showroom.

Thank you Mel and Liz for such a lovely evening. Here are a few iphone pics from the night.

Divine blooms everywhere!

Judy from Judy Elloitt Interiors, moi and Melinda from Lily G.

Thea, Judy, Melinda, Jessie and Lauren.

Love that middle cushion!

Peach Bellini's for all

What's a party without a cupcake?

All the fabulous people where there

A little (and gorgeous I have to add) little parting gift from the Ivy & Piper girls.

Vintage Wreath update

So you might remember back to this post a few years ago where I posted about the vintage bauble wreath I had made. Well it's taken a few years of collecting but I'm finally really happy with how it looks. A few more baubles next year and we will be done and dusted!

Cupcakes and Lollipops - Sarah's 9th Birthday

I loved being asked by friends to help make their own children's birthdays extra special. Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of setting up a Cupcakes and Lollipops 9th Birthday for Sarah.

Here are some of the images from this special celebration. There is nothing more gratifying than hearing the guests whisper to the birthday girl "This is the best birthday party ever" and seeing the biggest grin on the birthday girls face.

Invitations by the super talented Loralee Lewis. Custom lollipops available from SDD.

Cupcake boxes made to look a little like they came from a real cupcake bakery with personalised stickers.

Striped Sambellina plates personalised with stickers from Loralee Lewis.

Scalloped Sambellina treat boxes with custom thank you tags from Loralee Lewis.

Our sweet little glass milk bottles with custom waterproof labels and straw pennants from Loralee Lewis. Straws available here.

Adorable flower cart available from Lily Chic Events. This is the same one I used for Olivia's party earlier this year and just repainted it.

Each guest was given a gorgeous Jessie Steele cupcake apron on arrival. This was also their take home gift along with the 6 cupcakes they decorated.

The cupcake decorating station was a hive of activity.

Blowing out the candles!

If you would like help creating a fabulous party of your own contact me about our event styling services. You can also purchase many of the items I use in my parties here.

Pre-Christmas Warehouse Sale

Be there or be square!

Dinner on the lawn

This past weekend we celebrated the spring/summer season with a delightful dinner with friends on the lawn.

The menu was delicious and the bubbles flowed freely. I may have had a slight dull ache in my head yesterday!

I had to use peonies on the table as they are only available for four weeks of the year.

These beautiful pink etched votives I found at Jessie Lauren. They are having a sale at the moment too, so pop on over and have a browse.

These stunning charger plates were also from Jessie Lauren.

Crystal glassware never disappoints.

A light candle light to add atmosphere.

New friendships.