Good-bye Summer

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Two loves

My love of Manhattan and in particular Central Park and blue and white - together as one.

Central Park by Bella Foster

Fun at the Fair

I've just spent the weekend down in Sydney at the Gift Fair. Lots of pretty things to be seen, here are a few of my favourites.

Trying desperately to find a project that requires this bicycle

I always love the Specklefarm stand. Buckets of colour blocked pencils just float my boat.

As does beautiful french grosgrain ribbon

Preppy pink and green striped lanterns fresh from Specklefarm

Absolutely loving their new range of striped lanterns. The green and navy would have looked fab at William's 4th birthday party.

Alexander and Co.

Alexander & Co. is a Chicago based company that lets you create custom artwork by selecting colours, text and design to suit your decor.

I think these fun posters would work equally as well at a party as part of the decoration and then can be hung on the wall in your home after for an instant glam look.

There are heaps of designs and I'm going to suggest one of the wedding designs to my friend that's getting married soon in a gorgeous white barn (cannot wait to share all the details with you).

I'm thinking of ordering the pink "Candies" one below for my own office. What do you think? They are pretty gorgeous hey?

The perfect table setting

I just had to share this beautiful table setting by Ralph Lauren. This would be my idea of heaven for a Mother's Day lunch.

Thank you to Judy at Verandah House for alerting me to Rosecliffe - RL's new Spring 2012 collection.

Fabulous (and freaky) finds!

I wanted to share with you the before and after shots of that massive fiberglass icecream cone I stumbled across in someones yard only 10 doors up from our house! I know, amazing hey?

I think you will agree it came up well and it certainly added to the ambience of the party.

Both after shots where taken by Life in Bloom Photography

Paperie Valentine's Day Table

My daughter Olivia LOVES stationery. She is like a bowerbird with all her goodies. I'm not sure where she gets it from!

This afternoon I had this table waiting for Olivia when she returned home from school. It was sort of like I fulfilled my own childhood fantasy of walking into a stationery shop being told I could have what I wanted. Olivia was able to select an assortment of treats from the table to keep just for her from Mummy on Valentine's Day.

So what was on the menu I hear you ask?

Twine from kikki.K & spotty pencils from Specklefarm

Gorgeous notebooks for writing down secrets from Specklefarm, Love Stamps and heart paperclips from kikki.K and erasers from Specklefarm

I hope you all had a loved up day too!

This type of table would work so well for a girls birthday party. Instead of a lolly table let your little misses select their very own stationery.

Ice Cream Social 6th Birthday

A few weeks ago we celebrated William's 6th Birthday. This birthday was extra special as he celebrated it alongside his best friend Ella. William and Ella have a very special friendship that's hard to put into words, you need to see them together to understand.

Melissa (Ella's Mum) and I decided on an Ice Cream Social theme with a punchy yellow and red colour palette that suits both a girl and boy.

The party was intimate. Only three other families celebrated alongside us, all relatives.

The concept was simple. Each child could build their own Ice Cream Sundae!

Lots of different toppings and sauces were on hand.

Cookies, cupcakes and lollipops too.

Ice Cream Cake Pops!

I found this fibreglass ice cream cone in our street. I kid you not. A good wash and a lick of paint and it was as good as new.

You might remember seeing this carousel table at Olivia's party last year. Well I couldn't let it just sit there and go to waste, so we repainted it and turned it into an Ice Cream Shoppe.

The birthday boy and girl.

Party favours included everything ice cream themed. Erasers, candy, pens, lipgloss and bubbles all packaged lovingly in personalised cotton drawstring bags.

A little something for us!

And maybe these were for us too. After all, we did work very very hard on this party!

To finish off the day a cool dip in the pool.

All artwork and printables Style Me Gorgeous

Photography Life in Bloom Photography

Ice Cream Cone Cake The Lemony Cupcake

Decorated Cookies Glazed Bakehouse

Styling Sharnel Dollar Designs

Leftover Candy Canes?

Does anyone have leftover candy canes from Christmas? Well I did so I'm going to show you a really easy and pretty Valentine's Day treat to make with them.

What you'll need

2 candy canes per heart

Melting chocolate

Sprinkles or non-pareils in Valentine's colours

Baking paper

Method

Place a sheet of baking paper onto a baking tray. Unwrap the plastic wrapper from the candy canes and arrange in the shape of a heart.

Melt your chocolate and spoon it into the centre of the heart. Use a toothpick to push the chocolate into the point of the heart. Sprinkle with your pretty decorations.

They are pretty right? You could even flavour the chocolate if you so desired.

Styling Sharnel Dollar Designs

Photography Life In Bloom

Pick me up

Somedays just don't feel right. You know the one. It's the day that just doesn't seem to fit, nothing you can pin point but there is this alarming sense that something is about to happen.

Well that's how I've felt this past week. And when I feel this way I try and do something just for me, something that I can either look at and will make me smile or think about and have the same effect.

So early this morning after gymnastics drop off I drove myself to the flower market and selected some beautiful roses. I really love getting a bunch of flowers home and selecting the perfect vase for them, arranging them just so. I'm no florist, but this type of work calms me. Makes me feel centred.

Don't you just love nature? How perfect is that rose? Ahh all the stress just seems to fade away when I look at these glorious flowers.