DIY Edible Paint | Dress up your Christmas Plates

 

Hello. Happy Hump Day!! Phew, is it good to get Wednesday out of the way or what?

Today, I'm sharing with you a really simple idea for dressing up your plates this christmas. I was inspired by a Valentines post by 'How About Orange'.  Instead of writing a love note with edible paint like they do, how about wishing your guests a 'Merry Christmas' or using the paint as place names? Cute!

 

Mix the above ingrediants together to make the paint. Using a paint brush or cotton bud, write your message or draw your image, onto a clean & dry plate. Allow the paint to dry for at least 30 minutes before you use them on your table. 

A wee note, write your note on the day you need it. The paint will change color & dry up considerably. Trust me, I thought I would be really prepared and do it the night before... next minute, orange & cracking edible paint... not pretty.

That's it. Simple eh?  Would love to know if you give this a go!

~Niamh. xo

6 Party Ideas | Totally Unrelated to Christmas | to Inspire.

Birthday parties can be hard to plan at the best of times. Yes, this post is birthday focused and totally unrelated to Christmas! Crazy right? If you're like me, it almost seems like there's nothing else going on in the world except preparing for Christmas. I'm already enjoying the wee break in thinking about Christmas aren't you? Sit back and check out these sweet ideas you can use for a something other than CHRISTMAS!

Birthdays can be especially hard to plan when the birthday party is for someone else. Almost a week ago  I received a wee email from a lovely reader who is in this exact predicament and wondered if I had any ideas. I have finally had the chance to share some of the ideas I'm loving for birthday parties at the moment (BLAME CHRISTMAS).  I didn't celebrate my 21st birthday this year, my wedding stole it's buzz (understandably)... so next year I am celebrating my 1st anniversary of being 21!
Needless to say, I am already planning... I might even use some of these ideas myself!
Here we go:
1. Signature Drink  (give it a pretty name, special to the birthday girl)

Strawberry & Watermelon Mojito
A sunny drink filled with a summer favorite-and no seeds.
- 1½ oz. Smirnoff Strawberry Vodka
- ½ oz. fresh lime juice
- ½ oz. mint-infused simple syrup
- 1 cup fresh seedless watermelon, cubed and chilled
- 1 bunch fresh mint leaves
- Club soda
Directions
To make mint syrup, bring 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water to a boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and add 8 to 10 mint leaves. Let cool for 30 minutes. Strain. Combine vodka, lime juice, simple syrup, ½ cup of watermelon and about 10 mint leaves in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for 10 seconds. Strain into a glass with ice and remaining watermelon. Top with club soda. Garnish with additional mint leaf.
2. Keep your guests full with homemade fries served in a simple newspaper cone.

3. Clump paper lanterns, string lanterns & lighting together. Not only will this bathe the party venue in a pretty light but it will act as part of your decor

4. Rim your drinking glasses with  hundreds & thousands

5.  Be nice to your guests and give them some healthy food to enjoy at your party. Cut a cucumber into chunks, use a melon baller to scoop out some of the cucumber centre, spoon a dollop of hummus into the cucumber, stick slices of capsicum, carrott & celery into the centre. Volia! Edible vege cups!

6. Buy some giant baloons. So festive and fun. Note. I found out the hard way... they only last max 2-3 days so make sure you get them filled last minute!

~Niamh.xox

My Party Picks| Obama Biscuits, Photobooth Props & more!

Good Morning! I hope your Thursday is fab so far! Today I am sharing with you my top party picks for this week.

1. Photobooth props are all the trend right now and no event should be without a little corner booth with props for your guests to dress up in and entertain themselves! The props shown are from a cute little store on Etsy. Visit them here. I can vouch for them too! I bought some similar props from them and they arrived safe & sound (just like the image too).
2. Pop Roc's new flourish cookie cutter!! Edible name tags for Christmas Pressies, anyone?
3. Toodles Noodles SUPER CUTE bunting print. Check out the Any Occasion Hurray for Bunting Card here. You know how much I love Bunting, just check out my bunting & garland board on Pintrest.
4. Its only appropriate to have a packet of OBAMA BISCUITS in your pantry right now. Buy them here (if there's any left!)
5. Brown Brothers Sparkling Cienna Rosso (Delicious, Delicious, Delicious.)
6.  Mini Moustache Stamps. Perfect for 'MO'vemeber. Find them here.
7. Halloween has been and gone. BUT. These Bone Sprinkles are still cute! Use them for all kinds of party themes: Animal, Discovery, Dog , Indiana jones? Visit Kiwi cakes for these sweet sprinkles.
8.  Vintage Choo Choo Train Birthday Party Invites. Save all the hard work and download this cute design. Find them here. 

If you have any party supplies or ideas that you love. Let me know! I'm always on the hunt for cute party details.

~Niamh.xo

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Tin Can Egg Ring + a Dreamy Affair

 As promised, here is another way you can use tin cans in and around the home to celebrate & entertain.
It sounds silly. But, egg rings are hard to come by and when you need one there's never any around. Take it from me, I have spent my student days working in a Homewares store and we never had any egg rings when people wanted them (not by lack of trying either!). So make your own using something that you will most likely have hanging around.
 To make your own tin can egg ring you will need:

 

•  Vivid
• Tin Snips
• Tin Can with 1 lid removed
• Tin foil

Draw a line around the can at the height you want.

 Cut & chip away at the tin can until you are left with the ring.

 Ta daa!

Working  in a Homewares meant that I  accumulated a LARGE collection of beautiful pots and pans. I love my pans dearly (they are pretty much family). My love for them runs so deep that I'll do anything to keep them in tip top shape! So to avoid the edges of the tin can scratching the pan, use a little tin foil to cover up the edge you cut with the tin snips.

 

Lightly spray the ring with cooking oil (this helps the egg slip out).Place the ring on a hot non stick pan (I LOVE Circulon Pans ),with non foiled end facing down. Crack an egg in and pop on some toast. Cook to your liking.

 Enjoy your egg on toast while checking out this truly dreamy wedding reception. It makes you want to be there tasting the delicious food, pouring the wine, sitting at the simple but elegantly dressed tables and chatting with the beautiful Bride & Groom.

Check out the whole darling wedding here.

~Niamh. xo

30 Ways with Tin Cans| #4 Tin Can Cake

 

 Hello! Here is today's fourth installment of how we can use Tin Cans for celebrating & entertaining. 

It may sound a little silly. But. Almost any type of food can be found in a tin somewhere in the world. 

Even Cabbage...  I wanted to see how many ways we could upcycle cans and use them for celebrating & entertaining. So far I have shared three ways (kinda sad since its already the 7th of November).

 I'll be sharing two ways today to make up for the days lost due to a HENS PARRRTTYY (not mine, if you're wondering). The first is, cake baked in a Tin Can!

 

 I've heard of Christmas cake being cooked in Tin Can's but never regular cake so I gave it a go. I have to be honest and say the first thing I thought when considering this was, 'Hmm baking in Aluminium... won't it give me alzheimers?'. My mum's a little crazy on health food & issues so naturally its the first red flag to pop up. I navigated the potential (if any) alzheimer issues with baking paper ... I figured that would be enough to save my brain cells, right?

I have tried this twice and both times all the mini cakes came out easily and retained so much more moisture than the same cake batter baked in a regular baking tins. However, you will need to keep an eye on the tin cans as the batter tends to cook much faster. You will need to grease your tins prior to baking paper. I put in two - three scoops of cake batter using my old fashioned icecream scoop (you know the ones with the little leaver) depending on the type of cake you are making.

You could use these mini cakes in soo many ways and for so many things. Wouldn't these be cute as take- home  favors at a childs birthday party or for a Wedding, send mini versions of your wedding cake to those who couldn't make it to your big day.

~Niamh.xo

|30 Ways with Tin Can's| #3 Gift Wrapping

 

 Hello! Welcome to Monday AND my (finally posted) third way to use Tin Cans to celebrate and entertain. This DIY falls into the celebrate category. All you need is tin snips, a tin can and a drill (or hammer & nail).  Its super easy, a great way to upcycle your tin cans and who doesn't love giving a gift that is beautifully wrapped? Gift Wrapping is my favourite part of CHRISTMAS (Sorry I had too... but since it's only the 5th of November, I'll only refer TWICE to the festive holiday fast approaching!!! Deal?)

 

 Trace your shape onto the can. My shape ran horizonally across the tin so that the ribbing runs vertically. This adds intrest but also gives your shape a little curl. Cut the shape out. Drill in you holes. Make sure this is done on a non slip mat or board.

 

Holly leafs, stars, bottle brush trees would also make cute shapes to add to your 

CHRISTMAS wrapping (2nd reference OVER!). Let me know what you think.

~ Niamh. xo

P.S. For more gift wrapping inspiration check out my Pretty Packaging Pintrest Board here.

30 Ways to Entertain with Tin Cans | #2 Sweet Scoop

Happy Friday!! Yay. It's the weekend in just a few small hours. Not long before you'll be able to pour yourself a nice cold drink, put your feet up and enjoy the long balmy night ahead. Today, I am sharing with you, a way to reuse your tin cans AND  create a handy tool for your sweet/ cookie jars AND  maybe help with the making of that nice cold drink you'll enjoy on a summers evening, like tonight! I worked in a homewares store for over four years and one of the  no.1 questions I often got was, "do you have scoops, you know scoops... for like scooping up ice or lollies" (said while mimicking scooping with their hands). We never had any and they are pretty darn hard to come by!! I tried to find them for my cookie bar at  my wedding. Didn't find any individual ones for sale... Wish I had thought of this then.

 

 So here's a way to make your own scoop. They are pretty sturdy and easy to make.

  You will need:
- Tin can (1 lid removed)
- Tin Snips
- Screw
-Drill
-6-10 cm of wood dowel (mine is actually the end of my old pastry brush...)
- Gloss Acrylic Enamel Paint
Method:
Snip & cut the tin to shape a scoop. Don't worry if the ends are a little sharp the paint will blunt the edges.With the drill, predrill a wee dent where you want the screw to go and then predrill a little hole in the handle to start the screw's hole off. Screw the handle to the scoop. Paint with the paint. I recommend 3-4 coats of paint to really blunt the edges of the can. Done!! Easy. I would love to know how your going to use this!! Sweets? Ice?  Or something much more exciting?

~Niamh. xo

P.S. Have you seen the glitter tape from TYPO?? Amazing. Now I can add glitter to even more things!
 

In this pic I am using the tape to dress up wee cocktail straws for this tommorrow's Hens Party!! Exciting!!