Cupcake Night!

 This picture says it all!

We got all our gear out and played around with heaps of stuff! We did some moulding from fondant icing (roses, bows, and flowers). We also tried our hands at some pretty piping. The aim of the night was to have fun, share some knowledge, and discover that anyone can make a cupcake look great! We were lucky to have Fleur's input with all sorts of handy tips - thanks so much, Fleur!

Here are some links to some of our knowledge spots:
1.Loose swirl tutorials (Simply Sweets blog) & (Bella Cupcakes blog)
2.Vintage ruffle flower (Jessicakes blog)
3.Buttercream tips (Cooks And Cups blog)
4.Cheats fondant roses (my blog)

You can download the recipes we used for our icing here.

Supper was a hit too: Creamcheese Brownie, and Lemon Cake complete with Hot Chocolates!

Till next time!!

Card Making & Origami

Last night we joined a card-making group and got our craftiness on! We had the opportunity to use so many fab materials: cuttlebugs, embossing tools, stickers, stamps, many different papers and cards - you name it, it was likely there.

We also tried our hand at a bit of basic origami.

And of course, all this was enjoyed along with a lovely supper. ;o)

If you couldn't make it, and would like to have a go at home, you can view the instructions for these origami designs on the following links:
Dress
Kusudama Flower
Kirigami Bow

Photos for night can be viewed here.

'She Will Run' High Tea

The High Tea food, oh my, the FOOD!

Wow, what an event! Julia did such a fantastic job of organising this, and it came together perfectly! It was so pretty, feminine, and light. Lots of women pitched in with baking, and the results were truly scrummy.

The decor...

We draped fabric, hung tissue pompoms, tied ribbons, and spread lace.  All the gorgeous high tea plates and serve-ware really made the event.

Suzy's talk

Suzie Botross is the author 'She Will Run'.  We found her to be a very down to earth, honest, & dynamic speaker.  She shared with us her dream for women to be able to deal with their 'stuff' and live more full lives.  Last night the topic was Managing Your Expectations of others.  Such a great topic for women.  We all tend to have ideas in our heads of how those in our lives ought to behave and treat us.  If we can get a more balanced look at ourselves, we will be better able to navigate the disappointments, let downs and even at times, hurts that come our way.  I think I speak for all of us that were present; we were challenged to give others the benefit of the doubt.  And then to do that again and again...

Suzie's book is broken down into chapters of about 10 pages each (deliberately, so it's easy to read a chapter a night), and it covers relationship issues and a bunch of other topics.  This book is easy to read, and a good one to even be able to pick it up and read a section that just applies to what you're going through. 

A big thanks to Julia for organising this - it was really gorgeous! x

We Made Soap!

It's one of those things you read about it in period novels and think, man, we're so lucky we don't have to make our own soap (& butter, cheese, etc), yet it's quite fascinating too.  Today we have so many chemicals added to our lives via our skin care, our food, our cleaners etc, that it's really nice to have a really CHEAP option to doing something a-la-natural!

This recipe comes from Rhonda Hetzel the Thrift Queen, who initially was looking for a soap recipe that she could use on her skin, hair & face.  She succeeded with this one, and began giving her soap away.  Very quickly people wanted to start buying it, so she made it to sell.  She got insanely busy, then realised she didn't want to be so busy, so she just posted her recipe on her blog (www.down---to---earth.blogspot.com) and let us all make it for ourselves.  :o)

Download the instructions here

We had a blast!  Much laughter was had, along with Chocolate Mud Cake & Hot Chocolates all round.  A real girls night out!

Check out the album.

Watch out for those fumes!

 

Christmas Craft Night

We had a lovely relaxing night sitting around with each other getting into the Christmas spirit!  Some of us made some really beautiful cards using things like the Cuttlebug & Stamping equipment - made us look like professionals!  Others of us were busy decorating balls and other shapes into sweet little christmas decorations.  They looked awesome!

In keeping with tradition, supper was really scrummy too (cheesecake, strawberries, chocolate etc!).

If you'd like to see a few more photos, you can view the album here.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Cupcake Decorating Night

Wow - we had so much fun labouring over these little beauties for a couple of hours!

Emma came and showed us the basic tricks of the trade to get started and she was so helpful!  Even learning little things like how high your cupcake should rise in it's case while cooking makes all the difference to the icing.

We experimented with a butter cream icing, a ganache icing and a cream cheese icing as the bases under our top layer of fondant icing.  They were yum!  If you would like the icing recipes, download them here.

We were amazed at the creativity that was evident in everyone's cupcakes.  They looked really cool!  A HUGE thanks to Emma for a really fun night!  (See the album for more photos.)

Photo Book Craft Night

So we tried our hands at a different sort of scrap-booking.  We made these little accordian style albums up from scratch.  They turned out pretty cool!  You girls are truly so creative!

For more photos, check out the album.

Jewellery Night!

Wow - what a lot of fun we had! Rivka showed us how to create some designs that were simple enough for us to be able to do, yet very effective! Necklaces, earrings, & even bracelets were made, using a variety of shapes and combinations of beads. We had a scrummy supper of Apricot & Pinenut Cake and some weird but yummy Cats Tongues! We look forward to the next one!

International Family Food Night

Wow what a cool evening the International Food Night turned out to be! The food was delicious and the company awesome! Thanks heaps to everyone who came and bought their fabulous dishes. I bet there'll be a bit of recipe swapping going on now! We all enjoyed the chance to get to know each other's families a little more. A huge special thanks to everyone also who stayed and helped clean-up, especially to Lois Sheppard who just got stuck in and made cleaning as quick and easy as possible for us all.

Movie Night! 10 November

This one is going to be a tear-jerker, so bring your tissues!

We are going to see the 8.55pm session, because the only other earlier option is 6.40pm which may be a little early for some to get children in bed before we leave etc. Let's meet at Nando's at 7.30pm for coffee & dessert first. (If Coffee Club is open we could go there instead - their hours are erratic in the evening tho. Cost for Manukau Sky City is $10 for a Tues. Hope to you see you there!

P.S. for those who have read the book, Hollywood changed the ending - Jodi P had no control. So be prepared.

Movie Synopsis
After their daughter is stricken with leukemia, a couple conceives a younger sister who can provide a donor match, but the family is torn apart when, after years of medical procedures, the healthy younger sibling sues her parents for the right to decide how her body is used.