Halloween Carnival

October 04, 2020 in Halloween, halloween, Dessert Table, free printable, Halloween Carnival

We’ve been wanting to host a Halloween Carnival party for a number of years and when we finally did it was a lot of fun, the party was based on a vintage time when Freak Shows visited our cities and towns with their very strange and unique acts.

The party included a Dessert Table with Free printables.

We hope you enjoy, Julie.

I used a lot of plastic carnival striped sceen setter on the walls and red and gold streamers from the ceiling to create an enclosed circus tent atmosphere.

We made the ticket booth from cardboard and attached round white string llghts around the window. One of my favourite zombies was armed with a fist full of tickets to greet our guests.

I created our halloween carnival by repurposing our normal halloween friends. Witches were transformed to Evil Clowns, and zombies and ghouls were given a new outfit and transformed into members of the carnival.

Our skeletons were transformed to Clown-etons and decked with clown props, we included some carnival games including a strong man hammer hit.

All good halloween carnivals require a cannibal and circus wagon. This circus wagon was easy to make with a lot of cardboard, streamers and gold paint, the inner bottom of the wagon is littered with body parts and bones.

The front door was ringed with red balloons and rich red and gold panne velvet curtains.

Halloween Carnival Entry Door transformation

I really loved this plastic clown wall hanging, it went perfectly on a pair of door.

I created a set of “siamese twins” by placing two smaller halloween props in one dress and transformed a zombie into a “snake charmer”.

While, this did take time, the effect of red and gold streamers to create a circus tent pitch was amazing - when used correctly, streamers can be a very cost effective way to transform a room.

Another Freak show member was “Ivan the Terrible - Knife Man” and my smallest props were transformed into the “World’s smallest little people”.

Halloween Carnival Dessert Table

Our Dessert table continued with the halloween carnival theme with evil clown cup cakes, Clown Cookies and petite fairy floss or cotton candy treats, We created a set of carnival printables for this party that you can download for free at the end of this post.

We kept the cup cakes simple and added an evil clown topper, for fairy floss I used the Persian variety and placed amounts in small black paper patty pans on a candy stick with black bows.

Evil clown cookies completed the dessert table.

A non-alcoholic punch was created and topped with fariy floss, and our Jack O Lantern was Pennywise - This was an excellent Jack O Lantern.

Layered Jelly is always a favourite, we made personalised wine glass tags from the cake topper circles. Billy just happened to be cycling by the jelly.

We have created a free range of printables for this party that can be downloaded here Cup Cake Toppers , Food Tents, Carnival Signs and Boarder Print

This was a great party, I decided to be the ring master, attend by my fortune teller and clown.

We hope you enjoy

Seafood Dinner Party with Vintage Fish Dinner Service

May 04, 2019 in Adult's Parties, dining table, Dinner Parties, free printable

For a number of years I have collected vintage fish shaped ceramics, these include dinner sets from Shorter and Sons England to some lovely Australian pieces from Wembley Ware and Darbyshire. These are all vintage pieces from 1950s or earlier and on a crazy whim I decided to see what would happen if I had a seafood dinner party using my vintage fish collection.

And it actually worked, enjoy Julie.

The table held vintage fish shaped vases with colourful bouquets of flowers, vintage fish plates, salt and pepper shakers and more. Keeping with the vintage theme we included vintage crystal glasses and decanters.

The pieces used have been collected over a number of years through various trips to antique fairs and markets and the occasional on-line purchase.

I created the menu incorporating my fish display cabinet , the menu is available as a free download . Vintage Crystal and decanters were used for this party and a Shorter and Sons Fish Gravy boat with matching pate.

This has to be the brightest and most unusual dinner party table I’ve created. It is always fun to experiment with vintage pieces and see what you can create.

Seafood dinner party with vintage Shorter and Sons fish plates

Shorter and Sons fish plates come in a range of colours from the most common cream with green gills and fins through plates in hues of greens, blues and pinks.. This party included matching name places and paper napkin rings, both are available as a free download.

Jim Beam fish decanters completed the look with another large green fish vase and small Wembley Ware fish vases.

Jim Beam Fish Decanters - Seafood Dinner Party

Fish vases allow for great displays of colour.

The Menu

The menu included four courses and ending with coffee and petit fours. Dishes were simple to prepare so more time could be spent with guests

We served two canapes, the first was a simple prawn with avacado and mayo on toasted pina di casa, this was served on a very large shorter and sons fish plater. The second was natural oysters served on a shorter and sons oyster plate rwith matching salt shaker.

Seafood Canapes on Shorter and Sons Platter

Shorter and Sons Oyster Plate with Salt Shaker

The next course was a seafood chowder, this was served in a shorter and sons soup tureen with matching lid (Not shown)

Seafood Chowder served in Shorter and Sons Tureen

Our main course was spaghetti Marinara with garlic bread, this dish looked great on the fish plates.

Spaghetti Marinara served on Shorter and Sons Fist Plate

We finished with a raspberry souffle with a hidden chocolate truffle, served in a souffle dish on a smaller shorter and sons plate. We finished with coffee and a selection of petit fours.

Raspberry Souffle served on a Shorter and Sons Fish Plate

Seafood Dinner Party Games

During the night we played a few rounds of “Guess Who or Guess What” based on different seafood dishes or sea life. We placed cards in card holders wrapped in black velvet. These cards are available as a free download.

A set of printable products were created to compliment this party, they include napkin rings, blank name tents and blank cards. Three sets of Dinner party “Guess Who” games are also available as a free download Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3.

We hoped you enjoyed our seafood dinner party.

Cheers Julie

Mexican Party with Dessert Table and Games

April 21, 2019 in Childrens parties, Dessert Table, free printable, Mexican Fiesta Party

A Mexican Fiesta party is so colourful and fun, it allows you to explode with a bright vibrant colour palate. For this party we have a Mexican dessert table, Mexican Decorating ideas, Mexican Fiesta birthday Cake, Mexican favours, Mexican games and a set of free printables so you can create this party at home.

We hope you enjoy.

Julie

We made three types of decorated sugar cookies for this party including guitars, maracas and Chili peppers, the cookie cutters were all found in on-line cake decorating stores.

The stars of the dessert table were a pair of Mexican Bull Pinatas. They graced either side of a Mexican Fiesta Birthday cake.

I always try and include fruit in my dessert tables and find fruit skewers allow you to be creative while serving a healthy treat, that said it is a dessert table so we included a set of harlequin margarita glasses from pottery barn filled with assorted bright coloured candy.

We found a cute Chili table cloth for the dessert table and decorated beverage bottles with Mexican hats and printed labels available as a free download.

Tall displays of balloons are a must at parties, I’ve included bright Mexican bull and Fiesta balloons

The ceiling was covered with helium balloons and fiesta bunting, we used colourful pink and blue glasses, maracas and Mexican party decorations.

Mexican Party Birthday Cake

The birthday cake depicted a Mexican fiesta with hanging flags, a pinata, cactus and balloons, while I have broken some rules by including non-edible components the cake was easy to assemble and enjoyed by the children.

Mexican Party Favours

This party included two party favours. We included a living succulent favour in a really decorative pot with a thank you card and a small jar of layered candy treats with a Mexican hat topper.

We painted “Fiesta” in bright colours on the candy jars, the thank you notes are available as a free download.

Mexican Party Games

We had a number of games and activities at this party including a photo booth, scavenger hunt, Guess the Jars, Pinata, pass the parcel, Mexican hat Dancing and more. The photo booth was a real hit and it was so easy to create. We used a lot of crepe streamers and attached them to the wall to create a bright stripped backdrop, we then attached a colourful boarder.

A Pinata, filled with treats provided a real challenge.

We created scavenger hunt for this party that is available as a free download. Each child had to find 8 unique Mexican themed cards as part of the hunt, these cards we carefully placed both inside and outside and provided lots of fun for the children. A prize was offered for the first one to find the cards.

We also played some traditional party games including, guess the number of items in the jar and Pass the Parcel

This was a great party and a really good choice of theme that allows you to be creative using simple bursts of colour from streamers and balloons.

This party includes free printables so you can create this look at home, Our downloads come in 2 files (Part 1) and (Part 2). The set includes:

Bottle labels in 4 designs
2 inch circles in various design
Game signs, including blanks
Dessert table tents, including blanks
Mini bunting for the cake
Scavenger Hunt Game Cards

Medieval Banquet Dinner Party with Menu, Recipes & Games

April 14, 2019 in Adult's Parties, Medieval Dinner Party, free printable, Adult Dinner Party Games

This party is both one of my most memorable and one of my most challenging. The recreation of a medieval banquet while appeasing modern taste required a lot of recipe research. This dinner party was hosted in full theme with rich medieval characters, we decorated in a medieval style with rich fabrics and tapestries, the dinner party included medieval games and a medieval puppet theatre.

This party includes a 6 course banquet plan for 8 people with recipes and free printables.

Enjoy Julie

Creating a medieval table

I went with an opulent table of dark reds and gold, reminiscent of a regal banquet. The table cloth was a baroque upholstery fabric with a rich floral and stipe pattern. The central candelabra was gold with vine leaves to which I added red berries and greenery from my Christmas box.

Banquet tables were often decorated with exotic fruits - or meats disguised as fruits. For this party I went with real fruit placed in vintage colourful carnival glass pedestal dishes.

GOT dinner party table centre piece ideas

Fresh flowers also graced our table, these were placed in vintage copper urns, the centre of the table was full of berry garlands and small gold tea lights. Dark red velvet tie backs were used on the chairs to add richness.

A Medieval menu was created for this party, all recipes are included below. The party started with a warm mead served in vintage gold and red glasses.

The place settings used a gold charger with a vintage red and gold dinner set and gold flatware. Napkin holders were created with wide floral craft ribbon and gold metal napkin rings. A red berry and place name topped the plate. Our guest name cards can be downloaded here. (Set 1) and (Set 2)

Medieval gold goblets with gemstones graced the table with small brass deers.

The Menu

The most challenging part of this party was the menu. Just what did the nobility eat in the middle ages? They ate a lot of meat, including a lot of game. Salads, fruits and nuts when available and a lot of soups. Hosts liked to be creative in the presentation of meals and great banquets went for many hours with many courses. This was also a time of plague with many people opting for herbal elixirs to combat the flux. Our recipes are all included below and you can download our menu

Our first course was Salad with herbs, fruit and nuts. In medieval times salad was called "salat". We served a version of a Waldolf Salad with edible flowers, this helped make this dish quite striking.

Medieval Dinner Party Entree - Salad with Herbs and Nuts

Our second course was Pottage with trenches. Pottage is a soup style dish to which you added anything that was available. We made a hearty winter soup and added purple cabbage to provide a striking purple broth. Given the number of courses served this day I went with Grissoni rather that a heavy trench of bread.

Our third course was scallops on the half shell with sage butter. We served these using each houses banner. You will read more on this later.

Medieval Dinner Party entree - Scallops on the half shell

Our fourth course was a herbal plague elixer. This was a lovely basil and lime sorbet, a perfect fourth course. This was served in a vintage champagne glass with vintage ornate Asian spoons.

Medieval Dinner Party entree - Plague elixer

Our fifth and main course was a crown roast beef served with potatoes and green beans. You will require a good butcher to create the crown. The beef was served with a rich gravy, roast potatoes and garlic and a green bean and pomegranate side.

Medieval dinner Party Main Course - Crown Roast Beef

Medieval Dinner Party Sides - Roast Potato

Medieval Dinner Party Sides - Beans with Pomegranate

Our sixth and final course was spiced poached pear with mead. The mead was served warm in a petite glass

Medieval Dinner Party Dessert - Poached Pear in Red Wine

Medieval party decorating

The trick to this style of party is to plan well ahead so you can slowly collect objects to help transform your home into a medieval castle. It's amazing the effect that plastic stone wall has on a room, while tricky to get in place it really helps to create a medieval castle ambience.

GOT Medieval Dinner Party Decorating Ideas

An alter was created for meal serving complete with tall wooden candles, tapestries, rich vintage fabric and faux hides. Our Hosts were of viking decent so we included horned helmets. The medieval people were also deeply religious so a small shrine was included, complete with bible

Our deer (bob) fit in really well for this party.

Medieval Party Games

The party was held in character with the hosts Ragner and Lagetha inviting three formidably medieval couples to a winter solstice banquet. The night evolved often in character with each couple performing a puppet play and trying to murder the opposition using a "find the card game" Prior to the party each guest was sent specific party instructions, these included formal character descriptions for the evening, a brief bio on the other guests, some puppets to form a play and a house banner to make. The party games can be downloaded using the following links: Game instructions and character overview, Large Banners, Banner cards, Game Cards one, two & three,

The arrival of the house banners represented the arrival of our guests. Each house was asked to prepare a play for the medieval puppet show, our puppet theatre was made using cardboard boxes, pane velvet and a hand pained backdrop of the country side. House banners were displayed on tall candelabras.

Medieval card holders were made with vintage style jewellery and velvet. These were used for a game of medieval guess who. The game included medieval occupations, such as “Master of the Privy” and a “cupbearer” and items found around the standard castle.

Prior to the party, small images of the house banners were hidden through the dining and lounge area, as they were found they were placed on the corresponding house banner, the first couple to receive 12 cards on their banner met an awful death.

The invitations were delivered a few weeks in advance, I dressed my children as young vikings for the occasion. The invitations were secured within ornate flocked paper and sealed with a ribbon and wax seal. The invitations were in a box with party instructions, banners and puppets.

Medieval Dinner Party - Invitation delivery

The Recipes

For this Medieval Dinner Party we did a lot of research on medieval banquets and the meals consumed by the wealthy in the middle ages, we then applied a modern overlay to transform some potentially unpalatable options to modern times. The menu also took into account what can be achieved in a normal domestic kitchen and served while entertaining guests, recipes are for 8 guests.

While the recipes were not difficult it did require a good plan to ensure the meals hit the table on time. I also asked different guests to assist with plating the various courses and this was invaluable help.

How I approached the cooking.

Some of these ingredients will not be available at your local supermarket, specifically edible flowers and micro herbs, find suppliers well in advance
Start the soup a day in advance
Order the crown roast a month in advance and ask your butcher to age the meat
Start the plague Elixer a day in advance
Prepare the dressing for the Salat a day in advance
Ensure the table is all set at least a day in advance
Have all the serving ware close at hand and ready to use

Salat with Herbs, Fruit and Nuts.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons dijon mustard
200g creamy Blue Cheese
Pinch sugar
Salt & Pepper
4 tablespoons lemon Juice
200 ml Olive oil
400ml sunflower oil
4 tablespoons warm water
8 Granny Smith apples
4 Celery Sticks
200g Walnuts
Watercress
50 grams creamy blue cheese
Edible flowers (Pansies)

Method

For the dressing, cream the egg yolk, mustard, cheese, lemon juice and salt and pepper until smooth
Slowly add the two oils while slowly whisking the mayonnaise to form an emulsion, If the mayonnaise becomes thick half way through add the water and continue adding the oil while whisking. Season if required.
Roast the walnuts in a preheated oven at 180 C for 6 minutes cool completely
Wash and peel the celery, cut into 5 cm long thin sticks, keep them in a zip lock bag in the fridge until needed.
Wash apples and watercress.
When you are ready to serve remove the core with an apple corer, then use a mandoline to slice the apples into 2 - 3 ml thick slices. Keep the apples together to make them look as if they are whole again.
Lightly dress each slice with the dressing and place the apple in its natural shape in the centre of a plate.

To Serve

Arrange the apple in the centre of the plate in its natural shape
Arrange the celery, walnuts and watercress around the apple and crumb the cheese. Spoons the dressing lightly around the plate and add some of the dressing. Place some edible flowers around the plate as a final touch

Pottage with Trenches

Ingredients

3 lamb shanks
4 litres of water
1 onion
1 stick celery
4 carrots
2 potatoes
1/2 small purple cabbage
1 stick extra celery
1 turnip
Salt / pepper
Packet Grissini sticks
Chives as a garnish

Method

For the stock, place lamb, water, roughly chopped onion, celery salt and pepper in a pan.
Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook cover for 1 1/2 hours.
Cool the stock and refrigerate overnight.
Next day, strain stock and discard any fat, return the stock to the pan, add the roughly chopped meat from the shanks and ring to a boil
Add chopped carrots, potatoes, turnip, extra celery and cabbage and simmer covered for 1 hour.
Season as required.

To Serve

Place two Grissini sticks and long chives on the side of a vintage bowl..

GOT Dinner Party Entree - Scallops on the half shell

Scallops on the half shell with sage butter

Ingredients

24 scallops on the half shell
1 tablespoon olive oli
40 grams buter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped sage leaves
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Lemon wedges to serve
Micro herbs to serve

Method

Heat a medium frying pan over high heat. Add oil, butter, sage and garlic and cook for 1 minute
Remove the scallops from the shells, reserving the shells.
Add the scallops to the pan and cook for 30 seconds each side.
Place cooked scallops back on the shells.
Add lemon juice and cook for a further minute, then add the chives.
Spoon the pan sauce over the scallops to serve

To Serve

The scallops were evenly arranged on the plate with a lemon wedge and micro herbs.
A house banner was inserted into the lemon - you can read more about house banners in the Medieval Games section.

Herbal Plague Elixer

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 1/2 cups water
2 whole star anise
1 1/4 cups fresh lime Juice
30 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
Extra lime for plating
micro basil for plating

Method

Bring sugar and water to the boil in a small saucepan; allow to boil 1 minute, then remove from heat.
Combine the above, lime juice and basil in a blender until they are a fine puree.
Pour the mixture into a container deep enough to allow you you to use an ice cream scoop
Ensure the container is completely covered to avoid icing, then place in the fridge for 2 hours.
Remove from the freezer and place in the blender for a second time until very smooth. Return to the container, cover and freeze until ready to use.

To Serve

I used vintage champagne glasses with a gold pattern around the rim, these were placed on a set of three graduated plates. The spoons were a vintage set from Thailand with a wooden handle and brassy coloured metal spoon.
Using an ice cream scoop, place one scoop per glass
Place a wedge of lime on the glass and some micro basil

Crown Roast Beef

Ingredients

You will require a good butcher for this roast. I ordered this roast a month in advance so our wonderful butcher reserved and aged the beef. I used a wing-rib sirloin which the butcher secured into a crown with string. You will require approximately 12 ribs to form a crown. Ensure you ask your butcher to chine the beef joint between the upper spine bones so you can easily slice between the ribs.

Method

Remove the meat from the fridge a good hour before cooking
Preheat oven to 240c
For medium/ rare roast at 240c for the first 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 180.
Calculate time using 17 minutes for each 500 grams. If using a meat thermometer cook until internal temperature reaches 65c
Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes in a warm place or double layer of foil

To Serve

We served the roast on a large platter and carved between each rib at the table.
The roast was served with sides of roast potatoes and garlic and green beans and pomegranate and a rich gravy.

GOT Dinner Party Dessert - Poached Pear in Red Wine

Spiced Poached Pear with Mead

Ingredients

750 ml dry red wine
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean, split
8 Just ripe pears, peeled with the stem attached and base trimmed to stand straight

Method

Combine wine, sugar, star anise, cinnamon and vanilla bean in pan large enough to hold the pears.
Cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves
Add the pears and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, turning occasionally for one hour or until pears are tender (note: this can take longer if the pears are very firm)

To Serve

Place the pear in the centre of the plate
Drizzle with the cooking juice.
Add vanilla ice cream
Decorate with small African violets.
Serve warm Mead to accompany the dessert.

In conclusion

We hope you enjoyed our GOT Medieval Dinner Party and games, it was a lot of fun, our guests fully participated with lovely dresses and great banter on life in the medieval ages. While we all enjoyed the games, it would also be a lovely party with decorations and food alone.

Cheers Julie

Credits: Ornate Medieval frames were purchased from Digitalya

The Addams Family Halloween Party

October 04, 2018 in free printable, Halloween, Dessert Table, cookies

I’ve been wanting to host an Addams Family Party for Halloween for a long long time and this year managed to make it a reality. This was a large party with lots of decorating, a dessert table and cocktails for the adults. We based this party around the original TV series from 1960’s with references to many of the characters in the show. A set of printables have been created as a free download.

We hope you enjoy. Julie.

The Addams Party Ideas, Gomez’s Train Set and “Thing”

Grandmama’s panty was a joy to create, I collected a lot of eclectic old leather clad bottles, vintage books, skulls and more to create a spooky pantry for grandmama.

The Addams Family Party Ideas Grandmama’s Pantry

We used stone wall wrap and a lot of panne velvet and faux fur to transform the room. It also helps if you have access to a real deer head.

The Addams Family Decorating Ideas, Use Stone and Velvet to transform a room

Panne velvet transformed our curtains and cow hides were used on the floor. We used old leather wingback chairs with tapestry cushions to create an older style room.

The Addams Family Decorating Ideas, Use vintage furniture and cow hides to transform your room.

I had to incorporate Gomez’s train set into this party. I used two working train sets which ran in opposite directions all night and one derailed set, the TNT box completed the train set. I opted for a dark purple table cloth which worked well against all of the black decorations.

The Addams Family, Gomez’s Train Set and “Thing”

I included a small nook with grandmama, two visiting skeletons dressed for the roaring ‘20s and the Addams family graveyard.

The Addams Family Party - Two skeletons for Halloween

A vintage peacock chair is a must for Morticia as is Cousin IT. We used a couple of “Thing’s” in the party they were purchased on line as hand mannequins.

Morticia was often featured in her conservatory feeding her beloved Cleopatra, I made Cleopatra with paper mache and glued dissected monster teeth into place, I then placed a collection of severed fingers at the base of the pot. The conservatory had a mix of strange looking cacti and succulents, including a swarm of bats

The Addams Family Morticias Conservatory

As our guests arrived they were treated to our vintage chairs reserved for moon tanning,

The Addams Family Moon Tanning in the Garden

Morticia loved to use baking powder to give her that all over white glow, we created a small dressing table for Morticia featuring Baking Powder.

The Addams Family Morticia Addams Dressing Table

Our dessert table included “Eye of Newt” and “Cleopatra” cake pops, “Aristotle” Cup Cakes and sugar cookies with poison bottles and tarantulas.

While Cake Pops can take time to make they are always well received. For the Addams family I settled on creating some green man eating plants to represent “Cleopatra” and some blue “Eye of Newts”. The cake pop border can be downloaded as a free printable, you will require a few prints of the boarder to cover your holder.

The Addams Family Cake Pops, Cleopatra the man eating plant and Eye of Newt.

The Cleopatra Cake pops were made by making a wedge slice for a mouth, We used black candy melts for the interior of the mouth and white nerds “popping candy” for teeth, purple lips and pipe cleaner leaves completed the look. For the Eye of Newt I used baking store eyes and created twisted blue eyelashes created with candy melts, the eyes were completed using mini baking cup papers under the eye.

The Addams Family Cake Pops - Eye of Newt

We based our cup cakes on Pugsley’s octopus, “Aristotle”. The tentacles were made 2 days in advance to allow the shape to set, remember to place a toothpick in the base of the tentacle when it is still soft..

We made two types of cookies for the party with small bottles of poison and tarantulas.

The Addams Family Poison Bottle sugar cookies

The Addams Family Tarantula sugar cookies

Layered Lurch’s jelly cups were created for the party with cake toppers from our printable range

Two green punches adorned our table, one for the adults and one for the kids.

Simple blue martini’s were made for the adults, the glasses were topped with black sugar.

The Addams Family Party - Morticia Matrini

Gomez was rarely seen without a cigar in hand so we included some chocolate covered wafers in one of my favourite serving bowls and you can find some original photos on line which look grate in frames for your party.

The Addams Family, Use old images as Photos

We created a range of free printables for this party including various tent cards, mini bunting, room signs, cake pop boarders and oval images that we used to make this party come to life. Please use these links for full downloads.

The Addams Family Free Printables - www.chicpartyideas.com.au

The Addams Family, Morticia, Wednesday and Ophelia

This party was a lot of fun to both create and host. You can collect a lot of quirky pieces from thrift shops and markets to help create this look.

We look forward to your comments.

Enjoy Julie

Zombie Apocalypse Party

October 09, 2017 in halloween, Halloween, Zombie Party, free printable

Our Zombie Apocalypse party was set in a post apocalypse cafe filled with lots of tables, preserved foods and some pretty durable kitchen equipment.

We created a game based on a skill exchange for food rather than money, a set of printables have been created for this game and are a free download.

This party complemented our Walking Dead Party and our Post Apocalypse Canapes.

Enjoy Julie

We created a number of small tables each with a table number, candle, flowers and salt and pepper.

We used vintage gingham table cloths and a mix of old furniture which is what I imagine would occur in a post apocalypse world. Zombie warning signs were positioned around the room.

Zombie Apocalypse Cafe with canned foods

This theme requires some lead time to collect lots of cans and large jars for cereals etc.

Our wait staff were using bloody aprons and we used some nice bats in the window. The restaurant had a counter where you arranged your table and form or payment.

Sticking to our apocalypse theme we used a lot of very durable plates and cups, including tupperware and we did include some gruesome food, as it is halloween.

Stone scene setter's were used on the wall and we added a Zombie baricaded at the window. The television displayed a nice welcoming open fire.

The cafe was a good way to keep all the children busy. We created a set of printables for this game that are available as a free download

Enjoy Julie

Download: Cafe Sign, Cafe Menu, Cafe table numbers or Cafe agreed payment

Zombie Party With Dessert Table

October 03, 2017 in free printable, halloween, Halloween, Zombie Party

This party was a lot of fun to create. Zombie's are currently very on trend with more than a few Zombie Apocalypse movies and television shows available. For our zombie party we created a zombie dessert table using a graveyard theme with tombstones and a grave digger. This party includes free printable products so you can create this at home.

Enjoy Julie

The dessert table was created as a zombie graveyard. We used a plastic rock wall scene setter as the back drop. We then added a black graveyard fence, tombstones and skulls. Our stand out piece was our animated zombie grave digger complete with shovel.

Catering was keep simple but looked fantastic with graveyard cupcakes, eyeball and zombie cake pops, tombstone cookies and layered jelly cups.

We made two types of cake pops. We made crazy green Zombies with bulging eyes and eyeball cake pops which we served with a fork.

The cupcakes were very effective, yet easy to make. I made a basic chocolate cupcakes then iced with chocolate icing. The tombstones were achieved by finding the right shape biscuit and giving them a generous chocolate coating, the ground was crushed chocolate ripple biscuits and a green plastic hand completed the look. We included sugar cookies in tombstone and coffin shapes.

The stone wall extended to the ceiling creating a formidable look for a graveyard

To extend the graveyard look we extended the stone wall and created a cemetery using the same fencing and tombstones as the dessert table, this was completed with swarming bats and large spiders. The front door was guarded by a creepy zombie and a haunted tree completed the look.

The colour palate of green and blue worked well with the grey stone and injected some colour into a dark palate.

We created a small set of dessert table printable products for this party, these are available as a free down load (Download 1) - (Download 2).

If you liked this Zombie party please see our Walking Dead party with a post apocolyspe cafe.

We hope you enjoyed our party

Enjoy Julie

Owl Baby Shower Cup Cakes with Free Owl Printables

August 05, 2016 in Baby Shower, free printable

This week one of our favourite teachers left us to move into the special phase of motherhood and while we will miss her dearly we wish her all the best. To celebrate this special occasion the class held a farewell party with some cute owl cup cakes.

Given we do not know the sex of this baby we created half pink and half blue. To celebrate this special occasions we are offering our owl cup cake toppers as a free download.

Enjoy

Halloween Cranberry Punch - Love Potion Punch

October 12, 2015 in Halloween, drinks, free printable

One bowl of punch is never enough for a large halloween party, so this year we had three. One alcoholic and two non alcoholic for the children.

A super nice punch was our Cranberry punch which we served as non-alcoholic but a shot or two of Vodka would work a treat with this punch.

For this party we created a set of free downloadable halloween punch tents so you can create the look at home. You can catch the entire party here.

Enjoy Julie

Halloween Cranberry Punch - Love potion Punch

Recipe

Ingredients

1 part cranberry Juice
1 part Ginger Ale
1 part Lemonade
1 or 2 sliced lemons

Method

For this punch you have to work out the capacity of your punch bowl, then simply divide by 3 to work out your quantities.
Ensure all ingredients are well chilled ahead of time.
Pour all ingredients into your punch bowl, stir and add the lemon slices.
Enjoy

Halloween Punch - Tipsy Witch - Free Printables

October 07, 2015 in Halloween, drinks, free printable, halloween

Halloween is perfect for a large bowl of punch or two. This year our Halloween theme was a Hansel and Gretel Witch party so a tipsy witch punch was definitely in order.

For this party we created a set of free downloadable halloween punch tents so you can create the look at home. You can catch the full party here

This was absolutely delicious, but not for the children.

Enjoy Julie

Recipe

Ingredients

1 bottle of Malibu Rum
1 bottle Blue curacao
500ml Lemon Juice
2 bottles Pineapple soft drink

Method

Ensure all ingredients are well chilled
Mix the Malibu, Blue Curacao and lemon juice in a punch bowl.
Top up with pineapple soft drink, 1 or 2 bottles will be required depending on the capacity of your punch bowl.
Serve and Enjoy

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Halloween Cranberry Punch - Love Potion Punch

Recipe

Ingredients

Method

Halloween Punch - Tipsy Witch - Free Printables

Recipe

Ingredients

Method