Happy Halloween

Trick or Treat!!!  What an awesome time we had...  Halloween is not as big in South Africa as it is in America, but we're getting there...  I will be honest, i was blown away at how much effort some people put into decorating their homes, and the special sweetie treats they put together for the children...

Next year i will definitely be a little more creative when it comes to decorating the house - we only had some halloween garland on the front porch, but wait until next year, then it will be spectacular!!!

Aiden was dressed up like a pirate:

 And his friend, Phillip, was a vampire!!!

When i lived in the US (i lived there for 4 years) - halloween was one of my most favourite holidays...  We always use to dress up and take the kids trick or treating, and then go out afterwards - there was always some or other party going on somewhere - ai, the good old days...

Here are some pictures of the awesome treats we got - check out the little pumpkin - isn't it awesome!!

Yummy!!!  Lots of sweeties - of course Aiden will have to share with mom!!!

This year i decided that i wanted to do something special for Aiden to take with to school, to share with all the friends in his class - i made little goodie bags, each bag had 2 coookies and a couple of sweeties - i'm sure i made a couple of hearts happy today...

Don't you just love the stamps - it's a Halloween stamp set from Hero Arts - i love their stamps...  I stamped all over the little brown bags (it just looked way to plain without anything on it), and then made the little tags to go with it...

For the teacher, i made the same little bag, but with a different tag - oh, and i made Andrew take one with to work for their lady in the office - and she loved it as well...

 

I'm off to bed now, i can barely keep my eyes open...

I'll be back soon with some more awesome goodies to share...

Liesl
xxx

Welcome to the Circus

I love love love the Circus - i wish the circus would come to our town again...  Aiden would love to go - he's been to the circus once, but i think he was too young, so i don't think he remembers...

So when i was asked to make a couple of circus themed items, i was in my element... 

I made this "Welcome to the Circus" sign for the door:

I made some food tags for the table:

And sweetie tags, oh and i almost forgot about the cones - here are some pics of the final set up:

And the rosettes on the back wall - i made those too...  I love making rosettes, even though it's a lot of work, i just love the way it looks - it just adds that something special to any party...

 Another super cute party - done and dusted!!!  Roll on the next party...

We're in the process of putting in a swimming pool - today was only the second day of digging and i was told that they will finish the hole tomorrow, but they still have a lot to do, so let's wait and see first...  The kids are soooo excited, they can't wait for the pool to be finished (not like they can swim yet, the weather is not exactly playing along)...  We're hoping to have it all done by the middle to end of November - so i will post a pic once it's all done....

I'll share some quick pics of Aiden playing in the hole - he's having an absolute ball messing around in the dirt - i think he might be disappointed once the actual pool comes, because then he'll loose his playground...

Even our cat, Brandy, enjoys playing around in the "sandpit"...  She blends in so well with the ground - you almost can't see her...

So once the pool is in, then only can we start looking at doing the garden - i cannot stand seeing the wall, it drives me mad...  I want to have a beautiful green garden - when i look outside i want to see green - plants, trees - anything but a grey wall...

Anyway, i need to learn to have patience - i know this in not something that happens overnight...

I will keep everybody updated on the progress...

Liesl
xxx

Tangled Party

A couple of weeks ago i was asked to make some party goodies - the theme of the party was "Tangled"...  The colour scheme: pastel pink, blue, yellow and purple...  The mom had some awesome invitations made by one of the sellers on Etsy (not sure who), as well as some cute cupcake topper circles...  Instead of using the normal scallop circle punch for the toppers, we decided to use the shape of the sun from the actual Tangled movie (i just googled it, sized and printed it, and then the cutting started)...  Of course you don't get a punch like that, so i cut them all out by hand...  I think they turned out super cute!!!

She also wanted some bigger sun shapes, 3D, to hang up at the venue (party was at Eaglesvlei - one of many beautiful farms out in Stellenbosch)...  Here's a picture of what it looked like - this just doesn't do it any justice...

And here's a picture of it hanging at the actual party - look at the backdrop - isn't it just stunning!!!

I also made some fairy wands to all the little girls (i think they bought some bubble swords for the boys - but i'm not sure)...

And here's a picture from the party:

Then, my most favourite item from the whole party - the party favour bags...  You'll remember these - we did similar ones for the Pinkalicious party, we just added a little something extra...

The pink and purple ombre bags were for the girls - we added the little window and the long hair:

And the blue and yellow bags were for the boys - we still used the little window, but added two swords:

The last three pictures were taken at the party - i love to get the pictures afterwards, to see what it looks like when it all comes together...

I must say, if there is one item i love love love to make, it's the party favour bags - the possibilities are just endless, and i personally think that is the main item of the party, besides the birthday cake - oh, and of course the birthday girl or boy :)

I'll be back with some more party and crafty things soon...

Liesl
xxx

Crock Pot LOVE

Tonight i'm sharing something a little out of the ordinary for me - a recipe!!!  Originally i thought this blog would only be about all things paper and craft related, but i just had to share this one...  I follow a lot of overseas blogs, and i always read about the "crock pot"...  I found the most yummy looking recipe on Pinterest today, but it said that it's made using a crock pot - so i googled it, and to my shock i found out that a crock pot is actually a slow cooker (blond moment for me)...

I've had a slow cooker for such a long time, but i think i've used it once, because i don't have any recipes for it, so it's kind of been hiding in the back of one of the cupboards... 

So while i was "playing" on Pinterest today, i came across this recipe:

http://crockingirls.com/recipes/crockin-ham-sweet-potato-casserole-crockin-brownies/

The picture caught my attention, and it just looked so YUMMY...  I used Gammon - and let me tell you - it was DIVINE...  I served it with rice, pumpkin and potatoes - mmmmmmmm....

It is the easiest recipe i've ever tried and it turned out delicious - definitely a keeper...

If you decide to try it - let me know, but trust me, you won't be sorry you did...

Liesl
xxx