This morning I discovered a gorgeous post by Mensaje en una Galleta showing their rainbow butterfly cookies, which are just divine!  I promised the Pink Frosting crew I would give these a go today and I made them (even hand-cut in a holiday kitchen with no cutters etc) – they look terrific!  Here’s the technique:

Firstly, follow my basic party biscuits recipe:

Ingredients

125g room temperature butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg at room temperature, beaten
2 cups of plain flour
4 tablespoons cornflour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt

Food colouring in the colours of your choice

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c.
• Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until they have creamed (become pale and creamy).
• Drop in the vanilla and the egg and beat until all mixed together.
• Stir in the sifted dry ingredients and once the batter has become stiff enough, take out of the bowl and knead together.
• Now, at this point, divide the mixture into the number of layers of colour you want.  So, if you want red, green, blue and yellow for a rainbow, divide the mix into four equal amounts and place each into different bowls.  Add the food colouring to each part to make the colour of your choice (you might even like to make variations of the same colour using different amounts of colour in each bowl).
• Mix in the colour using your hands (coverered in gloves of course!), then individually roll out the dough onto a lightly floured board or your kitchen bench to about 3-4mm thick.  Try to get the dough as flat as you can.  Many bakers use the trick of running the dough through a pasta machine to get the even thickness you see in shops.
• Use cookie cutters to cut your biscuits into the shapes for your cookies and layer the colours on top of one another to create the layered cookies.
• Place onto a greased baking tray lined with baking paper for about 12 minutes or until golden.  Keep a keen eye on the oven as they are cooking as they easily overcook if left in for a few minutes too long.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once completely cook, you can get to icing.

Here are some gorgeous examples by the experts over at my new blog crush Mensaje en una Galleta:

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

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Out and about today, I suddenly had a hankering for an old fashioned ice cream choc top.  The kids adore sprinkles, so it dawned on me that we could attempt making choc top ice cream cones with sprinkles… well, the results were outstanding!  What a way to start the sugar-rush this Easter!

Makes 6 delicious ice cream cones.

Ingredients

300g good quality white chocolate

1/2 litre of good quality vanilla ice cream

6 flat bottom ice cream cones (unless you have a stand for traditional cones)

113g (4oz) sprinkles in any colour and shape you choose

Method

1. Melt the chocolate in a metal dish over a pot of boiling water on the stove.  Gently mix until the chocolate has melted and then set aside to cool slightly but not set.
2. While the chocolate is cooling slightly, place your sprinkles into a shallow bowl ready to coat your ice creams.
3. Take out the ice cream from the freezer, making sure it is very cold, and scoop into the tops of the ice cream cones.
4. One by one, coat the ice creams with the slighly cooled chocolate and immediately roll the chocolate in the sprinkles. 
5. Place cones onto a tray and freeze until you’re ready to serve.
6. Serve with napkins and plenty of smiles!

I adore this recipe for kids birthday parties, Easter by the pool and even dinner parties.  I’m thinking of trying this recipe with a dark chocolate coating and broken pieces of peanut brittle, which would make a delicious adult dinner party treat with a smooth Baileys.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

When my daughter announced she wanted an Alice in Wonderland party this year, I was overjoyed!  I had instant visions of a Mad Hatter’s tea party on our porch in the sunshine and turning our backyard into a croquet pitch.  Together, we planned a gorgeous event for all of her friends, filled with lots of unique touches.  Here’s Penny’s Alice in Wonderland party for your pleasure.

Gorgeous Mad Hatter’s Tea Party accents were used to bring the theme to life.  My favourite are the Utterly Scrumptious Canape Flags from Pink Frosting Party Shop that have the cute tea party sayings printed on them in sorbet colours – Eat Me!  Delectable!  Take One!  Who could possibly resist?

We also loved the idea of bringing in some of Penny’s favourite parts of the story such as the Queen of Hearts and her deck of cards!  We strung together a deck of cards back to back with fishing line in between, creating a deck of cards garland.  While the wind doesn’t show this particularly well in our photos, it looked great and was a real hit.  Penny’s favourite line?  “Why, you’re nothing but a deck of cards!”

The kids also made some amazing daisies for the verandah.  We took some timber cutouts of flowers and decorated them with different scrapbooking papers from Spotlight.  Then the kids added stickers and some of their own drawings.  We tapped them into the side of the balcony to add a gorgeous backdrop to the garden setting.

The gorgeous cake was made by the talented Sally from Vanderkamps.  It featured a main teapot cake and lots of little teacups for individual charm.  The cakes were delicious and simply gorgeous!

And here are some gorgeous photos of the kids enjoying the party fare.

Here are the links to some of the gorgeous products we used to create Penny’s Alice in Wonderland party:

Alice in Wonderland Party Invitations , Utterly Scrumptious Vintage Party Sandwich Cake Stand,  Deluxe Velvet Mad Hatters hat, party lanterns, bunting and pom poms at Pink Frosting Party Shop.  All of our delicious party lollipops and candy buffet supplies also from Pink Frosting, and yummy treats baked at home with love by Mum.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

Are you inspired by all things vintage?  Pretty teacups, hydrangeas and full blown roses, lace and doilies?  If you’re hosting a vintage style party for a shower, birthday, charity event or simply because you love your friends, you’ll find a lovely range of vintage themed party supplies, decorations and accessories to bring this theme to life in your own home at Australia’s #1 online party shop, Pink Frosting.

Here are some of my favourites:

Clockwise from top:  Vintage style bunting flags in pretty designs with pink ribbon make gorgeous decorations for your party ceilings or the front of your buffet table; this vintage sandwich stand is such a pretty decoration for serving the daintiest of tasty morsels to your guests; guests will love to be invited to a high tea at your house with these pretty vintage teacup invitations in three different designs; Eat Me! Take One! Scrumptious! these fun vintage canape picks are the perfect way to display your yummy treats and give a high tea at the Ritz feeling to your soiree.

Shop the whole range of vintage party decorations and supplies at Australia’s #1 online party shop .

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

So, you’ve organised your venue, had your dress fittings and paid the deposit on your caterer.  Your celebrant is booked, your cars are hired and your honeymoon dream is not far away.  But, what about your wedding bomboniere?

Wedding favours or wedding bomboniere are a gorgeous tradition where the wedding couple gives their guests a small gift to provide guests with memories of the wedding day and also to say thank you for coming and sharing in the celebration.  Pink Frosting has a gorgeous range of DIY wedding favours as well as packages and ready to give wedding bomboniere in every theme, colour, style and budget to suit your needs.

We have thousands of wedding favours to choose from, and this week we have some beautiful new wedding bomboniere and favours to introduce to you – either just landed or re-released with upgraded packaging to suit your style.  Here are just some of our favourites:

Good Wishes Decorative Candles in Gift Packaging – $12.95 for a set of 4 (individually packaged)

Rose Ball Candles in Gift Packaging with Thank You Tags – $3,25 each on sale!

Pearl Bead Mini Photo Frames and Place Card Holders – $3.95 each

Pop the Top Flip Flop Mini Bottle Openers in Gift Packaging – $4.85 each

Eiffel Tower Chrome Bottle Stopper Favours including Packaging, Ribbon and Tag – $6.25 each

Personalised Mint Tins including Heart Mints and Customised Labels – $4.25 each

With a huge range of wedding favours to choose from, Australia’s number one online wedding shop can help you select a traditional or contemporary style of wedding favours and bomboniere for your guests.  In hundreds of colours, styles and themes, there is a wedding favour style to suit your wedding day.  Many of our wedding favours also double as place card holders, miniature photo frame favours or reception table decorations for your wedding, so they are a budget conscious solution as well.  

Shop our whole range of wedding favours at Australia’s #1 online wedding shop, Pink Frosting.

Happy Celebrating!
Kathryn

If you believe everything you read on Twitter, Shane Warne has confirmed that he is engaged to Liz Hurley - a confirmation by Twitter seems to be as cheap and nasty as the engagement itself.  Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but admiration for Shane Warne as a class act sportman and I actually always liked Liz Hurley, but the way this pair has made their courtship, relationship, arguments, break-ups, make-ups and affair so public has done nothing for me at all.  I love a romance, but can’t help but feel that the publicity this pairing has garnered has spurred on the romance and it feels to me to be less authentic.

It’s reported that Shane proposed to Liz in a crowded restaurant at St Andrews in Scotland, which sounds romantic, and that all the other customers rose to clap the couple when Liz accepted the proposal.  Shane confirmed the engagement on Twitter, which seemingly has overtaken texting as his favourite form of communication.

Liz’s last wedding, to Arun Nayer was one of the most elaborate celebrity weddings ever, with dual ceremonies in India and the UK and millions of dollars spent on the celebrations, and one of the most beautiful weddings I had seen.  The ceremonies, while over the top, seemed romantic and very elegant – with wedding decorations that melded the two cultures.  What’s in store this time?  Plastic fantastic.  I can’t help but feel that it won’t be in the same league.

Happy Celebrating!
Kathryn

Decorate all your special occasions with a do-it-yourself project that will leave your guests “oohing” and “awing” from the minute they step onto the scene with our DIY Paper Pennant Bunting Kit. Because of its versatile nature, this one of a kind flag banner ensemble really lets your creative side shine by garnishing all your favourite events with a personalised touch of charm. By kitting these items altogether in one, simple package, we leave the fun part up to you for making everything from outdoor weddings and baby showers to anniversary extravaganzas, birthday parties, holidays and more a little bit more fun and a lot more personal!

Here are a few of our ideas on how to use your kit:

And here are the included designs to help you create your own party and wedding decoration masterpiece:

Perfect for the do-it-yourself crafter, our printable bunting flags are fun and easy. With only a few simple steps, you can print these on your home computer with your very own message!

Simply Gorgeous!

Happy Celebrating
Kathryn

With 45 new designs – all of which you can change the colour of to suit your wedding or special event theme – the glamorous range of wedding invitations at Pink Frosting  just became a must-have for every soiree this year!  And until Friday, we’re celebrating the new designs with 20% off our new stationery lines when you use the code invite at checkout.  Here are just some of my favourite new designs:

Shop the whole range of personalised wedding and special event invitations right here.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

I’m in the midst of loading up gorgeous tried and true ideas for kids party food on Pink Frosting’s party planning pages right now, and on the weekend my kids and I had a ball making and decorating party biscuits to make triple-certain that my recipe was fail safe.  Armed with bags of lollies, cachous, yummy sprinkles and lots of creativity, here’s what the kids and I were able to create in just a few hours.  This is so much fun for children’s parties – set out lots of bowls of sprinkles, lollies, icing pens and let the kids create their own decorated cookies.  Delicious and heaps of fun!

You can visit my post on Party Biscuits at Pink Frosting’s online party planning website.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

Ask any little boy what he wants his face painted as at a birthday party and Spiderman is right up there in the top 5 with pirates and tigers.  On Sunday I was lucky enough to help organise my daughter’s best friend’s 6th birthday party (I’ll share some photos from the party later this week) and had the pleasure of meeting a top notch face painter, Gayle from Gecko Gang.  Here is my son being painted by Gayle as Spiderman – so you can apply the same technique at your next birthday party.

You can buy awesome Spiderman party decorations and coordinating party supplies to bring a Spiderman party together for your next birthday celebration from Pink Frosting’s online party shop.

Happy Celebrating

Kathryn