FABULOUS FINDS

When I'm out and about, I ALWAYS keep and eye out for fabulous party supplies.

I spotted these gorgeous little printed paper bags in Kmart...

They have love heart bags (pictured) and bags in a variety of fruit prints (strawberries, grapes, etc). C-ute.

FABULOUS FINDS

Here is another fabulous find whilst treading the aisles at Woolworths....

This tin of crayons by Faber-Castell would make a PERFECT addition to the I LOVE PARTIES vintage circus party, as decoration and/or gift.

FABULOUS FINDS...

As I trawled through the shops today full of festive cheer (?), I found THE MOST PERFECT thing(s) to complement the I LOVE PARTIES vintage racing party...

These little guys are full of racing car jellies and can be found at Big W for a very reasonable price. I love them so much I'm going to look into stocking them in the new year!

In the meantime, my little guy will be getting these in his Santa Sack next week.

AND THE WINNER IS...

Okay, first, I just want to say that I had NO idea how hard it would be to pick a winner.

However, I committed to this, so I am going to decisive...

And the winner is...

Skye - with her heavenly Pink & White Disco.

It was the hot pink chairs that won me over.

Congratulations Skye, the scooter is on its way to you!

To all my readers, please continue to send your real party photos through. The blog is getting lots of visitors, so clearly there are lots of you looking for party inspiration/ready to share your party expertise.

STOCKING FILLER?

If you love kitsch as much as I do, you may have noticed a selection of very cute biscuit tins in Woolworths lately. Well, today, I found one that I simply couldn't resist - how adorable is Mr Fireman below? Keep an eye out for this little guy when you are next treading the aisles. I think he would make a neat stocking filler...

AS FEATURED IN...

I was soo excited a little while back when the editors of Style Collective told me they were interested in reviewing I LOVE PARTIES. I am even more excited with the fabulous review!!!

Check it out here:

http://www.stylecollective.com.au/juniorstyle.asp?idcontent=599

CHRISTMAS COOKIES

I am SUCH a sucker for decorated cookies. I am loving these beautiful Christmas cookie ideas from countryliving.com.

REAL PARTY PICS

Today we are featuring the stupidly gorgeous Pink and White Party that wonder mum, Skye, pulled together for her daughter Ally's 5th Birthday.

The Birthday girl stipulated that there must be pink and white food "with a bit of sparkle". Enter EDIBLE GLITTER!

Click on the images below for a larger view of the party pics - the details are exquisite. I especially love the hot pink seats and the little lady-like hat cookies!

Party hats off to Skye for this incredible event - Ally must have been one very happy little girl! Thanks for sharing and you are in the running for the Radio Flyer scooter.

SOME LITTLE CHRISTMAS JOY

We're going to be away from home this Christmas, and our little man is still a bit too young for a decorated tree (unless you add the words "to destroy"), but I love love love Christmas so I have scattered a few decorations around the living room to liven up the place. My little vintage soldiers and these fuzzy little reindeer are this year's favourites!

I also made a few little lolly bags for darling husband to hand out to the kids that he teaches (teenage boys, so sure to be totally unappreciated!).

ORIGAMI BIRTHDAY INVITATIONS

Love this cute and playful Origami birthday invitation sent to us by mum Kate...

REAL PARTY PHOTOS

Today we feature an AMAZING Lego birthday party. These pics have been sent to us by Carol, mum of Lego-mad Addison (6).

[Click image below to see larger view]

The details of this party are simply INCREDIBLE...read on and enjoy!

• The invitations featured a photo collage of him with his latest creation; the Lego Police Station.


• When each child RSVP'd I asked the parents for a recent photo of their child. I used these photos to create a Lego, photo caricature of each child. The girls had pink shirts and hats while the boys had red and blue. These little Lego people then featured on their party favours, along with selected Lego characters and their names printed using a Lego style font. Rather than just using bags with lollies, I made ceramic mugs for each child. Inside each mug was a fridge magnet with their Lego person photo and a few yummy treats.


• I had fun with the cake, although it did take ages to make. The kids all had coloured tongues after eating this creation!


• We mostly played traditional party games including sack races, pass the parcel, water balloon basketball, limbo, etc.


• I also made a Lego brick piniata with my son out of papier mache.

Well-done Carol, and thanks so much for sharing. You are in with the chance to win the Radio Flyer scooter!

LAST WEEK TO SUBMIT PARTY PHOTOS

Just a reminder that this is the last week to submit your party photos for your chance to win a Radio Flyer scooter just in time for Christmas!

If you have hosted an amazing party or two in your time and have any great decorating, food and other ideas that you'd like to share with others, then please email your photos via the email button to your left.

The emphasis is on sharing great party ideas, whether on a small or big budget. Parties made with love are all we are looking for...

We are offering an inaugural "Party of the Month" prize, being a Radio Flyer - My First Scooter (suitable for 2-5 years olds) (valued at $130).

NOTE THAT you also need to become a FOLLOWER of the blog be in the running to win, and I have to receive your entry BEFORE 15 DECEMBER in order to post before Christmas. Australian and NZ residents only. Needless to say, by entering you also agree to the images you supply being posted on the blog.

Christmas Clip Art

Some vintage Christmas clip art for this merry Friday...

[Click on image then right click and "save as"]

Ho Ho Ho!

Well, I'm not sure about you but I am stunned that Christmas is now just around the corner.

Whether you are entertaining or being entertained during the month of December, we hope your month is full of fun (and not too full of stress).

I know it is a few days late, but here is a very sweet Christmas advent calender idea from countryliving.com to kick off the month...

If you have the time and patience to wrap all 25 match boxes, please send me the results!

PARTY PICTURES

Today's real party photos come Kate, proud mum of Ollie and Hugo.

Kate recently hosted parties for both her boys. Love the homemade party touches...
[Click photos for larger view]

Super cute homemade party hats

An icecream smash cake

Vanilla biscuit wands (love love love these!)

And a sensational jelly train cake.

Great job Kate! You are also in the running to win the Radio Flyer scooter!

PARTY PICTURES

Today, I want to feature some very cute party pics sent in by mum, Amanda.

These party pics are particularly special becuase the party girl was/is lactose intolerant, but her very special mum worked some magic in the kitchen to ensure she still had an amazing birthday party...

Here are some ideas and tips to take away from her big day:

* Meringues are easy to do and completely dairy free so perfect party food.

* Most people put lollies into loot bags and with that not really being an option as most contain dairy I had pencil rolls instead which was a really big hit amongst the kids and had many mums and dads thanking me for not giving their kids sugar to take home.

* Royal icing fondant is dairy free so I rolled that flat and used a heart cookie cutter to cut out hearts and then pasted half a heart at a time onto the cake with jam

* Donuts usually contain dairy and are usually fried too, so I decided to bake donuts and ice them instead so much healthier and easily made dairy free.

Gorgeous. Thanks so much for sharing Amanda. You are in the running to win the Radio Flyer scooter for Christmas!

WE LOVE CHRISTMAS

We really really really love Christmas at I LOVE PARTIES.


Here are a few Christmas gift suggestions from the I LOVE PARTIES range...


Pretty musical carousel...

Gorgeous totem tree....

Tin signs to hang in the bedroom or around the house...

And our retro sticker books would make great stocking fillers...

In the weeks ahead, I am hoping feature gift suggestions from other websites that we love. So, avoid the Myer checkout on 24 December and feel good about supporting Australian small business this Christmas!

AS FEATURED IN...

Very lucky to be a special guest blogger on Pepper & Pollywogs (big big big party site in the US)!
See http://www.pepperspollywogs.com/blog/?p=4592

Also wanted to share some the newly arrived I LOVE PARTIES badges - tres cute. If your really really lucky, you might find one in your next ILP package...

DO YOU LOVE PARTIES TOO??

Submit your party photos for your chance to win a Radio Flyer scooter just in time for Christmas!

As you may know, at I LOVE PARTIES we want our little blog to become a destination for mums (and dads) to share all things party party party.

So... if you have hosted an amazing party or two in your time and have any great decorating, food and other ideas that you'd like to share with others, then please email your photos to me via the email button to your left.

The emphasis is on sharing great party ideas, whether on a small or big budget. Parties made with love are all we are looking for...

Having said that, to incentivise everyone to share, we are offering an inaugural "Party of the Month" prize, being a Radio Flyer - My First Scooter (suitable for 2-5 years olds) (valued at $130).

NOTE THAT you also need to become a FOLLOWER of the blog be in the running to win, and I have to receive your entry BEFORE 15 DECEMBER in order to post before Christmas. Australian and NZ residents only. Needless to say, by entering you also agreed to the images you supply being posted on the blog.

AS FEATURED IN...

So so so excited that the I LOVE PARTIES Vintage Circus Party is featured on the very popular Creative Party Place blog today!!!

See www.creativepartyplace.com...

CUPCAKES AND COOKIES

Well, we have searched high and low for cookie and cupcake inspiration for your I LOVE PARTIES party selections...below are just a few of our favourites. There are some incredibly talented cookie and cupcake makers out there!

Vintage Racing Party

L to R: Kylie Lambert (LeCupcake) on Flickr.com, specialcakes/tracey on Flickr.com., and IrresistableDesserts on Flickr.com.

Pink Carousel Party

L to R: Cake from Ponypartyideas.com and cookies from coppergifts.com

See also:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetcakeomine/4009390579/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tisacakes/2399200065/

Vintage Circus Party

L to R: Cupcakes from Marie'sShots on Flickr.com. cookies from Creative Cookies on Flickr.com.

Happy Hippie Party

L to R: Cake by BravabravaMariosa on Flickr.com. Cookies by Frippy on Flickr.com

Retro Surf Party

L to R: Cakes by Kika'sCupcakes on Flickr.com and cookies by onecutecookie.net

Garden Tea Party

L to R: Cakes by CarmenAbercrombie on Flickr.com. Cookies from Whipped Bakeshop on flickr.com

50s Baby Party

Cake by Kathyscreativecakes.net.

See also these beautiful cakes (trust me, worth clicking through):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32168850@N05/3432568059/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/staunchthrowback/3700525394/