Wedding Heart Inspiration

With hearts being the symbol of love, there are so many ways to incorporate hearts in your wedding ceremony and setup. From heart cup cakes, to heart decor to heart favours. Below we are sharing some of our favourite ways of using hearts on your special day.

Wedding Favor Twist Bags

This is such an easy to make and affordable Wedding Favour idea. I was so delighted when I discovered DIY Wedding. When I got married I made my own wedding favours, putting my love and time into each one that I created and many brides today make their own wedding favours. By making them yourself you add such a special touch. These bags although hand made still give that classy look.

One A4 sheet makes 2 bags and these bags are perfect for light-weight sweets.

Below are the Step-by-Step instructions by diywedding.org. 

  

Firstly cut a piece of A4 in half. You can use patterned paper, plain white paper or colored paper if you wish. The possibilities are truly endless but make sure your use paper which is less heavy than card stock but a little bit heavier than normal printing paper; a paper density of about 120gsm is pretty good for this project. For this tutorial, I used a roll of recycled, brown packing paper which I cut to size. You can also decorate your plain paper with text on your computer before you begin making your bags or simply decorate with stickers, stamps or similar later. When I made these little bags I created a design on my computer for half an A5 piece of paper. You can download my designs at the bottom of the page. 

Image 1:
Fold half A5 piece of paper in half without making a hard crease down through the middle. Do this by simply pinching the two top corners together so you create a curve with the paper.

Image 2:
Now place the top edge of your paper under your sewing machine's "presser foot". Keep the two top corners pinched together and arrange your paper so the corners are pointing towards you. As you lower down the "presser foot" onto your paper you will most likely create a small crease in the paper at the top. Don't worry about this little crease, it won't detract from the beautiful end-result. 

Image 3:
With small stitches sew together the top part of the paper. Begin this by lightly securing the seam as you would if you were sewing in fabric. Stop sewing approximately 0.2 inches from the tip of the corners you pinched together earlier. With the needle down lift the "presser foot" and carefully turn your paper 90 degrees against the clock “around” the needle. You are now ready to sew down the long side of the paper. Again, lower the "presser foot" and sew all the way down to the edge of your paper. Remember to secure the seam before you remove the paper from the sewing machine. 

Image 4: Trim off any excess strings hanging from the paper for a neat look. You should now have a bag which is only open in one end, ready to fill with your chosen wedding favor. When you have sewn all your bags (on two sides only) you can simply store them in a bag or similar until you need them.

Image 5:
Fill your bag with your wedding favor treats and prepare to close the bag. Be careful not to overfill your favor bags. Press the side with the seam and the side without the seam (the curve) together centering the seam. The bottom of your bag should now be closed in the opposite direction of the top of bag. This is what gives the bag the unusual almost “triangular” shape.

Image 6:When you are ready to stitch up and close your bag simply place the bottom edge of the paper under the "presser foot" like you did at the top. Sew the bottom of bag approximately 0.2inches from the edge. Remember to secure your seam at the beginning and at the end before you remove the bag from the sewing machine. Now cut of excess string and your bag is finished.

Although this project sounds involved, it takes me less than 1 minute to complete one bag. It’s so easy and when you get the hang of it you will be amazed how quick this little project is.

Credit: www.diywedding.org

 

Drive-in Kids Theme

We found this fun kids party idea while browsing the web for some ideas, a Drive-in / Cinema party.

This is great for all ages from 4+ years and can be adapted according to age. For the little ones up to 6 yrs you can make cars from cardboard boxes. You can supply materials so that each guest can decorate and personalise their "car". You can make personalised number plates for each car and use painted paper plates for the steering wheel and wheels. One can also incorporate Disney Cars into your theme and decorate each car as a different character from the movie.

For the older children you can do a picnic style setup with colourful blankets and cushions. This is also a fun idea for a sweet sixteen party.

You will need to hire a projector and projector screen which should not cost you more than R 1000.

For the snacks and treats you can setup a Movie Snack Bar with popcorn, chocolates, cupcakes, etc.

A cinema party combines a creative activity (decorating the cars) as well as the entertainment in the form of the movie. For the older kids you can get each guests to decorate their own cup cake or something similar.

Below are some pics to inspire you to plan your perfect Drive-in / Cinema party.

For more information on party packages please visit www.picnicsforpixies.co.za. 

 

Below is a beautiful example of a movie party for a sweet sixteen. You can use old crates and setup mini snack stands at each picnic.

Strawberry Margarita Jell-O Shooters

Ingredients:


24-30 Strawberries

MARGARITA MIX
1 box Strawberry Jell-O
8 ounces tequila, preferably reposado or blanco
6 ounce Cointreau
Salt for garnish

Directions:
STRAWBERRY PREP:
Cut the bottoms of the strawberry flat to get them to stand upright. When you do so, make sure that you do not cut off so much that there is a hole at the bottom.
Use a huller or apple corer to empty out the strawberry.
Once the strawberries have been emptied, use a towel to pat the outside of the strawberries dry.
Check each strawberry and make sure there is not a hole in the bottom before you start filling.
MARGARITA MIX
Boil one cup of hot water in a saucepan, then add in Jell-o powder and whisk until powder is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. Set aside. Measure out 1/4 cup of cold water and set aside.
Combine tequila and Cointreau, in cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add liquour mixture to cold water and stir to combine. Then add cold liquour mixture to hot Jell-o mixture and stir to combine.
Pour final Jell-o mix into strawberries and chill overnight. Dip your finger in water or use a moistened brush to wet the edge of the strawberries, dip and rotate the strawberries in salt to rim. Garnish with cut lime triangles to finish.

Credits: Delicious Recipes - Tips & Advice 

Lego Party Inspiration

We are always on the look out for interesting party themes for our little ones and this month we decided to inspire you to do a boys Lego party theme. With this theme you can really use your creativity to make the props and party packs. This does not have to cost you the earth and is quite fun to put together.

The Party Packs:

You can take old Consol jars, paint them yellow and draw the Lego man's face on them. These jars you can fill with sweets, Lego crafts and pics to colour in. You could also take normal gift bags. Buy them in the standard Lego colours, i.e. red, blue, yellow and green. Cut out circles from coloured paper in the same colours and stick the circles on the bags to make them look like Lego building blocks. You can fill these with sweets and party accessories.

 

The Table Setting:

The below pics make the perfect Lego party table setting with Lego Cup cakes, Lego building blocks, Lego men and Lego cookies.

 

Snacks & Cakes:

We love this Lego cake, so colourful! One can make Lego cookies with Lego blocks as icing.

 

T-shirt Gifts:

This a lovely memorabilia to give the little guests. You can trace a Lego man on t-shirts and get them to paint the t-shirts at the party.

 

DIY Recycled Plastic Bottle Gift / Party Box

For years I have seen these cute gift boxes made from recycled 2l Coke bottles and have always wondered how to make them, so I stumbled across step by step instructions illustrated by Crafty Corner. Below are the steps and pics of how to make them. This is a nice holiday craft idea for the younger kids.

What you will need:

• Clean, 2l plastic Coke bottle
• Craft scissors/knife
• Paintbrush
• Scissors
• Modge podge
• Marking pen
• Serviettes

Step 1

Remove label & cut off the top section of the Coke bottle just above the bottom section where the label was.

Step 2

Draw archways from one groove, over onto another groove & down another using your marking pen. The groove that gets left in the centre of the panel is what makes the gift box snap closed & stay down. Essentially you will be drawing a straight line up one groove, then curving it with the peak of the curve on the next groove, and then straight down the next groove.

Step 3

Cut out your arches with a strong scissors. You might need to cut the walls that go down to the part where your two archways join a bit wider so they don't catch onto each other when you try fold them closed.

Step 4

You need to cut all your arches to the same height. This helps to keep the gift box closed naturally. When cutting down, it is important to make sure that you stop cutting before the bottle starts to taper out, otherwise the flaps will not stay down.

Step 5

Choose a serviette that you like to use to decorate your coke bottle gift box with. Separate the two parts of tissue so you only have the printed sheet.

Step 6

Place your serviette around the gift box to plan how you would like it to look.

Step 7

Start painting modge podge onto the serviette which you should be holding against the Coke bottle with one hand. Now very gently apply the modge podge as the serviette is easily torn!

Make sure you cover the entire area of the Coke bottle with modge podge! Paint directly onto the tissue paper and the glue will soak through and glue itself to the plastic.

Step 8

Let the Coke bottle stand on its arches & leave it to dry for 3 hours. When it is dry you can cut away the excess tissue paper with a scissors.

Your beautiful Coke bottle gift box is now ready for use! They also make wonderful and protective tea light holders for the garden or patio.

 

Credits: www.craftycorner.co.za

Eco-Friendly Wedding Favours

These days more brides are trying to have a greener eco-friendly wedding. There are so many ways to bring the Green theme into your wedding however we have decided to focus on Eco-friendly wedding favours. Although the wedding favours are not the focus of the wedding it is perfect for making a statement and to impress the guests. When we got married 6 years ago I wanted the guests to get a gift that will remind them of us and that was Eco-friendly. I searched all over until I found someone that made seeded paper. I ordered a selection of herb seeded paper and started the fun journey of making our wedding favours. Ours consisted of flower shapes cut out of the seeded paper and then attached to a little card with a photo of us, a thank you note and instructions to plant the flower paper, nurture and care for it and watch how the little plant grows together with our love for each other on this new journey of marriage. The guests loved the little gift and enjoyed growing their little herb plants.

This is only one Eco-friendly favour idea. Below are a few more from small indigenous plants to birdseed heart shapes, to magic beans, mini herb plants and little succulents. All of these are original and not expensive. Your guests will definitely remember your wedding day for months in the future.

You can either make your favours or you can order them online. The mini indigenous trees you can order from Samgro in the Western Cape.

 

Written by: Paula Janse van Rensburg, Founder, Dial-a-Picnic SA, www.dialapicnic.co.za

DIY Picnic Basket

With picnics being our passion we are always on the look out for some fabulous DIY ideas. We came across this DIY disposable picnic basket by Oh Happy Day (ohhappyday.com). This is so easy to make and perfect for the kiddies picnics or corporate outing.

Materials Needed:
Free Printable Template (by ohhappyday.com)
45 x 65cm poster board for each bucket
cutter (or scissors if you aren’t worried about straight lines.)

Step 1: Print out free printable template and cut it out.

Step 2: You trace the template four times onto the 45 x 65cm poster board. Starting in one corner trace the template with the handle at the top and facing inward. Flip it like a mirror image and trace again. Flip it from the bottom and trace again. Trace it to the side one last time. (See photos for reference.)
Step 3: Once it is traced cut it out.
Step 4: Take the two sides with the slits and slip them over the corresponding handle to create a sweet little picnic basket.
Step 5: Fill with goodies and serve to your guests.

 

Credits: Oh Happy Day (www.ohhappyday.com)

Fish Party Theme

There are so many themes one can choose from for your little boys next birthday party so we decided to write about a fish party theme. There is so much one can do within this theme, you can really let your creativity flow. You can name the theme 'Gone Fishing', 'Under the Sea', etc.

First you have to set the scene:

For a fish themed party you can make most of the decor yourself. You can drape strips of crepe paper with paper fish suspended from gut to create and under the sea feel. Take variety of blue paper lanterns and hang strips of streamers from them to make them look like jelly fish.  Go to the beach and collect shells and use them in your table decor and center pieces.

Snacks and Treats:

This is such a fun theme for snacks. One can make shark / aquarium jelly by putting gummy fish sweets in the jelly. We love the 'bait' bucket cupcake holders topped with gummy worms or sour worms. If you can find a fish shape cookie press you can cut fish shapes out of fruit or sandwiches.

Cake and Cupcakes:

The cake forms part of the center piece of the party, the high light. Below are some fish cake ideas. We love the cup cake ideas especially the ones with the mini fishing rod and fish. You can use smarties for the fish cupcakes in the middle. They looks so colourful.

Party Favours and Gifts:

The party favours does not have to cost you the world. You can use beach buckets, fish nets or even make the little fish bags yourself. You can fill these with sweets, fish crafts, pics to colour in with crayons. We love the personalised fish bowl tags on the fish bags, so original.

Party Game:

This is such an old game but we never get tired of this. This is so easy to make with paper, paperclips, string and a magnet. For each little fish that gets caught there is a prize. Children loves the challenge and the surprise element of this game.

None of the above ideas require advance baking or decorating skills. For a little bit of effort and some creativity you can really put together an unforgettable Fish themed party.

Photo Credits: Pinterest, Cometogetherkids.com, Pocket full of dreams

Cheese Tower Wedding Cakes

WHAT IS A CHEESE TOWER WEDDING CAKE?

It’s not a cheesecake. It consists of several cheese rounds arranged one above the other in the same way that the tiers of a traditional wedding cake are arranged. To make it look like a traditional cake, round cheeses of varying diameters are used.

WHY CHEESE?

First of all its delicious, and also brings something different to your wedding. Some people simply do not like traditional fruit cakes, marzipan, chocolate, icing, or any of the ingredients of a traditional cake.

These cheese towers are suitable for anyone who would prefer a savoury cake or who would like a cheese course at their wedding in addition to the usual type of cake.

HOW MUCH CHEESE?

Normally 100g of cheese per person which means in theory that if you have 100 guests you will need a 10kg cake and so on!

Some guests will not eat any cheese, but other guests will eat much more than 100g. So it's best to add in crackers, fruit preserves and fresh fruit, chutneys and pickles, or even cold meats for the mom cheese eaters.

BUILDING THE CHEESE TOWER

Simply stack on each other although it may be an idea to put a circle of greaseproof or cardboard between each. You can separate the cheeses with stands, boards, pillars, etc

Three or more cheese rounds that different size diameters work best and look better than several cheeses which have the same

ACCESSORIES

A base to put the cheese on, like a cake stand.

You will need at least one, perhaps two, very sharp, strong knives to cut the cake;

Smaller knives are really useful to spread out amongst the cheeseboard.

DECORATING THE CAKE THE CHEESE TOWER

Foliage, cherry tomatoes, grapes, Figs, flowers, and even some figurines all seem to work well.

Credits: www.theprettyblog.com, www.pinterest.com, www.dialapicnic.co.za

Easter Inspiration

Is there a better way to celebrate Easter than with a picnic? We don’t think so…

Head outdoors with the family this Easter weekend; Packs some blankets, don’t forget the Easter eggs for the Easter egg hunt!!!

Here are some food and decor ideas for you to do to make it extra special for the kids.

Cake Pops

These are a very new trend at the moment and kids love them, ask your local bakers to make them for you, or you can try them out yourself!!

Carrot Cutlery Bundles

All you need is green plastic cutlery, Orange serviettes and some green raffia or twine, Tie the serviette around the cutlery and tie with raffia to resemble carrots.

Easter Bunny Fruit Basket

This would be a great addition to your Easter Meal and could serve as a Healthy Dessert, could use some knife skills and creativity to pull this off.

Easter Jar Favours

You can buy any sweets like smarties, or speckled eggs for woolies, or even marshmallows, add to a jar, and use some material on the top and tie with raffia, you can also put in an Easter bunny in… kids will love these. 

Carrot style biscuit snack packs

Using pointed packets, fill with cheesy biscuits that are a little orange in colour and tie with green raffia.

Easter Themed Cupcakes

Using some icing or butter cream and the speckled eggs from Woolworths you can easily create these cupcakes.

Chocolate Slabs with Easter wrappers as gifts

You can buy these wrappers online and print them, cut and stick them to a shop bought chocolate slab.

Cute Deviled Egg Easter Chicks

Easy to make, done in the same way as deviled eggs, and decorated to look like little chicks

Credits: www.notsoidlehands.blogspot.com, Sweet Scarlet, crackersart.com.au, Pint Sized baker

Puff pastry Gruyere appetizers

I love the Facebook page Delicious Recipes - Tips & Advice, they have the most amazing and original ideas. Below is a very easy appetizer recipe that you can make for your next picnic outing.

Puff pastry Gruyere appetizers

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients for 4 people:

- 200g of grated (Swiss) gruyere
- 1 rectangular sheet of puff pastry
- 1 egg

Preparation:

1. Unroll the sheet of puff pastry onto the work surface and cut into four squares.
2. Beat the egg and brush the egg over the squares.
3. Place some gruyere lengthways over each piece of pastry and then roll into a sausage shape ensuring that the egg-brushed surface is on the inside of the roll.
4. Place the rolls of pastry on a flat surface in the freezer for 10 to 20 minutes.
5. Once the pastry has hardened, remove the rolls from the freezer.
6. Brush with egg once more and slice up each roll.
7. Place the slices flat on an oven tray covered with a sheet of greaseproof paper.
8. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes at 200°C.
9. Once the pastry has risen well and is nicely golden brown, remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Picture & Content credit :
Delicious Recipes - Tips & Advice on Facebook

DIY Clementine Candles

In search of new ideas for evening picnic candles we stumbled across this stunning idea, clementine candles. This is such a brilliant idea for so many reasons, i.e. they are eco-friendly because u are using the peel after you have eaten the fruit, they add beautiful ambiance to an evening picnic and they give off a lovely citrus sent when you light them. Although it looks easy to make it could be quite challenging but in the end it is definitely worth it.

Below is a step by step guide from the blogs http://www.apartmenttherapy.com and http://www.instructables.com

Turn a small citrus into a candle using:

Ingredients:
• 1 clementine
• olive oil
• 1 sharp paring knife
• many matches

1.) Get all necessary parts.
2.) Make a nice lateral slice (like a belt) around the tangerine.

3.) Carefully peel, taking care not to tear or rip the peel. It is important to leave that little bit of white stringy stuff at the bottom as it will serve as your wick.

4.) Fill the "bottom" with olive oil. Can also use lamp oil, vegetable oil,etc.

5.) Trim the "wick" down so it's approximately 1/8th to 1/4 inch above the oil.
6.) Light, put the "hat" on and enjoy!
7.) Most IMPORTANT: Don't leave the candle burning unattended

Photo & Content Credit:  http://www.apartmenttherapy.com

Teddy Bear Picnic Party

A Teddy Bear themed picnic party is suitable for a boy or girl and can be held inside or outside. If you are hosting it for a boy you could probably do this theme till about 3yrs of age however for girls you can do it for up to 5yrs. As part of the invitation you can request the little guests to bring along their favourite teddy. If it is a girls party you could do it as a tea party. 

Below is some inspiration and ideas of what you can do.

For information or quotes you can visit www.picnicsforpixies.co.za.