Mums Grown Up Party Fun

I always decorate our dining room table for birthdays, nothing excites everyone more than coming down and seeing what pretties I have put up. Streamers, banners and balloons and then homemade cakes mean we have a very jolly day.

For me though, the house is usually lacking in decoration on my birthday, last year was the first year I got some balloons with my presents, most exciting. So this year after speaking with the lovely people at Talking Tables I set out to create my own bright birthday table and mini party on our glamping trip at Lantern and Larks.

Talking Tables have an absolutely stunning range of party wear, whether for a first birthday, wedding or an all out summer extravaganza, they have something to suit every taste. I had seen some of their summer range in our local garden centre and I knew I wanted to get in on some of the flamingo and neon bright action.

When it arrived I could barely contain my excitement, with garlands, pineapple cups (yes, I said pineapple cups) and an array of other banners, candles, napkins, cups and plates I was setup for mine and hubbies birthday weekends.

Obviously I had to test out the goodies after they had arrived so I setup a little photo shoot with some of the Coconut and Almond cookies I had made and used some of the wonderful props to accessorise and make it look awesome.

I love the brightness of everything and it all makes for such wonderful background, they have thought of everything to add to a party, whether it is beautiful napkins with gold detailing to coasters of all shapes and sizes. I love these animals, they have been sat on side table since we got them and I think they'll be coming out at every summer party now.

Anyway back to my mini party, with the events of the 23rd still resonating with the country it was great to get away on a mini vacation, even better to brighten it up with some fabulous party colours when we got there. The Friday night was a bit more subdued as we had spent an hour or so travelling and wanted to just eat something so we could explore, so with the addition of some cups, plates, flamingo lights, napkins and bunting somewhere out of site, we were ready.

Some cheeses, bread and other nibbles we had a picnic tea in the setting sun, it was a great way to spend the evening and the party wear made it just that little bit more glam.

For our Saturday night bbq we went a little more tropical and out came this quite frankly amazing  and so easy to put up tropical bird banner, the attention to detail in Talking Tables products is fantastic and makes it so easy to use. With pretty gold ribbon to attach to the tent and then clip on parrots for easy installation and removal it made putting this up a breeze.

And as the tassels fluttered in the wind they made for a bright and colourful sight, I added to this the tropical bunting which had hooks on either end so really easy to hang up and again super bright for this wonderful backdrop at Lantern & Larks.

Once the bbq was ready we all sat at the picnic table, donned some funky glasses and enjoyed a supper in the sun. I'm not entirely sure what my son is doing here, I can only assume this is the look of excitement at food that has been cooked on an open fire.

The pineapple glasses also make him look a little like Elton John, and the flamingo glasses have been a hit ever since me and my daughter found them at the garden centre a few months back.

I cannot wait to get this all out again for my husbands birthday this week, I do love to make sure everything looks great and everyone has a wonderful time at birthdays. I just need to decide now what to do about a cake for him that I can incorporate a bright jungle theme too. Answers on a postcard, or in the comments ;)

NB: We were sent some goodies from Talking Tables for review, all words and opinions are my own.

Celebrations and Making Memories

With busy lives and children seemingly growing up quicker these days, I try and make the most of birthdays and celebrations. We often celebrate international holidays such as Chinese New Year and Mexican Cinco de Mayo to name a few, but more important than this, I love to make sure birthdays are super special.

Not just for the children either, my husband loves a bit of a celebration so I include him in this too, making sure to decorate the house so when everyone comes down in the morning they see banners and balloons and making special cakes like this Maltesers cake I made my husband last year.

I remember when growing up, my dad who always left at six in the morning would put all of the birthday cards by the front door, like the postman had delivered them (receiving mail is still exciting right?.) It is something that has always stuck in my mind and so I hope that what I do for my children will for them too.

When it comes to birthday cakes there is nothing more special than a homemade cake, whatever your skills. I remember some of mine even now, with everything from the standard hedgehog cake of the 80s, to the time my mum made me a cake that looked like a house, with buttons used as tiles on the roof, it was the best.

This year has seen my daughter turn five and my son turn eight, my daughters tastes change all the time but we decided on something pinktastic. She is such a pink loving little girl and so when I found these fabulous Talking Tables candles on the Candle & Cake website I knew that these were going to be pride of place on her cake, along with a one of their fabulous little balloon numbers.

This particular cake consisted of three layers of sponge, layered in between with a bit of raspberry jam and some icing, followed with more icing on top.  The overall effect of this was really great, with the simple cake, topped off with the candles and balloon number.

My son wanted something that I knew would be a bit controversial, especially with members of the family who don’t like bugs! However, it was his birthday and so, after a busy Saturday drinking gin at the Gin Festival, I was up early on Sunday morning to make his chocolate covered bug cake.

With some Bon Anniversaire banners I'd picked up on our visit to France last year, party hats, and another of the fabulous balloon numbers from Candle & Cake his cake definitely had the required effect and he loved it.

These are the moments in life we remember forever, the memories that shape what we become and what we love.

Do you remember any birthday cakes or parties from your childhood?