Life Lately // New Years Eve Hens Party

I thought I would finally post these! I just got them off one of the girls who had her camera at the hen’s night we had for my friend on New Years Eve. 

Yummy strawberry cupcakes & carrot cake cupcakes both with cream cheesse icing

The day before was one of the Bridesmaids birthdays (my long-time friend!) so I made a double batch of strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing and we had half for her birthday dinner and half for the hens night. I also made some carrot cake cupcakes as I knew the Bride liked carrot cake!

The Brides Sister-in-Law & me! (I'm wearing my lighthouse dress I made)

The completed bendy wax-man

We spent the afternoon playing games, including 20 questions about the Groom the Bride had to answer & making a man out of this bendy wax stuff. We all had to make a limb and an accessory for him. He looked pretty good when the Bride stuck him all together!

 All the girls at dinner

After the games and snacking on some yummy fruit & vege platters, we headed off to a local restaurant – Salt – for dinner. I played sober driver so the other girls could have a drink. After a tasty meal we drove back to where we are staying, had a couple of drinks and cupcakes for dessert and got ready to go to town for the fireworks at midnight! I wore my black sparkley lace dress I had made & my comfortable wedges which made walking so much easier!

Me with my halo at a jaunty angle & my prize from pass the parcel!

Group photo before we left for town

We only ended up staying in town for an hour or so, before the Brides brothers gave us a lift back to where we were staying – pretty cool!

The next day I drove one of the girls to the airport to catch her flight and then headed back to the house where we devoured the rest of the cupcakes & lay around watching movies until late afternoon.

It was a fun weekend! I love the group photos of all of us, we were so busy giggling because it was windy and our dresses were going everywhere!

2nd Day of Christmas // Floral Fairy Headbands

I have two little Second Cousins who are only 1 and 3 so I wanted to make them something easy and sweet for Christmas. They are such cute little girls!! While my Cousins and I don’t really exchange presents anymore now we are all grown ups it’s nice to still give something to their children.

I came up with this idea after eying up my cake decorating supplies while I was trying to think of gift ideas. Hence the florists wire and tape! (indispensible for making flowers in cake decorating!)

They are pretty cheap to make and look so much cooler than the ones I have seen for sale in the shops. I reckon I could have got another one out of my leftover hydrangea flowers plus one more stem of mini roses.

 You will need;

Assorted fabric flowers of your choice (Try for ones with a little stem attached to flower)

Florists wire – 4 pieces. I used 22 gage. My headband was still quite flexible, so you could use  18 or 20 gage for a firmer headband. (Try somewhere like Spotlight or a Cake Decorators Shop)

Green florists tape (same as above)

Ribbon for extra decoration

Pliers

Scissors

1. Select which flowers you will be using and trim at base of stems (near stalk not petals!) using pliers or scissors.

2. Take 2 pieces of florists wire and tape together to form one thick piece. Repeat. (So you have 2) Pull the florists tape tight, it will become sticky and stick to itself!

3. Tape the two thickened wires together to form a circle – I guessed the size of a little girls head for mine.

4. Begin taping flowers and leaves to the wires using florists tape. Face them all the same direction on the first half of the headband. 

5. Once you have done one side, begin on the other. Start from the front of the headband and point the two middle flowers towards each other, then work your way towards the back.

6. Tie some ribbons in a bow at the back of the headband.

7. A better view of the ribbons at the back.

8. The finished headband!! All done!!

I can imagine lots little girls own a fairy dress and wouldn’t this make a nice change from a plastic fairy crown? They would also be a perfect birthday party favour!

I think I might go make one for myself now too...there’s nothing wrong with capturing your inner child is there?

Like all of my '12 Days of Christmas' DIY tutorials, there is a PDF version of this blog post here. Simpy click on the link, print out the tutorial and get to work. Easy as that. Feedback appreciated!

Make sure to check out the rest of my “12Days of Christmas” posts for more awesome decorating ideas, recipes, and gift ideas!