Halloween Sweets

Amazing ideas, food styling and photography by Nicole Hill Gerulat

In time for Halloween

In the halloween spirit? Throw a party! Invitation, spotty balloons, orange (black, black and white striped) cupcake stands and striped cupcake wrapper available from Paper Scissors and Rock Stationery (they also have great party packages to make styling a party together easy). You can find halloween cupcake toppers, bows and other party decor at Mon Tresor too! Theres is also Chic Mother & Baby's new alex and ant bat onesie for a cute lil spook.

DIY Toddler Friendly Crayons

Wet weather = toddlers getting stir crazy stuck indoors.

So how about gathering all left over crayon bits and creating different and exciting new shapes. Think moustaches, alphabet letters or numbers, hearts, anything available in baking tins. Heat makes a crayon a little loopy; it may melt into a swirl or pool into a whirl.You don't have to stick to just one colour - try different colour combinations like blue and white. They can also make great party favours!!

Tools and Materials

• Kitchen knife
• Old crayons
• Mini-cake tins (that you don't mind getting wax in)

1. Parents can use the knife to chop crayons into pea-size pieces, taking care to keep colors separate so kids can combine them as they like. Use perhaps a cork cutting board - it will be hard to get the wax out and they are quite hard to break!
2. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees while children fill the tin with crayon pieces, arranging them in interesting designs.
3. Bake just until the waxes have melted, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Remove the shapes after they have cooled. If they stick, place tray in the freezer for an hour, and the crayons will pop out.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Crazy Crayons - Martha Stewart Kids

Copy This & That

Mama wears French Connection Bomb Cotton Ruffle Shirt. Bubba wears new Alex and Ant white summer set featuring top and bloomers. Love the ruffle detailed sleeves!

we heart Milk Bottles

Our latest obsession over at Chic Mother and Baby headquarters are milk bottles. Novel and cute for kids to drink milk and milkshakes out of, party decor, pencil holders and even flowers. It surely is a great replacement for your ordinary stationary tin :)

Inspiration from Sharnel Dollar Designs. Glass milk bottles available from online store Sweet Little Birdy. Striped straws available from Mon Tresor

LOVE LOANS + LINEN

LOVE this store - Love Loans + Linen out in Palm Beach, NSW.  The website design is stunning too! They do have an online store for those who can't trek out that far!

Monday heart Waffles

Happy Monday everyone! The sun's shining - if only I wasnt stuck in the office. I just wanted to share these delicious looking soy cinnamon waffles from ilovemuffins blog. I love that it makes little hearts

Cinnamon Waffles


Dry ingredients :

• 280g flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar (10g)+ 30g brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Liquid ingredients:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 250ml soy milk
• 45g melted butter

Mix dry ingredients and liquid ingredients separated – then fold together.
Heat a waffle maker (no need to grease) and place 2 tablespoons dough in the center. Bake for 2min (not too long, other less it gets a bit dry). Enjoy with apple sauce.

++++

What a great recipe to share!

Party Inspiration

There are some very talented ladies who have a fantastic eye for party styling their own kids bday. We are going to take a page from their party styling book to inspire us for Noah's Ark 1st Bday. There are some great ideas for personalising party favours like chocolate bars and lolly bags, setting the table and party decor.

Ice Cream Party Parlour by Suzanna from Mon Tresor. See the details on Suz's blog.

Star Wars Jedi themed party by Vesna from My Little Jedi. See all the details on Vesna's blog.

Carnival Extravaganza by Niki from Candy Soirees. See the details on Niki's blog.

Baby Block Announcement

This is a brilliant baby announcement that folds into a toy block designed by Tracy Brockhouse and printed by Brad O'Sullivan of Smokeproof Press. Definitely expensive to print letterpress and with a unique diecut. Surely none of the invited guests would want to throw it away - what a nice keepsake.

Rainbow Love

I always suffer from morning blues, wishing I could sleep in. Here are some rainbow cakes to colour your morning :)

Mmmm I could eat a rainbow...
Enjoy.

{1} Art Gallery Rainbow Cake {2} Whisk Kid: Say it with Cake {3} Crumbs & Doilies rainbow cupcakes

All things Doilies...

Pink Lace Doillies / Basic Grey Ribbon Doilies / Alex & Ant Crochet Doillie Singlet / Alex & Charli Heart Romper

Sweet Train Party

We are in party planning mode with Noah's 1st birthday just around the corner. Just doing another round of party inspiration I came across another Noah's Train Theme 3rd B'day bash via two little dicky birds blog. I love the soft pastel colours and adding party flags to party pies and sandwiches. Oh and how good does the coconut cake look!

If you have any Noah's Arc party ideas do share - we'd love to hear from you.

Swimwear Fun!

Chic Mother and Baby just got the hottest kids swimwear label, Cuddle Fish in store!

Everyone is anticipating the beach weather and particularly with kids they need to be completely sun-protected. Whilst sunscreen is super important so is the swimwear. Cuddle Fish swim suits features  specialised quick-dry and built in SPF and chic style. There's UV protected tops, shorts and bucket hats that shoppers can mix and match. With kids playing it up in the water, sand and sun you are likely to invest into more than one! 

Copy This & That

A few blogs I notice feature a 'this & that' or match this with that outfit segment. So we have thought of a mama wears this and bub wears that from the Chic Mother & Baby online store.

Mama wears Piper Lane Lioness Maxi Dress and bubba wears Alex and Ant floral onsie.

All things Bicycle...

It has been a while for our themed posts. Here are some bike themed items online inspired by our new Alex & Ant vintage bike tee.

1. Alex & Ant Bicycle Vintage Print Tee 2. Mee-a-Bee Ride my Bike messenager bag 3. Mr & Mrs White Hand Sewn Cushion 4. Yellow Owl Cityscape Stamp Set available at Little Paper Lane.

DIY Cake Stand

You dont have to be a ceramic genius to do this DIY cake stand. Whats great is that you can recycle vintage plates or even grandma like patterned plates and turn it into something 'chic'.

Alternatively you can hire cake stands online at Mon Tresor or puchase them at Sweet Little Birdy (choose from single to three tiers!)

Shieke Nursery Spaces

Some nursery inspiration from the brilliant work of Finnish designer Susanna Vento. This colour palette - hints of yellow black and lots of white is stunningly beautiful and very contemporary Scandinavian.

The eco cardboard cradle is available from Black Eyed Green.

Oh and that gorgeous Offi Rocking Horse I have spotted at Smallable