Wordless Wednesday...
Check out the beautiful photographs over at Faith Hope & a whole lot of love and join in the fun.
Read More...
Check out the beautiful photographs over at Faith Hope & a whole lot of love and join in the fun.
here we go loopy lou - product shoot
I had so much fun styling this product shoot!
a selection of these gorgeous fabric cards available here
Spring in My Step
It is the first day of spring here in Sydney and I have a little spring in my step. I am so looking forward to the change in weather and I have lots of new and exciting things on the horizon which is making me smile. Enjoy these happy images which remind me of spring.
The tattoo I would get if I was getting a tattoo
I just love it. Mine would say "this too shall pass". I doubt I'll get one, though. Back in the day I was too scared of shocking my mother. These days I'm too scared of my age.
Do you have a tattoo or a fantasy tattoo? Tell me the story!
Shutterfly Coupons
Total saving applied: $60.65 Woohoo!
COUPON CODES I USED:
Take $10 of $30: TRIALPAY10
Free 8x8 Photo Book with Hard Cover: 8PBA91
Save up to 30% off Prints: SAVEPRINTS
Free Shipping on $30 of more: SHIP30
This is my unique code for 30 FREE PRINTS for setting up a website with them (can't promise it will work- but worth a try!): XVME-B659-VY0C-U0B1HV
Also- all photos books & additional pages are currently 20% off
Also- all photos books & additional pages are currently 20% off
Most of these are expiring tomorrow though! So hurry!
My order total for 95 prints, 28 address labels, and an 8x8 book with 21 extra pages: $25.12
Not too shabby.
wordless Wednesday
join in below with your wordless post, an image & link back to here is all you need to do......& have a happy Wednesday!
Let's Talk About Boys...
It isn't often that my husband surprises me. After 10 years, I like to think I know pretty much every nook and cranny of his personality, so he doesn't often say or do anything that really blows me away. But yesterday, he said something that really knocked my socks off. He's not overly sentimental, is Dan, he's a 'blokes bloke' who fishes and races his bicycle and goes camping and watches action movies.But Dan told me, just casually over breakfast, that when Elliott was born, he had made a point of breathing in his son's newborn breath. That Elliott, brand new, to him was the epitome of perfection. He'd never eaten or drunk anything and was taking his very first breaths of worldly air. My husband wanted to smell that newness, in those first few precious moments of his life.
And I'm not sure why, but this really moved me! I would never have thought of doing such a thing, and I am a million times more sentimental than my husband. Or am I?
When has your man ever knocked your socks off with a rare display of sentimentality?
And I'm not sure why, but this really moved me! I would never have thought of doing such a thing, and I am a million times more sentimental than my husband. Or am I?
When has your man ever knocked your socks off with a rare display of sentimentality?
Learning
We are toilet training!!!
The time has come and we are full steam ahead with toilet training. Nappies are a thing of the past! They were cool yesterday but nope not today! The undies were out and wees on the toilet were the celebration of the day! When I started at this job Mr 2 was only 8 months old and the next child was 3 and a half and had already toilet trained so this is all new to me! Wish me luck! Never knew I could be so excited about wees! It’s a big learning curve for me this week! I’m excited about learning how to deal with toilet training. I know that each child is different but going through this experience will give me a little insight into the journey and I am excited to share this journey with the little man.
I am also going through another learning curve this week as I am dealing with grommets. Mr 5 had his Adenoids out and grommets put in last week so we are dealing with sore ears, big sneezes and ear plugs in for each bath time and swimming lessons. It was a big scary for me at first, I didn’t want to hurt him - who would have thought that a simple ear plug could cause me so much heartache. I didn’t want to push it in too far or push too hard but it needed to be secure enough to block the ear to ensure that NO water gets into the ear canal.
I am very lucky with my job as I get to share the very special early years with 3 amazing children. I get to laugh, cry, learn, play, teach, nurse, share and experience every day. The kids were 8 months, 3 and 5 when I first started. They are now 3, 6 and 8 and I have had a big rollercoaster journey with them over the past 2 and a half years. I will be here for another 2 years and I am actually looking forward to the rainbow path I am about to follow. There will be first days of school, first friendship fights, first football game, first athletics day, first dress up day, first school party! Bring it on! I love being a special part of their lives. I’m ‘their Sarah’ and I couldn’t be happier!
x S.K.K x
Jungle themed gluten free birthday cake
Strawberry gluten free layer cake (makes one cake)
Ingredients
125g (slightly over 1/2 a cup) butter, softened
190g (2 cups gluten free all purpose flour) gluten free plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
152g (1 cup) fresh chopped strawberries
2 eggs
40ml semi-skimmed milk (half fat milk)
1 or 2 drops pink food colouring
Cooking instructions
- Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C (325-350 deg F).
- Lightly grease and line 23cm (9 inch) spring form cake tin with paper.
- Beat butter, honey and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour.
- Lightly beat eggs.
- Stir in sieved flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, eggs, strawberries, milk, vanilla extract and food colouring till mixed thoroughly.
- Spoon into cake tin.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until cooked or a skewer comes out clean.
- Place cake on a wire rack to cool.
Banana gluten free layer cake (makes one cake)
Ingredients
125g (slightly over 1/2 a cup) butter, softened
190g (2 cups) gluten free plain (all purpose) flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
1 freshly chopped large banana
2 eggs
40ml semi-skimmed milk (half fat milk)
1 or 2 drops pink food colouring
Cooking instructions
- Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C (325-350 deg F).
- Lightly grease and line 23 cm (9 inch) spring form cake tin with paper.
- Beat butter, honey and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour.
- Lightly beat eggs.
- Stir in sieved flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, eggs, banana, milk, vanilla extract and food colouring till mixed thoroughly.
- Spoon into cake tin.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until cooked or a skewer comes out clean.
- Place cake on a wire rack to cool.
Kiwi gluten free layer cake (makes one cake)
Ingredients
125g (slightly over 1/2 a cup) butter, softened
190g (2 cups) gluten free plain (all purpose) flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
2 freshly chopped kiwis
2 eggs
40ml semi-skimmed milk (half fat milk)
1 or 2 drops pink food colouring
Cooking instructions
- Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C (325-350 deg F).
- Lightly grease and line 23 cm (9 inch) spring form cake tin with paper.
- Beat butter, honey and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour.
- Lightly beat eggs.
- Stir in sieved flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, eggs, kiwi, milk, vanilla extract and food colouring till mixed thoroughly.
- Spoon into cake tin.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until cooked or a skewer comes out clean.
- Place cake on a wire rack to cool.
To decorate (one cake)
You will need
Chocolate butter frosting
Roll on white icing
Sugar paste
Smooth strawberry jam
Food colouring
Petal paste
Oak leaf cookie cutter
Palm tree cookie cutter
Jungle animal mould, medium
Monkey lollipop mould
Small flower blossom plunger cutter
Nigella Lawson Living Kitchen cookie cutters A-Z/0-9 shapes, blue
Instructions
- Using a wire cake cutter trim off top of all three cakes.
- Sandwich cakes together using chocolate butter cream.
- Lightly cover cake in strawberry jam.
- Lightly dust surface with icing sugar, knead icing till soft and pliable.
- Roll out white icing using rolling pin to be a bit bigger than the size of your cake so that you can easily cover the sides.
- Use a rolling pin to help support the weight of the icing as you lift it over your cake. Once in place begin smoothing and firming the icing from the centre of the cake, working out towards the edges and down the sides to give a smooth, even finish.
- Trim off any excess icing with a sharp knife.
- Add a couple of drops of green food colouring to white roll on icing and roll out as before.
- Using the oak leaf cookie cutter, cut out 20 leaves.
- Lightly dampen undersides of the cut leaves with water using a small paintbrush and place 10 of them around the top edge and 10 around the base.
- For the flowers, palm trees and letters repeat steps 8 and 9, colouring icing as required, and cutting with the small flower blossom plunger cutter, the palm tree cookie cutter, and the Nigella Lawson Living Kitchen cookie cutters A-Z/0-9 shapes in blue.
- To make the animals around the sides, I used petal paste which I coloured using food colouring. Simply push coloured petal paste into the jungle animal mould. Once set, push out and using an icing sugar/water solution paint onto the backs of the animals and stick into place on cake.
- To make the monkey on top I did as step 12, pushing small amounts of different coloured petal paste into the leaf section, the face and the monkey, with one of the monkey lollipop moulds.
Have a sweet day!
Those Lovely Glass Bottles
So many lovely comments from visitors to my blog popping past to see more of Sienna's Party!
Of course the most common question of all is about those lovely glass bottles. Well here they are - Santa Vittoria Fruit Nectars. Available in Woolworth's here in Australia. Find them in the deli section in packs of six - the nectar is very nice as well!
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