Alice In Wonderland Free Printable!

We hello to you all. I hope you are all safe and well.
Today I have a free download for you and a short tutorial on how to make these cute triangular pouches (I'm not sure if they have a proper name!).

So you can get your download by clicking on the picture below and saving it to your computer or click here to get a PDF (remember you'll need Adobe Reader to view PDF files).

And now, how to make them. They are a little tricky at first but once you've done one you'll quickly get the hang of it.
So, to create an aged vintage look, I first coloured my paper with teabags! I'm sure you've all tried this before even if it was when you were at school. But for those who haven't, simply use a wet teabag to "paint" your paper and stain it. Allow to dry and then press under some heavy books to flatten out. You could also try ironing it! It needs to be flat to go through your printer but I do suggest you try a sheet first as printers can be temperamental sometimes ;-) You can also print onto cream coloured paper or simply keep the nice crisp white look - they all look nice.
Print the design on to A4 paper and then cut out. Next, use some double sided sticky tape and apply to the back leaving a 1cm gap on the opposite side to the tab. This will make sense once to start to stick together!

 Before gluing the tab, roll the paper into a cylinder (this will make it easier to glue together).
Apply glue to the tab down the edge (a glue stick is best here). and then stick both ends together to form a cylinder.

If you look carefully, you'll see some small marker lines at the top and bottom of the pouch. Pinch the cylinder together at the bottom using these marker lines as a guide as shown below. Remove the backing from the tape and seal together.

Half fill the pouch with sweets and then repeat the step above with the top edge of the pouch. You should have something like this below. You may wish to trim along the top and bottom edges to neaten up. 

I do hope you enjoy this free download and have fun making them. Like I say they are a bit tricky and I'm sure how well I've explained the process but hopefully the pictures will help! To open, I just tear along the top.

Take care
Hugs, Suz x

Most Everyone's Mad Here!!

Well, I haven't gone completely mad (yet!) but myself and all 3 of the kids have gone a little Alice In Wonderland mad as we are planning a Wonderland Tea Party at the beginning of July. The party is an opportunity to get together with friends, who pretty much all have children so having a theme makes things more interesting. Last year we had a Great British Garden Party!! I'm hosting the party jointly with my best friend who will probably be donating her garden for the party and I of course am taking care of anything printable and lots of other ideas.

There are so many ideas out there for this theme and I'm not surprised as it's really such a great theme and can be done lavishly or simply, in a vintage style, kids style or gothic for teenagers or halloween.

At the moment I'm working on some of the original illustrations by John Tenniel. These will then be incorporated into the printables I'll design. I'm working towards a child friendly vintage style for my party.

We've been making lists of things we can do to carry our theme. Here are a few we've come up with:
Tags saying "drink me" to be tied to bottles and the mini jars I've been collecting
Cakes and cake pops with "eat me" iced onto them
Lots of old vintage style teacups, plates and teapots which we'll gather from charity shops
Some photo props to go with my new photo booth frame (Blog on how to make this will follow in the next week or so)
Playing cards to be used as easy and cheap decorations
A paper mache door (obviously quite small) and key. The kids would like me to make huge paper mache tables and chairs too but I don't think that will happen!
I think the first two ideas on the list are must haves for any Alice party. Add in a few playing cards and you could have a really easy themed party (just add tea!! Whaich is always a must in my book!!).
My eldest daughter has been painting some Alice In Wonderland canvases which we'll use to decorate the marquee.
We are also asking that guests join in with the theme and dress up as a character from Alice in Wonderland. I think a few husbands are already been measured for their Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee costumes!!

As this isn't a birthday (it will most definitely be an un-birthday party!!) and we have invited lots of people we won't be doing any favours for each guest to take away (although the party planner in me will probably have to do something, so I'm thinking teabags wrapped in special Alice wrappers might be good!). I will be making some special favour printables for the set though and also include anything else I think will be useful for different kinds of parties.

So for now I bid you all adieu and I'll get back to work on these pictures. Watch out for more posts on this party in the coming months as the preparations take shape as well as posts on my son's jungle birthday party and a "How to" guide on making a large frame for awesome photos.
If you would like something designed just for you and your party then please just get in touch to discuss your ideas.
Take Care
Suz and the kidywinks xx

Pirate Tea as easy as 1, 2, 3!!

Avast me Hearties! Come join me in an adventure on the highs seas!
I do love a pirate theme so we had lots of fun last night when the kids had a couple of friends round for tea. I have some tips for the most easy party ever and even a recipe to share with you today!

At the beginning of the week, I decided to add a pirate them to tea for the kids, so I sat down and thought of  what food I could do and some piratey names! I didn't want party type food so decided on baked potatoes with beans (Treasure chests filled with rubies!), carrot sticks (peg legs!), sweetcorn (pirate teeth!) and chicken dippers (Golden nuggets!). I also included potato waffles (pirate rafts) and spaghetti hoops (pirate hoop ear-rings) as my son doesn't like baked potatoes! So , really easy and nothing I wouldn't normally make but livened up with cool names!

 I used the circle tags from my kit to make little picks for the treasure chests.

 Food trays are great for serving and labelling food so the golden nuggets, peg legs, rafts and treasure chests  were served up in these.

 The gold teeth and pirate ear-rings were served in some plastic serving bowls and I used some menu cards to label these.

 My trusty mini milk bottles were brought out and labelled with each child's name (no more wondering who's cup is whose) and of course a pirate straw flag was added to each! I also re-labelled some water bottles with Salty Brine labels. A popcorn treat box was filled with some large chocolate jazzies and sweetie necklaces as treasure for after the main food.

As an activity to keep the kids busy, they made and decorated their own cupcakes. These were then popped into cupcake wrappers and a cupcake topper was added.

Everything was served up on the table with a treasure chest and jewels (this was from a treasure hunt game my son has which we played before eating). The kids really enjoyed it and it was pretty easy to prepare and clean up afterwards.

The Golden Nuggets were home made and you can get a free recipe sheet here.

So, I hope this has helped to give you some inspiration for any pirate themed party you have and also show you that entertaining can be easy! And don't forget that once you have your printable package you can use them over and over again!
Take care
Suz x

Pirates In The Jungle??

Well I have been busy over the last week designing two new kits! We have pirates and a jungle theme - two things I love!!
I've made up a few samples of some of the products to show you.

I've also been adding some new items to my usual kit - large and small bottle wraps, popcorn boxes, my ever favourite circle tags, straw flags and a small food tray.
First, some photos of my circle tags! If you only get one product for your party then this is the one to get! My kids came in the kitchen while I was taking photos and immediately asked if they could have a drink in the mini milk bottles with their own name tags on!! They just love them!

You can use these tags to tie around bottles and jars for drinking from, as little picks for sandwiches with the fillings written on, tied onto a party bag or as a cupcake topper. I invested in a 2" circle punch (about £10 from Hobbycraft). It's so much easier and quicker than cutting by hand so if you plan on using them a lot then it's well worth it.

Many of these products can be used for any occasion - make tea a bit more fun when the kids have a friend over!, during the school holidays have a fab teddy bear picnic out in the garden. The downloadable products on my website can be printed off as many times as you want so have fun and create some fantastic memories!

I'll leave you with last photo (but check out my facebook page for many more, here). I'm really quite proud of this little mini envelope as I wrote the piratey poem on the back myself! It comes with a mini map to help your budding captains find the hidden treasure! They are really easy to make and filled with small sweets or a golden chocolate coin would make great party bag fillers or special prizes at the end of a treasure hunt.
Have fun and take care
Suz x

Easter Lunch

Well, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend and enjoying the Chocolate!! Apologies to any of you on diets who are managing to be good (a big well done to you as well!!).

I organised a little last minute Easter lunch and treasure hunt for my two youngest and their friend who stayed for a sleepover last night. Luckily I had a few bits and pieces left over from last year - cups, plates and napkins but most of it was designed, printed cut and assembled this morning!!

First up, and idea I've been waiting to show you for a couple of weeks now! A few weeks back I posted about my new mini milk bottles. Now these are really cute and I love them but at about £12 for 6 they're not cheap and being glass there is always a risk that one or more will get broken at some point. So one day as I was washing out jars for recycling an idea struck me that the right sized jar would make lovely little bottle glasses for parties. The jars I've used are sandwich paste jars (luckily Theo has an obsession with sandwich paste at the moment so I've got quite a few!!). These jars are only slightly smaller than the milk bottles and the kids thought they were the milk bottles so an excellent result there!

I tied circle tags onto the necks of the jars using green and yellow curling ribbon (from Hobbycraft's Easter range) and popped in a green straw with a straw flag on. 

Next up, I made up some popcorn boxes and emptied a packet of crisps into each.

These little boxes have now been secreted away to the den in the wardrobe where things are just a little too quiet!!

I simply added a sandwich pick (circle tag taped to a cocktail stick) to a plate of sandwiches and added some tomatoes and cucumber at the side. Very easy but effective.

And to finish off, some cupcakes with toppers. These are shop bought cakes which I had in (99p from Home Bargains and great for lunch boxes too!). 

So a lovely little lunch and very easy to do. I'll be completing some more items in this kit for a more substantial and better planned party and they will available from the website in time for next year. 

I hope this post has given you more ideas for planning parties or even just special lunches and teas for when the kids have friends round! With this in mind, I think I'll design some mini tea party kits in a few different themes that can be used any time of the year. 

So for now, it's a goodbye from me and I hope you enjoy the rest of the Easter weekend.

Hugs, Suz x

Red Nose Day Fundraising Set

I had a little idea yesterday afternoon of making a party set for anyone who is planning a Red Nose Day Party and donating the proceeds to Comic Relief. I set to work straight away and designed a set with some party basics in it.
I wanted to get some photos of the set in action so Theo and I spent the day baking, cutting and glueing to create a yummy dinner for the family! I'm afraid the photos are not that brilliant as I have quite low lighting in the living room and it gets dark pretty early at this time of year up in the frozen North!!

Above you can see the full spread of goodies!

We made two sizes of cupcakes. The larger ones were decorated with butter cream and half a strawberry (see they are healthy!) and the smaller ones with a circle of red icing (to look a bit like a red nose) and then topped with a mini tag on a cocktail stick. Theo wanted something to take into school on Monday so there are lots of little ones!
I taped a mini tag onto soufflé pots to serve ketchup and mayonnaise and the food trays from the set were filled with crisps and homemade jam donuts!! Oh, and they taste so yummy!! You can find the recipe we used here.

I used my mini milk bottles to serve juice and water. They look great with a mini tag tied on with red ribbon and the straw flags on black straws. This was a very last minute idea and so I made do with what I had in - you could obviously use red straws, plates, napkins etc but I hope this shows you that you can make your party great without spending a fortune!

As a main savoury dish I made homemade popcorn chicken and popped them into the popcorn boxes!

I must say I had lots of fun and the hubby said the donuts tasted like they were from a bakery!! The kids were over the moon and Theo is looking forward to taking some cakes into school.

So.... want to help raise some money for Comic Relief and have a fantastic party at the same time? Maybe you help with Guides, Brownies, Cubs, youth club or school? This set is really easy to use so you can get the kids involved and don't need to be an experienced crafter.
You can download the set for £3 from here, by contacting me on my Facebook page here or email me at sales@ardacards.com. All except the paypal fees (20p) will go to Comic Relief and for every 10 sets sold I will donate an extra £1.
Oh, please do share any photos of your parties and fundraising with us!
Hugs Suz x

After School Milk And Cookies!

My party printables don't have to be just for parties! I really wanted to try out the mini milk bottles I ordered so decided to make the kids a special snack for when they got home from school!
I tied a mini tag round each of the bottles with green ribbon. Spruced up a plain old green plastic straw with a straw flag and put some chocolate cookies in one of the food trays.

And here are my two dollops of cuteness enjoying their snack!

Pop over to my Facebook page here, to see more photos of my special after school snack. 

Hugs Suz x

Getting Started & A Sandwich Idea

Well, good morning.
I'm planning a showcase party to show you my first bespoke party set and I thought it would be a really good idea to post my progress as I plan this party to give some ideas of what you'll need to do when planning your own party.
So, firstly we need to decide on a theme. My showcase party theme is going to be Mint Chocolate! Obviously food is a very important part of the party and worth thinking about early on so you can plan what you need on your tags and labels. I have decided that lots of chocolatey things are going to feature in my party! Here's a quick list of what I have planned so far - Chocolate milk. Milk, Maltesers, Marshmallows, Chocolate buttons, Popcorn, Fruit salad, Crisps, Chocolate spread sandwiches, jam sandwiches, ham sandwiches and water.
I have designed a kit based on this theme and have started to personalise it with the food labels I'm going to need.

I have also ordered a few little bits to help pull the party together. I ordered these little milk bottles from Amazon and I think they will look really sweet with milk and chocolate milk in them and tied with a tag and a ribbon.

I've been thinking of novel ways to serve the sandwiches and below is a photo of my idea. This is really simple and fairly cheap way to serve sandwiches at your party. You will need some greaseproof or backing paper, scissors, tags with type of sandwich from the printable kit and some ribbon, string or twine. I've used some green jute string on mine. Once you have made up the sandwich, wrap it in the greaseproof paper as you would wrap a present. You find it easier to secure with a piece of tape on the back or get someone to help you hold the flaps down. Now you need to tie the package like a parcel and tie gently at the front. Punch a hole in your tag and thread onto string, then secure with a bow. For added colour you could wrap a napkin around the greaseproof paper parcel before securing it.

Children will love opening up these little parcels to get to their sandwich!
I will be posting more little ideas for serving food in interesting ways so keep your eyes peeled!
In the next post I will looking at entertainment for the little darlings.
Hugs Suz x