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

Mini Lunch Tag Freebies

I really loved how the sandwich wrapping idea turned out and thought they would be great for kids lunch boxes especially if you have a fussy eater or a child who is a little anxious at school. So I've put together these free lunch tags for you to have a play with.

Simply right click on the pictures and save to your computer.
If you get the chance, how about sharing a photo of your wrapped sandwiches with us.
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

New Blog Launch

Hello and welcome to this brand new blog.
I will be showcasing my party styling work here in the coming months.
Party Styling??? "What's that?" I hear you ask. Well let me explain briefly what I can do for you and your party.
Ever struggled to get ideas for your kids parties that are different and exciting? Well, that's where a party stylist comes in. I will offer ideas and inspiration for party themes and loads of tips on bringing everything together - from the invitations to food, decor and gifts. My aim is to cater to all budgets and enable you to have the most memorable party ever!
My starting point is going to be to continue with my party printable packs which are really quick and easy ways to get your party themed. I will be adding to this range, packs which will be easy to coordinate with readily available table wear. In addition I am going to hunting out suppliers of party related items such as cute hair accessories, bunting, cupcakes and anything else I can find which will fit with the themes I have.
Plus I will add little tips and ideas to helps you create a fantastic party (maybe even a free printable or two!!).
I already have 3 parties waiting to be styled and I'll share the progress with you as I go along - this way you can get a really good idea of what is involved.
So, for now watch this space and hopefully soon it'll be full of gorgeous photos!!

Hugs Suz x