Mustache, Dicky Bows and Ties Father's Day Party

The Party Padawans threw this awesome surprise party for their dad last night.

Daddy had made a TV date with Theo to watch England's first World Cup match when he got home from work so as it was nearly Father's Day we decided to mark the occasion with this little party.
I quickly designed some printables and the littlest padawan cut out the beer bottle labels and party circles.

We also made some doughnuts - Theo wanted Bannoffee with coffee! Recipe at the bottom of this post.

They had the perfect nibbles for watching footy - crisps, popcorn and a selection of sweets!

And here's the recipe for our bannoffe -coffee doughnuts.

Ingredients:
100g plain flour
50g soft brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
70g banana mashed (approximately 1 banana)
100g natural youghurt (you could also use toffee or banana flavoured youghurt)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp toffee sauce
1 tsp instant coffee

Topping:
100g Chocolate
2 tbsp toffee sauce

Directions:
1. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Leave to stand for 5 minutes to allow the coffee to dissolve.
2. Mix again to combine the coffee. Spoon into a doughnut maker or doughnut tin.
3. Bake in oven at 180C/350F for 10 to 12 minutes or if using a doughnut maker for about 5 minutes.
4. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
5. To make the topping, melt chocolate over a bain-marie. Add toffee sauce and mix well.
6. Spread over cooled doughnuts and sprinkle with chocolate vermicelli.
7. Eat and enjoy!

That's it from us. Wishing you all a happy Father's Day
From Suz and the Party Padawans x

Banana Dolphins!!

Hello, I hope you're all well.
I spotted these adorable banana dolphins on Facebook yesterday and just had to try them out for myself!!
They are so easy to make - I made them while waiting for the bacon to grill - and they were a big hit with Theo!!
The original idea is from Luz's Unique Creations - check out their Facebook page here.
So, how to make them? This is what I did - cut a banana in half (the top half looks much better but I didn't want to waste the bottom bit so I used that too). Cut a slit in the end to create a mouth. Put a grape, raspberry or something into the mouth to keep it open slightly. Put the banana in a small bowl or tub and fill with small fruits - whatever you have or are your favourites! I used a felt pen to make the eyes but you could use edible markers or raisins. I was doing it very quickly and as you don't eat the skin from a banana felt it would be OK to use a normal felt tip.

In other news!! I am officially relaunching the website this weekend! To help celebrate, I have a great competition on my Facebook page - please pop over and check it out here for a chance to win a £5 voucher!

Well, that's it from me for today - I'm taking Theo to the Daffodil Tea at school this afternoon so better go and get ready.
Take care
Suz x

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