Tea Party

Following on from my last post, where you may have seen the flowers arranged in teapots, here are a few more gorgeous images on the same theme.
(Found at 'Pinterest'- I have just joined this site and...wow! but more on that later)
How cute would these arrangements be at a 'Mad Hatters Tea Party' ?!!

Garden Party

As you may have seen in previous posts, I have recently become engaged. Due to that fact that the wedding is still a fair way off and that it well be held far away in Hungary, my parents decided that it would be nice to have an engagement party. This way they could invite family that would not be able to make it to the wedding. We wanted to keep it very casual so decided to hold it in my parent's backyard. (This was a nerve racking decision considering the weather in Melbourne!). We were very lucky that the day turned out to be lovely!  In line with the informal feel that I wanted to create, I chose a theme of bright, 'happy' colors and polka dots.

I tracked down some cute polka dotted paper lanterns and strung them in the trees and onto our sun umbrellas. (Paper lanterns from pinkfrosting.com)

 

I was thrilled to find this fun croquet set- it not only looked cute but gave our guests some fun!

(surprisingly, I found this set at Rebel sports for under $50!)

 Patsy the dog, sports a pink polka-dot bow for the occasion!

A little cheesy, but my Mum planted this love heart with our initials (E and G) in the lead up to the party.

 

Flowers were arranged in vintage teapots, we then placed the teapots around on various tables.

We decorated inside the house too, in case the weather took an unexpected turn!

I wanted to include something Hungarian as a nod to my fiance's (Gabor) heritage. I bought bottles of this delicious Hungarian liqueur. The yummy flavours include, sour cherry, walnut and pear and honey.

Happy Champagne Friday!

It's Champagne Friday again and time for a cocktail!

Above: Racing Car 'skyhook' available from the Fanantique Boutique

It's Grand Prix week here in Melbourne so I was tossing up between featuring a Formula One themed cocktail or else following on  from yesterday's post with a cocktail inspired by Elizabeth Taylor.

Why not feature both?

Not sure why... but this cocktail is called a 'Ferrari'

Ferrari
cocktail glass

30ml Amaretto
30ml Dry Vermouth
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Serve up with a twist of lemon.

In honor of Elizabeth Taylor, this cocktail is simply called 'Star cocktail'. She was everything a true Hollywood star should be.

Star Cocktail
cocktail glass

45ml Apple Brandy
22ml Dry Vermouth
Dash Angostura Bitters

Mix ingredients together with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Goodbye Elizabeth

In honor of Elizabeth Taylor, who sadly passed away last night, some of my favorite quotes:

'People who know me well call me Elizabeth, I dislike Liz."

(being another Elizabeth, I get this!)

"I don't think President Bush is doing anything about AIDS, in fact I don't think he even knows how to spell AIDS"
(Elizabeth Taylor, worked hard to increase AIDS awareness, helping to remove some of the stigma that surrounds the disease, I like how she managed to get a dig in at GB too)

"My Mother says I didn't open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did the first thing I saw was an engagement ring. I was hooked!"

Autumn Equinox

 

Above, Artwork by Alphonse Mucha 

Last night I had the pleasure of celebrating the Autumn Equinox at an Autumn themed dinner party hosted by a very dear friend. We were treated to a banquet of seasonal delights, my favorite being a delicious apricot and pistachio canape....yum. Anyway, it got me thinking about Autumn decorating. I feel this is a little challenging for us in the Southern Hemisphere because we miss out on having Halloween during this season and can not incorporate this theme now as it would not make sense. Of course we celebrate Easter in Autumn and that presents another challenge as Easter is all about Spring.
(don't even get me started on Christmas!)
I think drawing inspiration from seasonal produce always works well..a pumpkin sans jack o lantern face can say 'Autumn' without it having to look 'halloweenish'. I love this idea below.

This fabulous idea for an Autumn theme centerpiece was found at carolinapanache.blogspot.com. It is a stunning yet simple display to set the mood. Another way to set the mood is with a beautiful fragrance......

Above: Created by Emma Leah of Fleurage, 'Mabon' is the perfect fragrance for Autumn. Described by Emma as :
" An Autumnal Chord of woods, earth and spices. Inspired by the Autumnal harvest when the earth begins to rest as we gather the rewards of a fruitful spring and summer".

This 'Fall' image from Alphonse Mucha's Seasons series is a gorgeous tapestry cushion that we have in the boutique at the moment. I love the rich, warm  earthy tones.

I am currently working on an Autumn themed Easter (last year I did an Alice in Wonderland themed Easter ) and am going to incorporate Mushrooms and toadstools with my rabbits and eggs...pictures coming soon!

Saint Patrick's Day

As you probably know tomorrow (The 17th March) is St Patrick's Day. 

St Patrick's Day is a time to let the imagination free to enjoy legendary Irish superstitions. (It doesn't really matter whether you are really Irish or not). Like most Australians,  I do have some Irish blood so this gives me a better excuse to celebrate. I have been thinking of some fun decorating that I could do to celebrate and remembered these cute green vintage jars. For the sake of the photo, they have green hydrangea stems, but I am planning to pick bunches of fresh clover to place in them. I think that will look cute!

The image above is from Martha Stewart and shows various types of shamrocks simply planted and growing in pots. This is perfect for a St Patrick's Day decor accent, but I am thinking about introducing this to my front porch all year round. (I think even I could manage to keep these pot plants alive!)

 

These cute green cupcakes pictured above can be found at 'bakerella.com' (there are some fantastic ideas here) last year I found some of these cute candy shamrocks at the supermarket. They make a very easy and fun cake decoration!

This image below is also from Martha Stewart. A four leaf clover is tucked into a grooms chest pocket for luck.

 

Of course, we all would like a little extra good luck to come our way......wearing green on St Patrick's Day is a good way to encourage it. I have this gorgeous green feather collar that I bought on a whim once and have not yet worn......I think it will be perfect for 'St Pats' !

Of course, It would not be much of a 'St Patrick's Day if there weren't drinks. You could have a green guinness, but I think these cocktails are much more elegant!

St Patrick's Day

cocktail glass

22ml Green Creme de Menthe

15ml IrishWhiskey

Dash Angostura bitters

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Irish Rose

cocktail glass

45ml Irish Whiskey

22ml lemon juice

2 tsp grenadine

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Love at First Sight

I was out shopping in the leafy suburb of Montrose on the weekend, when I spotted something gorgeous. How beautiful is this illustrated chocolate packaging from Pink Lady!!! I don't usually need an excuse to buy chocolate, but this beautiful vintage style drawing compels me to purchase it!
I am not sure who the illustrator is , (will need to research this)  but the style looks very much like a French born, Australian illustrator called Michel Canetti . His work is definitely worth a look here anyway. A quick look at the Pink Lady website and I can see that there is a whole range of products packaged with these beautiful illustrations.....I might need to collect them all!