Tupperware Mango Champagne Sorbet Dacquiri

Enjoyed a delicious mango daquiri sorbet drink at a Tupperware Party tonight. Yes, you have to love a good old Tupperware party.

It has been a while, and I was surprised to see they are now having 'pamper parties' making beauty goods such as natural facemasks and coconut lip gloss. Intriguing!

The Mango champagne sorbet dacquiri recipe was so easy and it is definitely one I'll be pulling out over summer. I don't usually drink wine or champagne (My teen years put paid to wine drinking for ever!!) yet I think I could have swallowed a bucketload of this, without even knowing I was drinking alcohol. Dangerous, but delicious!!!

Recipe:
One kilo of Mango Sorbet (homebrand or Weis brand) from freezer section of Supermarket
One bottle fizzy wine. We used Jacob's Creek and the other girls told me this one was a winner. It tasted mighty fine to me.

Put the two ingredients into a very large bowl.
Use a plastic potato masher and mash the sorbet and champagne until it is well mixed and a little watery.
Use a funnel to scoop the dacquiri into prepared glasses. Add a garnish, such as a strawberry or orange slice. Serve immediately.

For a child friendly mocktail, substitute the champagne with a bottle of lemonade. Add frozen fruit as desired.

Enjoy!!

Goodness in Blog world!

I'd like to share with you a couple of my favourite blogs...

Little Red Caboose is a delight.  Ella enchants with her gorgeous photography of life in Canada.  Just the other day, she and her son were making butter.  I shared a 'butter song' with her, care of my friend Sandra.

"Come, butter come.  Come, butter come.
You don't worry, you're going to be late.  And, I'm going to beat you to the garden gate"

My friend Donna shared her love of Bluebirdbaby with me and I have loved it ever since.   It too, is all about the photography.  I heart this!!!   It is such a wonderful gift to see into the lives of other human be-ings on this planet.  Thank you!

Geninne's Art Blog is another I visit from time to time.  Her illustrations and style are to covet. 

My friend Jen, has just moved over to her new blog Lavendilly House and always has something insightful to share.  I love in-sight-FULL-ness! 

And a spruik for a local girl is for my hilarious mate, Renee.  Her musings over at Mother Joie De Vivre
inspire.  Check out the recent post about how to make a Waldorf doll.  I love pic by pic explanations. 

There are many others, of course, but this is my goodness for today!

How to make a Golden Matchbox Castle Treasure Hunt game!

This wonderful idea is from the Cape Byron Spring Fair.

It is one of the best games for children I have ever seen, as everyone wins a prize.

Each matchbox insert has a small wooden bead wired onto the front, so small hands can pull the box open.

The boxes were stacked one on top of the other, to form columns about 25 cm high. The columns were glued side by side until the width was about 50cm.

Large columns of sturdy cardboard formed the turrets and these pillars helped hold the whole thing together.

Then it was all spray painted gold.

There were matchboxes to be opened on three sides so there were lots of opportunties to win.

Each matchbox was filled with a tiny treasure.

A small badge, coloured crystals, gemstones, seedpods etc.

You could also add felted flower headbands, 'baby bees' on a string made from tiny seedpods wound with yellow and black thread, button bracelets, teeny fairy friends, elf brooches, or a felt flower.

It cost $1 to play.  Each child would then choose a box and open it by the bead handle.  When it was opened, the child found their little treasure and the empty box was placed in a basket inside the castle.

This way, the Golden Castle could be used year after year.

You could make a smaller version for a child's birthday party.

Happy Matchbox hunting!!

One Great Day.

Mini Moments of greatness today!

Here is what I am grateful for today!

• Kingscliff markets- Lemon butter, 5 linen crocheted doilies, 2 embroidered placemats, new teatowels for Moondew Playgroup and a pat of a lovely golden retriever for Ned
• Cudgen School Fete-  a stack of bendy wire dolls for $4 each!, a cat and a mouse craft toy, a whole heap of felt covered matchboxes (so cute!) ready for Moondew Birthday celebrations AND a sausage sandwich for 2 bucks.  Rippa!
• An accidental drive through the rainforests from Murwillumbah to Byron-  Lush.
• The Cape Byron Spring Fair-  always a good day out!  Good craft, curry for lunch, a kids cafe- 3 things for $2 (Ned had two big slices of watermelon and a mini carrot cake muffin), a chance to catch up with friends, unbelievable teenagers making music (the quality was truly amazing- where do these kids get their voices AND their fearlessness???), a Kindergarten puppet show, the most amazing fete game I have ever seen (the Matchbox castle! Amazing!  I'll post a pic tomorrow) and lots of smiling faces.
• Afternoon tea and good conversation with my friend Sarah and her family in Tweed, then an impromptu sausage sizzle dinner.  First, we walked along the river to collect sticks and then made a small outdoor fire in their backyard.  It was quite a civilised affair! 
• A marvellous day ended with marshmallows on sticks, toasted over the flames. 

Total satisfaction.

How to make a five petal paper flower.

Choose a template.  Draw the shape onto a piece of cardboard, noting where the hole punch circle is placed.

Take 5 pieces of card or thick paper, all the same size.  Approx 5cm square.

Holding them all together, coloured side facing up, fold them in half so that the coloured side is now hidden.

Fold the template in half and place the template fold alongside the paper fold.

Cut around the template, so that when you finish, you now have 5 pieces of paper cut into flower shape.

Holding the pieces all together, use the hole punch to cut a hole.

Here you see the template, and behind it, the 5 heart shapes stacked together.

Spread the shapes around into a circle.  This is what your flower will look like.

Take a piece of ribbon, about 10cm in length.  Tie a knot in the centre of the ribbon.

Place the ribbon ends through the hole.  The ribbon ends become a decorative feature.

Glue or stick the paper flower onto your desired surface.

Uses for the paper flower:

• Make a few paper flowers and display them in a photo frame for an instant spring lift!
• Use them for a Baby Blossoming Shower, as we did, by asking your guests to write the answer to the Question: "what one thing did your mother/grandmother do that helped your life to blossom?" on one of the petals.  Display in a photo album or frame and gift the finished artwork to your pregnant friend.
• Glue one onto a blank card face for a quick handmade card
• Glue one onto a flat magnetic surface for a lovely fridge magnet
• Make a flower wreath of different coloured and shaped petals. Hang it across the window in a young child's bedroom for a lovely decoration
• Glue the flower onto a small circle (approx 2.5cm diameter).  Attach a safety pin to it for an instant brooch. 

Moondew Spring Festival 2009- cake box

Here is the template for a Butterfly design cake box.

I drew the template onto coloured cardstock, one per child.  The parents then had the task of cutting them out.

The children decorated the outside face with pencils, glitter and a small red-beaded wire for the Butterfly antennas.  We then folded the origami folds, and sealed it up with tape and glue.

A piece of the Spring Blossom cake went inside for each child as a take home treat. 

Yummy!

Gabi's baby-blossoming shower!

My friend Gabi is soon to have a much-longed-for baby.   We are all so happy for her!!

Gabi hails from Brazil, so of course, this baby shower was her Australian version.

Johnny Farnham was on the stereo. 

Chocolate crackles, apple crumble and Caramel Banoffee Pie were on the menu.

(okay, the Banoffee Pie was a ring-in.  But who can resist Banoffee Pie?  Truly??)

Yes, you too can make Banoffee Pie- just check the tutorial in the side bar.  Well worth a go!

There were origami folded serviettes, all in a blue theme.

A delightful sunny day greeted us.

Balloons galore!

And a bit of craft.  We made a paper flower mosaic in Gabi's baby room colours-  Pale blue, cream and white. 

Everyone wrote the answer to this question on one of the flower petals.

"What was one thing your mother did for you that helped you to blossom in life?"

There was a lot of thinking, lots of rough copies and a lot of love for our own mothers in that room. All of this goodness was then directed to Gabi and her soon-to-be-born baby.

Craft and girly gatherings requires lots of tea. 

Gabi was blessed by her friends with lots of gifts, including a nappy cake (Julie) and a delightful basket of craft materials and patterns for quirky things from Silkwood friends.  

Gabi was truly over the moon!  And planning on lots of early morning baby-feeding-time craft projects to keep her occupied.

Thank you, dear friends, for making her day!

A little kiss

Blowing a kiss, originally uploaded by Little Thoughts.

How random is this??


My computer just blew me a kiss!

I heard it once, and thought I was going a bit loopy, but then, just now, it did it again!

I know it is probably some terrible virus but it was so funny, and cute, and delightful!

It made me laugh out loud!

Getting rid of clutter and baggage!

Today, I chucked.  Yes, threw stuff out and more importantly, recycled stuff to friends and the opportunity shop.  It has needed to be done for a while and it felt like a warm fluff shower to rid myself of so much accumulation!

What is with stuff?  Looking at the things I have held on to, just in case, I was amazed.  I truly was gobsmacked with what I had saved for a rainy day. 

Old curtain rings, hundreds of the same telephone cables (I only need ONE), mobile phone chargers for phones that died years ago, clothes I have never worn or even liked, soft toys that came from where?, countless unworn scarves, gloves and random dress ups, a whole lot of books I haven't read for years and my favourite- the linen stash. 

I think the interpretation of linen (think doona covers, blankets, pillow cases) could just be the world's best kept secret of how to understand the human psyche.  

I can pick my mood, my favourite colour, my feeling, my love and historical moments just by looking at one bedspread!

It is like an ever evolving timeline.  At this stage of life, I was a big hippy driving a kombi van around Australia.  At this time, I was into pink and only wore pink clothes.  At this time, I loved nature and all things green and was studying a Diploma of Wilderness and Wildlife.  Think Khaki!

Each linen item told the story through the pattern, colour, and the level of fading. 

Today, I threw a lot out.  Bold yellow franjipanis, red and yellow abstract, green flowers were a start.   This week, I'll treat hubby and I to a lovely muted red checked doona cover set. 

It might be time for a french theme, I think.

How to make a Sock Rose for a Flower posy!

How to make a Sock Rose for a flower posy!

Firstly, purchase a pair of plain baby socks.

(This is not as easy as it sounds!  So many socks have commercial images or logos on them. 

If you are looking for pink, white, purple or yellow socks, you'll have better luck.  If you need pale blue or green, allow yourself more time!)

Take one of the socks from the pair.  Starting at the toe, begin rolling the sock into a cone shape.

The sock willingly lends itself to a 'rose' form.

Roll the sock to the end.

Then, lay this first 'bud' at the toe of the second sock.

Roll the outer sock towards the ankle.  It will begin to resemble a rose bud.

Holding the completed 'bud' firmly, insert a piece of florist wire (about 12cm long) into the base of the 'bud'. 

Then, use florist tape and begin to wrap it around and around the base of the sock bud and also around the wire.  The tape sticks to itself. Be sure to pull it fairly firm. It can take a lot of pull before it breaks.  The firmer the bud is wrapped, the more 'rose like' the bud remains. 

By the way,  Florist tape can be purchased from any flower supplier or good craft store)

This is a completed bud base.

And this is the top of the Rose bud.

Another completed rose for you!

Here is the completed flower posy. 

Flowers can also be made up from singlets (fold inwards into thirds before rolling), bonnets, and mittens.

The larger flowers (below) are singlets. (Vests)

The three paper roses below surround a baby fork, knife and spoon.  These were also displayed within the finished posy. 

Gift your posy in a small vase, jar or cardboard box. Use tissue paper in contrasting or matching colours.

Add curly ribbon, and real folliage such as ferns or bunches of seedpods, for decoration.