My baby turns One!!!

So just a quick note to say i've been offline since November as we finally moved house! So i have 3 months of things to catch up on!! I'll try to get it all done quickly so hopefully will be bang up to date soon(ish)!
Anyway so my beautiful baby girl turned 1 in October. I can still hardly believe she is already over a year old, its scary how fast time flys when you are a parent. I really would like time to slow down slightly so i can savour these wonderful years of her growing and developing and where me and her Dad are the centre of her universe!!
So we had to mark her first birthday with a little party. We hired a hall in Bradley Stoke and also hired some soft play equipment from a wonderful company called Tots of Fun. This soft play equipment really added to the party and Miley and her little friends had sooo much fun because of it.

As you may expect i had to have a go at making some home made decorations for the party. I didn't really know where to start but i was so glad i tried as it was so much fun and the decorations looked great on the day. I made a banner with a photo of Miley from each month of her first year. And i also made a Happy Birthday Miley banner which i used at the party and then again at home on her actual birthday.

The other thing i really wanted to do was make Miley a first birthday cake and for some reason i thought it was a good idea to make a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is the only cartoon Miley watches and she loves it so i didn't feel like i had any other option, but i knew it would be a big undertaking!
I searched through hundreds of images online of different cakes trying to find one i felt i could make and one that i liked also. I finally decided on a two tier cake covered with fondant. I bought the figures from the Disney Store which was so helpful and Miley loves playing with them now.
The cake took a long time to make, i baked the cakes on the Friday and then spent nearly all day saturday decorating the cakes. Then on Sunday i took them to the party and stacked them once at the venue and also added the figures using green buttercream piped from a bag to look like grass.
All in all i was really pleased with the way the cake turned out. A couple of people at the party didn't believe that i had made it myself which is a great compliment i think to the final product (not so much to me!)

We had a wonderful party and Miley had lots of fun and was suitably exhausted at the end of it!
On her actual birthday a few days later we took her to Jump softplay in Bristol and then went to Harvester for lunch. We had a lovely day just the three of us and we both just enjoyed spending the day with our beautiful daughter who was now 1 year old.

My first craft project.....my wedding

As i have mentioned in previous posts the first time i ever did anything crafty was for my wedding in 2010. At the time i loved reading blogs by American brides and also sites like Project Wedding where i would marvel over the ingenuity and talent of these other brides-to-be!
As our wedding date approached i decided to take the plunge and try my hand at homemade wedding decorations and stationary. Looking back i can't believe i did this as if it had all gone wrong i don't know what i would have done, but i am glad i was brave (or reckless) as it turned out wonderfully and i discovered a new love and hobby and a tiny bit of talent.
I decided to make:
* table names
* table plan
* place cards
* wedding card box
* sign for candy buffet
* sign for guest book
* tissue paper pommanders to line the aisle
* seat names for family and wedding party in the ceremony
Let me know what you think?
Table plan:

Wedding Card post box:

Tissue paper pommanders:

Table names:

candy buffet sign:

place cards (we tied them to the back or each chair with yellow ribbon....one less thing on the table)

Ceremony place cards (for close family and wedding party):

It was hard work putting all of this together whilst planning a wedding, but also strangely calming to have something tangible to focus my energies on each evening instead of the general dramas and stresses that come with planning a wedding. On the day, after we were married, it was fulfilling and satisfying to see little pieces of me all over the venue, i had firmly put my stamp on the day. I was proud, and trust me, i do not have a tendancy to feel proud of myself, quite the opposite in fact.
Even more gratyfying was that people didn't even realise the decorations were homemade. Yay me!!! I believe on our wedding DVD you can see my brother give me a high-five, and i remember clearly that high-five was offered when he found out i had made all of the above.

So to any bride-to-bes reading this and wondering if they can do it, or if they should do it? Yes and Yes!! Its a great experience and really adds a little extra to your already special day.