Bright Carnival Party

We created this bright carnival party for our darling niece Skye on her 4^th birthday. Born out of our love of colour, carnivals and an incredible piece of jute printed fabric we went about designing this party so that both girls and boys could enjoy and relate to it.

The main table included carousel inspired cookie pops (DIY to follow), cotton candy,  raspberry lollies, chocolate crackles, fruit cups, hot dogs and vanilla cupcakes. It was decorated with a mixture of patterns and featured a colour palette of yellow, blue & red. The gorgeous parasols hung upside down were a neat pick up from a stylists sale in Sydney.

The cake was a creation of ours, a little quirky and a lot of fun! A layered chocolate and butter cream cake covered in fondant, wrapped in tickets and topped with three giant cupcakes. It was super delicious with plenty to go around.

We wanted to create a games area in the little cubby house where the kids could entertain themselves. Here they knocked over cans and were issued tickets for their wins! They were rewarded with mini gumball machines filled with m&m’s as well as frosted treat bags filled with cinnamon doughnuts. As one can only imagine the games house was filled with fun and a liberal issuing of tickets and prizes ensued. We decorated this mini fun house with spotted lanterns and tissue fans.

The drinks bar featured mini plastic milk bottles, with non-spill lids. These cute and practical little numbers were filled with state fair lemonade. A few generous mason cups with laser cut lids were provided for those thirsty parents. The bar was flanked by the biggest red balloon, which  was rather unruly in the wind, and displayed on a vintage chequerboard table.

And how delighted we were to have in featured on Amy Atlas a few weeks ago. Check out her post of the party here!

 

 

We provided the following items from our store:

• Mini Plastic Milk Bottles
• Paper straws
• Chevron scoops
• Baking and portion cups
• Cherry Cupcake Toppers
• Pinwheel cupcake toppers
• Treat jar
• Yellow chevron wooden scoops
• Glass dome and dish
• Red Cake and cupcake stands
• Frosted Treat Bags
• Drink Dispenser
• Star mason jar lids (coming soon)
• Blue glass cake stands
• Tissue Fans
• Spotted Lanterns
• Mini Blackboard
• Mini gumball machines

We made

• All food! (gluttons for punishment and a love of cooking!)

Megan Morton Stylist Sale

• Coloured paraols

Rapee Australia

• Bistro Stripe tablecloth

Party Flair at Confetti Fair

A room wall to wall with delicate decorations, sparkles and frills, decadant desserts, brights and pastels and props in all styles and sizes. Alice in Wonderland you say? Not quite but just as magical! We were lucky enough to be a part of the first Confetti Fair which was held in Sydney on the weekend just been. The hall was transformed from a completely bare and uninspiring room to a space illuminated with creativity with event exhibtors including retailers, stylists, hire companies, bakers...SO MANY CAKES (worst month to be having off sugar! total torture), printables and the like. 

Was so lovely to meet all the fellow exhibtors, customers and followers face to face. We went home tickled pink with your kind words and loyality to us. So thank you.

Here are a few little snaps of our stand at the fair.... 

But WAIT! Before I leave you with these I must praise Suzie Hatherly who provided us with the exquisite flowers. They were exactly what we were hoping for and just incredible. Should you wish for flowers as beautiful as this, please contact us and we will pass on her details.

Wooden utensils kindly shot by Kat Cvet Photography
Kindly shot by Kat Cvet Photography

Straws shot by Kat Cvet Photography

Mother's Day inspiration

I truly cannot believe its almost May and that Mother's Day is around the corner! Does anyone else feel the same? 

This year we are having a Mother's Day picnic with an assortment of fitting treats. In our family, croissants symbolise celebration. Since we were little, every time there was a birthday or Mother's or Father's Day we would have a special sit down breakfast of delicious croissants from the oven and english breakfast tea. This is the only time we would have breakfast as a family so was particularly special! Needless to say it felt fitting to do a lovely Mother's Day croissant stack like this one I tried this week. Yes... I know I am really into the 'stacks' at the moment and for good reason. Easy, different, quick to pull together, cheap (if you purchase wisely), and achieves height for your table. It also looks good enough to be excused from not actually having done any cooking!

To make it I simply stacked the croissants and pierced with 3 skewers vertically to keep together so that they just lift up off them. The little pots are filled with strawberry jam and fig jam - yum (hence the strawberry and the fig for 'labels'). The beautiful teal stand and pots are from our shop. Love the BURST of the colours....teal incredibly refreshing.

In our competition with Life's Little Celebrations, entrants had to describe how they would use one of the goodies in our store for Mother's Day. There were some lovely ideas not that have given me inspiration, not only for product but ways in which people make their day special. Here are a few (And thank you to the people that provided these responses):

The Heart Black Board Stakes are just gorgeous! I could see them being used for so many things to make Mother’s Day a wonderful day. Some ideas – arranging some pink roses (or Mum’s favourite flowers) in a white Ikea plant pot with some ribbon and a Heart Black Board Stake popped in with words to describe Mum – caring, beautiful, inspiring etc. Great price with lots of possibilities

This mothers day i am planning to hold a high tea for all of my gf who like me, live overseas from our dearest mums. Sooooo, i will be using the cake stands, cupcake stands, mini blackboard, garlands etc to make this event as sweet as possible.

I would love the little glass pots. My mom loves individually served desserts and I am planning to make 6 or 7 of her favourites including chocolate mousse, banana parfait, strawberry cheesecake and so on (when served in these pots they would look so gorgeous). So she can enjoy them over a week or so without having to share (something she always had to when we were growing up).

I would love to use the chalk board hearts. I can see 5 of them hanging from a timber hoop, from the ceiling on my Mum’s deck, covered in little chalk pictures my kids have made for her & as they grow up, the pictures could change with each visit.

My Mum loves picnics, so I would arrange a picnic in the park near her place, pack a yummy afternoon tea and use the Mini Picnic Baskets for little take-home treats – I’d put Mum’s favourite chocolates inside.

I love so much that you have but I am IN LOVE with the tiny picnic baskets. You could use these for anything from individual antipasto baskets to individual dessert baskets for a Mothers Day picnic table.

A vintage lawn bowls birthday

How I jumped at the opportunity to do a lawn bowls / barefoot bowls setup! Something I had actually never seen before and oh what fun it is to make a little excitement out of something typically rather plain. The birthday gal, Anya, wanted a vintage pink look with a few little treats but not too much fuss. Lawn bowls are vintage by nature…seems it has not changed much since its early days and yes OK there is the sport for seniors stereotype! But, at least here in Australia, Lawn Bowls have become quite a popular get together for a summer arvo (Aussie slang for ‘afternoon’) drink for all ages.

In all honesty it was a birthday on a budget and I was asked to keep it simple. We created a cake under $15 through a stack of one of her favourite foods, jam donuts! YUM! I stuck 3 skewers in the stack to stop it from toppling over and finished it with a dusting of icing sugar and left over flowers. Looked good but was definitely the cake stand and dome that gave it the special punch it needed. Similarly, the drink dispenser carried a refreshing sparkling drink at a reasonable cost. Enjoy treat bags were filled with maltesers as 'bowls' and a white chocolate as the 'jack' (the white ball you aim for). 

I was delighted to be able to incorporate my miniature bowling handbag that I picked up from an antique store years ago. I also covered a letter ‘A’ for Anya in doilies to add to the vintage feel (simple DIY post for this to follow). The flowers were from Thomas Dux…

After a day of sketchy weather we were blessed with an idyllic sunny afternoon at Rock n’ Bowls in Manly. As you can see from the photos it is a beautiful green and the guests really had a ball (if you pardon the pun). Personally, I just couldn’t get enough of the old-school scoreboard…genuine vintage and even I managed to fluke a few bowls in the right direction (I am definitely not the sporty type).

All in all, it was a really fun event and refreshing to step back and create something simple. Happy birthday to gorgeous Anya!

Product from Bon Bon Boutique store includes black straws, drink dispenser, glass jars, Enjoy treat bags, gold cake stand and cloche dome.

Plastic Milk Bottle giveaway!

So we are having another little giveaway, this time with Life's Little Celebrations! They too fell in love with our Mini Plastic Milk Bottles so we have these little gems up for grabs as well as 1 pack of each of our green and silver straws! To enter you just have to hop on over to their blog post and post how you would use one of Bon Bon Boutique's products for Mother's Day from our online store. Good luck x

 

Easter inspiration

Here's a little sample of our Easter collection that we pulled together from our store... hope it inspires!

1 YEAR BIRTHDAY COMPETITION!!!

Hello and a BIG welcome to our 1 year birthday competition!! It has been 1 fabulous year since Bon Bon Boutique opened shop and we are delighted to be celebrating this together with Confetti and Crumbs....and of course YOURSELVES!

We have a bunch of prizes up for grabs including a huge grand prize worth over $1000!! 

Prizes include:

Grand Prize: One lucky person will win a 2 x night stay at Heatherton House in Blackheath, The Blue Mountains (to book for any time they like) for up to 10 people & 2 x bottles of Innocent Bystander Moscato with 12 luscious strawberry champagne cupcakes by Confetti and Crumbs which will be at Heatherton House upon arrival!

The beautiful Heatherton House

Heatherton boasts five bedrooms, a lounge room (with a combustion fire place and a magnificent three-arched picture window), two bathrooms, a northern glassed conservatory and a gorgeous country-style farmhouse kitchen and dining room. The interiors, characterised by French doors and high ceilings, are decorated in a French provincial style. There are garden vistas from all rooms.

Heatherton is hidden from the street by a large enchanting garden featuring picturesque trees, rhododendrons, azaleas, agapanthus, stone walls, a potager crammed with David Austin roses and a hedged herb garden.

Heatherton is an oasis of privacy, with many secret corners to explore and enjoy, perfect for a picnic or whiling away the hours with a good book.

Heatherton comfortably sleeps up to 10 people (3 queen and 4 single beds). 
It is secluded enough for a romantic getaway, but large enough for a family (or two) or just a group of good friends.

It is only 105 minutes by car or 2 hours by country train from the centre of Sydney.

First runner up: Will win two Fruit Tingle Cake Stands from Bon Bon Boutique!

 Fruit Tingle Cake Stands!

Second runner up: Will win 20 macarons or cookies from Confetti and Crumbs!

Macarons by Confetti and Crumbs

 Third runner up: Will win one Fruit Tingle Cake Stand from Bon Bon Boutique!

How to Enter

Entering the competition is easy! All you need to do is to complete all of the following 3 tasks:

1. 'Like' the Bon Bon Boutique Facebook page and the Confetti and Crumbs Facebook page (click on each of the names for a window to pop up with each of the Facebook pages).
2. 'Like' or 'share' one of our Facebook posts relating to the competition.
3. Comment on this blog post in 25 words or less telling us which one of our products in the Bon Bon Boutique online shop is your favourite and why. 

All 3 of the above need to be undertaken for you to have a valid entry.

 Other Details

• Entries to the competition will run until 13 March 2013 and the winner will be drawn on the 16 March 2013!
• Please ensure you check our Facebook Pages on or shortly after the 16 March to see if you have won!! We will Facebook private message or email you if you are one of the lucky winners. Note that email addresses recieved via posting on blog will not be used for any other purposes. 
• We can only ship the winning prizes within Australia. You therefore must be an Australian resident to enter. 
• The winners will be selected by an independent panel of judges.

Summer Brights!

Well we are definitely in the heart of summer bright and beautiful! What inspiration summery pictures bring. Here are some pictures that have inspired me to see some of our products in new ways. Ahh if only we had enough time right now to make these sweet little inspiration boards into party realities... x

A new year with lots of party ideas!

Hello to all of our lovely friends! We really hope you had the most wonderful holiday season.. filled with delicious food, fabulous decorations and most importantly lots of lovely time with your friends and family..

This past year has been an amazing expeience for us and we would like to thank you all for your continued support. We have BIG plans for Bon Bon over the next year including a new website, new collaborations with very talented party people and loads of party styling ideas. So please continue the journey with us!

Recently, we have been able to realise one of our initial goals in beginning Bon Bon and that was to be featured on Kara's Party Ideas, a very large and influential US party site. Here is a link to  our little soiree which caught the attention of those creative ladies at Kara's http://www.karaspartyideas.com/category/enchanted-fairy-party

A piece of cake setting at Bondi Beach

It is so fabulous hosting events where you know it will be great simply because of the breathtaking setting. You can really simplyify your table and decorations, making life a whole lot easier (and less stressful for the many who suffer from party anxieties)! I was fortunate enough last week to have my birthday get together on a phenominal rooftop at Bondi Beach. I had decided not to put together a dessert table this time, to save me running around on the day... (famous last words as always)...but of course I couldn't resist a little something with a view like that! 

So I chose to run with a cake which complemented the ocean and sky colours and some simple touches to match. My cake inspiration came once again from the fabulous Rosie at Sweetpolita, with her Pastel Swirl Cake. I bought the same Americolor sky blue colouring that she used but rather than lavender, faded the colours into a white using an Americolor white food dye to stick to the blues and whites of the setting. To finish it off I clustered a few of our sweet Mini Pinwheel Picks and matched the cake with our new gorgeous ocean coloured ombre spoons (coming to our store in the next week!!), and our white Rosanna Décor Bon Bon Round Cake Stand and blue Fruit Tingle Cake Stand. I finished it off with some little white chocolate covered nuts to accompany the cake and create a bed for the spoons to rest on. The texture of the icing worked really well with the choppy ocean behind and the little pinwheels were in action the strong breeze! In all, it was all these fine details to complement the setting that made it a simple success.

For your next fabulous setting, see how you can keep it simple if you tie in the surrounds with your featured food table. My key tips are:

• Choose colours that complement or match the settings beautiful features and limit them to a select few, with a little pop (we had a small burst of silver in ours).
• Keep it simple - Dont be afraid to admit that less might be better. I eliminated the third feature of the table to just keep it to the two cake stands and glad I did.
• Wow your guests through the attention to detail. Consider textures of the setting and how they could be mimicked.