Ten

On Tuesday of this week Lily turned 10. A whole decade. To celebrate reaching double-figures I laid on an after-school afternoon tea for her and six close friends. It was relaxed, fun and I hope memorable. Celebrating such moments in life is time well spent in my book.

So I set to work making tiny cheese & cucumber rolls, filling pretty striped paper cups with chipsticks, baking sausage rolls and filling cocktail sized vol au vents. Then there were mini strawberry & cream meringues, individual coconut & cherry loaf cakes, mini chocolate cakes, mini orange & almond cakes and paper cups filled with lemon cupcake popcorn, berries and chocolate discs and to top it all off a 'fox' birthday cake.

It's the decorations and tableware that also make a gathering an occasion and, in this case, turn one of the most special days of the year into one of the prettiest. All the decorations and tableware in this shoot are from My Little Day, a French online boutique that sell all the kit required to host the most beautiful children's birthday parties. From bunting, confetti-filled balloons and tassel garlands to paper plates, cups, straws and napkins in contemporary patterns. I even made party bags using the paper bags and mini paper rosettes  - they were the icing on the cake.

Ooh, you ought to sell those ...

For a while now I've been chewing over the idea of introducing a 'Buttercup Days Boutique' section to this blog. People often tell me that I ought to try selling some of my homemade wares. I love the idea, but I am so short of time and hand making anything is time consuming. Mmm, what to do?

I had this preconceived idea that to sell product I'd need to produce volume, and that was the part I couldn't commit to. So, I've decided to make limited runs of products to sell. Once gone, I may replenish or I might introduce a different product altogether. That is workable and fun I think.

So, to start the ball rolling I am selling my Buttercup Days cake bunting; whilst stocks last. Seriously, I have made ample stock of the bunting, so to find out more just click 'Buttercup Days Boutique' on the right of your screen. Be sure to visit the boutique regularly to see what the current offering is. Remember,  bit of retail therapy is good for the soul.

Buttercup Days Boutique

The Buttercup Days Boutique has opened it's doors, well sort of. It's all the vogue now to do craft, but I have always been a maker of things. It's nice to be in fashion once in a while. Since having children I've been making all the more; toys, clothes and party bits and pieces. Many friend's see things that I've made and responded with 'oooh, you should sell those'. So now I am.

First up is my miniature bunting for cakes made from my collection of vintage and patterned fabrics. I first made one for Lily's birthday cake earlier in the year and the result was more than satisfactory. Once made, the bunting transformed my simple homemade chocolate cake into a party centrepiece in no time. I showed the results to Sweet Boutique, a lovely little retro sweet shop near to me that sell a range of children's party bits n' bob's and they said that they would happily stock some of the bunting and see how it goes. So I've been busy with bunting lately and this week I dropped off my first order.

Time will tell if they appeal. But in the meantime I have a list of local shops and online retailers to contact to see if they too would like to stock my cake bunting and of course I'm developing a Buttercup Days Boutique page for the blog through which I will sell direct. I'm working on a PR plan too (if I can't do that bit then something is wrong!). It all looks very good on paper. The only thing left to figure out is where the time will come from to make any orders that may result from all of this. But I figure I'll just work that out if and when the time comes. Watch this space ....

Party Time - Part Five: The Cake

Well, as the week draws to a close, so do my posts on Lily's 6th Birthday Party. I'm going to finish with a must-have part of any birthday (whatever your age), The Birthday Cake.

I'm known for my loving of an excuse to bake a cake and get a little creative with it. Lily wanted a surprise cake, so I appreciated the free-reign I had on it. Due to all the party prep, it needed to be simple to make and quick to decorate.

Well, after considerable time browsing my cookbooks and magazines I went for a classic chocolate cake layered with a chocolate ganache. The recipe was taken from my latest purchase of Olive Magazine. In fact the recipe stars on the front cover and quite rightly too as it was an absolutely divine 'melt-in-your-mouth' cake - I recommend it to anyone!

Well, in order to make my life easier, I made the decorations 'earlier'. The bunting was easily constructed using the small pieces of left-over fabric from the fabric party hats and the ribbon gave the pink factor that was sure to make the cake a hit with Lily, which I am pleased to report it was.