Australian Women's Weekly 'More Cakes For Kids'

Image courtesy of Australian Women's Weekly

We've just had a birthday celebration in our house and as usual in preparation I asked the guest of honour what sort of cake they'd like on their big day. After a few ummm's and much thought, the birthday boy requested an ice cream cake. I have to admit I was a little stumped, not because the ice cream cake request had actually come from the biggest kiddie in our house  (my 38 year old husband) but because I didn't have any recipes for cakes involving ice cream . It wasn't until I stumbled across a display in Borders that I saw the latest 'More Cakes For Kids' book from the Australian Women's Weekly. Inside this fantastic book are 70 recipes and cake creations that are just gorgeous for little people and luckily they even have a recipe or two for ice cream cakes!

Image from LilyBel Studio

So, on the big day I set about making the giant 'chocolate chip cookie ice cream cake' that I found in this book and it went down a treat not only with the birthday boy himself, but also with our 3 year old twin girls who 'helped' me put it all together and then 'helped' daddy demolish it. I highly recommend this book for lots of inspiration in the birthday cake department...I wonder what the birthday boy will request for his 39th birthday next year, a train, a dinosaur or a racing car??

Looking For Lollipops?

Image from LilyBel Studio

I wasn't actually looking for lollipops when I fell across these, but as usual my party radar honed in on them and I was instantly picturing them looking fabulous, up front and centre on a party table. These giant lollipops were yelling out to me from a aisle in (what for it)...K Mart of all places and at only $1.50 ea I couldn't resist. They have a great range of colours in at the moment and they actually taste as good as they look, the ones pictured are strawberries and cream and the other one I tested out (all in the name of research) was grape, which was swirled in purple and white. Super, super yummy....!!

Happy Shopping! xx

      New Printed Balloons In Stock

New in stock at LilyBel Studio are these super cute heart printed balloons, just perfect for any little princesses celebration! They're available in a pack of 3 containing, 1x light pink with white hearts, 1x hot pink with white hearts and 1x rose pink with white hearts. As always with all our balloons, each pack of 3 also contains 3 metres of coordinating curling ribbon. The 3 pack retails at LilyBel Studio for $4.20.

To add to our current and very popular range of polka dot printed balloons, we now have hot pink with white polka dots, white with black polka dots and lime green with white polka dots. I've chosen these especially to co ordinate with our new (soon to arrrive!) Sambellina paper plates and cups range. Each colourway in the Sambellina polka dot plates and cups will have a matching polka dot balloon, for all of you out there who can't get enough polka dots!! These balloons are sold individually each with 1 metre of co ordinating curling ribbon, and retail at LilyBel Studio for $1.40 each.

 Mix and match these yummy new choices with our existing range to get the perfect look you're after...after all, who doesn't love hearts and polka dots?

             Happy Shopping! xx

                                                                                                                                    

Just Arrived - Wrapped Noodle Boxes At A Reduced, Introductory Price!

Image from lilyBel Studio

Just in at LilyBel Studio are our new range of wrapped noodle boxes in four colours and patterns. These little cuties are ideal as goody 'bags' or to add to your party table in your choice of theme. I always think it's great to use an alternative to the basic (and well 'used') party bag idea and as these are foodsafe, you can pop in any yummy goodies from cookies and chocolate, to mixed lollies.

Image from LilyBel Studio

Choose from our cow, red and white polka dot, pink and white polka dot and pink and white stripe wrapped noodle boxes and attach a co ordinating party tag from one of our themes. For an extra touch these look lovely with one of our double sided, satin ribbons tied around them in a bow.

Image from LilyBel Studio

Each noodle box is a large 26oz size and comes with a separate 40cm x 7cm wrap, these retail at LilyBel Studio for $1.50 ea or $8.50 for a set of 6, but for a limited time these are available at a reduced, introductory price with a single noodle box priced at $1.20 and a set of 6 at $7!

Image from LilyBel Studio

Each pattern also has a matching table runner to make co ordinating your party table and theme a breeze!

Happy shopping! xx

M is For Macarons

Image courtesy of Creative Abubot

 Have you tried a macaron? (yes, apparently that is the correct French spelling!) These 

traditional french pastry treats are light, slightly crispy as well as chewy and can be filled with delicious, amazing fillings from buttercream to lemon curd to ganache.....yum!!

Image courtesy of Serious Eats

They look amazing on a party table as they can be coloured to suit any theme and grouped in various shades they look simply divine. For a show stopping party table display, choose macarons in three colours from your party theme. Stack three decorative pedestal bowls on top of each other and fill each bowl with one colour of the macarons. These delicious pastries also look irresistible stacked in rows of different colours on a large platter, or in individual cupcake cases lined up on a cake stand.

Image courtesy of Nat Cake Artist

For those of you who want to make your own macarons there are a lot of recipes out there. One of the best collections of  macaron recipes I have found is at www.tartletteblog.com, Helene is a french pastry artist, stylist and food photographer and her blog is full of recipes and information, including a tutorial on making macarons. For those that don't want to wrangle with egg whites, whisks and baking trays you can order macarons here in NZ on line at www.jaimelesmacarons.co.nz. J'aime les Macarons are based in Christchurch but do deliver all over NZ and they also have local stockists who are listed on their website.

Image courtesy of J'aime les Macarons

Apparently there is a vicious rumour circulating that macarons are set to take over from cupcakes as 'the' must have, sweet treat on your party table. Well, as much as I love these beautiful little pastries I have to say they would have equal footing on my next party table, with the ever reliable and adaptable cupcake. Besides, who says you have to choose?...

Image courtesy of Crumb (A Bakery)

  New Stock Available At Reduced, Introductory Prices!!

 

Are you tired of always having to wait for products to be either end of line, completely picked over, or generally 'so last season's stock' to go on sale??? Well I don't think you should have to wait for any of those reasons, so I regularly put a selection of our NEW stock on sale for our customers (I know, I know it's just the kind of girl I am!!), including those items that are sure to be very popular and really don't need to be at a sale price to sell. Currently, for a limited time I have our Paper Eskimo baking cups on sale, which are such a great little product as they have a multitude of uses and you can choose from our range of 6 different colours and patterns, available at LilyBel Studio.

To start the New Year off in the best way possible we have some gorgeous new party products on order, that are due to arrive at LilyBel Studio over the next month or so. As these new products arrive I will regularly put a selection of them on sale for you to choose from and just to sweeten the deal, you will be able to earn our Party Points on sale items too!

Happy Shopping! xx

                       
        Miniature Cupcake Stands - Just Arrived!

 These super cute, individual mini cupcake stands from the US have just arrived at LilyBel Studio. They're a huge hit in the US and are being used over there for every celebration from weddings to baby showers to (of course!) children's birthday parties.

Image courtesy of Donna Hay

The stands are featured on the cover of the current 'Donna Hay kid's magazine' and as the cover photo shows, they can be used for lots of other goodies on your party table and not just cupcakes. These are so much more versatile than the standard, tiered cupcake stands you see everywhere as you can either put them at each little guest's place setting, or you can group them down the centre of your party table. 
The cupcake stands come in a box of 6 and retail at LilyBel Studio for $19.95, making each cute stand only $3.33. We also have the option of a box of 12 which retails for $34.95, making each stand $2.91 and saving you a total of $4.95! 

 Happy Shopping! xx

Oh, So Gorgeous Tableware!

Images courtesy of Rosanna Inc

What's a party table without beautiful serveware?  My favourite of the moment would have to be Rosanna Inc, who make the most gorgeous range of serveware I've found yet. They have several different ranges from white scalloped cake pedestals and stands, to the delicious mini tea set for children shown above. Perfect for a Mad Hatter's tea party, this modern mini tea set is the cutest, coolest way to take tea -- just like the grownups!

Image from lilyBel Studio

Image courtesy of Rosanna Inc

These bowls from their Gelato range would be perfect for little guests to eat ice cream sundaes out of, if you were having a 'Sweet Shoppe' themed party. What little person wouldn't love to create their own sundae in one of these?

Images courtesy of Rosanna Inc

And because there's no reason why you shouldn't whip up your party food recipes in style, there's the delicious Decor Bon Bon-Colours range. Featuring this mint coloured pitcher and rose coloured mixing bowl, it would be hard to leave these pieces in the kitchen and not include them on your table!

Image courtesy of Rosanna Inc

 Last, but certainly not least is the Decor Bon Bon White range. I couldn't resist temptation when I first saw these and purchased both the antique round footed bowl and the square pedestal cake stand. I used both on the party table for my girls 'LadyBug Hug' party (party details featured on a previous post) and they really finished the table off perfectly. For full details of the Rosanna range and for stockists visit www.rosannainc.com.

The antique round, footed bowl I filled with flower cookie pops for my 'LadyBug Hug' party table