Valentine’s Day

We have spent the past couple of weeks using Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to talk about God’s love – God’s love for children, God’s love for everyone, our love for God and our love for others.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ~ Matthew 19:14

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ ~ Matthew 22:37-39

Happy Valentine’s Day!

xo

Ice Cream

We have been escaping the summer heat with some ice cream fun, it’s been one of the most fun themes we’ve done together.

– ice cream taste testing

– making our own 3-ingredient ice cream (using these instructions)

– ice cream cookies

– painting with shaving cream (the little man put ice cream all the way inside the cone to surprise the person who eats the ice cream)

– rhyming words (and one that doesn’t quite fit. Idea from here)

– cardboard ice cream stand

– cardboard ice cream delivery trucks

xo

Cookie Swap

I have eaten a lot of cookies lately, a lot. I hosted a cookie swap, a tradition that more Australians need to adopt, and had a wonderful time baking, eating, choosing packaging and enjoying the company of friends. Thanks to all of you for making it a great afternoon!

For packaging and decorating I had homemade mini pom poms, holly berries, washi tape, wooden decorations, bells, mini pegs, doilies, ribbons and twine. Packaging supplies from my craft supply, kikki.K and Shmick.

xo

Robots

Here’s some of our fun from a week of robot activities:

– robot using things from dad’s toolbox and mum’s sewing basket

– robot costume from a cardboard box and old lids

 

– playdough robot (idea from here)

– building a robot using rhyming words

– matching by number or colour and some addition using dice (idea from these domino robots)

– robots using things from the kitchen and our craft box

– fun with aluminium foil (cutting, tearing, scrunching and decorating)

– mix-and-match robot cookies (idea from Hello Naomi’s cupcakes)

xo

 

 

 

Robot Cookies

Some mix-and-match robot cookies, inspired by Hello Naomi’s cupcakes (although far more amateur, my first attempt at decorating cookies with fondant). Lots of fun!

xo

Christmas in July

An Australian Christmas is not conducive to sipping hot chocolate by an open fire and enjoying a warming roast but July’s cooler weather is far more suitable and there a few Christmas in July events taking advantage of it. Making a gingerbread house is my Christmas tradition so I offered to make one for a Christmas in July this year.

I’d love to improve my piping skills so I could decorate a house with a little more finesse but until then lollies/candy can cover up what my skills are lacking.

xo

Pinata Cookies

When I saw these pinata cookies I couldn’t try them soon enough. Who can resist chocolates inside a cookie?!

I made mine much smaller than the original cookies but being three layers thick these are still quite large.

Why stop at stripes?

xo

Afternoon Tea

This captures most of the things I love to do: cook, organise, make things look pretty and entertain. I love small details!

I enjoyed the afternoon, and the opportunity to thank my friends who are so wonderful. I miss those of you in Philadelphia and wish you could have been there too.

We had thai beef spoons; fig, goats cheese and prosciutto forks; chicken, avocado and baby spinach wraps and greek salad skewers. And, on the sweet side, flourless chocolate truffle cake; carrot and drunken raisin cake; chocolate truffles (dark chocolate and almond, and white chocolate and lemon); buckeyes; lemon and polenta cookies; rosewater and roasted pistachio meringues; flower cookies; raspberry sorbet and turkish delight.

xo

(And a special thanks to Binny for those beautiful tulips!)

Flower Cookies

After making my Easter cookies I’ve been inspired to learn more about decorating cookies, so last week I had fun experimenting with brush embroidery and different consistencies of icing. I used this sugar cookie recipe and was really pleased with it (especially as it doesn’t need to be refrigerated).

Firstly I made some square cookies and ‘painted’ flowers onto them, using Bee in our Bonnet’s Vintage Inspired Cookies as my guide. All you need is some icing and a paintbrush to ‘paint’ the icing inwards on each petal. I added some white nonpareils in the middle. Some straighter edges on both the cookies and the icing would have looked a lot better but that’s how you know I’m new to this.

Then I made some poppies, which I had been excited to try. I used this tutorial from The Sweet Adventures of Sugar Belle.

The cookies were for a party so I wanted to keep them small so they would be eaten. With small cookies, my lack of experience and my time frame, I didn’t do a second layer of petals on either type of cookie, although I think it would have looked much better if I had. Almost all the cookies were eaten which surprised me (I would always choose to eat a slice of chocolate cake before I ate a cookie, but cookies are so much prettier!)

xo