Dec 18 2013

3 Toolbox Favourites

Author: Nadine Crozier • Discussion: No Comments

Recently I have been reminded that the ‘glitter and glam’ of decorating is only as good as the tools you have on hand to assemble them. Over the last week I have been working on decorating a foyer for Christmas – on a couple of occasions my assistant remarked that she absolutely loves my toolbox and that its the best toolbox ever. It’s nice of her to say so, but any toolbox that has the tools and materials that happen to be needed for the job at hand will always appear to be the “best ever”. Having said that it is often one of the things people forget about when decorating for an event, so I thought I would open my toolbox and share a few of my favourite items with you.

First 3 Toolbox Items

1. Scissors

This may seem a little obvious, but they are absolutely essential, and there are a few things you should consider. Firstly if you have a sizeable group of volunteers helping with set up it will be worthwhile having 2- 3 pairs. Event set ups are usually done under time constraints and the last thing you want to be doing is wasting time looking for a pair of scissors. Secondly, you need to consider what you are going to cut and whether or not the scissors you have will actually do the job. Some scissors just can’t handle cutting fabrics, so it pays to check. Also, while they aren’t strictly scissors I have a pair of wire cutters in my toolbox too. I find they are useful for when scissors just aren’t strong enough for the job.

2. Double Sided Tape

This is another essential. It is my firm belief that in most decorating circumstances tape should not be seen – therefore double sided tape is perfect. It can be used just about anywhere and for anything. Just be aware that not all double sided tapes are created equal. Some of the cheaper varieties turn into clumpy messes when you try and remove them, which is why I choose to use the Sellotape brand which you can buy in most supermarkets and stationery stores. The other brand I also like it Impact, which is available from Warehouse Stationery. The backing paper on this brand seems to be thicker than others, which makes it easier to peel off.

3. Cable Ties

If your decorating involves a lot of tying or hanging, then cable ties can be a quick and easy alternative to fumbling with knots. I’ve found that a lot of the $2 variety type stores sell the smaller sizes rather cheaply. Mitre 10 and The Warehouse have the bigger sizes if you need them, but be prepared to pay more.

Well that’s my first 3 Toolbox favourites. Over the coming months I plan to reveal a few more. If you need help figuring out how to assemble your event décor then feel free to email us with your questions.

Dec 11 2013

Jungle Safari Birthday Party

Author: Nadine Crozier • Discussion: 2 Comments

This year As You Wish has begun to expand into the area of Kid’s Parties. Recently we had the opportunity to create a Jungle Safari party for a young man who was turning 2 years old. We had a great deal of fun designing and hosting this party.

Party Highlights:

Our Jungle Safari Party Printables
Jungle Safari themed food
Party Favours of binoculars and straw hats
The ‘Backyard Safari Hunt’
The giant leaf placemats and wooden boat plates and cutlery.

Jungle Safari Decor

Party Décor:

We began with our colour scheme of green, yellow and orange. From there we set about designing the printables that brought the theme together. We wanted to keep everything as natural looking as possible so hessian seemed like the right choice for the table covers and as accents on the drink bottles and lolly jars. For the backdrop to the buffet table we purchased brush fencing from Mitre 10 Mega. To bring a balance to the browns, greenery was added in the form of artificial areca palms hired from First Scene and large artificial leaves as placemats. The table setting was completed with disposable wooden boat plates and cutlery from Disposable Tableware Ltd; bright yellow polka-dot serviettes from Pak ‘n’ Save and personalised glass drink bottles. Lastly we added some brightly coloured child sized chairs and helium balloons.

Party Favours:

Each child received a Safari Straw Hat and a pair of Binoculars that were personalised with name tags from our Jungle Safari printable collection. Not only did the children take these home at the end of the party but they also came in handy for the Backyard Safari Hunt.

The Entertainment:

Being that the party was for younger children the usually party games weren’t necessarily going to work – so instead it became all about play. To keep costs down we made use of the clients toys and sandpit. To that we added a play dough station. As the party progressed all the children put on their Safari Straw Hats and grabbed their Binoculars and went outside to search for all the wild toy animals that had been hidden in the garden earlier. Towards the end of the party it was Story time with one of our storytellers, who read ‘The Jungle Run’ by Tony Mitton to the children.

Jungle Safari Food

The Food:

On the menu we had:

Monkey Mac ‘n’ Cheese
Wild Mini Burgers
Jungle Vine Fries (Homemade Curley Fries)
Popcorn in cones from the Jungle Safari printable collection
Bananas
Cake Pops
Cupcakes displayed with wrappers and toppers from the Jungle Safari printable collection
Jungle Jellies – three flavoured jellies with a crocodile lolly set into it.
And 3 types of Jungle themed lollies.

The buffet was set out on wooden gifts boxes and labelled with labels form the Jungle Safari printable collection. Last but not least, was the amazing cake. This was made by Beth from All Things Nice and was decorated with Animal Figurines that were purchased from Toy World.

Summing Up:

Overall this was a fantastic party with plenty of activities and food for the children to enjoy. I loved the way the vibrant colour scheme complimented the Jungle Safari theme and how it all came together so nicely on the day.

If you have any questions or comments regarding how we put this theme together or if you would like us to create a party for you then please contact us either via email or through the comments section below.

Additional Shopping Credits:

Party Printables: As You Wish Events Ltd
Décor & Styling: As You Wish Events Ltd
Catering: As You Wish Events Ltd
Photography: Adam Ferris
Hessian purchased from: Dargaville Sewing & Curtain Centre and Spotlight
Party Favours were purchased from: Binoculars = Kmart; Straw Hats = Spotlight

Dec 06 2013

Sundae Buffet

Author: Nadine Crozier • Discussion: 1 Comment

12 Days of Christmas Ideas – Day 12

Well here we are – Day 12 of ’12 Days of Christmas Ideas’. So many ideas to choose from yet somehow I managed to whittle it down to 12 of my favourites. Today’s idea is not only a favourite of mine, but a favourite with everyone whenever I set one up. It is the Sundae Buffet. Plus with today’s idea we are offering a free download of Christmas tags and buffet labels.

Sundae Buffet for Christmas Day

I have done Sundae Buffets for a few years now and whether its for children or adults they always prove to be popular. Being that Christmas Day can often be a hot one here in New Zealand I thought it would be great to create one that is very Christmassy and will go well along side Christmas Dinner. A simple solution to dessert – they are fairly easy to set up and most of the prep-work can be done well in advance. Not only that they look incredible!

For this Sundae Buffet I have used dishes that I have collected over the years (mostly from my grandmothers when they cleaned out their china cabinets), but you can use anything to hold your toppings. It doesn’t need to be a great expense. I’ve seen people use paper bags and terracotta pots. I suggest you look around your home and see what you have available. If you decide you do need to buy some dishes try the second hand shops, they often will have a variety of suitable dishes.

Sundae Buffet Topping Ideas

It’s so easy to get carried away with the number of toppings you add to a Sundae Buffet. Keep in mind that a little can go a long way. I always like to start with either Vanilla or French Vanilla Ice cream, that way it keeps the toppings as the main feature and flavour. I then work at having a selection of toppings from the following categories: Sprinkles; Sauces; Fruit (Fresh or Frozen) and Sweet Treats. Depending on the occasion I might add a few extras – for example being that this Sundae Buffet was a Christmas theme, I added the little Gingerbread Men.

For the sprinkles I started with the chocolate drops, then chopped up some shortbread biscuits and walnuts. I also decided I just had to have some Christmas coloured candies and 100s and 1000s. I found an online candy store (based in NZ) called Crazy Candies. Their candies are sorted by colour which meant I could easily find what I wanted. I ended up buying one pack of their red chocolate gems and one pack of their green chocolate gems. I was very impressed with their service and how quickly they delivered. To get the mix of 100s and 1000s that I wanted I ended up buying one packet of each colour and mixing them myself. I got mine from an awesome little cake decorating shop in New Lynn, Auckland called Miss Bon Bon. If you do plan to visit, try and go on a Friday as it is cupcake day and they are just divine. You can place orders with them over the phone if you live further afield. Alternatively Pretty Baker have a good online store that also supply these.

For the sweet treats you can have anything you fancy. I like to keep them bite size since it’s it really just about having a taste and you don’t want them to take up the entire sundae cup. For this Christmas theme I went for mini Christmas mince tarts, Christmas cake and mini chocolate éclairs. For the Sauces I always feel that 3 is a good number – in this case I choose Maple Syrup, Homemade Mixed Berry Sauce and Homemade Chocolate Sauce. Lastly I added in the fresh Strawberries.

Sundae Buffet Topping 2

Once you have your toppings all sorted it’s just a matter of setting it up, putting out the sundae dishes ( I suggest using small ones – people can always come back for seconds) and adding the buffet labels. You can either make your own our download our editable designs.

Download Christmas 2013 Tags & Buffet Labels

So that brings us to the end of our ’12 Days of Christmas Ideas’. We’d love to hear your feedback about any of the ideas and if you decide to try out any for yourself we’d love to hear how you got on.

Merry Christmas, may your countdown to Christmas 2013 be creative, low-stress and most of all enjoyable.

Dec 04 2013

The Cookie Swap Party

Author: Nadine Crozier • Discussion: No Comments

12 Days of Christmas Ideas – Day 10

Home baking is a lovely treat to offer family and friends when they pop in for a visit over the Christmas period. It is also a great and inexpensive gift idea. Having a variety available for both instances can be a lot of work which is why (as promised on Day 2 – Planning Tips for Christmas) I would like to share with you the second of the two party ideas that will help you prepare for Christmas. It’s the Cookie Swap Party.

The Cookie Swap Party is somewhat of a new concept to us here in New Zealand, but I think it is a fantastic idea for getting friends together to achieve a common goal. Here’s how it works.

1. The Planning

Invite a few of your friends to participate. I think 5 – 8 people is a nice number. Each person bakes one dozen of cookies per person attending, plus 1 extra dozen for tasting during the party. So if you have 5 people coming, each person would need to bake 6 dozen cookies. That may seem a little scary at first but if you choose a recipe that yields a large quantity to start with and has a short baking time then all you need to do is double the recipe once and within an hour or so you should have all the cookies you need. Another planning tip is when your guests confirm their participation, ask them what type of cookie they plan to bring. This way you can be sure to have a good variety on the day.

2. The Cookies

A couple of points to consider when choosing your cookie recipe:

Make sure that they are a cookie that will handle being transported – you don’t want the cookies crumbling to pieces before they reach their intended recipients.
If the recipe calls for the cookie to be kept in the fridge then it is not a good recipe to choose – you don’t want them to spoil before they reach their intended recipients.
You might also like to find out if any of your friends would like a gluten and dairy free option in which case I found the most amazing recipe for Coconut Flour Snickerdoodles. Yum, Yum!

The Cookies - gingerbread

When everyone arrives for the party layout the cookies for swapping on the table. Label the cookies so everyone knows what they are getting. If there are gluten and dairy free options make sure everyone knows which ones these are. Before the swapping begins remind everyone that they can take one dozen of each type of cookie, including one dozen of their own. If people are gift wrapping their cookies then they probably won’t want to take all their cookies at once, so offer paper and pens for people to keep track of what they take.

3. The Tasting

Set up the cookies for tasting in a space separate from the swapping cookies. Be the polite hostess and offer your guests a beverage when the arrive, but also set up a little refill station so they can help themselves later if they would like another one – this way you can concentrate on wrapping your cookies and enjoying their company.

The Tasting

Tasting the cookies is my favourite part. It’s great that the refreshments for the party are provided without any extra effort, but I think it is even better that everyone then knows exactly what it is they are wrapping as gifts or taking home. It’s also a great opportunity to swap recipes if something really takes your fancy.

4. The Wrapping

The last thing you’ll need to set up is a wrapping station. Gather together a range of wrapping supplies. You can choose whether you supply these yourself or if you ask your friends to contribute. Things you could include are ribbons; favour boxes; disposable plates; recycled cans, boxes and jars that could be decorated and Christmas paper for making boxes or gifts bags. Cellophane and lunch wrap paper are also handy to have. One idea a friend of mine suggested was to buy little glass dishes from the second hand shop and wrap the cookies up in these. You’ll also need things like scissors, glue stick, rulers, sticky tape etc. along with anything else you might want in order to achieve your desired results. The Wrapping

Once everything is set all that is left to do is start swapping, wrapping, eating and chatting.

The photos in this post were taken at a Cookie Swap Party I had with my friends over the weekend. It was a lot of fun, catching up, eating cookies and being creative. I wish you just as much fun, should you try this idea with your friends.

Nov 26 2013

Planning Tips for Christmas

Author: Nadine Crozier • Discussion: 4 Comments

12 Days of Christmas Ideas – Day 2

It is no secret that the Christmas Season can be a stressful time. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the many things that need to be done and inundated by the numerous Christmas and end of year functions. Today I want to share with you some tips on how to lower your stress so you can more easily enjoy this season of celebration.

1. Write it Down

Trying to hold all the appointments and to-do-lists in your head is stressful enough in itself. After a while they all start to jumble together and you can’t be sure if you are coming or going. Writing it all down relieves your head from that pressure and it also removes that feeling of chaos because in the process of writing it down, what you have to do becomes clearer.

So my suggestion is grab a calendar, diary or cell phone (for those who are more tech savvy) and write in all the things you have committed your time too. Actually if you want to have a little more fun with it I’ve seen that Stampin’ Up are selling this beautiful Journal that is already organised into planning sections and you can even purchase matching stickers and tags to make your planning more colourful.

Season Of Style Designer Washi Tape Season Of Style This And That Designer Stickers Season Of Style Designer Journaling Tags

You can keep this process of entering your time commitments simple by just including all the work and social functions you plan to attend. Or you can go more in depth by blocking out times for set activities such as work, children’s playgroups or club meetings. This should then give you a clearer picture of how your time is placed. One thing I highly recommend is to plan time for rest and relaxation. When our business is interspersed with regular times of relaxation then the feeling of being stressed is kept at bay. Something I have also found helpful is to add an extra half hour between appointments as it means your not having to rush from one thing to the next.

The next thing to do is to write a to-do-list. This can include anything from baking to cleaning, Christmas shopping to grocery shopping, or making gifts to wrapping gifts. This way whenever you have a gap in the calendar you can go to your list and choose something to work on. Some of your tasks maybe time sensitive. If that is the case then make sure you mark them accordingly.

2. Share the Load

I was once told that we only have two hands because we are meant to ask for help when two hands just aren’t enough. I believe that we aren’t meant to do life on our own, and being that Christmas is supposed to be a time of togetherness what better time than now to join with our family and friends to get things done. If you’re living with others divide the chores among yourselves. Delegate out certain jobs to family members – it might not get done exactly how you would have done it, but that’s okay, at least it is done. If you have a big gathering of the extended family for Christmas dinner ask different family members to bring a particular dish or beverage. Another favourite thing of mine to do is to work with others to get the job done. I often find that working on a task with others makes that task so much more motivating and enjoyable. In fact over the next few days I’ll be sharing some great Christmas party ideas that will do just that.

3. De-clutter

Lastly, I read an article a few years back about how clutter in our environment can cause stress. So take a moment to consider the surroundings in your home. If there is too much stuff, pack it up and put it in the garage or under the bed – you can sort it out in the new year. Now if it’s people that are cluttering your house this isn’t an option. In this case I suggest that you plan outings or activities to engage them. If some of these people are out of town family or friends who have come to stay you might like to consider arranging alternative accommodation nearby. By doing this you are at least bringing some order to the chaos of people who have nothing to do.

This may seem like a daunting process but if you sit down now and spend a few hours planning, it will make the next month so much easier and you’ll be able to enjoy the holiday season with much less stress.

Nov 25 2013

Counting Down To Christmas – Advent Calendars

Author: Nadine Crozier • Discussion: 1 Comment

12 Days of Christmas Ideas – Day 1

Once again the countdown to Christmas is almost upon us. I often say to my clients that the build up to their special occasion should be just as enjoyable as the celebration itself. Naturally there are different activities to be enjoyed during these two different periods of time, but I believe that if you can enjoy the planning stage and build up a positive anticipation for the celebration then when the day actually arrives you get to enjoy it so much more, and to me Christmas is exactly the same.

One of the easiest ways to do this is with the Advent Calendar. I have fond memories, as a child, of opening the little doors on our cardboard advent calendars to see the little Christmas themed picture inside. Nowadays it is to get the chocolate – which I’m not so fond of because the focus seems to be more on the chocolate rather than the thing we are actually counting down to. For this reason I’ve made an advent calendar that can be used again and again and that I can add my own treats to. While I still intend on having a few chocolates, I plan to add activities that I can do with my family to build up the anticipation for Christmas.

So here are my Top 5 Favourite Advent Calendar Designs along with my Top 5 Suggestions for what can go in them:

A simple yet effective Advent Calender. I like the way they have added just a few ornaments to dress it up.

As seen on: A Few Things From My Life

I saw this idea in the Spotlight catalogue. I like the little draws and the ability to create a display in the centre.

As seen on: Spotlight

Another simple yet effective idea. You could peg up any item that takes your fancy. Little cards, ornaments for the tree, little gifts or even sweets.

As seen on: I Heart Nap Time

I love this idea. While I might consider adding numbers, I think it is such a creative way to countdown to Christmas and it doubles as a decorative Christmas display too.

As seen on: Pink Suede Shoe

DIY-advent-calendar-using-a-canvas-and-boxes-for-the-gifts

This is my favourite Advent Calendar. The different sized boxes leave the possibilities for filling them wide open.

As seen on: Mod Podge Rocks

Top 5 Suggestions:

Build Gingerbread Houses
Read a Christmas Story
Watch a Christmas DVD with special snacks to eat
Go to see the Christmas Lights
Bake Christmas Cookies together

We’d love to hear what ideas you might have for your Advent Calendar, please add these to the comments below and have an enjoyable countdown to Christmas.

Celebrate More, Celebrate Well.