FREE PRETTY CARD AND TAG DOWNLOAD

It is my Birthday on Sunday (7th of August) and while looking on the Internet for all things cute and Birthday-like I came across these SUPER CUTE birthday tags and cards :) Are they just adorable?

Photography by the Elephant Shoe Love :)

 Kindly even though they are featured on The Pretty Blog (which I LOVE) Elephants Shoe Love, the super cool designer of these cute tags said I could share the lovely FREE download with you :)*yay*

I can't wait to play with these :)

Thanks to Elephant Shoe Designs :)

FREE CARDS, TAGS & STICKERS DOWNLOAD

 Have a GREAT weekend :) My Birthday festivities have already started! *double yay*

INVITATIONS for The French Party

 These are my invites from The French Party i did for my 30th birthday - thought you may want to see.

 the front of the invite with the name sleeve pulled over

the invite wording and design once pulled out of the sleeve :)

 I designed the invites in mind that i didn't need to customise put a name on each one before printing. I put the names on the see through sleeves of each invite which was designed to be pulled out and read. I tried to make the look of the invites feel like old school Parisian chic and aptly called the party - A tough of Paris.
Dress code was: Black, white and bling or a touch of paris, so guests could decide for themselves.

Anyway now you know :)

The French Party

So a little over a month or so ago... I had my 30th Birthday. Which of course was a good reason to plan a party :) YAY!!!

As you can tell  I love planning parties and especially ones that I can do whatever I want. So being my own party I could decide exactly what i wanted to do :) which was double YAY!
Then there was the moola (money) I needed to pull off my awesome killer party - life size props and dancing waiters and giant birds :) just jokes but my brain was filling to the brim with ideas if money were no issue but I don't have a limitless gold card so I needed to consult my other half (the husband). After chatting to him we came to an agreement of a budget (which is good or i would've gone over the top and spent way to much money). He was great (he was also realistic) and then I was let loose to make it happen. Of course being the woman that I am I wanted everything (dancing birds, oops i mean dancing waiters - OK just kidding) as much as i could get for my money so:
I bought quality food and set pieces of decor.
But the other little pieces of decor that i wouldn't be keeping after my party I searched second hand charity shops for - and boy did i get some bargains :) what woman doesn't like a great bargain?
And so My PARIS PARTY came to life :) this is what i did:

the bar counter that we redid and bar chairs that we painted / my husbands old record player he's had since a child

an old pine desk that we restored and painted white (chocolate mousses and creme brulees are in the open desk drawers for guests to take) An old lamp and lamp stand that we painted and recovered. / old type writer that i picked up at a charity shop

cheese board with old silver butter dish / screen we got made and then hung black and white printed french pictures on (frames i bought from charity shops and then spray painted black)

Creme brulees housed in the white painted desk drawer / the corner seating with white painted box for a "coffee" table - black and white painting done by Lorraine Burt

our bar counter we made-over and then added a nice vase of white flowers and ofcourse champagne which is very french  / chocolate and turquoise macarons

chocolate mousses nestled in the desk drawer /  eiffel tower vinyl

Hoped you enjoyed looking at my french party. I enjoyed every minute of planning it :)
oh i didn't take any pics of my chandelier that the husband bought for my party - oh well, next time.

Aunty Jenny's Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake is sooo moist and delicious i just love it! I ve been baking it since a teenager and got the recipe from my friends mom who we all called - Aunty Jenny. She was the best cook (still is a brilliant one) in our church. We loved to go eat at her house and it was always a treat to chat to her in her kitchen while she cooked :) This cake is always asked for by my husband whenever i ask him what cake he would like for his birthday or he'll ask for it sometimes when he just feels like something nice and baked and chocolatey. And so of course I used this as one of the cakes for my daughter's fancy tea party.

The basis of this cake is a good mayonaise -which sounds disgusting to be put in a chocolate cake! I have even had people refuse to try it because they heard mayo is in it! but once they do - there is no turning back and they come back for seconds. It is really that good.
It is better made with a normal (wheat) self raising flour but can be made with a wheat-free flour of  your choice. The cake itself keeps well in an airtight container for 5 or so days. And really is nearly as delicious on the 5th day as on the 1st!

AUNTY JENNY'S CHOCOLATE CAKE
2 cups self raising flour (or wheat free flour)
2/3 cup of cocoa
1 & 1/4 teaspoon bicarb
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 & 2/3 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla ess
1 cup (good quality mayonaise- like crosse and blackwell)
1 & 1/3 cup cold water

METHOD
Sift and combine the first 4 ingredients and set aside.
Beat sugar, eggs and vanilla on high speed for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy
Now beat in the Mayonaise slowly
Beating constantly add the flour mixture and the water alternatively - Beginning and ending with flour
Pour into 2 cake tins (roughly 22cm) greased and floured
Bake @ 180 degrees celcius for 30 - 35 min or until the sides start to pull away from the tin
Cool in tins for 10 min before turning out onto racks
Once cooled decorate as desired

Enjoy


Betty :)

candles and cake and happy happy

Tuesday and it's my brothers Birthday :) yay !! So I didn't have to cook supper tonight as my mom did it for all us family for my bro's Birthday - YAY for a night off of cooking! cause as much as i enjoy it, it's nice to take a break and taste other people's creations and get inspired by other people's flavour/s :) I'm sure everyone enjoys some time off from things they do, even if they love what they do - stepping back and taking a look most times brings new perpective and ideas.

so thanks mom and family!

Betty Bake