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We've come across lots of great ideas lately for festive platters. Here's a few of our favourites to give you some inspiration for your Christmas celebrations:

We love this cheese-board Christmas Tree featured over at How to Nest For Less

Or how about serving your cheese as a festive wreath like this one from the Kraft Recipe website

Or a star like this one from Cabot Cheese

And how fab do these pine cone cheese balls look?! You can find the receipe over at Living Locurto

How about a vege Christmas tree served with some dip, we found this one on the Creative Party Ideas blog

Here's another simple & stylish way to serve a vege platter - love how they've put the dip in the glass, a great finishing touch. I found this on Pinterest, check out all the great ideas from pinner Beth Jones

There are lots of ideas online for fruit Christmas trees but this is one from Vida Lucida is definitely one of our favourites, they've got lots of other great ideas too (click the link above to check them all out)

Feeling inspired and now you need some platters and plates? We've got some lovely ones that would be great for your Christmas tables, here's a few ideas with links direct to them. You can purchase online, in store or click & collect.

Toot Sweet blue stripe platter set                       Cheese board set                            Truly Scrumptious paper serving plates

    Gold star serving plate               Silver star serving plate                Gold Star Foil Plates              Silver Star Foil Plates

Please leave us a comment below and let us know your favourite ideas from our post or link to some other ideas you love!

Here's a few simple but effective packaging & gift ideas for Christmas

Soap tied with bakers twine & a thank you or Merry Christmas sticker are nice little thank you gifts - great for teachers, the baby sitter, neighbours etc

 

If you like this idea check out our range of stickers/labels/tags & bakers twine

And how's this for super easy - a chocolate bar dressed as a snowman. These would be cute for the kids to give their friends.

 

{source: http://livingpractically.blogspot.co.nz}

Wrapping your gifts in brown paper and finishing with washi tape is simple and stylish. We have lots of different tapes to choose from if you like this look: washi & decorating tape

 

 

Another great trend which is all over Pinterest at the moment is adding some festive foiliage to your packages. There are lots of fab examples but this is one of our favourites from These Four Walls

 

 

I love this idea using block bottom kraft paper bags and turning them into reindeer. 

 

 

{source: http://lisastorms.typepad.com} and if you need some of these paper bags to create your own we have some in stock: kraft paper bags

 

Or how about snowmen using white bags or Christmas trees from green bags

 

{source/tutorial links: snowmen and Christmas trees}

Our favourite gifts for secret santa, teacher gifts and those really hard to buy for people are filled jars. Add a few embellishments such as ribbon or bakers twine & a tag & it’s ready to go. We have a variety of bottles & jars to choose from and here’s some inspiration:

• fill with someone’s favourite lollies or make it festive with candy canes
• how about a cute little ‘pamper package’ – pop in some nice hand cream, body lotion & a little scented candle or how about a foot scrub, pumice stone, toe separators & nail polish
• or 'Brownies in a jar' are a fun idea. Handwrite the instructions on a little gift tag for the ultimate personal touch. Check out this recipe from Kidspot: Brownies in a jar
• another idea is get a couple of small jars - fill one with hot chocolate & the other with mini marshmallows - tie a big ribbon or washi tape around them both and gift together

If you're giving cookies as gifts how about recycling some Pringle containers

{link to Pringle box tutorial}

And these are sure to bring a smile ... Oreo Elf feet! Here's the tutorial & template: www.thediaryofdaveswife.com

And here's some lovely sets which contain everything you need to package homemade sweet treats, jams & pickles to give as gifts: Christmas packaging for baking & homemade treats

How about DIY snowglobe gift wrap?

 

{source: http://www.christmaholic.nl/2013/12/01/cadeaus-inpakken-met-bruin-papier-folie/}

 

Loving this simple & effective way to wrap presents:

 

 

{source: http://blogs.babycenter.com}

 

And here's a fun way to decorate bottles of beer or any any other bottles you're giving as a gift

 

{source: http://lifeofamodernmom.blogspot.co.nz}

We hope you liked some of these fun ideas and would love to hear any others you have come across so please leave a comment & let us know your favourite packaging ideas.

 

As part of the Auckland Heritage festival we're running a kids colouring competition. The artwork is by the very talented children's author & illustrator Z.R. Southcombe You can either download the attached image and print it out yourself or collect a copy from our retail store. Entries close on 15th October 2016.

 We always love the fabulous party features in OH Baby magazine - check out the most adorable little ballerina party from a recent issue which featured lots of our pretty products. Here's a few of the pics and links to the products so you can re-create the look at home.

The Little Dancers cupcake cases & toppers are so pretty 

  

 

How sweet are these Little Dancers party tiaras?!

  

  

Milk & cookies in style!

  

 

 For serving your drinks either use doilies & ribbon with plain bottles or how about our doily print bottles with paper straws:

   

 

These fruit cups are pretty & healthy

 

 

Serve fruit cups & snacks our Sundays pink polka dot baking cups- they're great for single serve desserts & snacks as they're grease proof inside. Team with some wooden forks or the cute printed wooden spoons

 

  

 

We love the Little Dancers products from Meri Meri and stock most of the range including the products featured above and lots of others, you can check it all out here: Little Dancers

  

 

 

One of our favourites is this adorable garland which is equally at home in a little girls bedroom as it is at a party

Another favourite is the ballerina theatre centrepiece which is a stunning addition to your party table 

  

 

 

And everything looks prettier with the addition of some doilies, we've got lots of designs and sizes to choose from. These frills & frostings doily sets are one of our favourites:

 And here's some great ideas we've come across to make for your party:

 

This lovely back drop looks easy to create and is so pretty!

 

{source: pink-tutu-backdrop}

 

This would be lovely to hang on the door or the wall

 

{source: ohsugareventplanning.blogspot.com

 

I love the addition of satin ribbons to the ballet shoe cookies, a lovely finishing touch

 

{source: ohsugareventplanning.blogspot.com}

 

These little sweet treats are made from marshmallows & cupcake cases

 

{source: alittleloveliness.blogspot.co.nz}

 

And here's the ballet shoe cakes I made for my little ballerina's 4th birthday (made using 2 x chocolate cakes baked in loaf tins):

 

 

And here's some more pretty cake ideas: 

{image sources: customdessertshoppe.com; cakecentral.com; pinterest.com}

 

These ballerina cake pops are stunning, check out the link for the tutorial

{source: allsparkledup.com}

 

I'm sure all the party guests would love to take home one of these tutu favour bags, check out the link for the Etsy store, they've got lots of different designs available

  

{source: www.etsy.com/shop/kidsbowtique}

 And if you're looking for a cute tutu for the birthday girl or to give as favours to the guests then check out Mayhem Creations NZ, they have a wide range and will custom make in your preferred colours

 

 

 

We've got some other pretty ideas over on our Ballerina party board on Pinterest, feel fre to pop over & check them out 

We had a great time at the recent Gift Fair  launching three fabulous new summer ranges from Sundays. These are all in stock now and are available in store and online. We also sell these products wholesale.

Designed by Melbourne based artist Kitiya Palaskas, this fun summer icon partyware is fabulous for summer entertaining. 

As well as tableware this range includes paper party bags, cute stickers and two pinatas - an iceblock and our favourite, a rollerskate! 

Great to mix & match with plain bold bright colours or our rainbow stripe and crosses ranges.

The shiny metallic pink confetti collection adds elegance to any party. Great for adult and teenage birthday parties.

Also looks lovely with the Laura Blythman range.

The lovely pastel colours in the Sunrise collection make this perfect for all ages. Ideal for all your summer events & celebrations.

Also looks lovely with the pink geo and pastel confetti ranges.

We had a great time at the Auckland Food Show last week. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our stand. We really enjoyed meeting lots of our customers and look forward to seeing lots of you in store soon too!

Here's a few pics:

The new Liberty design partyware was very popular:

And the fruity & metallic ranges were a big hit too!

And lots of people stopped by to speak to us about balloon decor for their upcoming celebrations

Thank you to all the Pixies for helping at the show and keeping the shop staffed during the show too! and to Mr Pixie who carries all our boxes & helps with set up & pack down :0)

And a big thanks to Emma from Bumble Beads who is a regular helper on our expo stands. Emma makes handcrafted glass beads (lampworking) and beautiful jewellery from her beads as well as semi-precious stones, shells, pearls and crystals. Pop over and check out her facebook page to see some more of her work: Bumble Beads

One of our favourite party deco trends are paper tassel garlands ...

the soft, floaty look of a tissue paper tassel garlands can be a stylish addition to any celebration!

They are great used outdoors as they look especially lovely when the breeze catches them (check your weather forecast first though!)

Stunning across the front of a candy buffet table & fun to use as part of your photo backdrop 

Pretty to hang across a window

Or why not tie to your pinata for an extra slash of colour?

And don’t just save them for a party … pop one up in the kids rooms across a wall or hang from the ceiling

You can also use them with giant helium filled balloons, just knot each tassel to the string so they don't all slide to the bottom! or you can purchase pre-made balloon tassel tails

The balloon tails look great with pinatas too

If you've got any other ideas please let us know! just comment below :0)

We’re loving the new clean fresh look of our new website and we hope you will find the new site an easy way to shop & view our full collection of stylish partyware & decorations.

Our blog is now incorporated into our site and we will be using this to share tips, ideas and inspiration with you.

There are lots of great new features on the site too like being able to set up your own ‘wish list’ and you can contact us direct from a product page if you have a question.

You can also now find more information about our balloon décor services online – check out our balloon page.

Happy browsing, planning & shopping!