10 ways to entertain effortlessly during the festive season

Be the hostess with the mostest this festive season.  I am no Nigella, I can't cook like Jamie, and I never manage to style my food like Donna Hay, but I do love to entertain.  Here are my tips for ensuring that both you and your guests will have a good time, and that's really what its all about.

Hostess with the mostest tips:

• Plan a menu where at least half of the dishes can be prepared the day before or on the morning of your event.  Cuts down the cooking and clearing up you need to do just before your guests arrive.
• Create a drinks station.  I always make sure I get my guest their first drink, but after that its hard to make sure everybody has their glass filled all the time.  A drinks station with fresh glasses, iced water, and ice bucket allows guests to get their own drinks during the evening.
• Decorate with fresh flowers.  Even the simplest bunch of flowers makes your home look loved.
• Set the table the previous evening or in the morning.  After we have done the first round of food prep I spend a few hours setting the table and doing the flowers (can you tell I like this bit?).  This way you aren't rushed before you need to get into the final food prep, and you get to enjoy a pretty house while you are getting ready.
• Load this dishwasher in the afternoon and empty it before your guests arrive.  Not only will the kitchen be nice and tidy but you can pack things straight into the dishwasher during the evening and keep it tidy as you go.
• Team work makes prep easier to do and more fun. 
• Freshen up your guest bathroom with a few flowers in a small vase or bottle, several fresh hand towels rolled and stacked as a smart restaurant does, and a lovely hand soap.
• Tidy the house the evening before your event.  It always takes longer than you think and its one less thing to worry about the next day.
• Create a party play list to set the mood.  Then it's a simple as plugging in your smart phone and enjoying your evening.

Your guests will be more relaxed and enjoy themselves more if you are relaxed too.  So plan ahead, do your prep work early, and remember to enjoy yourself.

Photograph taken by Graeme Myburgh at the Festive Fiesta pop up party I threw here.

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Christmas table...pomegranates and polka dots

This year we are having a non traditional table that I hope will still feel like Christmas.  Lots of white linen with a gold polka dot twist, and pomegranates instead of holly.  
See how we made our centrepiece here, I hope it inspires you to make your own.

I am delighted with how it is looking!  I would love to make a feature to hang over the table, perhaps a piece of driftwood dropping with gold baubles, but we will have to see if time allows.

The oranges, pinks and gold look so zesty against the black wall and I am loving the gold polka dot tablecloth, so festive!!  

I used thin slices of reclaimed timber to hide the base of the flower arrangement.  We had these as leftovers from another project but you could buy thin strips of wood at your local hardware and paint them any colour you want.  Simply cut to wood to size and hot glue together at the ends.  

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Flowers by Build House Home

Gold polka dot tablecloth

Gold chargers

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What ever you are doing this Christmas I hope its full of love and peace, laughter, friends, family and fun.  Have a wonderful festive season.

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my favourite things...christmas gift ideas 2013

I always loved the Oprah "favourite things" show, what a great way to choose presents, to give only things that you really like.  So I put together my favourite things from 2013, for me and the girls.  Hope you will get some good gift ideas, or find a few things you would like in your own Christmas stocking.

Miss E helped me pick these favourites.  They are sure to please any tween and lots are perfect for stocking filler.

The jelly beans in test tubes from Happy Lab are sure to be a hit, tons of flavours, my fave is pina colada or green apple, Miss E likes candyfloss and sour lemon.  
Miss E's favourite game and book of the year - we all love Scattergories.
Cute paper pads, guitar pen ipod and ipad cases from Typo, so many choices I couldn't include them all.
Sunnies from Rubi

Miss J loves books so I added her two current favourites.  For the rest its sugar and spice and all things nice.

Tiger Tribe sticker book and necklace from Seed, they have lots of great stocking fillers for girls and boys of all ages.
Christmas Matryoshka dolls and Hop-a-Long Rudolph from Urban Baby for a festive feel.
Zog and Tashi are both gorgeous books with lovely illustrations and easy to read stories.
  

These really are my favourite picks this year, it turned out to be quite a masculine looking set.
If you had to choose just one the, Japanese handsaw should be a staple in any tool box.  Can't remember how we managed without it or the Kreg Jig.
We read the entire series of Conn Iggulden books about Ghengis Khan and his descendants.  Its a fascinating story which just happens to be true.  Perfect holiday reading for him or her.
Black Pepper Recharge Body wash from Molton Brown.
I finally bought this Nespresso machine this year and I love it.

There is one thing missing from this list, the Toftbo microfibre bath mats from Ikea.  They just don't photograph well but your feet and your wallet are going to thank you.  My sister says they are "like standing on clouds".

This post is not sponsored, its simply the stuff I really like right now.
Hope you are all enjoying the start to a wonderful festive season.

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pop up dinner party at home for the festive season

I love the concept of pop up parties, but in reality can be a bit hard to do.  Especially with a toddler in tow.
So I thought how cool would it be to create a pop up space at home -  a little extraordinary in the ordinary, a little bit of fantasy for just one evening.

I wanted to set the table up in the garden surrounded by fairy lights, but some heavy rain storms meant it had to be plan B, our wide hallway.  I threw down a rug and moved our outdoor table and pillows indoors for the evening.  Then I strung the glass doors with fairy lights and lit candles to create a romantic glow of light.

Watermelon and lime agua fresca kicked off the evening, followed by a delicious Mexican inspired menu made by my amazing hubby.  Wraps with lamb, pomegranates and honey coriander yoghurt, or deconstructed chorizo with jalapeno green sauce, chunks of pineapple dusted with salt and chilli powder, and a grapefruit granita with a mojito sauce to finish.   Delicious!

I found gorgeous bunches of natives in yellows and oranges at the flower seller this morning. 

Wax flowers, pin cushions and kangaroo paw form a zesty base that could be Christmas or fiesta.  I made a low arrangement for the table centre with a few candles, finished with white plates and white napkins.  Fresh, fun and simple.

Sitting on cushions on the floor with the glow of candlelight and fairy lights, what fun.

The space was transformed, it didn't look like our house at all.  All the fantasy of a pop up party, with all the comforts of home and a fully equipped kitchen close at hand.  I didn't use anything I didn't already own, I just moved things into unexpected places.
I hope you are inspired!  Go on, string up some lanterns or fairy lights, and throw a pop up party of your own at home too.  Make sure to tell me what you created!

All images by Eva Burgess of Build House Home, except 5th image by Graeme Myburgh.

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the gift of giving...what to do with pre-loved toys

Its a good time of year to sort out the toys, Christmas is around the corner and our lucky children are sure to be getting presents.  They have been good so it will be presents rather than coal.  

Its the perfect time to sort through what we have:

• throw away the broken, 
• regroup the sets that have become scattered, 
• separate preloved toys for regifting

This year in addition to their own stockings, my children will have a regifting santa sack where they can put toys that can be passed onto children who need them.  

It is hard to find places in Australia which will accept quality preloved toys, but I have managed to find a few places who do take them: 

• Your local police station may accept soft animals that children in a traumatic situation can be given to cuddle, 
• Family refuge centres (like Ozcare) will also accept toys if they have a family with children of the right age, 
• Foster care centres will pass age appropriate toys onto children in care
• Childrens Hospitals
• Lifeline shops accept games and books.  

If anybody has any other suggestions please let me know, I do hate the idea that old toys just go to the tip.

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Xmas shopping.....my gift picks for the festive season #1

Back in the mists of cyber time (about 5 years ago) I doubted that I would buy much on the internet.  

How hilarious!  I have bought clothes, shoes, lamps, bed linen, a lawn mower (! not kidding) any amount of fabric and craft stuff, hardware, books... the list is endless.  This year I am doing my Christmas shopping online.  I know its early but I am going to be super organised, I am not going to scrum down in the department stores, I am going to miss the traffic and find wonderful, thoughtful, reasonably priced presents for all.  Sharing is caring, so I hope you find some ideas here you like too.

Gifts online for under $30: 
Half Full print and Bird pendant by Courtney Oquist on Etsy. Charm with your child's actual foot print or hand writing by J4J Charms.  I really really want one with Ella's handwriting, what gorgeous keep sakes for any mum and they do cuff links for dads. Click Clack Critterz Frog from Biome.

More online gifts under $30:  
Fetch tea towel from To Dry For.   
Sweet Orange, Cedarwood & Sage Hand wash and Mandarin & Rosemary Body cream from Grown.  My personal favourite range for home.  
Cotton fouta or french bath towels, the perfect light beach towel or sarong in gorgeous french style stripes and colours.  Look on eBay, lots of suppliers and any colour that you like.

Apps for the littlies, tested and approved by Little Miss J:
These are good sanity savers for long journeys or doctors waiting rooms.
Both the Duck Duck Moose range and the Hairy Maclary books are very interactive with the figures reacting to the patting and poking of little paws.
Apps are great gifts to send when loved ones are far away, and super reasonable at under $6 each.

I am only including things that I would like to give or receive myself (we will see which of my family read the blog won't we).
Pop in next week to see my selections for under $50 and under $150, also I have an idea which I think will revolutionise family gifting forever.

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