:: Giggle & Hoot Birthday ::

After a completely unplanned hiatus, I'm back! A whole heap of things have gone on since I last blogged - I shot two weddings, corporate photo shoots, a baby photo shoot, a family photo shoot, two cake smash photo shoots, both my nieces turned one, my nephew turned three, I turned 31, a holiday to the coast, a photo shoot with a very well known Instagrammer, I won a photography competition, lots of online photography features, and my sister is pregnant again (due in July, SO exciting!) ... to name a few! Part of my hiatus was due to the amount of photos I had to edit (over 15,000 to edit in two months, and that was on top of my normal 9-5 job!), and the other part was due to our Internet breaking. I didn't realise just how much I rely on the Internet in my every day life until we didn't have it for a few weeks.

Anyway! I've got some super cute photos to share with you from my niece's first birthday and my nephew's third birthday. My eldest niece and nephew share the same birthday so it was a joint first and third birthday. My sisters chose a Giggle & Hoot theme. For the non-Australians that read my blog Giggle & Hoot is an Australian children's television show that runs for about five minutes at a time in between other shows. It consists of a (super cute) host Jimmy Giggle (I think he was chosen for the Mummys, haha!) and his best friend Hoot (a stuffed owl puppet), they sing songs and do little skits. Hoot also has a friend called Hootabelle, who (as you can probably guess) is a girl owl. My niece is obsessed with Giggle & Hoot and it covers both boy and girl aspects of the party so it was a great choice!

(My sister is still against photos of my nephew being online, but I can assure you he was there and had a great time!)

The birthday girl, in her Hootabelle inspired dress

Party bags decorated to look like Hoot and Hootabelle - so cute! Each bag was filled with little toys for each guest and was later used to hold lollies and prizes from the Hootabelle pinata.

She couldn't stop high-fiving everyone all day, even while we were trying to take photos!

And to prove I was actually there!

:: Happy Birthday To Me! ::

It's official ladies and gentlemen, I am now 30. No longer can I say I'm in my 20s and try to ignore the fact that 29 was the very tippy top of the 20s and as such, hardly counts as a '20-something'. But, in a desperate attempt to hold onto my 20s for just a little bit longer I decided to have a 20s themed party!

I decided on a simple invite, printed on white paper and glued to cream cardboard. I think the words and colour say enough, really! Below is my invitation (address omitted for obvious reasons!). My sister-in-law suggested an emerald green font as it was Pantone's colour of the year last year and emerald's always remind me of the 1920s. I used this font for the title and this font for the rest of the invitation. The little border decorations came from this site. We picked one and then rotated them to fit where we needed them. From memory, that particular border is found by using a capital 'M'.

We have quite a large backyard so Mr LG and I decided to buy a badminton set (fun!) and some quoits to play during the party - both of which were a big hit. We also had a marquee set up, lined with bunting, as well as 20s-style decorations dotted around the place. Mr LG and I love everything art deco so we already had old typewriters, old phones, old luggage and old bikes from that era to use. It was fun to see everyone dressed up with flippy dresses, suspenders, headbands, and lots of feathers and sequins.

Eloise and Ramona's Hotsy Totsy Book of Fun can be purchased from flapperdoodle on etsy. That store is amazing, I love so many items! Eloise and Ramona are just fabulous!

These colouring in pages can also be bought from flapperdoodle. I decided to have the activity book and colouring pages to entertain my smaller guests. They went down a treat, with kids and adults alike. Who doesn't love some fun colouring in?

Photo courtesy of Gracie

Photos courtesy of Gracie - I love the second photo, that pesky balloon just wanted to be in the photo!

My gorgeous niece Scarlett (with my Mum in the background). Is there anything better than a 1920s-dressed baby?

Photo courtesy of Gracie

Photos courtesy of Gracie - she is so cute!

Photo courtesy of Gracie - on a side note, does anyone know where I can buy typewriter ribbon from?

I loved my sister's wig! By the end of the day everyone was trying it on!

I had an amazing day surrounded by the people closest to me. I highly recommend a 1920s themed party to anyone who is considering one - it is fabulous fun!

:: A Toy Story Second Birthday ::

My nephew turned two at the end of September and my sister threw him the cutest Toy Story themed birthday. He loves Buzz and Woody, and by 'loves' I mean - 'is obsessed with'. The only time he doesn't want to watch Toy Story is when he decides he wants to watch Cars, which is his other favourite movie.

My sister doesn't want photos of my nephew online, but I can show you some of the super cute details. My favourite are the alien cupcakes - soooo cute!!

See what I mean? SO cute!!

The Buzz pinata was made by a family friend, isn't it amazing! They have also made us an Ariel pinata and a Nemo pinata.

I love themed parties! I'm turning 30 early next year and I'm planning on having a 1920s themed lawn party. I can't wait! What is your favourite theme for a party?

:: Pink Picnic Party ::

Yesterday I helped celebrate Gracie's belated birthday. She set up an amazing little picnic inside her living room (the weather was terrible, but who says an indoor picnic can't be just as cute?). Gracie made pinwheels, wrapped adorable little glass bottle in lace, and served lots of pretty pink food. I had such a great time!