Birthday Chocolate Bars

Yesterday we had a 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' party for Freya, and I felt that the best activity would be to design and make a chocolate bar and the packaging. I have to say it was great fun, a little messy but I think the results are fab, though I doubt this creative output will be around for long.

Birthday walls

Today is Freya's Birthday and we have been busy painting her Birthday Wall in preparation. I have to say it will still need some additions tomorrow, but her Charlie and the Chocolate Factory wall is on it's way. This is the seventh year of this family tradition and well worth the trauma of having to repaint the kitchen in a few months.

Birthday Walls

As long-term followers of this blog will remember, when my daughter Freya was five we started a tradition of painting the kitchen wall to celebrate her Birthday.
This year as it is Roald Dahl's centenary year, the theme chosen was 'James and the Giant Peach'. So, over the last two weeks, giant insects have been moving in and a peach is being pulled across the wall.
Freya is eleven today! I can't believe this is our sixth birthday wall.

We still need to catch a lot more seagulls but all is good for now and the cricket is playing Happy Birthday.

The Queen

I have been working on the queen of hearts, so I also thought it would be fun if the girls at Freya's Birthday party would make some queens. Here are some of their creations made with lots of shouts of 'off with their head!'

Mice to feed the Cheshire Cat

In a game like pin the tail on the donkey, yesterday's first party task was to make mice to feed the cheshire cat, with googly eyes and ribbon tails.The task was to get it as close to his gold filling as possible, and one girl was right on target.

Freya's Birthday Wall

It is almost Freya's Birthday and so we have been working on her Birthday wall.
This year the theme is Alice in Wonderland and the Queen of Hearts is taking center stage with some fabulous thin scarlet lips. It still has a way to go and so I think we will spend most of the weekend on it and planning an Alice in Wonderland style tea party.
Have a great weekend.

Resourcefulness, travel and birthdays

When I am away from home, it always makes me more creative and resourceful away from resources and supplies that I take for granted. 
It was my sons birthday when we were away, he was missing his cat, so a cardboard box later and here he has a cat, the eyes were made from packaging as well.

A quick catch up on home

Yesterday was my daughters birthday, the birthday wall was finished and the bunting hung, ready for work and school to finish for two weeks and the party to begin. 
The theme for the party was cakes and I had made 15 cake shapes for the party activity to be decorating cakes.

They were made from cardboard sellotaped loosely together stuffed with treats and then given one layer of paper mache and one layer of light coloured emulsion to cover the newsprint. 
The table laid out with 'ingredients' and then the 'cooking commenced'. 
First they painted them with coloured emulsion, let them dry and then applied all manner of 'sprinkles and decorations'.

The cakes looked delicious, smiles all round.

Birthday day is coming . . .

It is still two weeks to go, but we have had a great weekend making a start on Freya's Birthday wall, this year we are painting animals (and insects) with cakes. This is our fourth year of painting a wall in the kitchen for Freya's birthday, I love it, it always means spring is coming, bringing colour and freshness and I love working with my daughter.

Birthday Wall

I have spent the last day of the holidays trying to finish Freya's birthday wall, still more to do but it is nearly there, after being abandoned for Bologna and other holiday activities. The momentum to finish it being the  tiny bunting which is perfect.

Birthday

A working and school Birthday day, I always wish you could have Birthdays free of all the usual commitments. Freya was born on an Easter Monday and until her birth I had never registered how much Easter moves around the calender. Anyway we had a good day, it was beautiful weather here and all the blossoms are out, it was lovely. Here are some wonderful egg cups that I got for Freya from Deb's shop, I think they will be used more for animation than egg cups in our house.

Paint the walls . . .

Freya is seven on Wednesday so we spent Sunday painting the walls, remember last year?

Birthday Present

The draw has taken place and poor Freya (with her cold) has selected Renilde of 'Stroke of the Brush' to get The Art Room Plant's Birthday present :^D.

A Present . . . a Birthday present!

The Art Room Plant is three years old today.

Thank you for all your support, encouragement, friendship, advice and fun.

There is a parcel! a surprise! a Birthday present from this blog to you.

Leave a comment . . . the winner of the present will be selected randomly next Sunday.

Birthday

Today I received a very appropriate card from Finlay and Bellissimo. The perfect card from a blackbird killing cat, luckily today I had a sense of humour about it, yesterday I didn't.

Let the celebrations begin . . . and then re-decorate!

Spring has sprung and I have to paint the kitchen again, so on the eve of Freya's Birthday party I decided that we could be a wee bit anarchic and paint the walls, in 'Nurturing Walls' style. Straight out of bed we have made a good start I will show you the end product soon. x