Cupcake Party – Doyleys Garland

I love parties! I love to go to parties! I love to throw them! I think there are many things to celebrate, not only birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and Easter. Therefore I now dedicated my Friday posts to parties: to creative party invitations, to easy-to-make party food, to party decorations that make all the difference... I hope you feel inspired by the festive atmosphere on Fridays and celebrate many small and big events.

Yo might have already seen my paper lace doyley garland in front of my window, but today I want to show you how easy and quick it is to make.

All you need is: paper lace doyleys (mine were 4.5’’), a sewing machine, contrasting (or matching) thread, sticky tape

Basically all you need to do is feed the paper doyleys carefully through your sewing machine. I used a zigzag stitch but you also use a straight stitch. Leave a bit of space between the doyleys because otherwise they will be exactly next to each other and I think it looks more like a garland with a bit of space between them. Add doyleys until you have the desired lengths of the garland. Cut the treat and hang onto the wall or window using sticky tape. The garland is so lightweight that sticky tape will hold several meters of garland.

That’s it. Including hanging it takes 10 minutes max. Which leaves you more time for other decorations, for preparing food and drinks or for dressing up.;-)

location, location, location

On Wednesdays I share everything wedding with you: tips, projects, organisation, photos, faux-pas, fun things and golden rules I ‘learned’ from my own wedding. I feel I need to give something back to the fabulous blog community who helped me stay sane and enjoy every second of my ‘big day’.

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One of the central decisions you have to take in the lead up to your big day is certainly where to celebrate. Where to eat. Where to dance. Where to party. In short: the location.

Uh and there are sooo many options. Formal ones. Casual ones. Expensive ones. Cheap ones. And even ones which are free. Into some you have to invest a lot of time and effort in terms of decoration and catering. Into other you can just walk in and get the party started. Some are in the middle of nowhere and others right in the middle.

I think the most important thing about the location decision is what kind of wedding you want to have, what kind of atmosphere you want to create. Oh well, and the budget plays an important role as well.

We wanted to have a location:

Close to the church where we got married – walking-distance if possible to avoid our guests having to drive, getting lost on the way and then spending hours looking for parking

With a warm, casual atmosphere – nothing too cool & stylish, nothing too formal, something where people would start to dance after dinner

Which we could rent exclusively – because we wanted an intimate party with all our loved ones and no strangers walking up to the buffet

Centrally located in Berlin – because we wanted our guests to enjoy their drinks and then take a taxi home, to sleep in their own beds and to allow the kids to be picked up by their grandparents for babysitting

With great food – because we love good food and we wanted to serve our friends and family the best we could afford

Therefore we decided in favour of one of our favourite restaurants in Berlin: Nola’s am Weinberg. It met all the criteria plus gave us the best service we could have hoped for. The staff was amazing. They organised everything for us and were incredible easy to deal with (both very important if you organise your wedding from overseas) They look after our guests so that we could relax and just enjoy the night. They adapted the start of the buffet to the speeches. They organised special food for the kids. They even put a plate for us aside in case we hadn’t had time to go to the buffet due to all the congratulants. They cleaned up the dance floor right in time. And they didn’t throw us out even though the party lasted much longer than anticipated (5am!). In short they made our wedding a party to remember.

So, if you are planning a wedding in Berlin, I can only recommend the Nola’s as great location to you! And if you are just looking for a restaurant with great Swiss-inspired food, that is the place as well!

For more pictures have a look here, for the menu have a look here

Ruby Tuesday: Kitchen

I would love to have a red kitchen. With bright red, shiny doors. As long as we are living in a rented apartment, however, I don’t think that my dream will come true. So the next best thing is to brighten up my classic white kitchen with lots of red accessories, like these ones e.g.:

Tea towel found here

Cupcake cases found here

Wine glasses found here

Pot holder found here

Wall clock found here

All red kitchen accessories found at Etsy.

Great presents for a 1-year-old

Every Monday I will post something related to babies: inspiration, craft projects, baby news, and discoveries I have made in this new and exciting world for me. I hope you come along on that rollercoaster ride with me.

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My little one is turning one in just 2 months and the first people have asked me about birthday wishes. And I went completely blank.”Hmm, I’ll think about it” was my not so helpful answer.

Internet research was not so helpful, this time. Of course there are millions of toys to be found, but it was hard to tell which ones were suitable for 1-year-olds. And it was impossible to tell, which were a big hit with 1-year-olds.

So, I dismissed the virtual research and interviewed my friend N. who is an experienced mum herself. Her little one is 1,5 years so she can still remember what her cutie has loved 6 months ago.

So, voila here are her top 5 first birthday presents

Children’s cart (‘Lauflernwagen’): great to practise her/his walking skills, make sure to put something heavy e.g. telephone books, into the cart to prevent it from tipping over
Found here

Das große Buch der Bilder und Wörter: cute pictures and great to practise the first words
Found here

Xylophone: preferably one with a scale and not just any notes & make sure that the plates cannot be removed (you will lose them within a week!)
Found here

Crockery & Cutlery: either unbreakable one made from plastic or classy one made of porcelain and stainless steel
Found here

Children’s vehicle: better than a rocking horse, even better if it has hanger like this one
Found here

So dear parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, godparents, brothers and sisters, I hope you find these tips helpful for putting a smile on your little one’s face. And I would LOVE to get to know your favourite first-birthday-presents.

I ♥ spring

Det is meen Berlin (typical Berlin!)

Sign at an alternative bar

Translation: no Beck’s beer, no Cafe Latte, no bullshit and on top of that self-service

Beautiful Beach House

At the beginning of each month I want to show you places where I’d rather be at that very moment. As you know I am constantly either travelling or dreaming of travelling and I want to share my favourite bars, restaurants, hotels, cities and countries around the world with you. And I am looking for your recommendations for my next trips.

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Today I want to show you a beach house which I have rented for my birthday weekend two years ago. It is in Australia, near Melbourne, close to one of the most beautiful National Parks in Australia – and I think probably the world: Wilsons Promontory. If you want a sneak peak of the park, have a look here, at its abundance of animals here, at its amazing beaches here and the landscape after the bushfire here.

But today I want to talk about a beautiful beach house on the other side of the bay. It is located in the little town of Walkerville North, but you can hardly see any other house due to the lush vegetation around the house. Actually I have to admit that Walkerville is not a town, it is hardly a village. So make sure to refuel and bring all your food and drinks with you. We found it a bit hard to buy coffee which we had forgotten. But on the other hand, who need coffee when you can sleep as long as you want to ;-)

It is the perfect spot to get away from the buzz of Melbourne. It is just a 3 hours drive to the south-east. You can either take the scenic road close to the coast (which is a bit longer) or the beeline inland.

The house accommodates easily 6 people – it has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a huge living room with open kitchen, dining table, TV, fireplace and a broad terrace. The view over the sea really takes your breath away!

And because of the view, because of the sun and the wind which tasted a bit salty, we spent most of our weekend on the terrace. We set up a hammock and took our turns in dozing in the sun. In the evenings we heated up the barbeque and stayed outside until Pirate, the one-eyed possum payed us a visit.

The most important part of a beach house is, of course, the beach or the sea. And both of them are beautiful at Walkerville North. True, the sea is always cold – it is Bass Strait after all and the next landmass to the south is Antarctica. – but it is not as rough as it can get at other points on the southern coast because of the bay. And the beach is wonderfully quiet, deserted at all times of the day (even on weekends), full of shells and close to the Cape Liptrap Coastal Park.

Where: 12 Waratah St, Walkerville North, Victoria, Australia
phone: Richard 0438-864252 or Sam 0418-878911 email: here

Highlight: 180degree view of the sea and Wilsons Promontory NP across the bay, possums and birds visiting you on the terrace

More photos, information and ideas: Blue Waters Beach House Accommodation, Wilsons Promontory NP