I had never heard of these before and I have to say they will be a new little tradition I want to bring to my son this year. I found them on Pinterest where there is endless inspiration if you want to start this too.

The photos I have found on the net and I have included links back to where I got them so the credit can go where it deserves. Just click on the images and they will take you there.

• PJs seem to be a big favourite in the box. It’s a great idea because I have to say my son would not really be hugely excited with PJs on Christmas Day, but they so fit the whole theme for Christmas Eve.
• Some also do socks – not sure this would work so well here in the sub-tropics, is far too warm and sticky for socks were we live.
• The movie idea is also a winner, we only have a couple of Christmas movies – The Polar Express and The Snowman, so it would be lovely to add another to the collection.
• Popcorn for the movie is also a given – will put in a bag of kernels and make it ourselves.
• I am torn with the hot chocolate because I love the idea of the hot chocolate, but it is so hot here. So maybe the marshmallows, choc chips and directions to a tub of ice cream! Then it is a chocolate sundae.
• The books are a must, we have lots of Christmas books including the beautiful Twas The Night Before Christmas, which inspired my Treasure Hunt (more to follow). So we always read them in the lead up to Christmas.
• I might also include notepaper and envelope so my son can write a little message to go with his drink and biscuit for Santa.
• I think I will also include a new ornament. I love to get one new Christmas ornament every year. And this would be a lovely time to place it together either on the tree or around the house.

And it’s not just about buying new stuff. It can just be a point of inspiration for the night – so if they don’t need new PJs, just include their favourite pair in the box, and if they already own the books and movies – use them. Rather than an excuse for more gifts, it is about sharing the experience and creating the atmosphere for the night.

We’ll be going to church for the service and carols before having dinner with my parents, and then we can come home and enjoy the little surprise box. My son embraces traditions as much as I do, so I know he will love this.

That’s what inspired me to create my Twas The Night Before Christmas Treasure Hunt. I so love the classic poem and it was a way to bring it to children in a new and fun way that can be shared with the whole family. You could include the first clue of the hunt in your Christmas Eve Box and send them on the hunt as part of your family fun.

They could also collect up the other items that you would have put in the box and bring it back for everyone to share.

While the hunt works perfectly for Christmas Eve, it can be played anytime during the festive season – who doesn’t enjoy a fun game finding clues and enjoying a little treat at the end?

And don’t forget to check out our 12 Days of Christmas Treasure Hunt as well.

It is no secret that I worked for many years in newspapers. So it was with great relish that I tackled the Daily Prophet newspaper for one of my graphic design projects.

It was a rather sizable end product being 5 x A3 pages in length! But I had a lot of fun designing it, and even got lenticular cards made for the pictures so they would move.

It is still one of my favourite items and sits proudly in my office where my son takes it down from time to time for a read. It was based on spells from the books (this fit in with the project theme – 10 things you need to know about… – I picked spells as the first in what could be 10 areas of the HP books. They could have been sold in the book boxes etc.)

In that vein I have now gone on to design a Daily Prophet newspaper page that can be custom tailored for people wanting their own personal page. I have written a story about their escape from Azkaban and their upcoming birthday. So it makes a great momento. See below for details.

I found the layout of the Daily Prophet in the movies quite interesting – some good, some not so good. It certainly followed a style all its own! I adopted some of these in the project book – having fun winding lines of text through the body of the stories and even placing stories side on. Not sure how easy it would have been to read the original papers – but visually they had a lot of impact for the movies.

If you are interested in the Daily Prophet back story then head over to Harry Potter Wiki for more info HERE.

According to them:

• The Daily Prophet is a wizarding newspaper based in London. It is the primary source of news for British wizards.
• The current editor is Barnabas Cuffe, who works in the main office in Diagon Alley.
• Because of its ability to influence the minds of many in the British wizarding community, the paper has been known to have its content slanted intentionally by the Ministry of Magic (which it has strong ties with) into telling the Ministry’s preferred version of events.
• Unfortunately, the Prophet does not seem to have a lot of journalistic integrity, it has been known to be more concerned about sales than about factual accuracy.
• In some cases, the Ministry of Magic is highly reliant on the Daily Prophet to assure the public that the Ministry is doing the right thing.
• The paper is delivered to subscribers by owl, and subscriptions cost 1 Knut. This paper is delivered to professors and a few students at Hogwarts in the mornings, when the owl post arrives.
• The paper features a morning and evening edition, the latter of which is called the Evening Prophet. The weekend edition is called the Sunday Prophet.
• Additional news bulletins can be delivered quickly when important, newsworthy events occur. As news changes, an edition may magically change, too, over the course of the day, probably by means of a Protean Charm.

The Prophet is not the only publication in the British wizarding world, but it is almost certainly the most widely read. The most widely read alternative newspaper in the wizarding world is The Quibbler.

If you would like your own Daily Prophet front page, head over to my Etsy shop and choose the size you want. You could use it as a poster, birthday card, print it on to a T-shirt or send the file to the baker and have it put on a cake! Click HERE

Last year I managed to find a DeAgostini Harry Potter Chess Set to buy for my son (these were first released in 2006). It was a subscription deal years ago that arrived once a week with a chess magazine and a chess piece for the set. It was based on the Wizard Chess game from the movies and all the pieces ‘do’ something.

It is not a cheap item and I had been watching on Ebay for years various Harry Potter items for my son who is also a HP fan.

As he loves playing chess it seemed like a good birthday present idea. I bought the set second hand – never used and many pieces still in boxes, and then gave him one a week like he was getting the subscription. It took more than a year (I forgot some weeks!) but finally he has the whole set and board – but where to put this massive thing!

I found a $3 side table at the op shop and thought I could make something of it. Made from just chipboard it was a bit worse for wear but still stable and a good height for a chess board. The board actually sits too big on the table as it is a round top, and the four corner pieces are off the table with the weight of the board on the board itself not on the legs, but as the legs have on/off buttons to turn the lights on or off, this works really well.

So time to decorate!

I had bought a Harry Potter scrapbook packet years ago and had been saving it and this was perfect. It had papers and stickers in it. We also had a pile of Harry Potter postcards my son’s dad had sent to him a few years back  – giving us great pictures from the movie.

First I painted the table (pulled apart) with a mix of black and white gessa mixed with acrylic paints to get a dark brown. I used a dry brush to do a patchy paint job then wet a wide brush and brushed this over the paint already on the table to put a light wash over the areas that didn’t have paint on it. I also used some black gessa on a dry brush to brush bits here and there. It all looked patchy and rustic and aged.

Once dry I then started ripping, cutting and placing papers. I came up with a basic concept for one corner and the other three followed the same style. I used Blue Tac to hold the papers and postcards in place until I was happy with how everything was sitting together. I cut each piece through the middle join so that I could pull the table apart for sealing etc.

I gave each corner a theme with a Howart’s house. One was Slytherin and had Quidditch items on it, another was Gryffindor and had all the Harry Potter stuff – glasses, Hedwig, lightening bolt. Ravenclaw was Ministry of Magic, and Hufflepuff was Howarts and Diagon Alley. The stickers fit into this breakdown so it worked well. The postcards I placed depending on their frame colours and how they fit in with the themes.

Then I used pva glue to stick all the papers and postcards on. Then the stickers. I then added a layer of PVA glue to all the edges of the papers and postcards to make sure they didn’t lift.

Once the glue was dry, I used a dry brush to add more brown paint to the edges of the paper joins and the postcards. This helped to meld everything together so things didn’t ‘stand up’ (visually) off the table too much. It helped to age it too.

I then used an exterior ‘brush and leaf’ bronze gold paint on the outside edges of the table – to age it but also help protect them. I had this in a box from years ago and is for touching up letter boxes and house numbers etc (right).

I let this all dry for a couple of days as the bronze paint was smelly!

Then I used a PVA glue/water mix of about 50/50 to seal the whole table. I brushed it all over the table, over papers, stickers, paint – the lot. Like a varnish. This helps to protect all the papers – especially the table top.

Then I put it all back together and screwed the top on – and it’s game on!

NB: I bought the HP scrapbook kit on Ebay and I have seen postcard packs about on line too. The wood chip table was similar to something I had seen available at a large hardware shop. It should all be reasonably easy to find and make yourself if you want one too! Good luck.

If you are Harry Potter fan too then maybe you would like to check out some of my Harry Potter products in my Etsy store. Fun for all ages!

Click HERE

Halloween also known as All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve is an annual celebration on 31 October. It’s when my son likes to dress up and walk the streets with his treat bag and knock on the neighbours’s doors.

Where we live, in Northern NSW, Australia, it has become all about the kids dressing in costume and collecting as many lollies as possible. They do not really do tricks and don’t really understand the concept of Trick or Treat – it’s all about treat for them!

I always encourage my son to take a pack of cards and do a card trick so he can perform if required! Our neighbourhood has become THE place to trick or treat and they come from miles around to hit the streets around us – I always run out of lollies no matter how many I have!

But traditionally, Halloween initiates the triduum of Hallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers.

According to many scholars, All Hallows’ Eve is a Christianized feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, with possible pagan roots. Other academic scholars maintain it has solely Christian roots.

The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night or day of the year seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures throughout the world. In 19th century Ireland, “candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin”. Throughout the Gaelic and Welsh regions, the household festivities included rituals and games intended to divine one’s future, especially regarding death and marriage. Nuts and apples were often used in these divination rituals. Special bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them.

Today typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted house attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films (we always put on a child appropriate spooky movie!)

Trick-or-treating is my son’s favourite part of Halloween – both for the sweets and the dressing up! Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, “Trick or treat?” The word trick refers to ‘threat’ to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. The practice is said to have roots in the medieval practice of mumming (masked performers who paraded the streets and entered house to dance or perform), which is closely related to souling (the making of soul cakes to remember the dead).

In Scotland and Ireland, guising is a traditional Halloween custom, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money. The practice of guising at Halloween in North America is first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported children going “guising” around the neighborhood.

Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after supernatural figures such as vampires, monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. Over time, in the United States the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.

There is so much interesting history to Halloween so if you want to know more, check out Wikipedia which has a wealth of info on all the various areas of the celebration.

If you are looking for something a bit different to celebrate Halloween this year, then check out my Halloween Treat Hunt on Etsy. You fill in the hiding places to suit your needs. The kids collect up the clues and stack them in a certain order to discover the secret message. Or if you want a crowd to play you can stick the clues up around the house and garden and use the included play sheets, which they fill in as they find the clues – they still solve the hidden message, but they also get to drawn all the Jack o’ lanterns. This allows lots of kids to play, and they can do it at different times, so you could send all the visiting ‘Trick or Treaters’ on a hunt to get their treat – you’ll be the talk of the town with the kids!

Find my Halloween Treat Hunt HERE

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1865, and was written by English author the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson published under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.

Because a little bit of crazy is a whole lot of fun, children have been drawn to Alice in Wonderland for years – and so have their parents!

It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children.

It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre.

The book was based on a story made up by Dodgson during a boat trip near Oxford in July 1862. He told the tale to the three daughters of Henry Liddell (the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University and Dean of Christ Church). The girls names were Lorina (aged 13), Alice (10) and Edith(8).

During the 5-mile boat trip, Dodgson told a story featuring a bored little girl called Alice who goes looking for an adventure. They loved the tale and Alice Liddell asked him to write it down. The next day he started.

A month later, they all took another boat trip and Dodgson elaborated on the story. In the November, Dodgson started working on the manuscript of the story in earnest.

Dodgson also researched natural history for the animals presented in the book, and then had the book examined by other children. He added his own illustrations but approached John Tenniel to illustrate the book for publication, telling him that the story had been well liked by children.

He later showed Alice’s Adventures Under Ground to his friend, the Scottish author George Macdonald, whose children were so taken with it that Dodgson was encouraged to look for a publisher.

On 26 November 1864 he gave Alice the handwritten manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, with illustrations by Dodgson himself, dedicating it as “A Christmas Gift to a Dear Child in Memory of a Summer’s Day”.

But before Alice received her copy, Dodgson was already preparing it for publication and expanding the 15,500-word original to 27,500 words, adding the chapters about the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Tea-Party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice’s_Adventures_in_Wonderland

Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There followed in 1871. The two works are among the most popular and most famous children’s books in the English language and, like the best children’s literature, are also loved by adults.

Alice Liddell gave her name to the fictional Alice, but Dodgson always denied he intended a portrait of her. The fictional Alice had the same birthday as the real one, May 4th and, in the poem in Through the Looking Glass that starts ‘A boat beneath a sunny sky,’ the first letter of each line spells out the real Alice’s full name – Alice Pleasance Liddell.

It also seems that the character of the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass owed something to the girls’ alarming governess.

http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/alice-wonderland-story-first-told

If you are looking to bring home the magic of Alice in Wonderland then try our Wonderland Treasure Hunt Game. Based on the original book, our rhyming clues tell you the story of Alice and take you on an adventure. You can play it anywhere, simply fill in your hiding places yourself.

All hand illustrated, the clues also have Looking Glass questions that can be read in a mirror. Visit our Etsy story by clicking on the image right for more information about this wonderful game. Perfect for parties, games or simply a fun way of introducing the story to your children or grandchildren.

The USA has fought long and hard for the independence and freedom it enjoys today.

July 4 is the American national day to celebrate this independence and now means more than just the Declaration of independence. Subsequent wars have meant that Americans still fight today to ensure the freedoms they have come to value and respect.

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

It was first celebrated in 1777, when Philadelphians remembered the 4th of July. Bells were rung, guns fired, candles lighted, and firecrackers set off. However, while the War of Independence dragged on, July 4 celebrations were modest.

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/independenceday1.html

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation’s most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson’s most enduring monument. Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html

British settlers founded the first of the 13 colonies in Virginia in 1607. Settlements grew across the eastern coast of the modern United States. An ocean away from their rulers, the colonists began to feel a lack of representation in their government. In 1775, a bloody Revolutionary War began to win the colonists’ freedom. With the signing of The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, they officially declared a new government. With the war’s end in 1783, the colonies had won their independence from Britain and were free to found a nation.

http://home-school.lovetoknow.com/List_of_Original_Union_States

To find lots of facts about all the states of the USA visit enchanted learning for a comprehensive source of information

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/

If you are looking for a really special way to celebrate Independence Day on July 4, check out our gorgeous family friendly Independence Day Treasure Hunt. You fill in the hiding places so it can be played anywhere – in the garden, at the park, in the house, at grandma’s house – You choose!

Learn about American history, read all the interesting facts, collect all the letters to make a phrase and learn more about the 13 original states of the union. This is a great game to play as a family and give everyone the sense of pride in America. Visit our Etsy store to check it out…

Hot Cross buns and Easter bunny, chocolate eggs and Lamb lunches.

Easter has become a huge commercial buying fest for families but it has a history set in religion and paganism.

Easter is a Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion. It is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, including Maundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday), commemorating the Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus.

 
Easter is not a fixed date. It is the first Sunday after the full moon following the March equinox. Therefore the celebration of Easter varies between 4 April and 8 May.

It is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, and similar dates. In many languages, the words for “Easter” and “Passover” are similar.

Pagans

Easter is also known as a pagan festival. Early Christianity accepted many pagan practices – many which are still part of the Easter celebrations of today.

Bunnies are a leftover from the pagan festival of Eostre, a great northern goddess symbolized by a rabbit or hare. Hot cross buns are also an ancient custom. In the Old Testament, Israelites baked sweet buns for an idol, and religious leaders tried to put a stop to it. The early church clergy also tried to put a stop to sacred cakes being baked at Easter. In the end, they gave up and blessed the cake instead.

Celebrations

Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church and decorating Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb. Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter buns.

Many countries follow the tradition of decorating eggs and giving baskets of chocolate. The Easter Bunny is a popular Easter gift-giving character similar to Father Christmas.

In countries where Christianity is a state religion, or where the country has large Christian population, Easter is a public holiday. Some European and other countries in the world also have Easter Friday and Easter Monday as public holidays.

Party Time

In many countries, regardless of religion, Easter is seen as a time for families and friends to get together and celebrate in various forms. Whether that involves egg rolling, treasure hunts, big lunches, camping trips or going to church, it is an occasion marked by many people.

If you are looking for a fun Easter game for the whole family, then check out our Easter Egg Treasure Hunt game. WIth 10 rhyming clues, all hand illustrated, the kids can search the house for their Easter treats. Based on a family tradition, this hunt is an instant downloadable PDF file that you can print off at home or take to the printers. Click on the photo to visit my store.

HAPPY EASTER!

My son and his friend love nothing better than a rainbow treasure hunt to find their pot of gold. We have some Irish family which is our only excuse for joining in the St Patrick’s Day fun!

St. Patrick’s Day was first publicly celebrated in Boston in 1737 where a large population of Irish immigrants resided. New York’s first St. Patrick’s Day celebration took place 20 years later in 1737.

Nearly 200 years later, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade in the Irish Free State was held in Dublin in 1931.

Saint Patrick’s Day  is celebrated on March 17 and is considered a cultural and religious holiday. Saint Patrick’s Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. 

Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians also attend church services, and the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day, which has encouraged the holiday’s tradition of alcohol consumption.

Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs has become a feature of the day.

 Saint Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador and Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by Irish immigrants and their families around the world including Canada, America, Australia, Great Britain, Scotland, Argentina, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Switzerland.

 The tradition of “Pinching” is thought to have started in America, though where and when is under dispute. Some say that if you wore green, it made you invisible to the Leprechauns, which was good because they would pinch anyone they could see. So the pinching was to remind you of the dangers of Leprechauns – though many say it was just a schoolyard game that gave children an excuse to pinch each other for not wearing green! Some now use it as a way to give St Patrick themed gifts to friends and family with little notes saying “you’ve been pinched”.

But if you are after a simple way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and like to think of Leprechaun’s as cheeky, pots of gold as delightful and rainbows as the best – then why not enjoy a rainbow treasure hunt with the family. Find your own pot of gold and build a beautiful rainbow.

 Click on the image right…

There are some amazing ideas for decorating a rainbow themed party, but it can all add up to a lot of money and a lot of time spent on little details that many of the kids don’t notice. From banners to cake toppers, lolly tables and sky-high layer cakes.

Instead I decided to go for big impact with just a few items – plastic tablecloths, balloons and paint!

I used plastic tablecloths to decorate tables, walls, windows and even wrapped presents in them. They are bright, durable and very cheap. Their size gives them big impact and they can jazz up even the most boring garage into a great art space. I decorated the garage, the dining room and the sweets table. I bought just one of each colour and then cut them into pieces. All this from just the one set of tablecloths! They were only $2 each so most of my decorating was done for just $12 as I already had some old balloons in various colours – love cheap and cheerful! I bought one extra purple cloth to cover the main craft table and used the excess to add a little table runner on the dining table and to also wrap my son’s presents – purple is his favourite colour.

I added the balloons in matching colours to the tablecloths at the top of each piece. Used with the tablecloths they created a lot of impact. It also makes the ceiling a beautiful space above the party. Helium is great if you can afford it. Otherwise hang balloons with silver ribbons with thumb tacks, blu tac or 3M strips.

You can have your plates, cutlery and cups  fit the theme. Buy your paper/plastic items in different colours (plates red, cups green, napkins purple, cutlery yellow etc) and they brighten up the whole table. Or add ribbons and paper colour strips to your usual items to give them a new look.

You can use coloured cellophone, tissue paper or crepe paper to create displays, wrap gifts etc. The more textures the better. Kids love to see and feel the different colours and textures. I tied coloured raffia to some twigs in a vase, it gave the table a bit of height and colour. This got moved when the food came out of course!

You can use food colouring in water to fill bottles, vases, jars etc to create displays. Putting white flowers in coloured water can also change the colour of the flower – experiment and see if you can come up with something eye-catching. Or use coloured water crystals in glass containers. Also fun for kids to mush between fingers as an activity.

I double purposed by buying a bottle of soft drink/mineral water in each colour, taking off the labels, then putting them on the table – they looked great and the kids were delighted to be able to have a small glass of each one – a pick and mix drink station!

You can buy a large canvas and create a simple rainbow painting for the party or personalise it for your child to keep. It makes a creative decoration but the kids love the reminder of their birthday afterwards. It doesn’t take much time to paint a gorgeous rainbow and is hard to get wrong!

I did a free hand painting very quickly and then added little gold touches afterwards. It still hangs in our garage in our craft space and is a lovely reminder of a fun day and our love of rainbows. It is a theme that I have included in my son’s bedroom since he was a baby – bright, colourful and ageless!

NEED INSPIRATION?

If you are looking for inspiration for a rainbow birthday party and would love to create some special gifts for the children, or plan to host a rainbow art party and want projects that are easy to do with the kids, then let us take the hard work out of it for you. We have specially designed art instructions with lots of photographs and ideas in an easy to print out file. You can find the projects on Etsy.com in Instant downloadable pdfs that you print out at home. You’ll impress them all with these great craft projects.

Visit our Etsy shop HERE

The finished cake

Birthday Cake

I didn’t have the patience to bake six different layers of cake, nor did I want such a huge cake with so many layers of cake and icing/frosting through it – much of which the kids wouldn’t eat after all the food, so I made up my own simple rainbow ‘splodge’ cake. I also only needed the one cake tin – once.

Using a plain butter cake recipe, I split the mixture into six bowls evenly, then added natural food colouring to each bowl to make the six rainbow colours. Then I splodged the colours one at a time into the prepared cake tin. It meant that three of the colours filled the bottom of the tin, then another three on top. I then used a skewer and pulled that through the mix a couple of times – only lightly as I didn’t want to turn all the colours into a brown mix. Then baked as normal.

Someone else did a similar thing and has photos on my pinterest board. Click HERE to see the pic of how they did it. Mine was only one layer, which I found the easiest and meant no extra icing in the middle of the cake, which can get a bit heavy and sickly when there are so many other sweet treats to enjoy.

The cake before the icing. You can see all the colours swirled together.

When we cut the cake it was great as nobody knew what colours they would get in their piece. I topped the cake with white icing and smarties in a rainbow pattern. The kids loved the look and the taste, and very little went to waste. And the parents all wanted some too because it was a tasty cake without too many layers of icing through it.

TREATS

From cake pops to cup cakes, candy to crisps, there are so many great ideas you can add to your party table to delight even the sweetest tooth.

Some are more adventurous than others and really my ideas are to make it as simple as possible. On my Pinterest board I have collected lots of images of sweet treats so feel free to visit and follow the links to the original sites for recipes.

When dealing with food allergies and intolerances it is a good idea to get information in the RSVP process.

There are lots of gluten free options out there, or find recipes that rely on rice, corn or potatoes. Rice puffs and corn flakes can be used to make many sweet treats. Don’t forget to check ingredients and think about swapping butter for an oil based margarine, soy milk instead of normal or lactose free cream if you are dealing with dairy/lactose allergies.

There are so many sweets and candies that make great rainbow treats. From snakes, to Skittles, liquorice, Smarties, boiled sweets… the list goes on. Whether they are layered in a glass bowl, served in separate colours in glasses, or spread across a plate in colours. They make great thank you presents in clear containers and the kids love doing a pick and mix with them at the dessert table.

Crisps/Chips

There are now vegetable chips available that make a colourful and semi healthy choice when it comes to a savoury treat.

Ice cream/Ice cream cake

An ice cream cake I found online. Click on photo to see their recipe

Divide your large vanilla ice cream into SIX even amount. Put them into separate bowls, cover each and put FIVE back into the freezer. Clean the original container for use, then line with plastic wrap/Cling wrap/Glad wrap.

Allow the ice cream serve still out to soften slightly, then add fruit puree or food colouring and blend with an electric hand mixer. Pour this into the bottom of the original container. Return to the freezer until frozen again. Then remove the next bowl, allow to soften and add next colour with mixer. Check the first layer has hardened enough before you put the next layer on top. Freeze.

Repeat the process until your have all the colours layered.

They cut the ice cream slice into a rainbow shape! Perfect.

Turn out the ice cream block on to a plate and cut like a cake for a ‘slice’ of rainbow ice cream cake. You make need to loosen the sides and bottom of the container with warm water to get the ice cream out, or just give a good tug on the plastic wrap.

This would make a fantastic Ice cream Cake for the birthday girl or boy or to serve with a plain cake.

If you use an ice cream scoop and want some of every colour to be picked up in a scoop, you will need to cut the block in half from the top layer down, then turn the piece on its side and put in a container, you will then have the stripes to the top and you will get all the colours in one scoop.

NEED INSPIRATION?

If you want to be inspired with rainbow crafts to match your beautiful rainbow foods, then please visit my Etsy store for easy to follow craft instructions that are instant downloads. Fantastic craft ideas for birthday parties, rainy day projects or even to make as gifts for children. Click on the photo link right.

Or if you want to see some of the inspiration that helped me during my online searches then check out my Pinterest Rainbow Art Party board HERE.