Pretty Pamper Party

hands with pretty nails

A box of pretty party supplies. A batch of pretty cupcakes and lots of ice cream. A collection of pretty pamper items to make. A lovely group of pretty girls.

Put it all together and you have a Pretty Pamper Party!

stash creative party supplies

Stash Creative Supplies was lovely enough to send me a stash of pretty aqua and white party supplies. There were plates, napkins, straws, cups, cupcake holders, invitations, paper bags and gorgeous tissue paper pom poms. It was the perfect excuse to have a party for my Little Miss. She always misses out on birthday parties because her’s falls in school holidays.

pamper party table and boxes

She was keen to have a pamper party and had grand plans of the many stations that she and her friends could set up. I scaled back her dream a little (for my own sanity!) but threw in a couple of surprises for her. Each guest received a blue box with the containers and tools to make our pamper products.

kit for pamper party

Their first task was to decorate their packages. This was a way to keep them amused while the rest of the guests were arriving and gave them a chance to chatter as well. We used Sharpie pens and stickers. The table was covered with a plastic tablecloth in case of mess with some paper doilies to dress it up. The doilies were attached with double-sided tape to keep them in place.

pamper party craft

Once the girls finished decorating, we made some pamper products.  We made Chocolate Lip Gloss, Bath Salts, and Body Glitter. I’ll share the tutorials for these over the next few days so stay tuned.

pamper party ice cream afternoon tea

Afternoon tea was lots of sweet lovelies. (Hey, it’s a party – we don’t do lollies and soft drink here except for parties!) There were yummy cupcakes in the gorgeous owl paper cups from Stash, chips and lollies. There was also ice cream which they decorated with sprinkles, marshmallows, chocolate sauce and maltesers.

I had not used cupcake cups like this before but they were super easy. I just laid out the cups on a baking tray, filled them with cake mixture and baked as usual. They looked so special!

cupcakes paper lantern

These lovely girls are around 9 years old now and I know anything that makes them feel grown up is special so they had tall champagne goblets to drink their pink lemonade from. The lemonade had a dash of food colouring in it to create the pretty colour. Quick and easy is good!

cupcakes owl papers

After they had eaten, we moved on to the Hair Salon. I forgot to take photos of this corner of the room, but Little Miss set up some small chairs for the guests to sit at with space behind for the “hairdressers”. There was a table of hair equipment to use. We washed up all the combs and brushes before and after this session, but be aware of the risks of sharing hair equipment between kids. There was also a toy hair dryer and pretend scissors.

aqua white straws in tall glasses

While they did each others hair, I painted everyone’s nails. I had a little collection of nail polishes but the sparkly ones were most popular. It was a lovely chance for me to chat to each of my daughter’s friends and get to know them a little more. Another lovely Mummy helped add nail art stickers after the polish had dried.

pamper party nail kit

My Tips for a fun Pamper Party

  • Have a plan – the girls were happy to be told what to do next when it was clear there were fun plans.
  • It will be messy so be prepared for that. We had a plastic table-cloth that I could wrap all the mess into and remove before we ate afternoon tea. I found face washers were helpful for sticky fingers, and we made sure there was plenty of soap in the bathroom.
  • An activity that everyone can gradually join in as they arrive is helpful.
  • A few pretty decorations make things special. The paper lanterns were $2 each at a cheap shop. The doilies were a very economical table decoration. Tissue paper pom poms are only $3 from Stash Creative Supplies.
  • Be aware of allergies – I checked with parents as the girls arrived that no one had allergies to the pamper product ingredients or any foods.

I have to say a special thank you to Stash Creative Supplies. As well as party supplies at very reasonable prices, you will find fabric, wash tape and other craft supplies at their very easy to navigate website. So make sure you pop over and say Hi!

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I did receive a collection of party supplies as a gift to sample. All opinions are my own and I had no obligation to write nice stuff about Stash – they really are nice products and nice people!

Crochet Infinity Scarf

crochet infinity scarf

This is one of those special scarves that looks tricky but is really very easy to create. It uses only two different crochet stitches and variegated yarn to get beautiful colours without changing yarns all the time. It is a crochet Infinity scarf, so-called because the loop has a twist in it like an infinity symbol. It can be worn as a long loop or wrapped twice to be a warm muffler. It is super snuggly so I’ll be wearing this one on the side of the soccer field this season.

crochet infinity scarf

What You Need

  • two 100g balls of variegated 8 ply yarn – mine was Cleckheaton California 100% wool in a colour called Ocean
  • 6.00mm crochet hook (U.S. size 10/ J or U.K. size 4)

As with all crochet projects, this scarf would work with different yarn as well. This yarn is a nice thick soft one with a lovely mix of colours, but you might use a plain yarn or change colours as you go along, or try something light and wispy instead. you may need to choose a different size hook with different yarn. There are probably guidelines out there, but I tend to crochet a few rows and see what I think!

crochet infinity scarf

What To Do

  • Chain 36 for the base row – this gave me a width of 29cm (11.5″). You could do more or less if you wish.
  • Turn and treble stitch into the 4th chain. Treble into each chain along the row
  • Turn and chain 1
  • Single crochet into the top of each treble along the row
  • Turn and chain 3
  • Treble crochet the next row, then turn and chain 1
  • Single crochet the next row, then turn and chain 3
  • Keep going alternating treble and single crochet rows
  • I continued using 2 balls of yarn until my scarf was about 130cm (51″) long

Joining:

Instead of joining the scarf ends to create a flat loop, I turned one end so there was a single twist in my scarf, creating the “infinity” loop. Just lay our your scarf on the table with the ends on top of each other at one side. Then lift the top end and turn it over so there is a twist in the top piece.

There are two ways you can join your scarf:

  1. I joined my scarf with the last row of crochet. As I crocheted that last row, I put the hook through the stitch and then through the corresponding stitch on the other end of the scarf, then pulled the yarn through both layers.
  2. Alternatively, finish off your crochet then sew the ends together with a yarn needle and extra yarn.

crochet infinity scarf

Not sure how to crochet? Want to learn? Check out these tutorials: Crochet for Beginners

Do you wear scarves? Have you got a favourite one that you’ve made or bought?

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origami crane

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fabric tools

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craftsy BOM May blocks

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crochet hexagon

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brown paper owl origami

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chair bag done

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