This was such a special afternoon. I gathered together a group of ladies, many of them mothers with young children, with the aim of creating a relaxing and indulgent tea party where they would sit and enjoy being served. As women, we are so often the ones who tirelessly meet the needs of others, so I wanted to give these special ladies an afternoon off, where they could finish their conversations, have fresh tea poured for them, leave their diets at the door and indulge in decadent sweets and treats.
Author: Anna Hogbin
Rustic lace baby shower
As most of you are aware, designing and styling baby showers is one of my all time favourite creative pursuits. New life just grabs me every time. There is such diverse styling potential for each shower, and opportunity to reflect the personality of each precious mama to be.
Snickers cake monstrosity.
If cake could talk, then I guess this monstrous volcano of messy ganache and sticky caramel might just give away the level of stress I was experiencing while trying to bring this misguided explosion to life. It wasn’t really meant to look like this. I had a plan. My plan didn’t look like this. My plan was neater. The caramel sauce would drizzle evenly down the sides, like it does for all of those amazing bakers with fabulously successful blogs. The ganache was going to be smooth and sleek, not lumpy after the second failed attempt (!) My salted caramel Tim Tam pops were going to be deliciously dipped into the perfectly textured caramel sauce.
Whimsical dragonfly cupcake toppers
After an exceptionally busy week, I think it is time to share these delightfully whimsical dragonfly cupcake toppers that I made for a 21st celebration. Loving the teal and orange combo. Makes them pop!
A little bit shabby
Hello Lovelies. It seems too long since I have sat here and shared anything from Mama Bear’s Kitchen. This year has hurtled itself full throttle into what is shaping up to be one of our biggest year’s yet. Just when we thought our large family life couldn’t possibly get any bigger, I find that we are required to stretch our arms that wee bit further and enlarge our capacity to embrace all that the Lord brings our way. Our family dynamic is changing. One daughter leaves the nest and is happily fluttering away over in her new domain. Another new daughter is welcomed into our clan, with plans to marry our son later in the year. We couldn’t be happier, or prouder of the fine people our young adults are becoming, and the choices they are making.
Here comes the Bride
After our little Fairies played in the garden for a couple of hours, it was finally time for the bridal procession to begin. There were some very excited flower girls, and although Kitty got a bit confused about which way to walk, everything else was perfect. The girl’s beautiful cousin Amanda was beaming the whole time. It was truly a privilege to be a part of it all.
Mother’s Day tea party invitations
I made these sweet shabby invitations for our church Mother’s Day tea party which was to be held on our back deck last weekend. The last time we planned a large gathering in our home, which was our eldest daughter’s 18th in February this year, we had an unexpected cyclonic weather pattern move right through. Had to cancel. For our scheduled Mother’s Day tea party, we had massive flood rains hit which blocked most of the roads around us and thrashed our deck wildly throughout the night. Hmm….Let’s just hope these things don’t come in threes, because we are planning a pretty big (gorgeous vintage I might add!) wedding on a stunning property with a marquee in four months!! Wild weather is not an option!
Fairies in the Garden
In January our family ventured all the way over to Perth in Western Australia to attend our niece’s wedding. Five of our girls had the honour of accompanying Amanda as her flower girls. I know all mothers would brag about how beautiful their girls are dressed up for a wedding, but my little Lambs looked more like sweet woodland sprites exploring the garden in the hours before the big event. They were truly spectacular. I hope you enjoy looking through these photos.
Hooray for naked cake
Bohemian baby baptism
When I was asked to create a small cake table for a baby dedication service at church, I wanted to break away from the traditional baby blue or pink colour scheme, and move toward a more bohemian, offbeat theme, using lots of fringing, wood, leather, lace and feathers. I used my gorgeous fringed chenille throw which had a previous life as a tablecloth in the Ukraine ( gotta love Etsy), topped with a crisp white lace cloth. My wooden cake stands were used as risers to add height, with the feature cake taking centre stage of the display. I made dove fondant cupcake toppers to symbolise the purity of new life. I really enjoyed raiding my button stash and gathering bits and bobs to decorate the cake stands and the feature cake, which was wrapped in lace, ribbon, leather strips and feathers. Hand made fondant feathers were tipped with gold in keeping with the boho theme. A simple chocolate ganache cake complimented the feature cake. Mini cupcakes and ginger spice biscuits were also part of the treats.