Sweet Little Things

Cupcake Hamper for a Baby Boy

Another cupcake couture creation!

Mini Vanilla Cupcakes decorated with cute baby animal iced decorations.

CCxo
(c) Sweet Little Things Tel: 1300 997 448 www.sweetlittlethings.com.au

Merry Christmas from the Cousins Family!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Fairies & Button Necklaces on Amy's Birthday!

My friend's daughter is turning 3 early next year, but she celebrated her birthday with a party last week.

Having been appalled at myself for lack of time I have had lately to pour into my love of 'making stuff' I sat down to make her a button necklace.

I went to my Vintage-Style Beaded Jewellery book that my sister inlaw gave me a few years ago for my birthday - it's sooo divine.

I have made quite a few things out of it and they are all fabulous. The pictures alone are enough to make me happy. All gorgeous pastel and shiny vintage-y goodness.

So this is Amy's Button Necklace:

When I asked her mum what I could get her to make her birthday special she replied 'anything girly'.

That said - I figured a fairy costume was also in order. I know I LOVED mine when I was little. Must try and find that photo of me standing in front of the Christmas tree. Although my amazing mother made mine with her own two hands, I have cheated here and bought this. One day I am hoping to have some time to attempt the great task!

Now for the great reveal......

The birthday girl herself in all her glory.

Is this both hilarious and cute all at once, or what?!

Ahhh, she cracks me up. This little lady is such a character! Word from her mother was 'she just about busted something when she opened her fairy princess get-up. She stripped naked and couldn't get her outfit on fast enough!'

Woo hoo! Job well done, Aunty CC, methinks!

CCxo

(c) Sweet Little Things Sydney Australia Tel: 1300 997 448

Baby Boy Bespoke Gift Hamper

This is what can happen when you order multiple things from our website for one lucky recipient.

They all get bundled together for a fabulous gift!

Here you see our soft toys, small sweetie of cupcakes, Sasy n Savy range and Rituelle products - all to make a new mum and her baby boy happy!

By the way you can completely trust us with the packaging. We have soooo many gorgeous ribbons and other embellishments that as long as you order the things you like, we will put it together to make the perfect gift :)

CCxo

(c) Sweet Little Things Sydney Australia Tel: 1300 997 448

Dymocks - 130 years of operation!

Our friends at Simon and Schuster sent some cakes to Dymocks the other week.

To mark their 130th anniversary this year.

These are our mini cupcakes in a mix of chocolate and vanilla with 130 hand-piped onto the top.

We finished them off in red and gold ribbon - the colours of the Dymocks brand.



CCxo

(c) Sweet Little Things Sydney Australia Tel: 1300 997 448

Do yourself a favour and see this movie...please!!

Enduring the sweltering 40 degree heat last weekend in Sydney was enough to make anyone not want to leave the air conditioned comfort their home!

Can you believe I took this on my Blackberry as I walked to a meeting across the Harbour Bridge last week? How lucky am I to live here?!

So, I didn't.

I surprised hubby with hiring the DVD 'Once'. A movie that has been on my 'must see' list for a while since I missed it at the cinema.

Oh, and I was not disappointed.

The DVD jacket calls it 'a modern day musical' which of course had the husband making noises about watching something else. It's really not like that.

It is a beautiful little budget film shot on hand held and tells the story of 2 musicians who meet and spend an eventful week in Dublin writing, playing and recording the music that tells their love story.

If this sounds strange to you then don't think about it anymore - just do yourself a favour and hire it.

Trust me.

If it helps - it was a surprise success at the Sundance Film Festival when it screened.

Oh, I'm listening to it now......the music is divine. Of course I bought the soundtrack off itunes and have been listening to it ever since.

It's heartbreaking...in a good way.

Love, love, love!!

CCxo
 

Cupcakes for the Guerlain Girls

 

 

 

So, at the risk of gloating again - here's what Vicky had to say about the delivery:

' We were absolutely thrilled when we received our cupcakes from Sweet Little Things - they were SPECTACULAR! The detail from the bag, to the box, to the ribbon and then the cupcakes printed with our Guerlain logo - they were too good to eat.
At the function that we took them too the guests were raving and everyone asked where did you get these cupcakes from, lucky we had some business cards to hand out!  The following week we ordered some more as we loved them so much.
Can't wait for our next cupcake order'.

We think they look pretty fab too :)

CCxo
Sweet Little Things

Australian Businesswomen's Network - What does it take to build a successful business? Decisive Action

Australian Businesswomen's Network - What does it take to build a successful business? Decisive Action & Hard Work

Posted using ShareThis

The second time I made my first quilt

I wrote an article recently that was featured on the great new AUSTRALIAN sewing resource site Sewn. Thought I would share it below:

Let me preface this by saying I can actually sew in a straight line. Learnt that one years ago in Fashion College. I can also cut, count, match up bits with other bits, unpick, resew, iron, style colours, hem, cut and sew bias, pleat, sew a zipper, make button holes and myriad other sewing-related activities.

I cannot, however, add up very well. At least in situations where it matters that everything actually adds up.

Making my first quilt brought this deeply buried secret of shame to the surface.

If I am honest it is no doubt why I failed the patternmaking module of fashion design. Well, I didn’t actually fail at all, but I may as well have. I don’t remember A THING. Not ONE SINGLE THING. Apart from sepia tinted memories of pencils, brown paper and rulers…I've retained nothing. From memory I was far better at draping. You know, where you make it up as you go along….?

You see this is how Sarah (my sister in law and sometimes teacher) lulls me into a false sense of security. By tapping into my ‘make it up as you go along’ mentality. She tells me that quilting is ‘easy’ once you get the knack of it. She also tells me it is very ‘freeflowing’ suggesting you can design, create and change it as you go.

While this may be true and many of you seasoned quilters may agree – let’s face it – all those little squares, triangles, strips and other weird and wonderful pieces have to actually match up, meet at the corners, have seam allowance added and still fit a queen bed exactly.

Before I go any further, I have a confession to make. I have actually made a quilt before. About 3 years ago for my godson’s christening. Is it fair to say I don’t count this one because I didn’t really like the colours? I believe this is in part because I had to choose boy ones. Sounds crazy, I know, but if you knew me, you would be utterly unsurprised by that considering I carried around my plastic Barbie tote complete with strawberry flavoured lip gloss and scratch off nail polish from the age of 3. I like girlie colours, so sue me! Although if I am really honest it was because the only gender neutral fabric I could lay my hands on had clowns all over it, and clowns frighten the life out of me! I also don’t really consider it my first quilt because I didn’t attach the wadding or quilt it myself and I cheated and sewed the binding on by machine because I ran out of time.

So, with that out of the way let me continue to tell you about my ‘first quilt-making experience’.

My little goddaughter Izzy is getting christened in a couple of weeks and I wanted to do something really special for her. Something she can have forever and know how much I love her and how honoured I feel to be her god mother. I truly believe nothing is more special than receiving a gift that has been lovingly made by hand.

After heading out to the fabric shop with the SIL and buying a tonne of other things I probably don’t need, I settled on 3 main fabrics. Izzy’s mum likes quite modern colours, so I thought the purple and aqua combo would be perfect and something a little different to your usual pink and white. Of course I had to include cupcakes.

Equipped with my fabrics and a positive attitude I headed off to Kangaroo Valley for the weekend. For those of you who don’t know where this is, it is about 1.5hrs drive from Sydney and is basically really lush green beautiful countryside. With plenty of divine little coffee shops, sweetie factories and antique dealers along the way. We hire a gorgeous cottage down there once a year and go with my husband, his sister (Sarah) and her husband Damian. The weekend comprises of feasting and drinking. I usually bring my beading forest (see below) and Sarah her quilts.

This time, I commandeered the sewing machine knowing it was my one chance to get this thing done with private tuition. After that, I would be on my own and knew it would sit in my studio until I managed to steal some of Sarah’s time again!

In an attempt to prevent your interest waning, I will not go into minute detail on how I progressed. Let me just recount some of the highs and lows. Like running out of fabric for my border and having to steal some of SIL’s (it’s that lovely dark purple with bright pink spot around the border). Finishing the top and noticing every single corner of those pesky squares actually matched up in the middle. Finding out you don’t have to backstitch at all during quilting. Finding out finishing the top didn’t mean the rest of the quilt would take me 5 mins. Making the back of the quilt (yes, I realise this is the ‘easy part’) was, well, interesting to say the least. This is where I really came unstuck.

My dysfunctional relationship with numbers reared its ugly head. The thing is – I knew what I had to do. I had it all planned out. Knew what lengths I needed to cut……so I went ahead and cut the wrong lengths, didn’t I?

Ugh!

I absolutely uncategorically blame this on the fact that quilting fabric comes folded selvedge to selvedge. What is that all about?! It’s confusing for those of us that have always handled dressmaking fabric and are used to just cutting pieces, not strips if we fold it. The irritating thing is I had actually laid the fabric out unfolded and then folded it again because I thought it would be ‘the proper quilting way’ to cut. So I cut the side with the fold at the right length as I knew it would double out and cut the other the same, thinking it would double out. Of course it wouldn’t because it doesn’t have a fold!

Ugh!

After this latest emotion dissipated, I stared at my piece of paper. Made some doodles. Frowned. Sighed. Insisted to Sarah I didn’t need any help. Did some more doodles. Relented and asked Sarah for help. She did some doodles. Sighed a bit. Wondered what I had done. Did some more doodles. Suggested a solution.

Which I tried. Only to find there still wasn’t enough fabric.

Back to the doodles. The calculator. More sighing until…..woo hoo! I managed to make it fit!

Hastily I made for the machine in case somehow these pieces managed to make themselves not fit again just to irritate me. I sewed them all together then ah – relief – it worked!

What a satisfying feeling. I rewarded myself with a glass of wine. It’s important to do so, don’t you think?

I am not going to go into any further detail about finishing it all off, as it actually all went pretty well and will make for tedious reading. So I will wind it up here. I will say, however, that if you were at all interested in the pattern I’d love you to email me and I am sure I can squeeze it out of Sarah. I might even be able to put together some ‘beginner instructions for beginners’ where I explain absolutely everything that other quilters find obvious. There’s nothing like a true beginner to give you the basics!

After reading my little account I do hope you will feel encouraged, not disheartened to embark on your own project of this kind. In hindsight, Sarah was right. Making a quilt (well, a basic one) actually is a relatively easy thing to achieve, even if you have very limited sewing skills.

This quilt was all about straight lines and corners. Cut in a straight line, sew it straight, match up the corners and you will be ok…..promise. Apart from some back-breaking basting, you will be fine!

The challenge for me is staying interested enough to carry a project through to completion. This is why I admire you seasoned professionals out there. Quilting truly is a timeless, tireless tradition; one that requires dedication, good technique and a whole lot of love.

Despite the emotional ride, this quilt is at the very least full of the latter.

CCxo

Win a pair of Posh Pyjamas!

Posh Pyjamas are a beautiful, Australian made women's sleepwear brand.

Made from 100% silky cotton fabrics, the range is flirty, feminine, fun and sexy.

I just LOVE their prints and the fact that the cuts are modest for those of us not in our 20's anymore!

The designs and still fun and sexy though, which is why the range appeals to so many women.

These are my favourites:

As a special treat, they are offering my blog readers the opportunity to win a pair of Posh Pyjamas!!

You can enter from anywhere in the world, and winner will be notified by email on the 1st November 2009.

Simply tell us in 25 words or less why you NEED a pair of Posh Pyjamas.

Good luck!!

CCxo
and the team at Sweet Little Things

Chocolate Cheesecake Surprise!

Hmmnn - a delectable box of our yummy Chocolate Cheesecake cupcakes for a lucky lady in Sydney.

SO delicious!

CCxo
Sweet Little Things

Tasty Cupcake Momento

Last week we were asked by the lovely people at Fort Dodge to put together some momentos for their staff.

Our brief:

• Logo on cupcakes with dates
• Branded Ribbon
• Single Window Boxes
• Swing Tags with Personalised Messages

We managed to turn this all around in 3 days.

Our contact Angela, was delighted:

'You guys did an absolutely fantastic job! I was very impressed with the gorgeous packaging, the cupcakes looked and TASTED fabulous. The staff and myself were so pleased with the momento gift.  

On behalf of Fort Dodge we would like to extend our big thanks to the team at Sweet Little Things. I look forward to working with you again in the near future!!!'

CCxo

Cushion Covers

Yes, I lent my hand at creating some cushion covers a while back.

This was to decorate my friend's nursery in anticipation of her newborn little girl coming home.

I love the way she asked too. She rocked up to my studio with an armful of orange and pink fabric and said 'Cath, you can sew, I can't. I need some cushions for the nursery. Here's the fabric.'
Nothing like a direct request, I say!

When I recount this story to my friend she denies this is where the story started.
Apparently I offered. Nay, insisted.
There was white wine involved. Say no more......

CCxo

Logo Cupcake-arama!

First up: 'Too Easy' cupcakes.



We have been delivering these most days to Flexirent who are just down the road in St Leonards, Sydney on behalf of Big River Creative (they are the brains behind the cute bee campaign). The cupcakes are being enjoyed by seminar attendees.



Vanilla cupcake base, black patty pans and white frosting. With a cute edible bee logo on top, these beauties have been a hit!

Next up: Green piggys for Deloitte.



We did these as a hamper gift on behalf of Deloitte to one of their clients/business partners.

We used cupcakes from the minis range in a mix of chocolate and vanilla, toppped with printed edible logos and embellished with green & white tissue and a mix of green ribbons.

To have logos on your cupcakes, they are an extra $1.10/cake. Small price to pay for mega brand recognition! We can also get branded ribbon made for you and other embellishments such as stickers and swing tags to really get your company name and identity out there. Just email: orders@sweetlittlethings.com.au to find out more!

CCxo

cupcake bliss

Honestly, I love the emails we get.

People generally saying lovely things about our little cupcake hampers.

This went out last week:

To one of our customer's grandmothers

This is the email I received from her grandaughter this morning:

Thank you so much for the order you delivered on Friday. My Grandmother rang me she was so excited I don’t think I have ever heard her talk so fast. You really made her Birthday special. The first thing she said was the delivery driver pulled up and said are you Lola and apparently he or she said someone loves you so the delivery driver needs special mention as well.......I am just really impressed all around...I would recommend you to anyone.'

It's emails like this that make coming to work worthwhile :)

CCxo

Our cupcakes featured in this month's Cleo Magazine

Well, the photo shoot we had a couple of month's ago for Cleo has been published in this month's issue of the magazine.

I wasn't allowed to unveil the shot until now:

 
Aren't they purty??

These are our signature vanilla cupcakes with Persian fairy floss, meringues and cachous to decorate!

Thanks Cleo Magazine for making us look so damn tasty :)

CCxo

It's all about me!

Well, not me, myself exactly....although yes, this blog is about me :)

We delivered some more cupcakes to our friends' publishing house in celebration of the release of Andrew Griffith's new book - 'The Me Myth'.

CCxo

sneak peek

...of the new products just waiting to get onto the site!

Had a productive few days in Melbourne last week. We attended 3 tradeshows in total.

Life in Style, which is a fair dedicated to interesting new boutique designer talent and Home and Giving and Reed Gift Fair, which are the wholesale fairs for the gift industry. You can find anything from silver wizard statues to potato peelers there.....suffice to say, you will find neither of those things on the Sweet Little Things website!

Rituelle have released a divine 'mums and bubs' range of skin products along with a great, natural men's range. We are REALLY excited about showcasing this great Australian brand.

Another stunning addition to our range will be the Sasy and Savy range of Internationally acclaimed and multiple award-winning spa products.

Made in Australia by a very 'savvy' lady the range has been selling like hotcakes overseas for a number of years, but is relatively new to the Australian market. We are so pleased to be one of those exclusive retailers.

 

and that's not all....

We are going to be selling 250g bags of coffee, tea and coffee cups, a men's skin care range, fluffy teddys and more, more more!

You asked for hampers with more than just cupcakes - and we are delivering them :)

Just in time for all those corporate Christmas orders.

Call us on 1300 997 448 if you would like to discuss your specific needs as we are certainly going to make bespoke hampers for our special customers....you!

CCxo

fashionable cupcakes

The brief: fashionable cupcakes with black lettering on white icing

The birthday girl's name: Monera

Voila!

Enjoyed in Damian Head's new restaurant - Sydney's Steel Bar & Grill

 

CCxo

A rockin' 60th

Some pics my girlfriend sent me of her mother's 60th a few weeks ago. It was dress up themed. Can you tell?! Although I'm not so sure the baby monitor was part of the outfit - ha!

Sweet Little Things cupcakes were the centrepiece, adorned with bright frosting and brighter flowers!

CCxo

what a lovely way to say thank you

The lucky staff at Suncorp received some gorgeous Sweet Little Things cupcakes the other day.

Half chocolate mudcake, half decadent vanilla with 'Thanks' on top.

Watch this space over the next few days as I will be posted a free recipe from one of our range of gourmet cupcakes.

Yay, free stuff :)

CCxo

Photo Shoot for Cleo Magazine

We were asked to provide some of our cakes in honour of a bridal themed photoshoot at Cleo Magazine.
Of course we always jump at the chance for our sweet little cupcakes to have pretty pictures taken of them!

The theme was pinks and creams, so we topped off our delectable French Vanilla cupcakes with handmade meringues and decadent Persian Fairy Floss.

Obviously these are my own self-taken pictures, but the lovely Jo Barry has promised to send me the professional ones, so will post them when the issue comes out. Yay :)

CCxo

queen's birthday long weekend cupcakes

Yes, this post is a little late, but better late than never, right?!

One of our clients ordered 90 of these cute little 'cupcake in a box' with a Queen's Birthday Weekend theme.

All staff received one.

What a yummy start to an already delicious long weekend!

I spent my long weekend with my family up at my dad's property. Bundy enjoyed himself:

As did his Cousin Teddy:

Heh heh - what a cutey. 

This one is both of them racing after the frizbee. Hilarious:

All in all a lovely long weekend :)

CCxo

what a find!

My friend who also has her own businessand I went to Vinnies the other day. She needed to source some clothing for a window installation. Of course I accompanied her so I could feed my passion for looking through other people's unwanted stuff :)

I was just blown away when I found this tea set intact. Made in Italy and all I kind of feel like I got a bargain. 6 teacups and saucers and 6 espresso cups and saucers for the bargain price of $30 - yay!

Of course, trying to do anything without Mr Chan (Bundy if you don't know him well) sticking his big noggin in is impossible.....

  

Heh heh - I love him........look at that schnoze!

CCxo

a beautiful wedding cuff

Well, this has certainly taken me a looong time to post!

I custom made this pearl, silver and Swarovski crystal cuff for my sister-in-law's wedding to my brother in February 2008!

I just found the pictures and realised how  much I love making free form wire jewellery. I must really get back into it.....

By the way - doesn't she just make the most stunning bride?! (oh, and I made the earrings too!)

And one of the whole gang - this is mum and dad, my 2 brothers and their wives, and me (in blue!) and my gorgeous husband.

Brings back memories of such a fun, happy day. I think we all danced until 3am...the best!

CCxo

Oh so cute and cuddly

How divine is this?

http://www.teddylux.com

Designed by Brooke Serson Cernonok in the US, these teddys made with recycled cashmere are just too cute!

 

You can upcycle your cashmere by donating your own used jumpers and the like so they can be made into these gorgeous little creatures.

Hmmnnn....don't know if they ship to Australia, but if they did I would just HAVE to put some on the website!

CCxo

Any day is a good day

...for some gratuitous cupcake pictures. Especially on a grey old rainy day in Sydney.

We are launching some new mini cupcakes to the Sweet Little Things range of goodness.

A girlfriend of mine was saying the other night that the frosting in all of our photography is 'to die for'.

Judging by this new batch of pictures, I would say she is right :)

I can't bear how tasty the frosting looks in these pictures.

If you have tasted our cupcakes, you will know they really are as delicious as these pictures look.

Don't think about the calories. You only live once!

Phew!

CCxo

australian fashion sizing debate rages on...

I remember when I was studying fashion design that there were always debates about sizing. In our fashion construction classes we compared blocks from 1960 and blocks in the present day and we would be hard pushed to get even the skinniest girls to fit the old ones.

Of course we just thought we were all fatties, but it really highlighted just how much our basic women's shape has changed (and grown!) over the years.

Unfortunately, the real problem in Australian fashion is the lack of standardisation of sizing across the industry and various retailers.

You could easily make purchases from 2 different stores of similar items with comparable fabric, construction and cut and find that you are a size 8 in one and a 12 in another - and that's certainly not an exaggeration because it happens to me - a lot!

This issue is particularly difficult for online retailers as how are we supposed to encourage people to buy online if a 'standard size 10' could really be an 8 or a 12?!

I wonder if our high levels of overseas outsourcing are partly to blame....?

Anyhoo - Editor of Ragtrader, Tracey Porter

traceyporter@yaffa.com.au is looking for consumer opinion on the hot debate.

CCxo

random got beautiful

Very cute idea for a website.

Nikki Farquharsonis a graphic designer and illustrator based in the UK who came up with the concept.

The idea is that anyone can submit photos based on one main colour.

Nikki then uploads the image to her site and the image is linked to your website.

Check out some of our submissions - our cupcakes are in the Green and Red sections:

http://www.randomgotbeautiful.com/

Perhaps it doesn't mean all that much, but I think all of the images with one main colour together like that just look fabulous!

CCxo

just playing....

I am always taking photos as inspiration for designs.

My husband and I travelled through SE Asia 4 years ago and I have so many images from the trip that I had always meant to 'do something with'.

So I have started playing....

This flower lived in Vietnam:

and became this with a little bit of Photoshop action:

and then this with a little bit of help from a Spoonflower tutorial to lay it out as a fabric design:

...it still needs some work, but I kinda like it.

CCxo

true romance

You need to check these guys out.

http://www.romancewasborn.com/

A true craft/fashion/art collaboration - this label brings it all together to create wickedly delightful collections.

If you troll throught their collections on the website you will see many crafty elements hidden amongst the bright colours and dramatic tailoring. Knitting, crochet and even some yo yo's.

I tend to use them quite a bit on baby clothing:

 

 

So check out Romance Was Born. Divine.....

CCxo

sharing the pink cupcake love

Yesterday we sent out the most gorgeous hamper for one of our customers.

Our brief was to send 101 pink cupcakes as a thank you to Allen & Unwin for publishing their new book.

We chose 50 vanilla minis and 50 chocolate minis with baby pink frosting and pink flowers on top.

One of our regular size cupcakes in a clear box topped off the hamper along with some luscious fuchsia ribbon and our personalised swing tag.

By all accounts our client 'got some lovely emails saying everyone had a BIG smile on their face for the day'.

It's so nice sharing the cupcake love!

CCxo

life's little surprises

Sometimes someone can do what seems to be a little thing for you, and it can just mean the world!

Today something like this happened to me.

A very good girlfriend of mine gave me the loveliest surprise - and I thought she was on a flight to Cambodia!

On her way to make her flight she obviously got on her mobile and arranged a delivery of these to me at the office:

 It just blew me away!

I helped her out with what I thought were a few small things, but she thought them big enough to send these wonderful roses to me - isn't that just the most divine act?

I haven't had flowers delivered to me for years (are you reading this, husband?!)

Ah - what a wonderful surprise - thanks Marj - you are an absolute sweetheart and this gesture meant the world to me!

I guess that's what we get to do everyday here by sending cupcake hampers.

That's why we get lovely emails so often.

It's such a wonderful surprise to have something delivered to your office when you least expect it.

The roses remind me of our new chocolate and vanilla cupcakes actually - RoseGarden - Enjoy.

CC xo

frosty foliage

We went to a wedding in Thredbo a few weekends ago. Our dear friends got married in a beautiful hotel, so we decided to make a 'mini-break' of it and stayed a few extra days. On one of our walks I couldn't resist taking some pictures of the lovely wild flowers. Thought I might have some fun and throw them into Photoshop and have a play.

Here are the results:

....and the wedding bouquet - just love the white gumnuts

CCxo

cupcake recipe for you to try at home :)

So if you want to try and make some cupcakes at home this is the cupcake recipe from the Magnolia Bakery in New York. Made famous by Sex and the City.
I still find it a little dry when I make them myself, so of course your best bet is just to go to Sweet little Things and get them delivered to your door hee hee!

Magnolia Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/2 Cups of self raising flour
1 1/4 Cups of plain flour
1 cup of unsalted butter - softened
2 cups of sugar
4 large eggs - at room temperature
1 cup of milk
1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract (not essence)

Preheat oven to 175C

Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling them about three quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cake tester inserted in the centre of the cupcake comes out clean.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 cup of unsalted butter - Softened
6-8 Cups of icing sugar
1/2 a cup of milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (not essence)

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading concistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired add a few drops of food colouring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Easter is coming....

Wow - I cannot believe how fast this year is flying away from us already! Easter is just around the corner?! Took some pictures yesterday of the yummy cupcakes in our easter range.

How cute are the little chicks on top?

 CCxo

Jealous much....?

This is currently on my desk.

I ordered some new cupcakes in and of course me (and everyone else in this crazy place) had to try some. Problem being we have been 'trying' them since last Thursday. At least I eat it with a knife, I guess..which is more than I can say for everyone else who has frosting all over their faces.

...and I wonder why I can't lose any weight!

CCxoxo

corporate cupcake couture

Last year we introduced our 'corporate couture' service. This is where we design a hamper to 'fit' your brand. We use tissue paper, branded ribbon, edible logos, ribbon and other embellishments to compliment your company branding and reinforce your image to your gift recipients. You can use our cupcake hampers to impress clients, take to meetings, give employees, announce the launch of a new service....the list goes on....

Here are some examples of the deliveries we made:

 

 

 

Sending a Sweet Little Things hamper leaves a wonderful lasting memory with your clients - everyone loves cupcakes :)

We strive to provide you with the most professional, friendly and efficient service possible. The positive feedback from our customers has truly been overwhelming.

So do call us on 1300 997 448 to discuss some ideas to show off your own fabulous brand!

CCxo

FIDDLE DE DEE, POTATOES!

One of my favourite lines from the comedian Danny Bhouy. Hilarous. Anyhoo - yes indeed, it is St Patrick's Day next Tuesday. How about a fabulously greeny green cupcake hamper for your favourite Irishman or woman?

Email us to discuss your specific requirements.
CCxo

lillies for lilly

It seems here in Sydney we are squeezing quite a few more days out of Summer than I initially though we would :)

It's so nice still being able to wear a dress to work every day, although I know winter is just around the corner, so probably shouldn't get too comfortable!

Following in the summer theme, thought I would post some pictures of a set of baby clothing I made recently.

A lovely lady based in Singapore ordered a custom made Sweet Little Things set for her friend's baby.

All she asked for was a special set with a Lilly theme. This is what I came up with. Lillies for Lilly!

CCxo

recent beauties

RED DAISY

'LOVED UP'WITH CHOCOLATE FROSTING

MORE DAISIES

BABY SHOWER

IT'S A GIRL!

CCxo

christmassy hampers

this week's corporate couture

Just like fashion couture, we design hampers to 'fit' your brand.

For our new customer obs, we organised branded ribbon, brightly coloured tissue and some yummy vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and bright coloured sequin sprinkles. The perfect thank you for their clients.

Simply call 1300 997 448 or email us if you would like to discuss your own gifting needs.

Of course we still have our 'ready to eat' range available so you can quickly and easily send stunning gifts to colleagues, customers, friends and family. Click order cupcakes to begin ordering or cupcake flavours to view the yummy range.

CCxoxo

our gorgeous cupcake toppings

Here are some pics of our latest cupcake toppings. You can have these on our signature vanilla based cupcake with a vanilla or chocolate frosting.

Baby Booties - these are available in blue and pink:

Christmas Toppers - Snowman and Christmas Tree

Brightly Coloured Sequins

Multi-Coloured Heart Sprinkles

Silver Cachous

Christmas Tree and Berry Sprinkles

Simply email us or call 1300 997 448 if you would like to order any of these toppings on your cupcakes.

CCxoxo

skirty, skirt, skirt!

I made this for my sister-in-law's birthday in July, but have only just found the photos!
This was made using my very own Sweet Little Things pattern.
One day  - when I find the time - you will find many variations on this in our online shop, but until then, these little pics will have to suffice...

Front View:

Close Up of fussy cut flower - before applique beads:

Inside facing in same floral fabric:

Close up of beading added to applique flower:

Now all I need is a picture of the lady in question wearing it......nudge, nudge, wink wink if you're reading this....

CCxo

this week's couture collection

Introducing this week's cupcake couture collection.

Our specialty is in creating hampers for you that are unique, pretty and above all - tasty. Something different to really impress your gift recipient.

We continually receive feedback that a cupcake hamper is such a great idea as a gift. They promote the concept of sharing and are a lovely way to impress a new client or staff member.

Here's just a sample of what went out this week:

Citrus & Pink - our signature vanilla base with thick vanilla frosting - topped with pink sugar and iced flowers

Vanilla Base, Chocolate Frosting and Aqua trimmings for our friends at Properspective Recruitment

'It's A Girl' themed cupcake hamper for the latest addition to the family!

These are not all loaded into the shopping cart, so please just contact us if you want to order anything you see on our blog :)

CCxo

this week's spring/summer collection

Well, why can't cupcakes have a fashion show? Every now and then we are just going to post some piccies of hampers that have gone out recently. To whet the appetite and show you how cupcakes can be even prettier than flowers - they taste better too :)

'Pretty in Pink' for our friends at Modelco

'Baby Shower Surprise' for our friends at Henry Davis York

'New Starter Gifts' for our friends at qube.recruit.consult - our favourite recruitment agency. Look how fabulous the ribbon looks that we arranged for their hampers!

 

Gorgeous, huh?

Have just put the finishing touches on our Christmas 2008 catalogue showcasing some fabulous designs we can do for your client, colleague or friend's gifts this year - email us for a copy.

admin@sweetlittlethings.com.au

CCxo

what a cutey :)

Cute card, huh?

now it really feels like spring!

Had the ladies over for some lunch on Saturday and couldn't resist a snap of the lovely poppies we had on the table.

Ah - love that warm, Spring feeling. Emerging from the cave after winter is so lovely (except when you realise you are a little chubbier and a lot whiter than when you went in). Oh well - nothing some fake tan can't fix :) If anyone cares - Loreal do a great gel fake tan, I think it's called 'Sublime Bronze' and is a gel. Have found it's the closest to natural I can find. Try it out.....

CCxoxo

another clever friend

Check out this cake my clever friend made for her daughter’s 2^nd birthday – a mushroom-shaped fairy house – can you believe it? Amazing…..

The lucky recipient

 

Aunty Cathy’s Dora cakes pale into insignificance....