children love a ‘making’ party, and with a bit of thought and creativity, it’s easy to transform the living room into a gorgeous spring room with colourful flowers and baskets of beads ready to thread.
pots of primulas mixed with homemade tissue paper flower pom-poms and some artificial flowers gave a bright and cheery spring feeling to the room. we scoured bric-a-brac stores in the local market and collected piles of second-hand floral cups, saucers and tea plates. the children stuck magazine tearsheets on the walls to provide their friends with inspiration. we laid out jars of beads and thread and the children formed little groups, chatting and laughing as they focused on stringing beads to make necklaces and bracelets to take home.
we chose pink flowers and candles for the cake and splashed little meringues with edible food colouring. my wonderful mother, who was tirelessly resourceful and creative, made the hanging ‘happy birthday’ sign using scraps of hoarded vintage fabric. handmade treasures steeped in memories, such as this, become a family tradition when saved and re-used year after year.
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