An elephant sized celebration - Our wee boy turns 2

This past weekend we celebrated our wee man's second birthday......I can't believe he is two already, where has the time gone? I guess it is true what they say though, that "time flies when you are having fun", and we have had trunk loads....

So many ideas were buzzing in my head when it came to planning a theme for his party, but when it came down to it there was really no debate. Our little man's favourite toy is his constant companion Ellie........a very unusual looking stuffed elephant. So an elephant theme it was to be.

First step was designing the invitation. I had settled on a soft colour palette of grey and lemon with a chevron pattern and balloons as added details. It is a double sided invitation with "Callum is 2" on the reverse. This was used as a poster backdrop for the dessert table as well.

Grey & Lemon - Elephant themed birthday invitation

I sent the invitation through to my super talented mum (Trudy) and she matched the dessert table elements to the invitation perfectly.

Some of the yummy desserts Trudy created for the day:

• Vanilla Elephant cupcakes - with vanilla butter cream and a fondant elephant topper.
• Absolutely GORGEOUS gingerbread elephant cookies (also as individual take home favours)
• Bite sized lemon curd tartlets
• A beautiful Lemon and Poppyseed birthday cake covered in lemon fondant with a cute elephant topper
• Passionfruit macarons

 ooops, macarons are not added to the table yet in this image.

 Elephant cupcakes, Gingerbread cookies, Lemon curd tartlets

 Lemon & poppyseed cake, Passionfruit Macarons, Vanilla cupcakes

 We also had a couple of take home party favours:

• Test Tube Pina-Colada jelly beans with custom labels
• Mini Lindt chocolate bars with custom wrapper
• Take home gingerbread cookies with custom bag topper that read "pack one in your trunk for the trundle home".

 Pina-colada jelly beans - take home favours with custom labelling

 Take home gingerbread cookies with custom bag topper

 Lindt chocolate bars with customised chevron wrapper

It was such a fun and beautiful day, Callum had a fabulous time and was spoilt rotten with very generous gifts from his doting Aunt's and Uncle's, family and friends.

Our wee boy enjoying his chocolate milk.

All of the printables from Callum's party are now available for purchase. Prices start from as little as $15 for the invitation. We can also provide a quote for a tailored cake and desserts. Our details are available on the contacts page.

All artwork and printables - Kylie, The Little Oak Tree

Styling and Photography - Kylie, The Little Oak Tree

Catering, Cake and Desserts - Trudy, The Little Oak Tree

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A Rustic Country Birthday Celebration

Last Saturday was the weekend of the big 30th country birthday party that we were styling. I had already created the invitations weeks earlier (you can read about that post here,) Trudy had completed the birthday cake which was designed as a cowboy hat, and everything was falling into place for the big day.

Sydney had been experiencing some gorgeous weather leading up to the day so I was relatively confident that the outdoor event we had planned would go off without a hitch......Hmm can you sense my overconfidence!!!! Even with all of our planning and detailing we couldn't control the weather, cue freezing temperatures, black clouds and howling wind ! Thankfully it didn't rain though.

Picture a huge bonfire with bales of hay for seating, roasting marshmallows, sun setting and people relaxing on the lawn, drink in hand.....NOT ! The wind was so fierce, if we attempted to light the fire I think we would have burnt down half the countryside.

The marquee where the dessert table was supposed to be nearly blew away ! We had designed the dessert table to sit beneath the white marquee with a sheer white cotton curtain backdrop, bare tree branches with glass ball votive candles were to be suspended above the table and tree logs were to be used as risers for the desserts. Given the horrible weather, this gorgeous design flew out the window, along with every other outdoor activity. Trudy and I quickly turned to plan B, the bonfire was canned, the dessert table was set up indoors, and the drink station was moved under the verandah of the house, but most disappointingly for us, we didn't get to see the full design come to life. Oh mother nature certainly is a cruel mistress.

So, the big lesson for us was to never take the weather for granted and to always have a rock solid plan B, for when everything turns pear shaped.

Here are a few shots of the day courtesy of my gorgeous photographer husband. Thanks babe x

We tied a manila tag with brown string to each of the bottles, the idea being that the guests wrote their name on the tag to "keep their glass for the night". If you have a large party of guests that don't know each other, the tags on the glass make it an easy reminder if a name slips their mind.

Some of the props we placed around the property to help enhance the "country" feel. Used wine barrels old steel wheels and the owners driza-bone and Akubra hat. The birthday boy is affectionately referred to as "tractor boy" this was captured in the invitations with the silhouette of the tractor removing trees from the property. The party wouldn't have been complete without the tractor, so we drove it on to the lawn and it worked well as a cheeky reference.

The drink station under the verandah.

The dessert table was moved inside due to the horrible weather. The cowboy hat cake was designed and created by Trudy, and was nearly picked up accidentally by an unsuspecting guest. The cake was a caramel mud cake with white chocolate ganache covered in fondant.

The Little Oak Tree designed and catered the dessert menu. The key ingredient was caramel, which we were told was a favourite of the birthday boy.

Featured on the table:

~ Lamingtons

~ Rocky Road

~ Chocolate Brownies

~ Caramel Slice

~ Anzac Biscuits

~ Fleur de sel Caramel Macarons

~ Fleur de sel Caramels

~ Belgian Chocolate Mousse w' whipped cream and caramel sauce

As I mentioned in a previous post we trialled a new recipe from the Miette cook book for the Fleur de Sel Caramels. These were such a success, we should have made two batches.

Vendor Credits

Glass beverage dispenser - The Little Big Company

Paper Straws - The Little Big Company

Mosser milk glass cake stand - Sweet Style

Invitations, printables and styling - The Little Oak Tree

30th Country Birthday Invitations

Just finished the print and assembly of the invitations I designed for the rustic country 30th birthday party. 

A lovely package all wrapped up with brown paper and string ready for delivery. Hope the birthday boy likes them. 

I loved using the brown and blue colour palette. I wanted to make the matte brown envelopes a little more interesting, so I customised them by adding lovely striped paper on the inside flap which was individually hand cut and glued in, this was madness in retrospect as it was a time consuming task, but I was happy with the end result.

Invitations all wrapped up and ready for delivery to the client

Hope you have a lovely weekend, let's hope we see a little sunshine.

Take care,

It's a jungle out there!

The Little Oak Tree was recently contacted by a mum who wanted us to create a jungle animal cake and matching cupcakes for her son's 8th birthday party.

We were told that Dylan loved anything to do with the Jungle and I think Trudy certainly put the animal in the jungle with these gorgeous cupcakes. My personal favourite is the elephant, which is your favourite?

Close up aerial view of the jungle cake. The monkeys are so cheeky!

Classic chocolate mud cake and chocolate ganache, covered in fondant with hand made fondant animal figurines, yummo. We are sure this cake made one 8 year old very happy!

All of our cupcake designs are completely customisable and can include corporate logos or perhaps the hubby's favourite sports team so you are only limited by your imagination. 

Why not contact us at thelittleoaktree@exemail.com.au to discuss your ideas for your next party or gathering.  They also make a lovely bespoke gift for that special someone. Prices are available upon request and are based on the detail and size of each cupcake and quantity ordered.