I always love to hear about new local ventures, particularly those set up by enterprising clever mums thinking of business ideas from home. I spotted a new company recently via Facebook called Candy Stripe Party, an online party boutique. The business was set up by two mums called Thea and Kate who live very close to me. It turns out that we have mutual friends in common and having had a look at the Candy Stripe Party website, I’m personally thrilled to find such pretty and unusual party sets for children all in one place.
This is the sort of stuff you would usually see in a Martha Stewart or a Donna Hay feature. I love their baking cups, the delicate twine, the cake push-up containers and their paper straws, in particular. I’ve also used the Meri Meri cupcake kits before and the cases stand up very well during baking. So, if you are planning a party for your little ones, do take a look – you can shop by party theme and colour. I know that Thea and Kate have plans to stock more items as the business grows.
I’m particularly fond of their current Christmas range and Candy Stripe Party would like to offer one of my readers the chance to win a Christmas party set for your little ones. We usually have a little table for the children at Christmas, where they can sit and eat snacks, clementines, gingerbread biscuits and cakes, so these plates and cups will come in very handy for us.
Please note that the mini milk bottles were purchased by myself from Dot Com Gift Shop (School milk bottles in a crate RRP £9.99) and they will not form part of the prize.
The yummy cupcakes featured in these photos were made to a recipe by Sarah at Maison Cupcake for Speculoos Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting. If you haven’t tried Lotus caramelised biscuit paste, keep a look out for it - it is available in the UK now at Waitrose and it sits next to the Nutella. It is made from those lovely little caramalised bicuits that are usually individually packaged and it’s highly addictive!
The photos were taken during a recent Food Styling workshop at my home, which I’ll be writing lots more about soon.
Here’s how to enter the Candy Stripe Party giveaway -
Good luck to Thea and Kate with their gorgeous new little local venture and many thanks for the Candy Stripe samples.
Ren Behan
Ren Behan is a British-born food writer of Polish descent. She is a mum to two young children (6 and 3) and spends lots of time with them in the kitchen. Ren writes about seasonal, family-friendly food on her blog www.renbehan.com and about Polish food on her site www.mypolishkitchen.co.uk. She also contributes recipes and articles to online and print food publications. Ren holds a Diploma in Food Journalism with Distinction and has completed a Food Styling course at Leiths School of Food and Wine. Full Profile on Google+
Mince pies – my kids love them! We are having a kids christmas party on christmas eve so these would come in very handy! Fingers crossed x
cocktail sausages, they could eat them before they get to the table
little sausages
carrots at any time of the year always disappear before anything with my kids
I don’t have kids but a nephew and two week-old nieces. The Neph LOVES cake. So much so that today he has spent all day asking me if he will have cake again at his birthday….in march
jelly and icecream
Spring Rolls
Chocolate Krispie cakes- so simple, yet so yummy
mince pies
Mini scotch eggs! Breadcrumbs-Good. Sausage meat. Good. Egg. GOOOOD!
Has to be suasage rolls
Sausage Rolls
Flynn : sausage rolls Melody : cake cake oh and more cake!
They look gorgeous and so does the candy stripe kit! Great to see they came out well for you too! x
Sweet dishes, and the cakes look fab, of course I brought jars of Specaloos back from France, so will use some of it and make these scrumptious cupcakes.
Mince pies
sausage rolls
cheese and pineapple on sticks
mini sausages
cheese straws
sausage rolls.
My niece loves my Christmas cake, she thinks it makes her go wobbly because it’s got brandy in it!
Sausage Stars , i make them every year .
My nan’s lovely mince pies ! x
Strawberry Trifle, yummy!
Cheese straws, bread sticks and salad!
Mince Pies
Pigs in blankets
cheese and pine apple hedgehog
They love mini scotch eggs cut in half, they pretend they are eyes and entertain us before eating them – sweet!
stollen bread
My nephew’s favourite party food is those bacon streaky crisps – they’re vegetarian too!
Sausage Rolls. She cannot get enough
sausage rolls
Pigs in Blankets – They love them
Mince Pies with icing on the top. The kids love them
my sons fav is cupcakes , he usually goes for homemade over shop bought too
mini cocktail sausages
My kids love jelly boats
Probably cocktail sausages
Sausage rolls!
Cowboy pies winners every time
chicken nuggets
My mother-in-law always bakes cup cakes for the partys, the kids love them!
Jelly and Ice cream
Caramel Shortcake!
my kids love cheese sarnies, sausage rolls and cup cakes!
Good old crisps !
Little cocktail sausages im lucky if they make it to the table!
cocktail sausages
Cheese footballs
sausages on sticks
sausage rolls
sausage roll, vegetarian samosas and pancake rolls
Festive shaped biscuits
My kids love the home made chicken nuggets & the humongous quantites of plain crisps & nibbles that are consumed around xmas, plus lots of chocs – they are deffo my girls!!
Very pretty candy stripe set, never seen any like this. will luck great for my kids party.. heres hoping.. Good luck
My son always go for cheese and anything sweet like a chocolate finger
cocktail sausages and any sort of cake!!
Cheese straws
cocktail sausages drizzled with honey and sesame seeds always go down well with the kids
Mini Pizzas
My little boy loves mince pies
Chocolate Cake
Jelly and Icecream, always.
My little girl loves anything sausages whether on stick, in roll, or on its own!