Festival Fever

With Glastonbury this weekend, festival season is in full swing.

Many festivals throughout the year have specific themes and fancy dress concepts such as Latitude, The Secret Garden Party and Bestival. We’re eagerly sourcing all the best fancy dress to suit these themes, so keep your eyes fixed on the blog for updates and fancy dress inspiration over the coming weeks.

In the meantime, if you are hitting some of the other festivals on the UK calendar this Summer, make sure you're prepared to have as much festival fun as possible.

Face paint is a subtle and easy way to get into the festival spirit without having to get all dressed up in an extravagant costume. We’ve been getting inspired by some simple and creative festival face paint ideas in pinterest.

Bright colours are the best for really making the face paint stand out and adding to the fun carnival atmosphere found at music festivals. And the use of flower in the designs really complete the boho vibes of the summer season.

We also uncovered a super useful tutorial with some tip tips on how to create an awesome flower inspired face paint artwork! Check it out below.

So stock up on plenty of neon face paints, colourful make-up and glitter gel you’ll need ready for your festival advents. But don’t forget the application sponges and make-up brushes to help you get a professional finish too!

Pop in store to browse our huge range of face paint colours, or order online with delivery starting from as little as £1.40!

Are you heading out to any festivals this summer?

Show Some Support for England

So England’s hopes have been dashed for the Football World Cup 2014. It started so well, but sadly tonight is the last Group game for England in Brazil. Taking on Costa Rica this evening, we’ve got high hopes that England will come our fighting in a last hurrah!

Grab your St Geogre’s Cross Bunting at Flingers

We think that as this is our last chance to show some support for England at the FIFA World Cup, that we should go the whole hog and be proud. However you prefer to display your English flag, we’re sure to be able to help. From English Flag Bunting, to Patriotic Wigs, to Handwaving Flags to St George Paper Plates!

Or if you are a big fan of the man of the moment, Mr Wayne Rooney, then you can’t miss out on our Rooney Face Mask. With cut out eye holes, you can wear him throughout the whole match without missing a pass or a tackle. Also useful to hid your despair if England fail to score!

But it’s not ever yet. With the sun shining, summer in full swing, get Brazil fever and be sure to enjoy all the rest of the games the World Cup has to offer. Plan a Brazilian themed party an enjoy a Caipirinha, the National Drink of Brazil with our easy to follow recipe!

How do you think England will do in their final group game?

BBQ Cookout - Vegetable Kebab Recipe

The weekend is almost here! At Flingers, we think its time to forget about the Thursday’s England match and spend the weekend in good company and with good food.

With Saturday set to be a scorcher, a BBQ is defiantly in order! Now we all know that barbecues are all about burgers, hot dogs and potato salad! But if you are looking for something a little healthier to offer up as an appetiser to your guests, look no further. 

Summer Vegetable Kebab Recipe 

This delicious looking vegetable kebab recipe has our bellies rumbling in anticipation! It is a super simple recipe and a great way to get the kids to eat some extra veg too!

Summer Vegetable Kebabs

Ingredients:

• Aubergine 
• Cherry Tomatos
• Baby Corn
• Yellow Peppers
• Olive Oil

Recipe:

1. Cut up the vegetables into chunky pieces. 
2. Piece onto the skewer, alternating the pieces of veg until each skewer is full.
3. Use a pastry brush to coat a little olive oil over them
4. Place on the BBG grill turning once a minute until browned all over
5. Serve up on a platter for your guests!

Remember to stock up on some BBQ ready paper plates, bowls, napkins and cutlery and save on the washing up too! At Flingers we have tons of summer BBQ tableware and party essentials to get you through the weekend. 

Pop in store at 73-75 Gloucester Road to pick up your supplies or order online if you’re preparing a summer of BBQs! Delivery starts from just £1.40, so don’t miss out.

Are you planning a BBQ this weekend?

The Caipirinha Recipe - Brazilian Cocktails

Football fever is finally catching up with the UK!

We think the world cup is a great excuse to throw a Brazilian themed party and get to grips with the host country and its carnival culture. We’ve been bringing you some top hints and tips on how to decorate your home ready for a Brazilian party on the blog, and now we want to bring you the recipe for the national drink of Brazil. The Caipirinha!

No Brazilian inspired party would be complete without some cocktails and certainly without muddling a few caipirinhas. Whether you are planning to watch the football or not!

Ingredients:

• A fresh lime 
• Sugar
• Ice
• Cachaca

Muddle your Caipirinhas:

1. Chop your lime into eight wedges and put 3-4 wedges in each glass. 
2. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar (or two if you have a sweet tooth!) The finer the sugar the better.
3. Use a muddle (or a wooden spoon) to mash the limes into the base of the glass. 
4. Fill the glass with ice. 
5. Pour over a hearty measure of Cachaca.
6. And enjoy!

Whilst cachaca is key to an authentic Caipirinha, if you can't find any where you live, substitute it with a good vodka. The drink will then be called Caipiroshka. Vodka not your drink of choice? Use white rum and you will have a Caipiríssima.

If you have quite a few guests coming around, make a big batch of this delicious cocktail to keep spirits flowing all evening long. Just calculate how many limes you'll need to cut up and how many spoons of sugar you will need to create enough punch for the whole party to create a jug full of this tasty cocktail.

To really get in the carnival spirit add some colourful straws in the Brazilian colours and garnish with some fruit. Then sit back and enjoy all your hard work!

Will you be trying out the Brazilian National Cocktail?

FIFA World Cup Sweepstake

The FIFA World Cup kicks off today. If you haven’t got involved in one yet, a sweepstake is a great way to entertain some harmless competition between friends, family and co-workers.

We found this handy 2014 Football World Cup print out so that you can get your very own little sweepstake on the go.

Download your copy of this FIFA 2014 Sweepstake

We suggest printing out two copies, one to cut up so that each country can be drawn from a hat, and a second to write down everyones name next to their chosen country. That way, everyone can keep track of their team as they progress throughout the competition.

Of course, a little prize is always a great way of enticing even your football-hating friends or co-workings into joining in the proceedings. Charge a little fee for each entry and soon you’ll have a healthy looking reward for the ultimate winner! Alternatively, use the money raised at the beginning to buy a small treat or a bottle of wine as the reward.

Download the full version of the World Cup Sweepstake here.

We’ve got our fingers crossed for Brazil! Who doesn’t?!

Will you be holding a Football World Cup Sweepstake?

Party Brazil Style

The Football World Cup is just a few days away. With Brazil hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup as well as the 2016 Olympics, we’re predicting plenty of Brazilian themed parties, full of carnival atmosphere on the horizon!

If you are planning to host a FIFA World Cup party this month, why not make it a Brazil theme? A great tribute to the host country and sure to deliver a party full of exotic cocktails, carnival colour, music, dancing and good times.

There are so many ways to plan an authentic Brazil party, but where better to begin than with the decorations! Hang streams of Brazilian Flag Bunting from the ceiling and pin a Brazilian Cloth Flag to the front door to ensure your guests know what they are letting themselves in for!

Serve Brazilian inspired snacks and delicious cocktails to fuel your guests. Present your party snacks on green and yellow Paper Plates to match the theme, and serve your cocktails from colourful Punch Bowls, filling up their Brazilian Coloured Paper Cups. Not forgetting to garnish your cocktails with plenty of fresh fruit and top off with Umbrella Straws!

The first match to kick off the competition will see Brazil take on Croatia this Thursday at 9pm. So what better time to hold your very own Brazilian party!

Stick with us over the coming weeks as we’ll be bringing you lots of ways to bring a little Brazilian spirit to your party with food, cocktail and decoration ideas and get you through the FIFA World Cup.

Polka Dot Cake Recipe

This cake is a beauty! We absolutely love the hidden polka dots which get revealed once you cut into the cake and take a slice. We first found this cake idea on Once Upon A Pedestal’s blog and knew we had to share it with you guys.

We were really surprised just how easy it looks to create too! Just like the Rainbow Tie Dye Cake, the Polka Dot Cake is a colourful, quirky and fun cake which is sure to impress at any birthday party or event you want to make it for. You could even chose the food colourings to theme the polka dots to the party. For example, for a baby shower just use baby blue or baby pink dots. Or even use black cake dots for a football themed party to celebrate the World Cup. Football and cake, what could be better!

The tutorial is also great for any one who has jumped on the latest cake pop trend, and it offers a alternative way to use your cake pop making trays!

Head over to Once Upon a Pedestal wonderful blog for the tutorial to create your polka dot masterpiece and find lots more lovely inspiration for recipes, party planning and crafts.

Will you be trying the Polka Dot Cake recipe?

DIY Balloon Feature Wall

A party without balloons is barely considered a party! For both kids and adults, balloons are a super easy way to add a little party sprit to any event.

We discovered this awesome balloon feature wall idea on Pinterest and we think is such a simple yet impressive party feature! Now, we love a some DIY party decorations and think that this is quite a stylish one that could be replicated at all sorts of parties. 

All it takes is an assortment of coloured balloons, a pair of lungs (or failing that, a balloon pump) and some tape. Sounds so easy doesn’t it?! Blow up the balloons by varying amounts and simply use tape to attach them onto the wall. Arrange in an almost spontaneous fashion to give the impression of these balloons cascading down the wall. 

We think this would really be an awesome party decoration for an under the sea themed party. Use blue coloured balloons to imitate air bubbles floating up through the ocean. Sure to be a hit with kids!

This DIY decoration idea is so easy to customise to suit whatever party you are planning. For a girl’s birthday party, use an assortment of pinks and yellows to create a colourful and playful feature to impress her friends. Or at a baby shower, use blue and pink coloured balloons to create this decoration. 

This party feature wall is even a great idea for an engagement party or a wedding. Grab an assortment of pearl coloured balloons, or balloons which co-ordinate to the wedding colour scheme and you’re sorted! 

At Flingers, we have a HUGE range of coloured balloons for you to choose from. With the balloon packs starting from just £1.79, grab a pack of 6, 25 or 100 to ensure you have as many as you will need to compete you party feature all. 

Will you be trying out this DIY Party Decoration idea?