Grilled Marshmallow Bananas | Recipe

This weekend calls for a BBQ. The sun has made an appearance and it is beginning to feel like Summer again.

Now, we're all fans of the traditional BBQ foods, but a good BBQ party is always finished off with a great grilled desert! When we spotted these chocolate and marshmallow filled grilled bananas, our mouths began watering.

You can find out how to create these s'more inspired BBQ banana treats on homecookingmemories.com. Great for tricking the kids into eating one of their five-a-day. Or if you want to avoid the potential sugar overload, substitute some the chocolate with almonds, coconut or granola. Drizzle with honey for an extra treat!

BBQs don't have to be just burgers and potato salad! These BBQ Banana Bars are a simple yet fruity desert idea you can make on the grill to suit young and old with a variety of different toppings. Or try out our other healthy grilled desert idea, Glazed BBQ Stawberry Skewers. Bring on the BBQ.

Will you be holding a BBQ this weekend?

Beach Ball Party

The school summer holidays kicked off last week in the UK, and so far it  has been a bit of a washout! If, like us, you're holding out for sunnier weather in the coming weeks, but just can't wait that long to enjoy it, then why not fake it?

Throw yourselves a faux-beach party to bring those sweet Summer vibes to you! Turn your garden or living room into a lively beach party scene, complete with beach ball bunting, seaside inspired snacks, and cocktails!

We've been getting inspired on Pinterest for some cool beach party ideas and decoration tips. The main ingredient for an effective beach party is colour! Use paper lanterns, crepe streamers, colourful table covers, and balloons to brighten up your home and brighten up the grey British weather.

Another great idea is the theme your treats. Make beach ball inspired cake pops, use buckets for bowls, spades for serving spoons and create a big tub of  'Sea Water' in the form of a refreshing blue cocktail!

So dig out your best Hawaiian shirt, don your lei, string up some beach balls, throw in an inflatable palm tree and lets get this Summer well and truly under way!

Are you looking to brighten up your summer?

Free Gatsby Photobooth Prop Box

Great Gatsby parties are as popular as ever. If you want to add a bit of glamour to a party you are planning, it's the obvious theme to go for.

We love helping our customers put together a 1920s inspired party. From glitzy scene setters, to Great Gatsby fancy dress and glamorous 1920s accessories, we've got this party theme covered at Flingers.

And now you can even put together your very own 1920s Photobooth at the party. Use our DIY Photobooth Prop Box download to create your DIY party props - all perfectly in keeping with your Gatsby theme.

How to make your Gatsby Photobooth Props:

1. Print our DIY 1920s inspired Photo Props onto A4 paper or card.
2. Mount each prop onto cardboard or foamboard using spray adhesive.
3. Carefully cut out each prop and shape using sharp scissors.
4. Attach a short stick to each prop to allow them to be handled easily. A glue gun works best!
5. Plan you backdrop - Hanging shimmery curtains or crepe streamers work as a simple but effective background, or put up a Great Gatsby scene setter.
6. Bring on the big night!

Not planning a Gatsby party but still looking to create your own DIY photo booth? Then try out our other prop box downloads for general celebrations and wedding days.

Will you be downloading our free prop box templates?

Graduation 2015

It's that time of year again. When lots of hard working students all over the country get to doff their mortarboards and celebrate their academic achievements.

Mortarboard Confetti

A time for friends and family to show how proud they are. It's not something everyone gets to experience, and many will only experience it one in a lifetime. So a graduation is always worth celebrating! Get ready to throw some mortarboard graduation confetti during the traditional photograph throwing the mortarboard in the air!

Or if you are planning a special lunch with all the family, then sophisticated graduation tableware is what you need to get in the spirit of the occasion. Unfurl the banners and get the balloons bobbing away too!

Celebrate the students amongst us as they step into the next stage of their lives and begin their careers. Or there are those who are going onto another degree! Which is equally worth celebrating!

Graduation Balloons

Do you know anyone who is graduating this summer?

Rainbow Swirl Cupcake Tutorial

We've been going rainbow mad here at Flingers and are fans of all things bright and bold for the most colourful parties around.

After getting inspired by lots of great Rainbow party decorations, tips and ideas, we think these Rainbow Swirl Cupcakes are the finishing touch! Brightening up the treats for a colourful party you might be planning, this clever buttercream icing trick is an easy way to add a colourful swirl to any basic cupcakes.

Fancy trying out these Rainbow Swirl Cupcakes at home? The check out Cupcake Jemma's fun tutorial below and see how easy it really is.

Complete your rainbow cakes with some colourful cupcake cases too! You could even deliver your homemade rainbow cupcakes presented in cake boxes as an extra surprise for someone special!

Would you try out this rainbow icing swirl tutorial?

DIY Straw Garlands

Looking for a simple party hack to use up all those extra straws you inevitably end up with at parties? Why not turn them into a colourful straw garland?

It's very easy DIY crafty activity that is perfect for kids as it doesn't use scissors or anything messy - just simple straws! We first saw this crafty idea on crafthunter.com.au, and had to give it a go ourselves.

Simple enough to make to fit any party colour scheme. Plus, it's so cheap to do at home! A pack of 50 colourful party straws would set you back less than a pound!  We think stripy straws would be perfect for this DIY idea, making an even quirkier and more graphic inspired party garland.

DIY Straw Party Garland
Make your own by following three easy steps:

Buy your party straws at Flingers, with a wide range of colours available to suit all your party needs!

1. Take one straw and bend at the flexi section. Then create a second bend that leaves approx 2cm overhang.

2. Pinch the end of the over hang, so that it will fit inside the open end and complete the triangle. 

 3. Repeat this process with more straws, remember to link each triangle to the next to form the chain.

 And you're done! We said it was simple!

Will you be making a colourful straw party garland?

Bristol Pride

This weekend marks Bristol's annual Pride Parade through the centre of the city. Prepare for a colour explosion, with extravagant costumes, celebratory floats and lots of spirit.

Voted the second best Pride event in the UK, it is certainly living up to that title this year. With music stages, market stalls, play zones for family and kids, and an even longer parade route through the city. There is even a week long itinerary of events, workshops and activities in the build up to Saturday's parade.

If you're planning to join in with Bristol Pride, you can still get tickets for the day events and after party here. But don't forget to get into the spirit of the celebration. Dressing in your brightest boldest fancy dress!

Planning to go with a big group of friends? Then stand out from the crowd with your very own pride rainbow, by way of our neon wigs!

Or are you hoping to get your groove on at the pop up Roller Disco in Castle Park? Then our vibrant Skater Girl Costume is surely a must?! Or is 80s Madonna more your thing? Or perhaps you've always wanted to one of the original stars of the YMCA? We have all the perfect Pride fancy dress for this weekend!

Shop all your Pride party essentials at Flingers online, or pop in store and see us at 73-75 Gloucester Road.

But most importantly, Pride is a great day for fundrasing, coming together as a community and celebrating diversity and equality for all. So, will you be heading to Pride this weekend?

Balloon Cluster Fun

Balloons make us happy. No party or celebration is complete without some balloons. And a balloon cluster is the ultimate party feature!

What could be better than throwing a surprise party and having the special guest enter into a room full of colourful balloons! Fill the ceiling with helium filled balloon and weave your way through colourful ribbon trails hanging down. We especially love the idea of tying photographs to the ends of the ribbons, like an impromptu photo gallery! Perfect for a milestone birthday party. But even better as a sentimental touch to a wedding day, with photos of the happy couple hanging from crisp ivory balloons.

If helium balloons aren't for you, then get a bit more crafty and create a huge feature wall to brighten up a plain space for instant quirky vibes. Or make a unique balloon arch, blowing balloons up in different sizes for more dimension and style. Our Quick Link balloons are perfect for this idea and are the easiest way to join multiple balloons together.

We've just taken on even more beautiful colours of balloons, making our huge range of latex balloons - even bigger! So we're sure you'll find the perfect colour balloons for whatever party you may be planning this summer.

Stop by in store, or head online to browse our whole range and let us know which colours are your favourite. If you want to create a bespoke balloon cluster of balloon arch, get in touch! Our party team will be more than happy to help!

Would you love a surprise balloon cluster at a party you are planning?

Inflatable Zoo Party

If you're looking to plan the best birthday party for an animal-loving kid, why not put together their very own zoo for the day? With a little imagination, creativity and special touches, you could design an inflatable zoo party filled with wild animals and cute creatures!

Inflatable animals are a hassle-free and mess-free way to incorporate animals into a celebration, without having to fork out for tickets to the local zoo!

These air-filled creatures are also great for jungle themed or even tropical island inspired parties. Throw in a few inflatable palm trees and bananas for added tropical decoration and you're almost there!

Inflatable Parrot    |   Inflatable Snake   |   Inflatable Palm Tree   |   Inflatable Shark

Set the scene with a ocean backdrop behind a ferocious shark or inflatable crocodile. Intertwine a scary snake around some vine-like green streamers for a faux jungle scene. Or if you feel like you could be an even cheekier chimp than our inflatable monkey, bring the animals to life and show your wild side with a brilliant monkey suit instead!

Shop all these wild inflatable animals and more online or in store ready for a summer of exotic animal parties!

Are you brave enough to plan a wild zoo party?