Polka Dot Themed Gift Swap!!

Homemade Polka Dot Swap

I am absolutely loving my gift swaps at the moment. So far I've done a 5 item heart themed gift swap, a mug swap and I'm taking part in a sunshine swap with KatSighs. Then in October Ill be hosting my very own UK Mug Swap!

For this swap, I turned to PopularCrafts who run a fantastic website and whom I see lots of on Twitter. I've just subscribed to their magazine as it's never in my local store! The theme for this swap was 'Polka Dots.' It took me a while to think of something as my swap partner, Natalie doesn't give much away on her blog!

After admitting I was struggling a bit she said she loves to bake. Well, so do i! Of course as soon as she said this I knew exactly what I wanted to post off. A small suitcase full of little treats to make some tasty treats for her and her family!

First of all I scoured the shops for cake cases- these had to be polka dot themed. I was in luck! I found these great red and blue ones. I then picked up some flags to add a little 'tea party' theme to any cupcakes Natalie should wish to bake!

Afterwards I popped to my local sweet shop to load up on some extras for toppings! I bought some Cornish fudge, mini marshmallows and some buttons. I put some chopped, roasted hazelnuts into a bag and cut up the fudge (saves Natalie a job after all!) Luckily there were spare buttons for the children and spare marshmallows for me yum!
All packed away nicely in a mini suitcase (from a jam making set!) and it's
all polka dot themed!
Next I thought about adding a little card. I had already written a note, so i thought about adding my two favourite recipes. Now, i now know Natalie does a lot baking and will most likely have these recipes (especially the cookie one-fact!) but still...
I printed off some themed paper, then added a cupcake print inside. I handmade 2 mini envelopes and added a chocolate chip and hazelnut recipe and then a fudge icing recipe which is perfect with vanilla cupcakes.

I went for green as it is Natalie's favourite colour. No matter how hard I tried though,
pink just couldn't be avoided-sorry!

Here is what it all looks like! Packed up and ready to go!

We also had to add a gift totally no more than £3.

A very cute little book from The Works I came across
Some of my favourite travel sized hand cream and a nice lip balm
i think Natalie will love.

Now I just have to wait and see how loved the package is!!
CupcakeMumma
x

Up To No Good



I think anyone who has been following me any amount of time will know I have 2 rather beautiful if not rather cheeky children. I also think out of these two children you, my fellow reader, can guess exactly which beautiful, cheeky child this post is about…
Yes, this one:


I, (very foolishly) relaxed myself before bedtime one evening recently allowing the children to play nicely together before PJ time. Usually they just chase each other a bit, Little Miss will do some drawing while occasionally having to get up and ‘rescue’ Little Man from the toy box he climbs into. Sometimes Little Miss likes to dress up and go off into her imaginary world and this can sometimes mean borrowing a few of Mummy’s items- you know the handbag (which usually I empty first) which she’ll fill up with fake coins and stuff it to the brim with small toys.

This time however I made the fatal error of not paying any attention to the removal of my most important handbag items, the main one being my purse. By the time I had finished playing about on my iPhone and listening to the Charlie and Lola theme tune play repeatedly the contents of my bag were strewn across the floor and the bag was stuffed as above.
I located all my belongings, told myself off for not paying any attention to what they were playing with and scooped up my purse without even thinking to look.

11.00am the next day I decided to venture out with Little Miss leaving Little Man with Daddy. I had nothing spectacular planned, just pick some bits up from Tesco so Little Miss and I could make our rather new and yummy vanilla and roasted hazelnut cupcakes. Unfortunately when I reached the checkout (you know where this is going right) I couldn’t pay for a thing! No cash, no debit card, no credit cards nothing. Not to mention my gas card which seemed to be a miss too? Of course I knew exactly what had happened or rather WHO had happened to them but where were my cards now? How will an 18 month old tell me where my cards are?

We left rather red faced after holding up a queue but thankful it was a few bits and not my usual weekly shop! Once home it was a mission to find all my most essential cards. I pulled up rugs, turfed out the toy box and lifted the sofa, laundry bin, even checked inside the washing machine! I double and triple checked my handbag and purse (in case I was going mad- wishful thinking) but I simply could not find my cards!
Where were they? I’ll tell you where they were. My two beautiful, cheeky children were upstairs fast asleep and I was settling down for the night reserved to the fact I may never find my cards again when I noticed my TV was wonky- pet hate number 1 right there. I got up to straighten said TV and low and behold what do I find pushed right under but now peeking slightly out from under the TV stand? Yes, all 3 of my most needed cards!


I now hang my handbag up and have given Little Miss one of my older ones so I never have to go through that again!
What have your little ones done recently to embarrass you? When was the last time they sent you running around in circles looking for something important?

CupcakeMumma

(This is a blog post I was planning to write but I have included a paid link. As always all words are my own and honest)

It's Not all Baking and Fun...

Nope, sometimes days cannot be filled with ideas to make sure your child's the happiest one on their summer holidays. Sometimes you have to crawl into the corner of your comfy sofa after the children have been breakfasted and just relax.

I have made a 'summer bucket list.' I have been constantly on a go thinking of things to do with Little Miss (and these things usually have to be appropriate for Little Man where possible too!) but today I woke up and realised that I didn't feel like doing anything much. I didn't actually want to be out in the sun after spending days in it, I think we all need a break. Instead I opened all our windows curtains and doors to let the sunshine and fresh air pour in. (I say fresh air but really there is an occasional waft of someones cigarette to ruin the moment!)

I've been feeling a little stressed you see. With 23 days until the wedding everything is going well and I feel organised with a real sense of direction. I'm in control, this is good. What's not so cool is the sudden influx of those nasty brown envelopes and money changing without warning so near one of (or THE most) expensive day of your life. To say today it all got a bit on top of me would be about right therefore I really didn't feel like parading around the park or baking pretty cupcakes.

We did though. I pushed myself to spend time with Little Miss today baking little heart shaped cupcakes with raisins and roasted hazelnuts inside them. They are delicious and I shall be blogging them! However, for the most part of my more lazy, cannot be arsed days I have taken some photos to share with you.

Judge me if you will but I post a lot on here when we 'do' something fun like baking, family outings and crafting, but sometimes it's nice to just show people that I, like pretty much everybody else, can't be bothered everyday of the week either.

Little Man goes for his nap while we all chill to the music channel (which does not impress Little Miss-all she wants on is Max and bloody Ruby) I on the other hand failed to put my iPhone down (again)

Yeah she's snacking on ham. Hey, what Midge wants Midge gets (within reason) And yes, she is still in her PJ's...

My lazy day lunch. Also consumed with a hot chocolate filled with mini marshmallows and banana chips. 


Both babies after the bath just totally chilling out. Little Man on Daddy's iPhone playing with the music settings and Little Miss watching Max and Ruby (whilst picking her nose apparently) After this they escaped into the garden for a bit so I decided to perhaps sort my recycling and actually do something constructive.

I like lazy days and I don't think they're anything to be ashamed of but some of us (myself included)  seem to don our super Mum/Dad hats over the summer holidays and forget to just chill out!

Happy Holidays!
CupcakeMumma

Making A Start

We made a start on our bucket list yesterday by having a baking day! We picked up a girls baking book from our local library and had a good look through. Little Miss chose some cupcakes and I chose whoopie pies (they were a disaster so i'm not even going to blog about them any more than this!) The cupcakes however were the best I have ever made, icing included.

We baked vanilla cupcakes in my new heart shaped silicon cake cases The Man bought in a closing down sale and added some strawberries to match this summery weather. Little Miss was really hands on and to my surprise our baking day was completely stress free!





We managed to go on a family walk this week as well which was really nice! We went to Wetherspoons for a late breakfast, very tasty and at just under ten pounds it was a nice treat which didn't totally break the bank!
Here's a lovely photo of The Man with his babies. Makes me smile every time!


Today Little Miss had her cousin over to have their wedding dress fittings. They look so adorable and will totally steal the show in that church (fine by me- they look adorable!) My Mum is taking in their dresses to save money and they are very happy with their outfits which is the most important thing to me. My Mum stayed a bit to help me finish the service booklets my mother in law to be has kindly made for us. They're looking great. Maybe I'll tweet a sneak preview?

I got a surprise in the post today. Recently I subscribed to a crafting magazine and wasn't expecting my welcome gift until the end of August so I was really pleased to have the gift arrive out of the blue! Just waiting on my swap gift and my new stroller now!

I can't wait to get my hands on this soap making kit! I might save it for
Christmas though?

Finally, I took part in a Twitter party tonight. I don't join in very often with these things as they do clog up time lines but StoryOfMum does such good work, especially this month getting Mums to love their post baby bodies. We had to make a little model of an area of our body we'd perhaps like to improve, submit it online and wait for others to see our real bodies or our crafty mummy makes!


Yep, here's my play dough version of me! The arrows show where I'd like to improve things mainly my under arms and my tummy/under bust area. In general though I'm a happy post baby body Mummy. I'm pleased with my skills here though, I tried to detail my wobbly tummy and stretch marks with mild success!

Hope you're all having a great week, enjoying the sunshine and if you took part tonight on Twitter hope you had as much fun as me!

CupcakeMumma

Heartlands Fun and Church Fates!

In Cornwall there is a new heritage site which is already attracting so many people it's brilliant. Little Miss and I decided to head off on Sunday to join in some of the fun! As it was Sunday I knew the buses were far and few between and besides, the main theme for this summer holiday is to be as cheap as possible as with most families, we just don't have the pennies to spare right now!

So, we headed off, the walk was probably a couple of miles but we arrived in good time. After a 5km walk for Race For Life it seems a little walk to Heartlands from home was nothing for Little Miss! It was bloody hot though!

We had a brilliant day paddling by the Red River Cafe, dipping our feet in pool, getting some face painting done and playing in the park (the highest priority) we even took part in a scavenger hunt and Little Miss did colouring for the RSPB and I learnt some interesting things from the lady running the stall.


The River by the cafe is great fun for children (and adults!)
to cool their toes!

In keeping with the 'Muddy Toes' event we jumped in the puddles
I love the cartoon butterfly- never had one like this!
What a snazzy bike!
Showing off some fab moves!
We stopped off at the fish shop on the way home to give
ourselves a break from the walk ahead!
 We also went to our local church fate at the weekend which was a lovely way to kick start the holidays. Little Miss won a couple of prizes, a small blue teddy (helped by the kind man on the 'stall') and a little pink pony (they let her swap! How kind!). Both of the children had fun on the bouncy castle which was all enclosed just in case the weather took a turn for the worst!

Thankfully it didn't rain at all. We toured the inside of the church which Little Miss loves doing. I explained for the hundredth time about how the wedding would take place and we allowed Little Man to walk about exploring everywhere! He loved hiding in the pews and quite enjoyed the large thrones!

It was a really lovely day, the sun shone the whole time and we had a brilliant family day out. Oh, and i even started the day with a rather scrummy cooked breakfast made just for me by The Man *big grin* 


Having fun in the bouncy castle! I didn't think he'd like it but
he loved it!

Very happy with her prize

This had me in stitches!

A very yummy breakfast indeed!


AWeekly Catch Up #3


What can I say about our last week? End of an era for Little Miss comes to mind for sure! On Friday 20th it was officially the last day Little Miss would ever attend nursery. She's so excited about starting her new class year that she really wasn't sparing a thought for her last day and to be honest, I wasn't emotional at all. I'm so excited about the next step up in her education it's wonderful.

We went to her 'nursery graduation' where she picked up her certificate and I got to flick through her learning journal which I was really pleased with. Little Miss has come on leaps and bounds since starting nursery. So, to some up our end of an era week, I have made a few collages. Enjoy.

Little Miss at 3 years old before Little Man was born.
At 3 and half stating her first day in nursery in full uniform!

Walking to school in the winter all wrapped up.
Celebrating her 4th birthday before starting her afternoon session
Learning to hold her pen properly and starting to write her name.

First sports day was a success!
Taster session for the new class year in September.
Singing with her friends in the nursery graduation after receiving her certificate

Finally, we have name spelling down to a 'T' I am so proud
Extracts from Little Miss's Learning Journal. 

Little Man is chatting away constantly at the moment really trying to make some sort of sense. Unfortunately he's not being too successful but I think he's getting his big sister's name almost. He seems to be shouting something along those lines when he gets himself stuck in the toy box that he climbs in, arms stretched up and waving whilst shouting at his sister. Every time she picks him up so I think his first word will be her name! 
He's also really into his walking about right now, running to the door at every opportunity. I'm sure you can imagine the noise he makes once he realises he's being put in the pushchair instead! We've got lots planned for the summer holidays and I just hope instead of eating salt dough and play dough he might actually get into playing with it!
He's also being super independent right now with his eating, refusing to let me spoon feed him at all. My house is a constant mess with food rolling and dropping about all over the floor which is a pain but they have to learn! 

Holding hands at the church fate

Mince and rice. It wasn't pretty!
Now it's the summer holidays I'm sure there will be plenty to catch up on every week! Hope everyone is enjoying the sun!
CupcakeMumma




Photo a Day July 13-18



13. Open- Bright eyes wide and ready for school
14. Building- JD Wetherspoons in Cornwall that there is Big Ben's Brother did you know?


15. Finger- Pointing at my Little Man 
16. Sign- A sign that I have a lot to do!!


17. Your Addiction- Pink anything and my iPhone. I am never without pink nails and never without my iPhone!
18. Plate- My new rainbow coloured plates with a rather yummy tuna sandwich (which doesn't look so yummy I realise!)

CupcakeMumma
x

My Fifty Shades Of Parenthood-



I'm tired. Oh my I'm so tired. I close my eyes, tilting my head back slightly. I have to keep going, have to. No one else will clean these floors after all. As I scrub this mornings spilt breakfast offerings from the floor, I sense a presence. The children are in the garden playing happily. Oh! I bite my lip, turning slowing around. There he is, my man, kneeling down to meet my eyes- blue eyes into deeper blue eyes. 
Slowly he wraps his pudgy, sausage fingers around my wrists, his smile making me melt. I get a waft of his scent. Mmm Rightguard....He looks at me, smiling softly. "Go, I'll scrub the floors. Here," he hands me fifty pounds, shaking his head as if to stop my protest before it has even began.
" Go to the shops. Go on, it's a lovely day, I'll look after the children while you hit the early summer sales," I feel giddy inside. Fifty pounds? Early summer sales?
_______________________________

I've spent a few hours alone, had lunch in my favourite cafe and  now I return home, armed with bags mostly full of children's items but who cares?  I've had fun! I bite my lip as my hand rests on the door knob. What scene will greet me when I open this door? I suppress my nerves, letting myself in slowly. The house is clean, a delicious aroma floats from the kitchen.
" You're home," The Man grins. My man, I smile as I think to myself. 
" Where are the children?" 
" Your mother came by, wanted to spend some time with them. Took them for the night," he grins at me, slowly walking back to attend his business in the kitchen.  I watch as he stirs the dinner.
" It's got a while yet. Go to the bathroom," he orders.
For once I do as I'm told. Walking in the room it is dark except for a few candles. A mountain of bubbles has erupted from the bath tub. My eyes light up and for the first time in a long time I can see what will happen. 
I bite my lip as I sink slowly into the hot water. Oh this is good. No children, no draft, no audience. I'm in heaven.

As I leave I am hit by an extraordinary site. Have I inhaled too much lavender perhaps? His eyes are burning. His smile large. " Isn't this wonderful?" The Man asks. 
"Mmm, yes," I smile. Dinner sits on the table, heat pouring into the air. I smile warmly at his efforts, enjoying his delicious meal for 2.
"Dessert?"
" Oh yes," I bite my lip. " Indeed."

Ohh naughty CupcakeMumma! This post has been written up as part of Mummy365's #50shadesOfParenthood. It's a bit of fun, a bit of a laugh and i enjoyed breaking out of my Mummy Box for a few minuets!

CupcakeMumma

A Lovely New Mug!

Recently I took part in a rather unique swap thanks to MeHeandThem. As Natalie is from overseas she allowed me to find a swap partner. It didn't take me too long, I hopped onto Twitter and found the lovely Kat from KatSighs who was just as keen as me to swap a mug!

We both sent our mugs on the same day (complete with 2 postcards for Postcrossing which Kat also does- spooky!) so all that was left to do was wait for our packages.

I love my mug is the first thing I will say. Kat has blogged here about choosing my mug which is totally me, very sweet and very pretty:



I really love my mug it brightened up my day! I love the colours, I love the butterflies and I collect tins so I'm really pleased! Kat put me to shame a bit because she added some extras! I got this lovely magnet and also a really pretty bookmark shaped as heart with Angel  written on it.

Thank you so much Kat!

I really enjoyed this swap, here's what I sent Kat:













I'll be hosting my own UK Mug Swap in October so please look out for that! For now, Kat is hosting a Summer Sun Swap over on her blog for August so please go and have a look and see if you fancy sending and receiving a homemade, sunny item.

CupcakeMumma
x

Race For Life 2012- A Big Thank-You!


Thank-You so much to everyone who supported myself and Little Miss. We have added up our pennies online and offline and we have smashed last years total of £70 and have managed to raise £100!!!

I'd now like to share with you our fantastic day at Race For Life 2012.


 Before heading off we had the good old final preparations. Little Miss wanted to be a pretty cat so I sat in the car with her and popped on some face paints as Mum and my sister sorted out their back signs. We made sure there were plenty of safety pins this year!

Little Miss, Aunty Issy and Grandma. 
Mummy and Little Miss all pinked up!
 We were the pyjama party (It was even shouted at us as we all joined hands and ran across the finishing line!) Such an amazing experience.


After the very fun workout we followed our designated flag and made our way with the crowd to the start! Everyone was really excited and keen to get started. The music started playing, people starting clapping and before we knew it we were off! 

There were hundreds of people doing Race For Life in Truro this year which was fantastic. There were women jogging with pushchairs, boys walking with their Mums playing with sticks amid the sea of pink and plenty of fancy dress- both the young and old!

These ladies did the whole race 3 legged! 
This little dog was one among many but I loved her little pink bow and she
was so friendly.
These ladies were bonkers! They did pretty much the whole race on their space
hoppers which is fantastic!

  We played a game of 'collect the fallen feathers' to keep Little Miss occupied on the way around. We now have a fair amount of pink feathers that were blown off by participants feather bowers! We're going to make a collage of our special day. Not only that, but we saved the environment from a lot of pink feathers! Although I'm sure the birds will love the ones we didn't manage to collect to pink up their nests!

In the final bit, Little Miss got very tired and it was getting hard to spur her on. Our angel came as a high vised Marshall armed with a spare chocolate bar- how kind! That little chocolate bar and that mans kindness got us all past the finishing line with huge smiles and laughter with a round of applause from so many people who had waited around long after their loved ones had finished.
Yes, the pyjama party had crossed the finish line and Mummy was the proudest Mummy on the planet...

What better way to round a hot day off with a well deserved ice cream?


Thank you again to everyone who sponsored us- it means so much to me and many out there. Here's to 2013!

CupcakeMumma and Little Miss
xx