My Reasons to be Cheerful

I haven't been able to blog properly for some time and if you could see my current set up you'd understand why (laptop, keyboard, temperamental mouse, phone also attached for photos) as you can imagine it hasn't been easy to muster the enthusiasm to write! Nor has it been making me cheerful!

What has been making me cheerful though is my very recent trip to the Harry Potter Studios with my Mum and Midge. We all loved it, me more than anyone else. For someone with social anxiety I seemed to let go of all that. I was one of 3 shouting out proudly to being a Hufflepuff and I may (I did) get a little teary when the Great Hall doors were revealed (what can I say? I'm a true Harry Potter fan!)







Yesterday I had another reason to smile. My 25th birthday! I was spoilt by the family with a new phone, slippers, Care Bear PJ bottoms, books, stationery oh so much to be honest! My very wonderful friend Kat sent me a surprise vase of flowers ( with several of my favourites) plus a card and cupcake balloon. How thoughtful, I definitely had tears in my eyes !



I'm also enjoying half term with the children. We've bought our pumpkins, we're excited for Halloween tomorrow and we've made some rather cool orange glitter playdoh which we had fun with today. I'd love to hear what's been making you all cheerful too so please join in too!

Ojos World

Dennis the Menace Beano Annual 2015!

Yes! The two craziest and most unruly original rule breakers are back and this year they're making it big by hopping on the Beano town Express to London's St.Pancras station to create some fun and mischief throughout Autumn to get us excited for their fab new 2015 annual.

Dont miss out!
As a child I spent many a day watching Dennis the Menace with my brother and just like many others we loved it a lot. This year, The Beano Annual features all of your favourite characters from Dennis and Gnasher as well as The Numskulls, The Bash Street kids and Minnie the Minx all creating havoc in cartoon sketches, quizzes, puzzles and more.

Little A can enjoy these more simple cartoon strips with less writing featured.


One of our favourite pages so far

Enjoy the 75 years of Beano fun at one of our most iconic London Stations or enjoy it right now at home with your very own wacky, cheeky, full of fun Beano 2015 Annual. Priced at £7.99 I'm thinking this is a fantastic annual to get under the Christmas tree this year.

I was sent a free copy of  the Dennis the Menace Beano Annual 2015 in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and photos are, as usual, my own (unless specified)

Cupcake Mumma

Create your own Cards and Gift Tags!

I'm really pleased to be writing this because the bits and bobs that came in the post for me recently were from blogging friend Joy and I do like to help a fellow blogger when they have great ideas. I also love anything paper related being obsessed with stationery, notebooks, craft bits and anything else you can think of!

I made a promise to myself this year to get more creative with birthdays and other occasions by using the bits I've collected over time in my craft drawer. I also wanted to use up my various unused stash of cards that have started cluttering my desk! Ultimately the task was to not spend very much at all on cards this year and opt for being creative instead. I've done really well and will do the same next year!

Joy who blogs at Daisy Row has just started selling little 'do it yourself' gift tag and card packs on her other site Station Harry, with Fab Rick and the Yarnbirds.

I've never made my own gift tags before because I grew up just writing the recipients name on their gift but gift tags look so much nicer and I enjoyed making these. I got a pack of materials including fabrics, ribbons, paper and small embellishments plus a few stickers.



In my second pack, Joy sent me pre folded cards with envelopes, plus the above to make some pretty cards. Little A helped me with a couple too, he does like to be involved with sticking!


These cards and gift tags were really good fun to make and I even have some bits left over to keep my craft drawer stocked up! I think all ages can enjoy creating with Joys packs. My favourite items included were the various papers and there were some lovely embellishments for me to use too. I'm not so keen on fabrics because I think they look a bit messy and I always end up with frayed edges! I think the fabrics would look better for crafting if they were cut with some funky craft scissors (like zig zags) so perhaps I should invest in some!

Gift tag packs are priced at £1.75 or two for £3.00 and card packs are £2.75 or two for £5.00. I received a pack of each free of charge in return for an honest review.

Cupcake Mumma

International Day of the Girl

That's what today, the 11th October 2014 is all about. Raising awareness of the inequality and stolen decisions thousands of girls around the world suffer daily. 

As a woman living in the UK I have many rights. I will not be forced into marriage by my family. I married young (at 23) but I did not ever worry that I would be married to a stranger, or a relative stranger at the ages of 15-18 like 41,095 young girls are today. In some countries, forced marriage happens even earlier and it is heart breaking to hear of young girls having their childhood stolen, being forced to marry and start a family so young.







































I started a family when I was 18. I was pregnant at 17. Many young girls across the world are much younger when they discover they are with child. Many girls fall pregnant after suffering a sexual attack (rape) whilst others who are still young but enter puberty (start menstruating) are seen as able to bring children into the household. Whether they'd want to or not.







































47,000 women (of which young girls are included) die due to unsafe abortion every year. Think whatever you like about abortion, right or wrong, every female deserves a choice when it comes to having children and changing their lives forever. Especially when a girl finds out she is pregnant after being raped. We should always have a choice to continue a pregnancy after suffering a sexual and violent attack, the impact on mental health can be massive and it is important that these girls have information, support and options. Sadly they don't, and  today 191 child brides will die during labour.

International Day of the Girl is about raising awareness for these bright, strong and intelligent girls. They should have rights, they should have education and they should options just as boys and men do. They should not be forced to marry, to die in labour, to carry unwanted children conceived through crime. They should not be one of the 8,000 girls to suffer female genital mutilation (FGM) (a destructive operation, during which the female genitals are partly or entirely removed or injured with the goals of inhibiting a woman's sexual feelings.) in Africa or one of the 54 girls under 15 HERE in the UK today.
























Please consider signing this petition to help Plan UK do all they can to fight for these girls and their futures. Please follow PlanUK and visit their website here for more information. It's incredibly important to use our voices when those who are in need cannot always use their own.

Every girl deserves a future. So I lend my voice to this day and hope that one day, every girl will have the same options and choices as we are so lucky to have here.

Dettol's Baby Blanket Donation!


I remember leaving the birthing unit where I had both my children. It was chilly on both occasions (it was winter after all) I had dressed them in their chosen hats and baby gros (both outfits made my babies look incredibly small!) and I placed their very first blankets across them for their very first journey home. 
I loved that they both had their own 'blankies' and I love that Little A is still very much attached to his knitted white blanket too. That is my memory of my babies and their first soft, clean and cosy blankets and I'd love to hear yours!


Dettol is asking each of us to #sharethememories in their new Baby Blanket Campaign with fellow Mum Rachel Stevens. With everyones help, we can also give others a chance to have their happy memories with their babies first special blanket.

As part of their campaign, Dettol are asking people to collect blankets or even post just one to help those families, both in the UK and abroad. Many babies are born into underprivileged homes each year and with your help, Dettol will collect your blanket donations, wash them with Dettol Anti-Bacterial laundry cleaner which kills 99.9% of bacteria when washed below 30 degrees (incredibly important since baby blankets understandably can collect and carry a variety of bacteria, even after a 40 degree wash!) 

Each blanket donated and washed will be passed on to a family in need and Dettol will also donate £1 for every blanket to the charity Sparks (a children's medical research charity which works tirelessly to fund pioneering research into medical conditions including (but not limited to) Spina Bifida, Cerebral Palsy, birth asphyxiation and childhood Cancers)

I hope you'll agree that Dettols Baby Blanket Donation is a fantastic idea. Please consider posting a blanket or more then one (no stamp required!) to:

FREEPOST RTKJ-YSGS-SSHR
Dettol Baby Blanket Donation
Balcombe Place Stables
HAYWARDS HEATH
RH17 6AZ


Please share your baby blanket memories on Twitter using #sharethememories or share them on Facebook here. You can see full details of the campaign by visiting- www.dettol.co.uk/donate

Thank you so much for reading!

Cupcake Mumma 

*Dettol did send me a free bottle of their laundry cleaner which you can buy in supermarkets for £4.50. This didn't however have any influence over my decision to work with Dettol on this campaign. I genuinely think this is a campaign worth supporting.*