Blog

IT WAS hard to pick who was happiest when the delivery man arrived this week. Was it his joy in seeing me in my dressing gown, no hair or makeup and coke bottle-thick glasses (more on that another day… maybe)? Or me realising he was delivering this:

from the wonderful Glenys of Cupcake City? Yes, definitely me. The other real joy in receiving our miniamo Cupcake Bake and Decorate Set is The Bloke in The Shed isn’t much of a sweet tooth. Poor us, hey!

I opted to bake our cupcakes one day and ice them the next – I couldn’t bear the thought of Ella bouncing off the walls after eating a bowl of icing on top of cupcake mixture. The kit included 12 round cupcake moulds, heart-shaped stencils, easy squeeze icing tube, decorating nozzles and 16-recipe cupcake and biscuit book written specifically for your child. I’m indecisive at the best of times, so the choices (combined with our own baby cupcakes with sprinkles recipe) caused slight problems. Finally, we settled on a recipe which called for a swirl of strawberry jam just before popping them in the oven.  Too easy.

Then the real challenge began. Of course, art is subjective. Right? Well, that’s what I’m telling myself, anyway. We got out the full colour palette,

some candied decorations and Cupcake City also threw in some edible gold dust. You can find other fun cupcake decorations at Cupcake City too.

The end result was Ella with fingers and a mouth laced with blue.

She looked like she’d been playing in the toilet bowl. Unfortunately, my icing was far too runny, so when I was trying to achieve beautiful little flowers atop my cupcakes, I ended up achieving this:

My other challenge was an impatient preschooler who just wanted to grab the piping bottle and have her way with each cupcake. I think, with a little more time (and minus a preschooler), this kit has the ability to create some really beautiful cupcakes. Alas, mine are far from beautiful. Now please, don’t laugh.

Here’s the cupcake Ella decorated. Note, it wouldn’t stay on the bench long enough for me to photograph it.

So, they’re not perfect, but we can promise we had an absolute ball. The kit works a treat (it’s just me, really), the piping set is really easy to use and the cookbook is actually a great bonus to this kit. Tomorrow we’re tackling some of the decorated biscuits.

While the silicone moulds make cupcake making easier than ever (and help save the environment), the decorating side of the kit is probably suited to children with a little more patience than my three-year-old. Although, to be honest, she had fun despite her unusual looking creations.

So, if you’re thinking of visiting us, beware: you may get a little cupcake with your icing! I’d suggest it would be safer to visit Cupcake City’s Facebook page and website instead – she comes across the most incredible cupcake finds.

To go in the draw to win a miniamo Cupcake Bake and Decorate Set (RRP: $30) from Cupcake City (choose between “Pastel’’ or “Bright’’), leave a comment telling us what you love to cook in the kitchen with (or without) your kids.  The giveaway closes Sunday, June 26 at 7pm and a winner will be drawn randomly and announced on this blog and via Facebook and Twitter. Australian residents only. Limit of three entries.

Then here’s how you can up your chances in the draw. Each task is worth one extra entry, but must be included as a separate comment (or it won’t count).

1. Click the Facebook button below and share this giveaway with your Facebook friends. Then leave a separate comment saying something along the lines of “I’ve shared this on Facebook’’.
2. Click the Twitter button below and share this giveaway with your Twitter followers (Twitter handle is @ThreeLil). Then leave a separate comment saying something along the lines of “I’ve shared this on Twitter’’.

**DISCLAIMER: I received a miniamo Cupcake Bake and Decorate Set for review. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

Hosted by Three Lil Princesses and Tina Gray {dot} Me

And, using my new “And the winner is…” plugin, the winner of the Bake and Decorate Kit is:

BARB! Barb said.

Yummy looking cupcakes! I personally am looking forward to a pic of the woman in her dressing gown that met the delivery guy!!! I have a few of these cupcake kids cooking sets packed away as presents for Ellie’s friends…..they’re always well recieved by 6-8 year olds!

You’ll be waiting a while, Barb!! hehe!! Congratulations! I hope you and Ellie enjoy it.

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. See the end of the post for the winner.

IF YOU visited the blog yesterday, you would have seen the rock star that kindly offered up an interview.

Yes, that’s Raggs, from the live action and animated TV show of the same name and rockin’ Kids Club Band. It’s fair to say, our surprise interview caused quite a few giggles.

Raggs is a pretty familiar character in our household, thanks to previously being part of our afternoon TV schedule. It’s returning to TV on Boomerang and 7TWO, by the way. He’s also familiar to our car, maybe a little too familiar. Although, Tutti Fruity Baby is a rather fine song!

Three-year-old Ella didn’t sit still too long when we popped in the new batch of Raggs episodes from the Move Your Tails! DVD, promptly standing up, putting hands on her hips and wiggling to the theme song.

When there are so many movie-length DVDs out there, it’s nice to discover something for toddlers and preschoolers that has TV-length episodes. Even better when the episodes revolve around play and play ideas. We all need those!

Ella had a giggling fit during one scene where one of the five dogs couldn’t stop saying the word “fleas’’. Small things, huh. Another scene, which had the five dogs playing doctors, meant I spent the rest of the afternoon operating on her to get rid of bees in her stomach.

What appeals to me about the wonderfully bright Raggs, other than the Australian accents, is that it addresses preschool curriculum topics (yes, really), looks at emotions and there’s great variety within its format to keep little ones engaged.  The downside is that those songs are just way too catchy.

Although, you can put up with that when you have characters like the wise-cracking cat Dumpster. He was definitely put in the show to entertain parents.

For more information on the show or DVD, visit www.raggs.com.au. Now for the giveaway…

To go in the draw to win a Move Your Tails! DVD and Have a Ball! Raggs 15 Hits Songs CD (with free 16-page activity book), leave a comment telling us your favourite game to play with your kids.  The giveaway closes Friday, June 24 at 7pm and a winner will be drawn randomly and announced on this blog and via Facebook and Twitter. Australian residents only. Limit of three entries.

Are you game to try for more entries? Then here’s how you can up your chances in the draw. Each task is worth one extra entry, but must be included as a separate comment (or it won’t count).

1. Click the Facebook button below and share this giveaway with your Facebook friends. Then leave a separate comment saying something along the lines of “I’ve shared this on Facebook’’.
2. Click the Twitter button below and share this giveaway with your Twitter followers (Twitter handle is @ThreeLil). Then leave a separate comment saying something along the lines of “I’ve shared this on Twitter’’.

**DISCLAIMER: I received a DVD for review. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

Hosted by Three Lil Princesses and Tina Gray {dot} Me

Winner of the DVD and CD was…..

Deb! Deb said:

My favourite game to play with my kids is hide and go seek, its so funny because when its their turn to hide they actually tell me where they are….

Congratulations, Deb!