Happy Birthday Princess!!!

It’s hard to believe a whole year has gone by since we first welcomed Arabella into the world. (Although it’s equally difficult to remember life before her!!)




To mark her first birthday, I wanted to create a pink princess party we’d never forget (well the princess herself won’t remember it, but hopefully she’ll enjoy looking at the photos in years to come!). John designed some gorgeous invites and we ordered a fab outfit on Etsy from HugWear



Here is my beautiful princess modelling her outfit! (It’s almost impossible to get any non-blurry, face-on pics of her as she’s sooooooooo lively~ was walking before the 10month mark and can now out-run me!!!! Don’t know where she gets the energy, as she never sleeps longer than 20mins!!!)

And what does every princess need???

A pony!!!!!

I also whipped up some cupcake toppers and a high-chair banner and was in my element buying, baking & making pink goodies to decorate the kitchen. I was only allowed to decorate the kitchen as big brother, Dylan, wanted to scare all the guests first with the hallway and garden decked out for Halloween!!!

We’d a brill day sipping pink champers and nibbling pink delights (including some luminous pink painted sausage rolls, and groovy ham roley-poleys sambos!)

(This was only half the goodies.... We're still stuffed!!!)

House almost back to normal now... roll on 23rd November when we do it all again for Dylan’s 6th birthday pirate extravaganza!!!!

Happy First Birthday Arabella



Finally Found!

A few months back I saw these awesome stacking tiffin boxes on RTE's Kitchen Hero and lusted after them.

Tracked them down online in John Lewis (Don't deliver to Ireland), M&S (none in any of the 6 stores nearest me and my mum) and on Amazon (wa-hey too expensive).

Then on Saturday, doing the weekly shop in Newry, there on the window for Debenhams was the picnic box of my dreams....... WITH HALF OFF!!!!

I was so excited- 'Giddy' is the word I think himself used!!

The ex-display one was the only one left, so great timing!!! Used it the very next day on our picnic on Carlingford Lough!

Ah, Happy Days!!

August Bank Holl

Last weekend, we were luckily enough to have a long weekend, not lucky enough to have good weather, but that didn’t stop us exploring me more of this beautiful country!!




On Sunday we drove to the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre to take in a tiny portion of the biggest lake in Ireland. Dyl had a great time playing with the Arcemedis Screw. Thenwe headed on to the Holiday Inn, Ballymena Road, Antrim where we checked in to the biggest family room I’ve ever stayed in right by the Junction One Outlet Centre. So of course I forced myself to do some shopping, picking up some cupcake liners and a few small Christmas gifts- Get me for the super-organisation!!!! John and Dylan had a round of pirate mini-golf and afterwards we tried to eat all we could at The Red Panda~ Delicious but very rich sauces, so you can’t eat too much~ Sneaky!!!!



Monday morning, fuelled up with our hot chockies and full-Irish breakfasts we headed to Bushmills to the Giants Causeway. Words cannot do it justice so here are some snaps to show off such a dramatic landscape!!

After our Irish style picnic (eating in the car!) we drove to the Carrick-a-Rede ropebridge and I’m glad to say we all made it over and back! It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done!

I think when you have kids, fears get exaggerated, and you worry more, however irrationally, especially when crossing over rocks with a baby in her sling dancing and laughing as I practically wet myself!!!



Still twas a fabboo weekend, a nice break from the norm!!

Some French Inspiration....

The only good thing about coming back from holidays is rediscovering the treasures you bought to take home. Today I unwrapped the fabboo flamingo picks in a wee dish for eating shellfish etc... Had almost forgotten about those lovely ladies!!! I'm finally getting somewhere with the unpacking, kids clothes away, washing on, knight outfits, princess costumes and toys all tidied away and residing in their new home. Just toiletries and souveneirs to unwrap... I'm going to open one a day to save post-holiday depression!!

Flicking through holiday snaps, I've found a few for inspiration. If I get two seconds to myself over the Summer (Dylan finished school today, and Arabella has learnt to crawl and explore the house!)will definitely try my hand at the following;

A gorgeous linen laundry/swim bag with knitted fish, spotted in Carcassone.

And in the same window:

How adorable are these jam jar covers complete with crocheted/knitted fruit, crocheted trims, embroidery and lace!! Must get picking the fruit to make the jam too!!

We all adored waking up to fesh baguettes, pain au chocolat and croissants, and heading to the markets for macaroons and nougat. Anyone with recipes for either, please send my way. Just look at the faboo colours;

Finally for now, how cool is this lasagne, spied in Marseillan?! I would have brought some back if it would have survived being squashed with all my other buys in a very cramped case. I even had to leave some togs and SHOES in France!!!!

Oh also my peppers are growing well, they didnt miss me much, the spring onions are peeking their legs out and the broad beens and peas are thriving, despite all the rain while I was on the Sunny French Med!!

More on that another day, Baby is having a moan.....

'Go Fly a Kite' ~ Celebratory 3D Origami Kite Cupcake Toppers

Last month I signed up for the 'OffBeat Holiday Toppers: June' swap and received a totally awesome package featuring gorgeous toppers to celebrate the Queen's birthday. My partner also sent 2 PB Twixes, which I'd heard whisperings of but now know actually exist and are divine, a PEZ dispenser, flamingo drink stirrers and a Queen of Hearts notecard. It was an absolutely amazing package and arrived just in time for my birthday!!!

With other swaps, my birthday, Mums birthday and my son's midterm out of the way I focussed on my end of the swap. There were so many random holidays in June it was hard to pick just one. In the end I opted for a fun day celebrated twice in June; 15th & 24th, Go Fly a Kite Day!

Step 1 was to draw out some cloud shapes and choose my 2 faves. I then cut 6 of each out of white card and glued on the sticks. I had to use coffee stirrers as cannot get lollipop sticks or craft picks for love or money here, and cocktail sticks are too flimsy. Forgive the quality of the photos, my camera is out of batteries and I can't afford new ones, I'm saving up for some rechargable ones so I'm not caught out again!!!

Next, the fun bit: making the origami kites! For the topper,s I made mini-kites using 1.5" x 1.5" squares of paper, folding them diagonally into triangles;

Open up and fold the same corners (the ones without the central line running through them!)into the middle, so that the two adjacent edges meet in the middle. Fold down the top corner to create the lines and shape of the kite;

Next tape a short length of embroidery thread/ ribbon inside the kite, and extending out, Refold up the kites, taping the folded in flaps together at the back. Make sure not to take these flaps to the front piece of the kite to ensure they remain 3D, i.e. not flat!!



 Glue the kites to the clouds on sticks and bang some cupcakes in the oven to display your beautiful creations!!! 

Take on a picnic to the park, and remember to pack your kite!!

'Let's Go Fly a Kite...'

A Good Post Day!!

Today the postie brought em tons of wonderful surprises...

First up was Day 1 of the 'Put My Letter Back Together Swap' ~ I've two more to come then get to assemble the pieces into a letter, can't wait!!

Next up was an envelope with 2 yummy hot chocs inside

I also received 2 fabulous handmade cards, one for Arabella's arrival, the other for my birthday as part of the 'April Birthday Card' swap and they were crammed with goodie, note cards, stickers, ribbon and buttons. Thanks a million pedal2u

Dylan also did well today when Mr Tall came in the post from Granny D!! I also managed to track down the World Book Day books for him and picked 2 of them up.

John and me got books too, from Oxfam~ A HP quiz book for him and 'The Confessions of Fitzwilliam Darcy' for me, looking forward to getting 5 mins to myself to start on it... Maybe when Arabella starts school...

Finally after 26 years of searching I found a plastic lawn flamingo today at Boyd's Stores Dundalk!!! A fiver~ bargain, if I had more moola, I'd have bought a whole flock of flamingos!!!!

xXx

Best Mother's Day Ever!!

Happy Belated Mother's Day!!!

Hope all the mums out there had a great day, I know I did.

At 7:30am Dylan crept into my bed (Arabella had been asleep for about 15mins...) and we shared a Thorntons chocolate covered strawberry fondant pig, my break from Lent. Yummy. When himself got up at about 8:30, he was sleeping in the spare room because of his snoring, he took Dylan downstairs and they made me breakfast in bed and brought me my pressies; 2 handmade cards, Harvest Fishing for the DS, Look magazine and oh so yummy, Hersheys kisses: Cookies n Cream!!! Fabbooo, what a healthy breakfast!!!

When we were all up and dressed, we decided to go out for the day. Dad had given me a 'Discover Northern Ireland' leaflet with 2for1 deals on and loads of suggestions for family days out. We chose the Navan Centre & Fort, Armagh, about 50mins away. It was the perfect choice and I can't write enough nice things about the place.

Going in there were only about 5 cars in the carpark despite the great weather. It was cheap admission (£8 for us all) and the staff were so helpful and accomodating. The interactive exhibition was so interesting and Dylan got to make 2 badges to take home. They put on the film in the theatre especially for us, we chose the shorter version and when we went up to the settlement we had 2 staff members dress up and reenact what life was like during the bronze age. We got to sit in their house and experience bread and butter making and the various ways of cooking. Dylan loved their stories especially to hear that the warriors fought naked and painted in blue!!! A bit different to his knights costume!!!!!

After our picnic we climbed the hill to the fort and Dyl and me had great fun rolling down again, I was exhausted but never laughed so hard (since watching 'The Human Centipede' last weekend!!!!!)

Must dash now and put some swaps together and do some housework while Arabella sleeps....

March Madness

Well, we’ve had a great week here, weather glorious, although we had a return to the usual wet today...




Been keeping busy with baby~ she’s growing big, and boy~ getting more homework, baking and making.



Projects completed this past week:

• Baked Hazelnut Cookies (yes they look like dog pooh but they were yummy!)

• Made a Paddy’s Day Banner & matching biscuits (lucky teacher even got one!)

• Dusted off Knitting Needles and have whipped up 3 ears, 2 heads, 2 torsos for Tiny Easter Bunnies

• Cut Out Felt Pieces to make Gio’s belt (from ‘Team Umioomi!!)

• Moved baba to the cot and decorated a space in our room for her

Also may need to start on another knitted cupcake for swap-bot, the last one may be lost somewhere in the post. I’m waiting on a rating...



At the weekend we made the best of the good weather and went to the National Leprechaun Hunt in aid of Crumlin Children’s Hospital, in Carlingford. 50 leprechauns were hidden up a mountain, each worth a cash sum between 5-100 yoyos. We arrived in good time, for an Irish event, paid our 5 yoyos for our hunting licences and followed the band to the hunting ground.... So far so good...

BUT

What they failed to tell us was that it was about a 2mile trek up the mountain to the big field. This was all well and good for those without kids... Knowing it was in the mountains I had baba in her sling but many Mammies and Daddies were forced to push buggies up tiny stoney, bumpy paths to reach the top. Those of us with younger kids with little legs had to carry and stop for rests (and supplies) every now and then before we reached the hunting ground. This meant that groups of teens and families with older kids reached the destination first and by the time the rest of us arrived most of the lerechains had been found. TBH there wasn’t much ‘finding’ to be done apparently the wee leprechauns were sat out in the open on a first come first served basis.... Not exactly fair for the wee kiddies who were promised a good hunt if they dragged themselves on their wee legs to the top of the hill.... I had a very put out wee man on the way back down the mountain....



Still it was all in aid of a good cause, and we’ll know for next time. At least there’s only one little boy at our exclusive Easter Egg hunt in a few weeks time. He might be in with a chance of finding something then!!!!

Still Stuffed, but Craving Chocolate

Right so today is the first day of the healthier new me ~ my Lenty Be Good~ which will hopefully last beyond Easter....

I'm off chocolate and bread and am only allowed one serving of carbs a day (& a hot chocky in the eve, this is for everyone's sanity not just mine, a total withdrawal might cause total chaos and eventual melt-down of our home...) I'm also vowing to walk for an hour with Baba every morn while the wee man is at school.... (weather permitting) Geesh, I have a lot of conditions on my new 'lifestyle!'

Clare stayed last night and bought me brekkie this morn~ Mmmmm yummy and I was extra naughty as had a second hot choc this eve... To be fair it was a turkish delight flavoured one so I literally only had two sips~ Bleuch, not reccommended!!!

She really enjoyed her egg-free pancakes, her first time ever getting pancakes on pancake day, and we wolfed into the regular eggy version:

I tried a few variations this year which proved a big hit!!
For chocky pancakes I blended hot choc powder and cocoa powder with hot water and mixed into the batter (I never really bother weighing/measuring when making pancake batter, but used about a Tbsp of each to make 8-10 pancakes)
I  also made nutty pancakes and substituted some of the flour for ground hazelnuts, these were fabboo!
Finally I mashed a banana and mixed into some batter, these were a bit lumpy but uber-lip-licking gooood!!

The wee man and me pulled out my moulds for Easter eggs nd found a whole load of fun moulds in the box.
This year be sure to keep any plastic packaging from your Easter eggs, it makes great chocky moulds. Last year the wee fella got a Mr Potato Head Egg from his Granny n GrandDad;

So we kept the tray the eyes etc came in and re-used it this year, Wee man can play mascarades with the pieces, we even gave his sister a full set of teeth at only 4 months old!!!!

Who knows what goodies the Easter bunny will bring this year,

Only 39 more days to go...

xXx

Happy Pancake and Women's Day!!!

2  of my fave things~ Us girlies and yummy scrummy pancakes!!

One of my bestest best buds is coming to visit tonight but is allergic to eggs to I've been looking everywhere for a good pancake recipe containing no eggs,

Here's a brill one:
Art of Dessert

We just did a trial run and D claims they're better than regular pancakes... Hence there only being 4 remaining for Clare~ She better get here quick!!!!

I'm scoffing loads before my lenten diet, I'm off chocky and bread..... We'll see if I can survive the 40 days!!

xXx

A Great Weekend!!

I just love going home to Clonmel to visit my parents. They are great with the Grandkids and I always come back with treasures from my childhood.

This week I found my old letters/numbers stamping kit from the ELC- perfect for making Christmas paper and gift-tags as the ink is red. Will be great for getting Dyl to make words too. Also found my Easter egg moulds so will have fun making them nearer the time. And I brought back a load of postage stamps for future swap-bot swaps!!!

My Dad let me use his mobile phone upgrade to get myself a snazzy new phone and my Mum pooped in to O' Reilly's pharmacy and managed to snag the last 2 baby goodie bags from their baby giveaway day. Loads of free samples and leaflets!!  The only thing I missed out on this weekend was the Clonmel Market at Dudley Mills- they always have great crafty bits so will def have to make it next time.

Finally this weekend we booked our Summer holiday to the French Med- Can't wait, just hope Arabella can cope with the heat...

This morning our postie brought me a very pleasant surprise a RAK from PJ, a Little Bo Peep and a sheep iron on for Arabela's blanket. I had totally forgotten it was on it's way. Must get my swaps sent this week too. I'm due to send 2 small envies of Irish stuff e.g. stamps etc and a penpal letter.

Also to Do this week:
- Walk Everyday
- Attempt to cook a new recipe (My New Year's Resolution)
- Send out the last few baby pressie Thank Yous...... (3 months later!!)
- See 'Tangled'

Phew, better get to it!!! xXx

Happy Belated New Year!!!

Wow, it's been a very exciting & hectic few months.

Our beautiful Princess, Arabella was born on the 28th October and has been keeping us busy ever since!
Dylan had his fifth birthday in November, celebrating in great style and was the star of the school play (literally, he played a star!!) in December.

Santa (& all my family and friends) was very good to me. My stocking was filled with tons of ribbons, crafty bits, baking gadgets and I got lots of books to fill me with ideas for a crafty 2011. My faves are:

• 'Lovely Things to Make for Girls of Slender Means' ~ Eithne Farry
• 'Kirstie's hoemade Home' ~ Kirstie Allsopp
• 'The Crafty Minx' ~ Kelly Doust

I got spoilt:

Arabella doesn't give me a lot of time to myself but I managed to get a few bits done in advance for her:

This was my moses basket when I was a baby, almost 26 years ago. After me, my 2 brothers, sister and my son it wasn't looking too great!!! So with some new lining (and I can't take all the credit, I had a HUGE amount of help from my Gran's friend) and a new stand (the original was mouse-attacked!) it now looks like this (I've since added some pretty ribbons too because a girl can never have enough ribbons!):

 This is the bunting I made for Arabella, surprisingly easy to do, even for me who has never been allowed to use a sewing machine before!! Her room needs doing up but hopefully we'll be moving soon!

These shoes were so much fun to make, and reversible too, I was so proud when the little princess wore them. The pattern is from: http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/reversible_fabric_baby_shoes_2

Finally, and nothing to do with crafting, but another love of mine... SHOPPING! I just love the sales, went a bit mad this year despite being flat broke. Could not resist buying these 3 fabboo dresses in Monsoon:

And now I must go and rescue the chocolate fudgie cupcakes from the oven!!! xXx