Brownie in a Mug

I'm sure by now we have all heard of the 5 Minute Mug Cake, but earlier today one of the cakey pages (seriously, go check this page out, her cakes are amazing!) I follow on Facebook posted a picture of a Brownie in a Mug.

One of the biggest differences with this recipe is that it doesn't use eggs.  This is perfect for me as I always run out of eggs when I need them!

I made the Brownie cake tonight and oh my word, it tastes amazing!  It was so light and chocolatey and just melts in the mouth.  Mmm, mmm.

Here is my version of the cake:

I urge you to try it, go on, you won't regret it!!

Jackie. x

Swapsies August

During the month of August I took part in two different craft swaps.

The first swap that I signed up to was a Pin cushion swap with Hannah at Squintessential.  With my new found love for the sewing machine, I thought that this would be a great swap to take part in.  The rules to this one was basically, you have to make it yourself.  Simple enough!

For this swap, I was paired up with Anna from Black Cactus London.

I had come across an 'In the Hoop' pattern for the embroidery machine from http://www.memories-in-thread.net/ which I had been meaning to try out, so I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity.  I chose to use a teapot fabric that I have in my stash, back with a matching red spotty fabric that I also have.

I was a little disappointed that the final product didn't actually show much of the teapot design on the fabric, but here is a picture of the fabric so that you can see how gorgeous it is! lol.  Apart from that though, I am happy with the overall outcome of the pin cushion and hope that Anna is too!

The finished pin cushion

The teapot fabric

The second swap was hosted by the lovely Kat and was an August Summer Swap.  The rules were simple, to make something that reminds you of summer.  It could be in any craft format that you liked, as long as it is handmade by you.  You also had to send a fridge magnet as well.

I was paired up with Hannah, who coincidently is the same person who is running the pin cushion swap!

My first thought was that this was going to be easy!  Ha, how wrong I was!  It took me ages to decide on what to make!  When I did finally make my decision, it was pretty straight forward from then on.  Trying to decide on something summery to make for someone who makes such beautiful jewellery was really hard.  I could tell from Hannah's blog and twitter that she is quite crafty herself and enjoys taking part in craft swaps, so I wanted to do something a bit different.  In the end, I remembered something I used to love doing....cross stitch.  Once I'd decided on that, I had a look about for a kit.  I found loads of different scenes that would be perfect for the theme, but in the end I settled on a beach scene.  Once I made the cross stitch, I then put it in a frame bordered with some craft paper.  I had forgotten about getting a magnet for Hannah, but a quick look on my fridge and I remembered that I had a duplicate of the same magnet from Cape Town, South Africa, so I sent one of those over to Hannah.

Cross stitch in frame

Fridge magnet

I really hope she likes them!

To see the other Summer crafty swaps, check out the linky below:


Jackie. x

Good days and bad days

On Sunday we had a really good day and after days like yesterday and today, I think it's important to remember the good days as sometimes the bad ones take over when remembering back.

The two little ones had been invited to a third birthday party on Sunday, so I had taken the day off work to take them.  We were all looking forward to it, the boys for the party and I was looking forward to catching up with some friends I haven't seen for a while.

After finding my way to Camberley, we managed to get there with about 10 mins to spare.  That's really good for me, as no matter how much time I give myself, I normally end up getting lost and running late!  The party was the most relaxed kids party I have ever been to!  It was in a leisure centre and there were 3 staff members there to look after the kids.  I was actually able to sit and talk to my friends without having to run around after the boys or break up any fights!  The boys also seemed to be on their best behaviour.  Even at the end of the play session and they had to get their shoes on to go to the party room they did it with no fuss or tantrums!  The party continued in this manner and when it was time to go home, they came along nicely!  Wow, who's replaced my two boys!

We got home at about 3ish and found the flat empty.  Hubby had mentioned that he might go to the gym while we were out, so I didn't think much of it.  I let the boys play with the goodies in the party bags and eat some of the sweets.  I then texted hubby to let him know that we were home.  It turned out he wasn't at the gym at all, but in fact in the pub with some of his mates.  I decided then that seeing as he was out and about, we were all having a good day, it would be nice to go out for a family dinner somewhere.  We very rarely get the occasion to go out, so it would be a nice change.

I texted PJ and hubby to let them know of the plans and off we went to the nearest Harvester.  We all had a good time and the food was nice.  The service was a little slow, but that's to be expected at 4-5pm on a Sunday.  All full up, we came home and the little ones went off to bed not long after.  Once they were settled in bed, PJ, hubby and myself all settled down with a couple of beers (not PJ!), popcorn and a film.  All in all, a very good day all round!

Now, as I sit here listening to the screaming fits and arguments of the littlest two, how I wish days like Sundays could be a much more regular occurrence!

Jackie. x