Fixing The Future with Sugru!

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I've heard a lot about Sugru. I've seen it on you tube, I've seen it on blogs and several people have mentioned it to me for crafting. Those of you who don't know about Sugru, here's a little information:

Sugru is a mouldable clay which comes in a variety of colours (and right now Sugru has gone festive for Christmas!) you can use it in crafting, diy, fixing those broken toys, even for hanging up items and hiding those unsightly wires on USB cables you haven't quite got around to replacing yet! Here's a bit more about Sugru and what you can do with it on their website

As for me, well, naturally I don't think in terms of DIY or mending broken items, I think crafty! So I spent an evening making two rather sweet little models. A mushroom which I can easily turn into a badge/broach/keyring and a funny little worm which will become a keyring!

I'm not very gifted in the modelling department unfortunately so any further makes were firmly cast aside and the clay was reused for other things...

Like sticking my sons train track bridge together. It always comes apart and it upsets him a lot. Not anymore! It's not as neat as i'd like it to be but it's a very awkward object to stick together. I also got the chance to finally mend my beloved skiing Cheer Bear Carebear. She was dropped a while ago and I've only just found the missing ski! I was gutted when she broke but now Sugru has fixed her right up.

I still have more left and I'm sure it'll all come in very handy. My husband usually tapes everything up but now he has no excuse for that horrible habit! Sugru dries in a fairly quick time if left alone and it does dry rock solid. It's worth remembering that just like real clay and playdoh, if you don't look after Sugru it will become rock solid if left lying around and will get covered in bits if you drop it etc so do remember to pack it away again when you're finished!

Sugru is a long lasting mouldable clay and is also very strong. I have seen photos of this product holding up pans after being moulded into hooks and stuck on to tiles! It is also waterproof which is very handy if you need a temporary fix in the shower or around a tap before you can get to the hardware store. So basically, whether you're into make do and mend, DIY or crafts, Sugru really is a product anyone can make a use of!

I was sent a pack of Sugru in the colours yellow, blue, red and white for this review. A limited festive edition has now been released exclusively online which could be perfect for those stocking fillers! The best thing is that Sugru is under £10 and can be purchased from B&Q, Maplin, Wilkinson and more stores! So, let's fix the future and banish the electrical tape habits of a life time! (Seriously it's not just my husband is it?)

Cupcake Mumma

Chalkboard Cupboard

I've been making little touch ups to some of my rooms in the house lately and my highest priority has been my kitchen. I've added some new bunting and ornaments and now I've come up with an idea that is really quite popular at the moment. I have created a little chalkboard cupboard for the children to draw on!

As I live in rented accommodation black board paint (and painting the cupboards) are out of the question. So I donned my thinking cap and had a walk around town. I was in my local bargain store when I saw some stick on paper. As luck would have it, it was black board paper! I never even knew it existed so I bought the last roll and headed home.

I placed the roll on the side of my most hideous cupboard (old tenants have done some questionable damage to this house in some places) even having a little spare for the very bottom which just finishes it off I think.

I got out some scraps of felt and some embellishments left over from my wedding, drew around a butterfly biscuit cutter and stuck it all together to make these lovely, colourful butterflies. I think they give the whole design a prettier look!

I'm actually really pleased with the results of this idea. I'm hoping the shop gets some more in stock so I can add to another, smaller cupboard to write the weekly menu on. The children love their new creative space (and Little Man has stopped drawing with crayon on my kitchen floor!) so I'm happy.
What do you think?

CupcakeMumma

52 Weeks to an Organised Home: Recipes.

The next challenge on 52 Weeks to an Organised Home is to sort out my recipe books. I don't have a lot of recipe books but I had enough to making my upstairs bookshelf look overcrowded and squashed.

The first thing I did was to look through my books. I looked at the ones I use, the ones I never seem to use and then the ones that are not even mine in the first place! There were several that belonged to my  Mum so I popped them into a bag with some other bits I needed to return to her.
After that I placed the ones I never used into my big charity sack leaving me with a small pile of books.

Now, I had been wanting a shelf put up in my kitchen for weeks but the Other Half had been doing so much overtime (and is a lazy old so and so) that eventually I just put it up myself!
So, I now had a shelf for my smaller books which isn't a lot but as it goes (and luckily) it's the smaller books I use most often so they are now sat on my shelf which I finished off nicely with some homemade bunting, a postcard of cupcakes and my pink cat:

I do have a few more books on there!

My other books, now nicely slimmed down to a more sensible amount could be moved after I also donated some children's books we never read anymore. Once I had done that there was a whole spare space for my recipe books. Hooray! No more squashed paper backs!

Cupcake Mumma.

I Lost My Hamster, Put Up a Shelf and Other News..

It's been a good day today. Alright so my title doesn't really give off that vibe does it?

There we were merrily going about our morning when Other Half turns to me mid washing up and says 'why is Crunchie's cage open?' 'I have no idea....Oh no. The hamster isn't in there.' We had a mad dash around the house to hunt for Crunchie, we managed to get a few silent moments to listen for any russel of paper or bags, scratching of walls or floors. We didn't have much time as I had to leave for the nursery drop off and Other Half had to go to work.

Upon returning it was apparent the brief moment of total peace didn't end in the success of finding the hamster for Other Half. This became clear when I walked into the bathroom after putting Little Man to bed and saw a hamster ball with a handful of seeds and other hamster food in. Slightly across from this odd trap was talc powder leading to the space under the bath. How tempted was I to pop my little fingers on that!

We found the hamster this evening thankfully. He was under the stairs right at the back behind handbags, suitcases and baby carriers. He had obviously been there all day and had chewed through a bin bag full of wires and it would appear he had started digging a hole presumably in his desperation to be free. Anyhow, he was alive and my temporary visions of a dead smelly hamster lurking somewhere in my home are thankfully going to be unfounded.
Little Miss was over the moon to have found her hamster and I was pretty chuffed to have found him too after he wolfed down his food and drunk a load of water. That'll be a cage in need of a deep clean tomorrow!

Also you will see that I did indeed put my shelf up. It's a little wonky, it's not perfect (and it wasn't in fab condition before it went up can I add in my defence) the drill scared the life out of me, I had no idea what I was doing. In the end I hammered the screws in so this shelf is definitely not ready for my recipe books just yet. Thing is, now it's up Other Half has no choice but to sort it out and make it secure. I'm pretty proud of myself but I won't show it off until it's finished as part of my 52 Days project.

We also had library group this morning. It was bit thin on the ground but both my babies enjoyed their gluing and sticking (or crayon eating- so tasty don't you know?) I've caught up on my blog reading and my e-mails. I've even ordered my Mum her Mothers present which I cannot wait to give her next month.

To end I would like to say what a lush day it has been! A lovely way to end February.

Cupcake Mumma x

Lovely walk from school this morning

It's an extra lovely day when my 2 play so nice together.

Cheeky!