An Avengers Birthday Tea Party for Little A!

My boy is now 5! His actual birthday was slightly uneventful, we had this lovely idea all planned out (luckily it was a surprise) but the rain thwarted our plans and we ended up with birthday cake and birthday Costa (his favourite place bar soft play which I hate..)

To make up for the non eventful birthday I hosted a little tea party for him before we went off to the local pitch and kicked a ball around with Daddy and the dog. A is really into the Avengers and Marvel and with help from the folks at Party Bags and Supplies I put on a spread with Avengers everything! The whole pack came to about £28 and I didn't have to worry about a thing!

We got Iron Man paper plates, napkins and plastic Captain America cups plus a table cover featuring all the Avengers which he loved.

Best of all were the 8 party bags which were all pre-filled saving me the job of going out and looking for suitable items. I couldn't find these items locally, I'd have to go online anyway so I'm pleased to have left it to Party Bags and Supplies to get the fillers! Once you add a big slice of cake the bag is a regular end of the party gift bag!

Little A was happy with his Avengers spread and goodies, he broke the theme slightly by insisting on a mini cake with his paw patrol toys stuck on top, but that's okay, it's his day after all!

If you'd like to purchase this set or perhaps a different theme, check out the Party Bags and Supplies website. There are so many fab party supplies to browse plus fast delivery and friendly customer service so it's well worth a look. We were sent this Avengers set in exchange for an honest review and if you fancy it, why not pop back soon and try your hand at winning a Party Bags and Supplies prize? Look out for the giveaway coming really soon!

Cupcake Mumma

Spoonie Survival Kit Giveaway (Gifts for those who have a Chronic Illness)

I had a guest post a few months ago now (yes, sorry about the delay!) from the lovely Pippa all about her Spoonie Survival Kits. Pippa and her volunteers make little bags, cards and other little items to help those, like herself, who suffer from a chronic illness.

If you'd like to read the full guest post please do click here. Pippa has had a lot of support over the last few months and I couldn't be more pleased for her. To help with raising awareness I wanted Pippa to write about Spoonie Survival Kits and I also wanted to purchase several items myself from her shop that I could pass on via a blog giveaway.

First I have a survival kit. I am told these kits vary and include items of comfort to the recipient. Some days are harder than others and a little kit like this has made a difference to many people who have bought from Pippa. I have not opened the bag, as Pippa's aim is to have a surprise delivered to the recipient, therefore I will not spoil it! You can win 1, small yellow bag in the rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The second item is a lovely bracelet made by a volunteer, isn't it pretty? Again, please find the rafflecopter form below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cupcake Mumma

Happy Birthday CupcakeMumma!

Yes! CupcakeMumma is 3 years old! The only thing I've ever stuck to is child rearing (and lets face it, I don't have a huge choice there wink wink) so I am thrilled to still be here 3 years later and enjoying blogging.

As a thank you, I've put together a little gift for my faithful readers. Just leave comment on my blog, perhaps tell me what you like, if you'd like to see something in particular on here or your favourite post?

Here's what I've put together:

Retro sweets (which have been placed into a more attractive tin), mini marshmallows, mini notebook, woodland embellishments, cherry keyring, pencil case and an iron on clothes transfer. It's not much but it's a thank you.

Here's to another year!

Cupcake Mumma x

Heroes of the City App Review

Today I'd like to share with you all an app which I was sent to review. It's called Heroes of the City and you can download it here (iTunes) or here (Android) for free.

The app is based on the Swedish cartoon and features 'movies' (roughly 16 minute long) a series of games and a store available to purchase more programmes and games.

The App is aimed at 3-7 years. Little A is nearly 3 and as he doesn't use my phone or tablet much so he needed a fair bit of help and got pretty frustrated with the games. He adores the programmes though and we've watched them loads of times already. I think eventually he'll get used to the games, they're not difficult games after all.

You have memory games, build Tilly the Trains track and Paulie Police cars game which involves avoiding obstacles and collecting stars. This was a favourite with Midge and I.

Screen grab: Paulie Police car, one of our favourites

Every time you complete a level you'll win a trophy!

Midge is 6 and found the games easy to understand and to use. The app is very user friendly, I'd recommend it to anyone, especially with children who love their cars and fire engines etc this is why Little A was so into it.

I was sent a link to the full app for the purposes of this review. Heroes of the City isn't available in the UK but for a chance to win a great prize similar to the image below, enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post. Goodluck!

Cupcake Mumma

Carbon Monoxide Campaign and Giveaway

Recently you may have seen me tweet and Instagram about Test It Tuesday. Every Tuesday I test my fire and carbon monoxide alarms and I urge everyone to do the same.

Carbon Monoxide is thought to have killed around 50 people and left 200 people, in this country, seriously ill* in 2012. Carbon Monoxide, also known as the 'silent killer' cannot be seen, smelt or tasted. Only a fully functioning alarm can alert you to the presence of carbon monoxide in your home. Only this alarm can save your and your families life.

There are still 35 million homes in Briton that are without a carbon monoxide alarm. I was one of those 35 million last year, because shamefully it was something that was always on my 'to do' list.

In 2012 I started working with Carbon Monoxide- Be Alarmed! and their campaign which opened my eyes to these figures. It scared me. Thanks to them I got a carbon monoxide alarm which is now safely fixed up in my home. My old landlord told me I didn't need one, I've been told not to worry about it but how can I ignore these figures? How can you take the risk any longer?

Preventing Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

1. Fit a carbon monoxide alarm in your home that sounds when the gas is present. This only takes a few minutes but could save your life. Your alarm should be placed in a central location in your home, fixed to a wall at head height, placed on a table or shelf. More information can be found here.

2. Have fuel burning appliances serviced annually by a qualified and registered engineer. If you rent, remember this is your landlord/lady's responsibility.

3.Don't block ventilation and have chimneys swept at least once a year.

4.Know the main symptoms: headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, collapsing and loss of consciousness. Key signs are if symptoms clear up when you are away from home and come back when you return, or if other people in your home experience similar symptoms.

5. Watch out for soot or a yellow/brown staining on or around your appliance, a lazy yellow/orange coloured gas flame instead of a sharp blue one or pilot lights which blow out frequently.

As part of this campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide, CO Be Alarmed have kindly offered me 5 Carbon Monoxide alarms to give away. The first 5 people to leave a comment on my blog will be sent a free alarm.

Please take a moment to visit the website here for more information. You can also follow CO Be Alarmed on twitter via this link here.

Thanks for reading.

CupcakeMumma

* Research from NHSChoices