Who doesn't like a giveaway?

At Sweet Blossoms Handmade we are super excited to be part of Pretty Little Piper's Massive Spring Giveaway! One of the prizes is one of our little Sock Monkey Hat & Toy sets in winners choice of colour and size!

There are over 50 other prizes up for grabs. Just head over to Pretty Little Piper's Blog and enter!!
Xxx
C

Christmas is drawing near and it makes me warm and fuzzy

Any one know how many days until Christmas? I do...41! That's right 41 days to go! So are you ready? Because I'll admit I'm not, so far I have no presents and am really struggling for ideas. I can't decide if I should do individual gifts or a joint gift for each family, let alone what those gifts should be! One thing I know is that all my gifts this year (like last year) will be handmade, which means I really need to pull my finger out.  As a large family (4 kids, 3 with their own families now) it can be a lot of gifts! We often talk of doing a Secret Santa gift giving instead, we never have though! This year I stumbled across a slightly different version that I thought would be a great laugh and I think I will suggest next year.
Stealing Santa

Stealing Santa Rules:
1. Everyone brings in two great presents, wrapped in Christmas paper, each valued at around $30, and places them under the tree.
2. Each person draws two numbers from a hat (there will be one number per present).
3. The rules are simple -
· Following the order drawn from the hat, each person will chose a new present from the middle, or steal any present already opened.
· If your present is stolen from you, you also have the choice to steal or chose a new present, but you are not allowed to steal back a present that has just been stolen from you (you can during another go if you like).
· During each go, there are a maximum of three steals and one new present allowed. Once the new present is opened, the next go will start.
· Continue in turn until all presents are opened.
4. Alliances and bargaining are allowed - use your cunning to nab the present you like the best!

Confused? Here is an example:
Person Number 1 will need to chose a present from the middle and unwrap in front of everyone.
Person Number 2 has two choices: steal that opened present, or unwrap a new present. If the present is stolen, the first person will need to choose a new present from the middle.
Person Number 3 can steal any of the opened presents or chose a new present. This time, if a present is stolen, that person has the option of stealing the other present or choosing a new present from the middle.
Person Number 4 has the pick of the three presents already unwrapped or can chose a new present. Again, if a present is stolen away, that person can steal from someone else or chose a new present. Once three steals in a row have been made, the next person must choose from the middle because only three steals are allowed per go. Play then passes to the next number to start a new go.
Etc Etc Etc... until all presents are opened.

I can just imagine the laughs that would happen in our house!

Now that we are all adults with our own lives and families we don't have many big family Christmas traditions. When I was little I remember the anticipation of having to wait until my parents were awake to open our Santa Sacks. The joy that I got from a bag full of popcorn, lollies and cheap, cheap toys was amazing. We would then head off to church for the Christmas morning service. I always remember being jealous of my friends who had already opened all their presents, where we had to wait until we got home. I now know that our parents were putting in the effort to make our day last. 

Then came (and still does!) the delicious big lunch around a big table with family. Laughing, talking, eating until we can't eat any more. Followed by the lull. That quiet time in the afternoon when everyone is tired, full and ready to relax. People drift off into different parts of the house, some reading new books, others sleeping, playing with new toys or watching new dvds. But the house is still full, full of content people simply enjoying each others company and the fun of a day spent together. Seriously it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. 

A new tradition that has sprung up, thanks to the fact that Mum & Dad now live 30 mins away from some of the family, meaning that most of us spend the night and our love of board games, takes place on Christmas night. Everyone seems to come out of the afternoon lull, raid the kitchen for leftovers, anything from roast to salad, Christmas ham to trifle. Bowls of left overs in hand the board games start. Usually it starts with a new game, which with most of us loving board games there is bound to be at least one, and moves on to our old favourites such as Scattegories, Boggle, Pictionary and even Uno. Seriously I love Christmas and the special time I get to spend with my family!

So tell me, are you ready for the Christmas season? Have you got the presents sorted? Does you family have any special traditions? I would seriously love to hear about them!

Xxx

C

The countdown has started!

Hey lovelies!
We've been a bit quiet again but I promise we have lots of things in the works. I am working on a new crochet hat pattern/tutorial but I'm lacking the commitment to finish typing up and proofing the pattern to make sure it makes sense to people other than myself! We also have a few food blog posts lined up including Kristy's awesome Carbonara recipe. I have eaten this dish again and again at her house and it seriously delish so look out for that one. But more on that at a later date I am sure.
I'm just back from a wonderful week away at the Valla Rod Run. It was a week of rest, relaxation, rods, rockabilly and just plain fun. And lucky me I get to stay in holiday mode until next week when school goes back, even if I am back home and working my way back into reality. And part of that reality is the countdown the Christmas! Yep it has started already. Just so you know it is only 83 days!! This means it's time for me to get my thinking cap on and my mind into the crafty mindset, as I will be carrying on my tradition started last year of giving handmade gifts. That means that I first have to decide what I am going to make for my family and friends, and this is where Pinterest comes in! I seriously don't remember how I found inspiration, tutorials and patterns before Pinterest but this year I already have an ever expanding board of Christmas gift ideas. Have you started thinking about Christmas yet? I must admit that all this thought about Christmas has gotten me a little excited. I love Christmas, I love the family time we have, I love having everyone gathered around tables for the huge lunch, I love the post lunch lull in the afternoon where everyone is relaxing and I love the games and leftovers of the evening. Tell me what are your favourite parts of Christmas?
But before I start on the Christmas gifts I have a gift swap gift to make and 2 birthday presents for my Mum and Sister in law next week. I still have no idea what I am going to make for 2 of those 3 gifts so I guess I had best get back to searching for ideas!
Oh we also have a new Pinterest account devoted to Sweet Blossoms Handmade, so pop over and follow us.
Xxx
Corinne

BIRTHDAYS!!!!!

How has everyone been?
 We have been quiet busy here at sweet blossoms HQ. Last weekend was Zoe's birthday party and boy was that fun!!!!!!  We did a toy story theme as its one of her favourite things, and clever Mummy went out during the toy sales and put all the toy story toys I could find on layby :D
   Played some games ( pin the tail on bullseye, pass the parcel, musical statues {all done to the toy story sound track} and DIY potato head party bags! )

  Lots of fun was had by the crazy kiddies and I'm sure most of them went to bed early! Anyway here are some pics. Coming soon a recipe for one of my all time favourite dinners ;)

Party girl dancing away

Musical statues

♥ Best Friends ♥ 

Presents

and here some photos of some cute babies ( man my friends make cute babies )

 Sadly I didnt get a photo of cute little Lexi ( one of my friends new babies ) She's soo tiny and cute <3

Zoe's Toy Story Cake

And some 'ham' cake pops!

Most of her toy story toys ( she still has two to come from a nanny who was too sick to make it )
thats one spoilt girl :s



Anyway by for now! Hope to be back soon Xx

Late night catch up

hello night owls,

It has been a crazy week and its only half over! Tomorrow is Zoe's birthday *squee* I'm just a bit excited ;)
  So far the week has been filled with first hair cuts (Tyler! Zoe has still not had one), cakes, sewing, lazing about on rainy days and lots of mail!!!
   I have got Zoe's birthday half organised and cant wait till saturday! We are having a Toy Story party. Does anyone have any last minute suggestions? We have planned an alien cake & cup cakes, pin the tail on bullseye, DIY potatoe head party bags and pass the parcel. I was going to play musical cushions but I have a fear of little ones bumping heads :s

So night before last Zoe MADE me make barbie a dress as she had lost all hers. Here's the end result:

Not bad for scraps and 10 minutes work ;)

And the mail that I mentioned! I got some beautiful clippies for Miss Z from the very talented LeaJs! I have been a fan of her business for a long time and finally bought some pretties:

Aren't they cute?! You may notice one missing... It was a zoe monster one and Z just had to have it straight away lol

I also wanted to share a picture of Zoe ( cause what mum can resist showing of their kids?! )

Notice the crochet hook? <3 kids are soo impresionable 

And I would share a photo of Tyler's first hair cut but the cheeky bugger knows I want a snap and wont co-operate! Maybe tomorrow :D

 And that's it for me tonight. Bed is calling.
I hope I can pop on tomorrow and share with you our fun day.
Sleep tight everyone
Xx Kristy

Saturday Night Lemonade Meringue Cupcakes

I'm not going to pretend that my life is non stop parties and excitement. In fact it is almost the exact opposite, I'm a homebody. I love a night out with friends and family but most weekends you'll find me at home, particularly on stormy, cold miserable nights like tonight. To make my life even more exciting than usual this weekend I am dog sitting, so I am spending my night alone with six precious dogs. So what does one do on such a Saturday night you ask? Bake of course. This is an idea I have been toying with for a while now, so after surfing the web and reading several recipes I put together this recipe and tested it tonight and can I just say it is just as tasty as I thought it would be. So being the nice person I am I thought I would share it with you.

Lemonade Meringue Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

100g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
2 tsp finely grated lemonade rind
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup milk

Lemon Curd

1 egg, lightly whisked
50g butter
1/4 cup lemonade juice
1/2 cup caster sugar

Meringue

3 eggwhites
3/4 cup caster sugar

N.B. Lemonade's are very similar to lemons but sweeter. If you can't get any or would rather use lemons just substitute them in.

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line muffin or cupcake tray (it's up to you) with cases. You should get about 12 muffins or 20 cupcakes (I made cupcakes today).

Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar and lemon rind until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the flour and milk, in alternate batches, and mix until combined.

Spoon mixture evenly among the lined pans. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Meanwhile, to make the lemon curd, combine the egg, butter, juice and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat. Transfer into a new dish, cover top and place in the fridge to cool and thicken.

Use a small knife to cut a triangle or circle into the top of each cake. You can discard the cake you cut out, save it for some thing else (like cake truffles) or if you are like me you can eat it, naughty I know!

Spoon the lemon curd evenly among cupcakes.


Place eggwhites in a clean, dry bowl. Use an electric mixer to whisk until firm peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, beating well between each addition. Continue beating for 2-3 minutes or until sugar completely dissolves. Spoon or pipe meringue on top of each cake enclosing the filling. Transfer cupcakes to an oven tray; place under a preheated grill until lightly golden (or if you have a butane torch you could brown them with that).

Now all that is left is to enjoy! I ate one just to test them but the rest are packed ready for morning tea with friends tomorrow. Now just to hope they last through the night and everyone enjoys them tomorrow!

So tell me what is your favourite cupcake?

Ramblings of a crafty mother

Hi all,
It's me kristy! thought I'd better get on here and do my intro before Corinne kicks my butt ;)
Some of you may have seen me do the odd post here and there on our facebook page (Sweet Blossoms Handmade, which we really need to do more of but hey life gets busy sometimes doesn't it?!)

So here is a little bit about me. I'm a 23 year old mum of two absolutely amazing kids! Zoe, who is turning 3 in 5 days (eep) and Tyler who is 1. My kids are the best thing that has ever happened to me. They amaze me every day and i just love to watch how curious they are. Children are soo full of wonder <3 My boyfriend and I have been together for 8 years ( wow had to count that out haha) and we live in our amazing little place that just perfect for us.

 I love to cook, especially the sweet stuff ;) I'm a fully qualified baker / pastry chef and am currently head pastry chef at a cute little patisserie in Port Macquarie. I have a little facebook page to sell special occasion cakes to anyone in my general area ( now also newcastle! ).
If you would like to have a look go HERE and be sure to say hi!!!

 I craft, sew and crocher. My favourite colour is green. Roller derby is my new hobby at its amazing, great excuse to get into a pair of fishnets and skate around with some rocking girls.

I am a proud geek! Nothing makes me happier than just hanging out with friends watching nerdy movies, playing games or reading a book :)

 I really can't think of much more to say! Just be prewarned i am a little crazy ( but in a good way ;) )

Enjoy some photos!

Xx Kristy

Fun in the sun!

What a big day, finally time to sit down and chill!
It's been a big 24 hours for the Sweet Blossoms Handmade crew starting off with a heap of prep last night for today's Mum's and Bub's market. Markets are a new thing for us and while we love them we aren't exactly the most organised of people so we are always crazily busy the night before. This month was actually the most organised with us managing to get to bed before midnight for the first time ever! It was pretty slow today but we had a blast as always.

So while our morning was filled with markets and being professional our afternoon has been filled with McDonalds, playgrounds and sunshine! I'm not lucky enough to be a Mum yet but I do my best to be an awesome Aunty to both my real nephews and my 'adopted' nieces and nephews (aka my best friends' kids). Today it was a fabulous afternoon spent with my besties and their little ones, playing at McDonalds and a local park, with lots of giggles and a first or two with Dooba learning how to navigate the stairs and slide on the big kids equipment all by himself. And what afternoon wouldn't be complete without a collection of gorgeous candid action shots (and a few silly posed ones)? I'd love to claim the credit for these amazing shots, but the credit lies with the amazing Carly and her ever expanding photography skills. So sit back and enjoy a little pictorial representation of our afternoon!.

On that note I'm off to relax and watch a movie. I hope your Saturday has been as wonderful as mine.

Xxx

Corinne

What a crazy year it's been!

So it's been almost 8 months since I visited and posted on this sweet little blog and what an awful lot has happened in that time. I won't bore you to death with the long version but I will give you the cliff notes version of the last 8 months, where I have been, what's been happening, why I have been quiet and where things are going from here. So in the last 8 months I have:
Lost my Grandfather to Motor Neurone Disease. While we knew this was coming it was so heartbreaking and a really hard time not just for me but my whole family.
I struggled with depression (which I had been trying to ignore for about 12 months) and suicidal thoughts.
My marriage broke down, turning my life completely on it's head. While things had been rough for a few months I never imagined it was bad enough for my husband to kick me out, stop speaking to me and eventually move 1500km away.
This in turn meant that I moved back home with my parents and have been there ever since. I can't even begin to express how grateful and lucky I am to have the family I do. They have picked me up, dusted me off, held me together and taken control when things have gotten too tough. My parents have taken me in, my brothers and sisters in law have stood up for me, looked after me and been there every step of the way. My friends (who are family in my eyes) have been there as well. They have listened to me rant, swear and cry. They have let me sleep on their couch more times than I would care to count. They have made me laugh and they've helped put me back together again. And for this I owe my family and friends everything.
It hasn't all been bad though!
I have taken up roller derby (although I am taking a small break at the moment) and absolutely love it! Even if I am still only learning how to go and stop! It gets me out of the house, is great exercise and I have met a terrific bunch of people.
One of my best friends has joined the Sweet Blossoms Handmade crew. I'm sure she'll be along soon to introduce herself! She's a great crafty Mumma, a terrific friend and a fantastic motivator! Together we have also started attending local markets, which has broadened our horizons and been an absolute blast!

So forgive me for my absence both here and on facebook. It's been one hell of a year so far but I am coming out of the fog and finding my rhythm again! You'll be seeing a lot more of me, with bits of crazy, craftiness, cooking and everything about life in between. Keep you're eyes out for Kristy, I'm sure she'll be by soon!
Don't forget you can find us on Facebook, follow Kristy and myself on Pinterest and don't hesitate to leave us a comment!

Xxx
Corinne