Flutter-By Cupcakes

Butterfly Cupcakes 

Ingredients

• 1 quantity basic cupcakes (see recipe below)
• 1 cup raspberry jam
• 300ml thickened cream, whipped
• icing sugar mixture, to decorate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced oven. Line two 12-hole, 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pans with paper cases. Make basic cupcakes (see below)
2. Using a sharp knife, cut a 2cm-deep x 3cm-wide piece from top of each cake. Cut tops in half. Spoon 2 teaspoons jam into each hole. Spoon cream over jam. Arrange cake tops over cream to form wings. Dust with icing sugar. Serve.

Yield
24

Notes

• For 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pans use 2 level tablespoons of mixture. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes.
• Stand cakes in pans for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Basic Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients

• 200g butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups (370g) caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 4 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups (405g) self-raising flour
• 1 cup (250ml) milk

Butter Frosting

• 200g butter, softened
• 6 cups (900g) icing sugar mixture
• 1/2 cup (125ml) milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 24 1/3 cup (80ml) muffin pans with patty cases.
2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Add the flour and milk in alternate batches and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
3. Spoon mixture evenly among the patty cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. For the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until very pale. Gradually add the icing sugar while beating. Add the milk and beat until well combined.
5. Divide frosting into small bowls and colour. Use a small palette knife or round-bladed knife to spread the icing.

Bully for You....... NOT!

Nobody likes a bully.
As such, you would think no one would want to be labeled as one.
Yet they are cropping up faster than Farmville strawberries.
And their homebase is not the local diner or 7-11, it is cyberspace.


Wikipedia i.e. the people's encyclopedia, defines this rampant unseemly practice: 

Cyber-bullying has been defined as "when the Internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person". Other researchers use similar language to describe the phenomenon. 

Cyber-bullying can be as simple as continuing to send e-mail to someone who has said they want no further contact with the sender, but it may also include threats, sexual remarks, pejorative labels (i.e., hate speech), ganging up on victims by making them the subject of ridicule in forums, and posting false statements as fact aimed at humiliation. 

Cyber-bullies may disclose victims' personal data (e.g. real name, address, or workplace/schools) at websites or forums or may pose as the identity of a victim for the purpose of publishing material in their name that defames or ridicules them. Some cyber-bullies may also send threatening and harassing emails and instant messages to the victims, while other post rumors or gossip and instigate others to dislike and gang up on the target. 

Kids report being mean to each other online beginning as young as 2nd grade. According to research, boys initiate mean online activity earlier than girls do. However, by middle school, girls are more likely to engage in cyber-bullying than boys do. Whether the bully is male or female, their purpose is to intentionally embarrass others, harass, intimidate, or make threats online to one another. This bullying occurs via email, text messaging, posts to blogs, and Web sites. 

This epidemic affected as many as 43% of American teens in just one year.  58% of kids say that they have received hurtful messages online, and 40% say it has happened more than once.


What makes this form of bullying even more cowardly and insidious than the traditional in-person locker-side gang-up is the fact that the villains can attack their prey anonymously or using faux accounts and names... and en masse.


The effects on targets/victims include depression, retaliation and even suicide


So there's the problem, but where's the prevention?  StopCyberBullying.org offers this advice: 

Education can help considerably in preventing and dealing with the consequences of cyberbullying. The first place to begin an education campaign is with the kids and teens themselves. We need to address ways they can become inadvertent cyberbullies, how to be accountable for their actions and not to stand by and allow bullying (in any form) to be acceptable. We need to teach them not to ignore the pain of others.

Teaching kids to “Take 5!” before responding to something they encounter online is a good place to start. Jokingly, we tell them to “Drop the Mouse! And step away from the computer and no one will get hurt!” We then encourage them to find ways to help them calm down. 

They can even let others know that they won’t allow cyberbullying, supporting the victim, making it clear that they won’t be used to torment others and that they care about the feelings of others is key. 

For more information on putting an end to the meanness and madness, visit CyberBullying.us, the National Crime Prevention Council, CyberBullying.org, or KidsHealth.

DYI for Dad

Some nifty gifties for dear ole Dad, reblogged from: http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/five-excellent-diy-fathers-day-gifts/

Excellent Diy Father’s Day Gifts

by Melissa Summers

"This year my husband got a new grill for Father’s Day. Yes, I realize it hasn’t been Father’s Day yet but we have a lot of meat and other things (have you ever had grilled pineapple?) that need grilling and a short season where it’s enjoyable to cook outside so we gave him his present early. Because of this he’ll be getting a nice card from the kids and [me]. I love this stitched card from Make and Takes. Most kids can handle this project once you make the holes for them to follow, think ‘Lacing Puzzle’.

This super simple, very usable idea will be easy for small hands to create. Take a simple square notepad, have your child color it and write a message to their dad on it with broad point markers. Thank you Martha, for not making me feel like a crafting failure all the time.

This gift idea is one of those ‘Needs Mom Help’ I mentioned. Photo JoJo shows you how to manipulate your photos and use them to create a stamp-like image on almost anything with ink jet transfer paper. You could use this technique to make a personalized card or a unique picture of your kids to frame. My husband goes through dozens of notebooks each year so I may use the technique to decorate a moleskine for him. (For his birthday, see above with the grill. No more gifts.)

This miniature smores grill at OhDeeDoh was originally meant as a fun thing for kids, but I think it would also make a fun little gift for Dad. Who doesn’t love smores anyway? Check out the simple supply list, a cedar plank, 4 bolts – 1/4 inch and 2 and 1/2 inches tall, 4 nuts – 1/4 inch, 4 optional washers for the bolts, 1 2.5 oz stainless steel condiment cup, and 1 box of toothpicks. Pair this with all the fixings and you have a fun after dinner treat for the family.

When I first saw this Car Wash Bucket at Martha’s site, I thought to myself, “Wow, that’s a stretch. Cleaning supplies as a gift?” But the more I thought about it the more fathers I know who have an undying passion for their cars and keeping those cars clean is a hobby. This gift is less a craft and more a DIY gift basket but still very thoughtful and useful if your Dad enjoys seeing his own reflection in his clearcoat.


Last Minute Great Father’s Day Crafts!

"I came across this idea at this little Father’s Day site. A site where you can create coloring pages for Father’s Day, I wonder if they have images of a dad about to have an aneurysm after stepping on yet another lego? Or a Dad fiercely determined not to stop and ask for directions? You know, true to life pages. No, instead they suggest bottling your favorite bbq sauce recipe and creating a custom label for it. Here is a favorite sauce we use at our house, perfect to go with the beer bottle container. To make the label have your kids create something, scan it resize and print on label stock.

I have a fondness for small bowls and containers which hold things on tables and dressers. My husband has a fondness for small things which clutter up tables and dressers. I found this craft which the kids will love doing and Logan and I will enjoy using. These plaster cast catchalls are made with plaster of paris, a mold and some paint. It’s a little more involved but I’m including it because it’s so cute, besides you have until Sunday so get cracking.

I love getting picture frames as handmade gifts from my kids. They’re cute and usable, especially if the artist has taken their time and done their very best work. I have an artist in my home who has been known to conk out halfway through a project and call an undecorated piece of cardboard a ‘frame’. I think this DAD cutout frame is cute and easy to put together. What say the dads, are handmade picture frames the equivalent of a tie?

This gift reached through the screen and grabbed me by the face saying, “Have the kids make this for your husband so you can stop answering, ‘Have You Seen My Keys?’” This key holder is easy to make and instead of names each member of the family is represented by a wooden spoon replica. We might use actual photographs laminated, I haven’t decided yet.

I love when people give gifts which are really just gifts for themselves, still I like the idea of the Date With Dad card. Kids make a card, cut a slit in the paper and insert two tickets good for a fun Dad/Kid activity. Martha reminds young gift givers to think hard about what dad likes to do. I’ll likely have to help the kids with their outing ideas because I have a feeling Maddie might suggest a really “fun” for grown-ups trip to Build A Bear at the mall."


Thanks Melissa!