E cigarettes, a mini review.

Just a quick post with a money saving tip. If you smoke and are thinking of trying the CleverSmoke e cigarette that is being advertised on TV in Australia. Google search 'e cigarettes' first. I am struggling to give up and ordered this product. I found that the battery didn't last as long as it stated, as well the cartridges lasted half as long as the 300 puffs they claimed. The flavours bar the tobacco, were disgusting to me. You have the initial cost of $150, as well as the ongoing cost of every 5 cartridges at $30.

After a quick web search, I found many similar products, with replacement cartridges and the option of refillable cartridges, all at a much better price, After reading many reviews, it seems well known in this "community" that this product is a sham and that there are far superior products out there at a far lower price. 

I got it on a free trial, so I am sending it back. I found it helpful as an aid to quit smoking, so I will be doing a little more research and trying one of these other products soon.

I urge anyone who wants to try this to do their research first, it may save you a lot of money.

UPDATE: 

I started the return process, which involved sending the company an email and asking for a return number. The day after I sent the email I got a phone call from the company. They asked me why I wanted to return it and I explained that I had researched the e cigs and found many priced much cheaper etc. He then asked me how much I had seen them for, and I told him around $50. He then said the best he can do is half price! (Keep this in mind anyone who actually wants to buy this product). I told him I still didn't want it as the ongoing cost is too much. Well, he kept trying to explain to me why this was such a good deal, actually implying that I couldn't add up. I asked him politely to give me the number at least 3 times, and that I had got it on a free TRIAL, and I had tried it and didn't want it. He kept trying, I got angry, then he got angry! and said he would terminate the call. I explained again that it was quite simple, give me the number and stop trying to give me "advice" about what products I should buy. He ended up spitting the terms of return at me in the most nasty voice. I got my number, smiled and told him to have a fabulous day. lol

Extremely rude, pushy and most unprofessional.

Anyone who can recommend a good e cigarette, please comment.

Knitting fast and easy, big needles for desperados

I wanted to post today, just because I can haha. I am in the middle of a post for a Playboy cake we made recently, but it will take me a while as there were many issues we faced with that cake and I want to get it right.

So for now I will talk about my new obsession with knitting, which I was never very good at as a kid, I was slow and awkward, and I still am, but I've found a way to get past that and knit very quickly. GIANT knitting, yep, huge needles and the fattest yarn I can find. So much less embarrassing to be slow with these big needles as it's kind of expected hehe. And even though I'm slow, I finish a lot quicker than with regular size needles. Hey, you know what? I never "finished" anything on regular size needles.

I'm not sure how I figured out I wanted to knit, let alone with massive needles, but once I did I went on the hunt, where to get the big needles? I was astounded to find some priced over $100, which is way out of my price range. Also I couldn't wait, I wanted to get started right away. I had some yarn, but only thin ply, so I decided I would just use multi strands of yarn. 

Now the needles was a little harder, I had no spare funds to buy anything to even make a pair, so I started hunting the house. 

After spotting these ... mini pool cues woohoo!!

I was determined to make it work. Now I know not everyone will have these laying about, but anything similar will do, I would have cut a broom stick in half, but I'm not great with tools and would have had to wait for Sneaky.

Now I needed something to stop the stitches falling off the needle, after much thinking (ouch), and a bit more hunting I had what I needed.

These are those plastic balls they fill kids pools with.

 I punctured them with a pointy knife, then twisted a little, taking care not too push too far in. 

Then slipped them over the chalked end of the sticks.

These are not totally secure, but I'm sure you could work something out to keep them on.

I did try knitting with just the fat end of the sticks as is, but I found it awkward, more awkward than usual haha.

So my next mission was to make the ends pointy somehow...

more brain hurting, then... an icing bag tip, my bright idea.

 electrical tape

then wrap as smoothly as possible

It's not perfect, but did the job until I could make proper ones.

Functional BIG knitting needles...that look ridiculous :)

Welcome with cake, a pool party and wobbly bikinis.

Well, here goes something. I'm jumping on the bloggercoaster, and I feel like I have no safety harness, haha, just the way I like to live. So I'm going to dive right in, got to start somewhere right? I want to start with cakes, because they are yummy and fun to make (sometimes).

My man (the Sneaky half of madnsneaky) decided on our son's 5th birthday that we would make his cake, which would be in the shape of the number five. My son was having a Numberjacks birthday party that year (DIY Numberjacks decoration post coming soon). That was the beginning of our cake making adventures. The Numberjacks cake was quite easy compared to what we attempt now.

What I will share is the issues we faced along the way and how we solved them, and sometimes didn't. We like to keep it cheap too, so I will share any tips I have on saving dollars.

First cake I'll start with is the pool cake because it is extremely popular with kids and adults alike, this cake idea comes from "The Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book". We also use "30-minute kid's cakes" for info and inspiration. The rest comes from trial and error and Google (love all the sharers out there, you inspired me to do the same).

We made our version last year for our boy's 9th birthday, we also had a pool party and stupidly my 40th birthday party straight after aaaargh. 
Now I have to confess, Sneaky does most of the cake making and decorating, I generally do all the research, shopping, calming down, advising and some small decorating jobs. 
         
Oh and all the cleaning up :(



Most of what you see is self explanatory, the BBQ is from an old Barbie doll set, Tiny Teddies with bikinis piped on, green coloured coconut for grass, cocktail umbrellas, the striped towels were some type of sour strap, Jubes for inflatable rings, the steps were made from cake. 

The cake was made in a large rectangular roasting tin using 2 cake mixes. Two cakes were made this way then jammed together with icing, the pool was cut from the top slab. Sneaky says he didn't have many issues with this cake, but he wouldn't use wafer for the decking as it flexed and warped once dampened with icing.

 This design was was based on the swimming pool at our house where we had the pool party. It was a huge hit with our son and all of his friends. The day was fantastic, but stressful, watching 15 kids in a pool at once is terrifying, even with helpers. 

Those wobbly bikinis are my work :)
Anyone have other suggestions for decking?