The cake is the crowning glory of any child’s birthday party. Mums and dads bake for hours to make sure that little Johnny is not outdone by little Freddy next door. But what happens if you’re rubbish at baking cakes?

Do you try… and hope that all is well – and that your tree-year-old will appreciate the effort behind a botched Barbie cake? Or do you go with a professional baker?

In case you’re all for the latter, check out Candylandcakes.co.uk. The bespoke birthday cakes for children (and cupcakes) ooze home baked loveliness and are made specially to order (with delivery available).

And for all you American expats there are American-inspired baked treats for you too!

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Dear mums, if you’re anything like me you’ll never pass up an opportunity for free stuff! Bounty.com offers a bounty of FREE STUFF for mum and baby!

If you’ve been pregnant recently, you may remember receiving a bounty pack – perhaps at the hospital when your babs was born or even before that. Here’s the news: you are eligible for FIVE bounty packs with loads of free sample goodies in them.

The first is a Pregnancy Information Folder, then a Mum-To-Be pack, a Mum’s pack a Newborn pack and lastly a Family pack.

You should receive your packs from a Bounty Lady or health professional or you can collect them from Boots or Superdrug stores upon the presentation of a voucher code received in your first information pack.

The Bounty site explains how to claim packs and what to do if you did not receive yours.

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Losing those pounds left over from pregnancy can be a daunting task. Other than eating ‘right’ and engaging in simple activities like daily walks and 5-minute tummy crunches at home etc. you might feel that some social exercising or personal training is in order.

If so, pay a visit to Beezknees.co.uk – it’s all about prenatal and postnatal fitness and personal training. The site gives the low down on group classes and nutrition programmes. Meeting other mums who are also trying to keep healthy and shed a couple of pounds is an awesome way to help motivate fitness goals.

If you’d prefer to exercise in the comfort of your home (or garden), the prenatal and postnatal fitness site offers handy exercise tips – indoor and outdoor routines.

And for yoga enthusiasts; The Beez Knees fitness company and new Chiswick yoga studio, Yoga West have teamed up to develop an innovative prenatal and postnatal fitness programme combining cardiovascular training and yoga to help mums to be stay in shape.

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‘Shoulda woulda coulda’ – oh that dreaded word: regret. *Cringe*. We all have it – especially parents!

So often I made a decision with regards to my daughters and immediately regret it. Other times… I suddenly realise that I haven’t done something that I should have or wanted to.

My daughters are barely out of nappies and I know that my top regret is not recording down a list of firsts – I always start off gusto and the Life just gets the better of me. According to a new survey by Mymemory.com, 32% of us are in agreement.

Here’s a list the top ten regrets of parents polled in the survey:

1.  Wish I’d taken more photos of baby- 63%

2. Wish I’d not given baby a dummy- 58%

3. Wish I’d moved baby into separate room sooner- 51%

4. Wish I’d recorded more videos of baby- 49%

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If you’re looking for really special gifts for the little princess’s in your life – daughter, granddaughter, niece, goddaughter etc. – Disney Couture designer jewellery is just stunning! The collection makes beautiful keepsakes for memorable occasions… or just because.

The jewellery is based on Disney’s well-known and well-loved films and characters. And we’re talking Couture here – so no plastic; but rather silver, gold and crystal.

My toddler is madly in love with Tigger and the rest of his Hundred Acre Wood buddies; Disney’s Winnie The Pooh Couture range is almost made for her!

There are silver and gold Winnie The Pooh stacking rings, a gold & red crystal Winnie The Pooh Bear necklace (pendant), a gold-plated Winnie The Pooh engraved bangle and the most beautiful classic artwork Winnie The Pooh rings. Is every day a special occasion?

My favourite collections in Disney’s new jewellery range are the Alice in Wonderland range, the Snow White range and the Pirates of the Caribbean range – chunky red hearts poison apples, and silver skulls send me into a dangerous state of dazzlement.

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