Becky Home-Ecky

That's what my husband likes to call me sometimes. But I don't mind, and I don't think he minded much either when I made him these cupcakes for his birthday.

I was inspired by the designs in the book "Hello, Cupcake". You can check out their designs at their website.

A GiveAway

I am participating in Bloggy GiveAway's Winter Carnival. Just in time for Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day, I am giving away a handmade kusudama origami ball. Kusudama are dodecahedrons (12 regular pentagonal faces) and the word kusudama translates literally to "medicine ball". The photos are just samples - I will make it in reds and golds for Lunar New Year, reds, white, and pink for Valentine's day, or any other color combination you choose. It comes with a beaded loop and tassle for hanging it up.

In order to be eligible for the giveaway:

• you will need to post a comment about what three colors you would like, or
• any theme for your kusudama ball (valentine, baby, sports, flowers, etc), or
• where you would hang the origami ball.

Additional entries can be gained by:

• Subscribing to this blog, or
• Subscribing to my Complete Kitchens blog, or
• Posting a link on your blog to this giveaway

A winner will be selected using a random number generator on February 2nd and posted on this blog; I will contact you if you have a Blogspot account or if you leave your email address or blog address in the comments posting. I am willing to ship internationally, but I cannot guarantee delivery by Valentine's day for international winners.

Karnival

We are getting close to the Carnival/Karnival/Mardi Gras season. Just in time is the amazing Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival. More than 800 blog-writers are giving cool things away. Definitely worth checking it out (and I'm wondering how in the heck I will be able to enter all the give-aways).

Famous for the right reasons

A job well done yesterday by US Airways pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. His skills and quick thinking saved lives and today he is being cheered as a hero. In recognition of his bravery and quick thinking, you can join his Facebook fan club (10,000 members and building) or buy a shirt for Draft Sully for Secretary for Transportation. Imagine how many babies in 2009 will be named Sully!

The co-pilot was Jeff Skiles, and I'm assuming that every pilot is only as good as his/her co-pilot, so hopefully he is getting his kudos too.

Pool Safety

Please read this - many preventable drownings and horrible injuries are caused by entrapments in pool/hot tub drains, even for kids and adults who are great swimmers. A new law went into effect Dec. 19. I highly recommend checking out the photos of "approved" drain covers and making sure that the pools and hot tubs you use and your kids use are safe. Ask the owner/operator if they have anti-entrapment drains.

You can find out more at http://www.usa.safekids.org/water/pool.html