Day to Day

Oreo cake pops

After reading about Tamar's cake pops the other week, I was keen to give them a whirl.  Super easy - just Oreo biscuits, cream cheese and some chocolate.  Delicious!

Have you made cake pops before? No? You must!

Bloggers Brunch + Blogopolis

Tomorrow morning I'm rising early (3-45 a.m. oh yes!) and heading off to Melbourne for the weekend.  I'll be attending the Kids Business Bloggers Brunch on Friday morning and then Blogopolis on Saturday.

I've never really hung out with other bloggers before and I'm super looking forward it. To celebrate I bought myself a little wooden brooch to wear.  You'd think I'd be packing and getting organised, but I ducked out for a quick shop instead, as you do.

I'll be tweeting while I'm away and the laptop is packed, so I might even squeeze in a few blog posts too - we'll see. 

Right! Off to finish packing. See you soon Melbourne.

 

Ultimate girls day out

The boys had other plans last weekend, so Bella and I decided to head out on the ultimate girls day out.

Such a day (for us) includes a market, antique/junk shop visit and ending off the afternoon with the obligatory hot chocolate.

This little antique store (in Sorell) was so, so good. Full of totally random junk and treasures, a few of which we walked away with.

One of the treasures that my girl was super happy to come home with, was a vintage cat tapestry for her bedroom.  Happy finds = a happy girl.

Do you try and have a special day every so often with just one of your children?  The boys often go to the cinema together while we veg out and watch movies at home.  It was a lot of fun getting out of the house today though :)

Jeans for Genes Day - giveaway winner

Thank you to everyone that entered the Jeans for Genes Day giveaway.  The winner of the gift pack is:

Ameera:

I practically live in my JeansWest dark blue denim boot cut jeans. They're perfect! They're tight (but not super skinny tight) and make my legs and bum look fantastic! They developed a small hole on the back pocket, but I patched them up with an iron-on heart patch, so I guess you could say I already 'patched my jeans' this year :) This is such a great cause, I'll be sure to buy my usual Jeans for Genes day pin at the train station on the 5th!

Congratulations Ameera, enjoy your goodies:

• $250 Jeanswest gift card
• Official Jeans for Genes t-shirts and gear
• Two movie tickets.  

Please email me through your address details (onecraftymumma@internode.on.net) so that I can arrange to have your prize mailed out ASAP.

Don't forget that Jeans for Genes day is on August 5th!  Here are some ways that you can become involved:

• Use the “Patch Your Jeans” Facebook App and create your own denim patch.  Share it with your friends and family to help spread the word.  To check out the app, visit the Jeans for Genes Facebook page.  Become a fan while you're there!

• Become a Fundraising Genie: Organise a fundraising activity at your home, office, school or community on Jeans for Genes Day.  It could be as simple as asking your group to wear jeans on Jeans for Genes Day and make a donation.  To get a free Genie Kit, visit the website to register.

• Wear Denim on 5 August and Share Your Pic: Take a photo of you wearing jeans, share it on Facebook and tag “Jeans for Genes Australia” in the photo so it can be shared with supporters of the campaign!

What I wore Wednesday

I've been inspired lately by Janelle and Mardi's 'What I wore Wednesday' posts and give it a whirl and join in this week.  I love checking in each week and seeing what they've been wearing.

Brown boots - Rivers

Black cardigan - Brown Sugar

Beaded skirt - op shop $10

 Black tights - Brown Sugar

Scarf - op shop (but new: $6)

What did you wear today?

P.S. Only a couple of hours left to enter my Jeans for Genes day giveaway.  You can win:

• $250 Jeanswest gift card
• Official Jeans for Genes t-shirts and gear
• Two movie tickets.  

Sponsorship for August

Are you trying to increase your readership or drive more sales to your etsy store?  Sponsorship with One Crafty Mumma and a Collection of thoughts maybe just what you need.

Did you know our survey showed that of our readers:

• 98% are female
• 85% have celebrated between 25 - 50 birthdays
• 78% have one or more children living at home
• 90% prefer to buy hand made
• 86% have bought items recommended by blogs
• 90% enjoy a cup of tea and chat with their crafty friends

We released our 4th edition of teapot last week and our readership has increased by 50% since the first issue. If you haven't read an issue please visit here.

Pop over HERE to secure your ad.  If you would like to receive our media kit with blog statistics and further information, drop us an email onecraftymumma@internode.on.net - don't be shy, we'd love to have you on board.

 

Keep the children entertained and win a $20,000 holiday!

{sponsored by Nuffnang}

Did that title grab your attention?  The lovely team at HP (in conjuction with  Kung Fu Panda 2) are giving away a wonderful $20,000 holiday!  All you need to do is the visit the HP site (go HERE) and tell them in 25 words or less what you like about HP’s Kung Fu Panda 2 Print Activities.  The most creative entry will receive a $20,000 Flight Centre voucher.

What are the Print Activities?  Just pop over to the HP site and you’ll find a plethora of wonderful printables to keep your little ones entertained - perfect for school holidays, weekends and those ‘I’m bored’ times at home.  There are so many to choose from too - games, lunchbox notes (so cute), stand up characters, colouring in pages, bookmarks + more.  You can also watch the movie trailer for Kung Fu Panda 2 while you’re there, which we have done over and over and over.

{fortune tellers}

The printable activities are well suited to a variety of ages too.  We printed out a few of our favourites for Bella to use - the fortune tellers (above) were a huge success.

{colouring in pages}

With HPs new Web Connected printer you can access a free DreamWorks Print App to print colouring in pages, fun activities and more directly from your printer – with no PC required, which is pretty cool.

{Kung Fu Panda mazes}

{paper planes - they fly beautifully}

That paper plane took me nearly 20 minutes to fold.  I kid you not, the second plane that we printed took my James 20 seconds to fold.  Ahem, I have never been good with folding!  It only has about 6 or 7 fold lines too.....I just couldn’t work it out!  It flies like a dream though :)

{printable masks} 

To find out more about HP’s fun activities and to enter the fabulous competition, pop over to HERE.  How nice would it be to win a $20,000 holiday?!  Good luck, I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you.

 

Jeans for Genes Day - giveaway {$250+}

Jeans for Genes day is a major national fundraising event to raise money for the Children's Medical Research Institute.  This year the event is being held on August 5th, which is just around the corner!

 
{We'll be wearing jeans on August 5th & supporting Jeans for Genes Day - will you?}

In 1995 I participated in my first Jeans for Genes event, buying these navy blue overalls specifically so that I could wear them to work and be part of the fundraising day.  I was about 4-5 months pregnant with James at the time and my jeans just wouldn't do up around my waist any more, so I bought these overalls as a compromise.

Since that overall wearing day in 1995, I've pretty much lived in jeans and supported Jeans for Genes day every year.  Even if it's only been a $2 donation some years, every little bit helps. Imagine if everybody in Australia donated $2 every year!  Pop over HERE and read some heart warming stories about real people living with genetic diseases.

How can you become involved:

• Use the “Patch Your Jeans” Facebook App and create your own denim patch.  Share it with your friends and family to help spread the word.  To check out the app, visit the Jeans for Genes Facebook page.  Become a fan while you're there!

• Become a Fundraising Genie: Organise a fundraising activity at your home, office, school or community on Jeans for Genes Day.  It could be as simple as asking your group to wear jeans on Jeans for Genes Day and make a donation.  To get a free Genie Kit, visit the website to register.

• Wear Denim on 5 August and Share Your Pic: Take a photo of you wearing jeans, share it on Facebook and tag “Jeans for Genes Australia” in the photo so it can be shared with supporters of the campaign!

To celebrate this great event, I have a ‘Jeans for Genes Day Prize Pack’ to give away, which contains:

• $250 Jeanswest gift card
• Official Jeans for Genes t-shirts and gear
• Two movie tickets.  

It's a very cool prize!  Here is the fine print for you all:

• To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me about your favourite pair of jeans - style, colour or anything you would like to mention about them (remember to wear + donate on August 5th too).
• Entry is open to Australian residents only
• Entry is open until 8pm (EST) Wednesday 27th July 2011.
• The winner will be announced on Wednesday 27th July (on my blog/in the evening) and the prize will be posted to the winner on Thursday 28th July (thank you Olgivy PR).

Donate and get involved! :)

****This give away is now closed****

Kids in the Kitchen - Apple pikelets

Apple Pikelets:

Helloosh! It's Bella here and today I have another awesome guest blogger for Kids in the Kitchen.

Her name is Sofia and she is going to show you how to make apple pikelets.  I make normal pikelets with my Mum sometimes but I've never made apple pikelets before. They sound YUMMY!

Here is Sofia. 

Hello. My name is Sofia and I am 8 years old. This is my first time as a guest blogger so I'm very excited. I chose 5 different recipes to make but Mum only let me make one. I love cooking. I like making desserts and slices and also main dishes. I don't like cutting up vegetables much but I do it to help.

Today I have made Apple and Cinnamon Pikelets.

 
Apple Pikelets by Sofia 

2 cups self raising flour

2 tbs caster sugar

1 apple, grated

2 egg, lightly beaten

Sprinkle of cinnamon

1 1/3 cup milk

butter and icing sugar to serve

 
1. Cut up the apple and grate it with the skin on

2. Place all the ingredients into a bowl

3. Some recipes you don't have to measure really well but this one you should.

4. Mix with a wooden spoon 

5. Heat your electric frying pan. Spray with cooking spray. Pour small amounts of the batter into little circles. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

6. When bubbles appear on the top its time to flip them over. Flip again until both sides are golden.

 Place on a serving dish.  Butter each pikelet and sprinkle with icing sugar.

 You can eat  them while they are warm and they are also good for in your lunchbox.

Mum thought they would be yummy with apples and cinnamon butter too and so we found a recipe HERE to make next time.

P.S. You can view the other recipes in this series HERE

 

Etsy finds

I haven't blogged an 'Etsy Finds' post for a while now, so I thought it was time!  Here are a few of my most recent favourites:

Lilac Birdie necklace - love, want, need. Link HERE.

Vintage brass deer locket - love, need, want. Link HERE.

Paperdoll cameo ring - love, need, want. Ha! Are you seeing a pattern here?  Link HERE.

I've always wanted an abacus.  At 38 I think I'm a bit big for one now, but this one is super cute.  Link HERE.

Bella would love this - shadow box fawn. Link HERE.

Last one!  There's just something kooky and fun about this brooch.  Link HERE.

Have you found anything nice on Etsy lately?  It's one of my favourite online places to shop.