Letting kids be creative

We all know how much kids love to make things unfortunately however as parents we are not all born with a creative streak to come up with the great ideas or even where to look to buy products to let the kids start creating.

The team at Poss Bloss have solved all of these problems by creating an online store dedicated to letting kids create! Having a look around the other other day I came across the funkiest splat mat - I love jelly bean designs and Poss Bloss have a fantastic 1 metre x 1 metre PVC Jelly Bean Splat Mat - perfect for under the highchair or craft table or even as a mat for the kids to sit on when playing with playdough. I wonder if I’ll look silly if I buy one for my cat - he loves to create with his biscuits so it might save some cleaning up!

The cutest little critters…

As generations go by, new products are created that allow us to keep wonderful keepsakes of when our kids were little.

One of my favourite keepsake products, is a Little Critters Canvas Print. No, I’m not talking about bugs & insects but a wonderful piece of artwork created by the team at Little Critters using a print of your child’s hand or foot. The talented Little Critters team then convert an ordinary hand or foot into a beautiful little critter work of art.

Your design can be recreated not only as Canvas prints but on a huge range of products such as tshirts, mouse mats, mugs, money boxes and greeting cards. With Christmas coming up it’s time to think about pressies for the grandparents and a Little Critters product is just perfect.

Getting organised

With Stephanie moving out last weekend, we donated our 2nd fridge to the cause. We stupidly assumed that with two less people in the house, we wouldn’t need our 2nd fridge. How wrong we were!

The fridge we kept is one that has the freezer at the bottom so the fridge is actually not all that big - needless to say we are knocking things over! I decided to visit one of my favourite sites, A Good Sort and see if there were any tips I could use and was so surprised to find reference to my exact problem.

I discovered that the girls had already solved this problem for me by showing a before and after pic of a fridge with sauce bottles etc stacked on the shelf as opposed to the after shot of a turntable sitting on the top shelf with all the sauce etc on the turntable to make it easy to get to them all.

The turntable is available from Howard’s Storage World but the girls from A Good Sort have some fantastic sorting ideas to keep you uncluttered! Given that I’m now rearranging our home - I think I’ll be visiting them more than once!

A healthy and quick Sunday dinner

After a weekend of moving etc, I just wanted a very quick but healthy dinner last night. I decided that home made pizzas was it but for some reason had a fetish for a very crispy base.

I bought some lebanese bread (or Pita breads) from the supermarket, topped each one with a layer of tomato paste, sprinkled a generous helping of diced ham, then diced pineapple and lastly mozzarella cheese over the top. Popped it into the oven for 20 minutes and ended up with the yummiest pizza I have had in ages.

It was an absolute hit with everyone and cost next to nothing compared to the cost of buying takeaway pizza that never really tastes all that good. I highly recommend this option when you need a pizza fix!

Yum Organics Free Cookbook

I was thinking about what I’ll cook for dinner tonight and decided I would search the net for some inspiration. What I found was this great Australian site that sells organic foods, online, delivered to your door. What a great find - imagine buying organically and not having to wade through the shelves for it all.

As an added bonus, you can also sign up on the site and receive a free e-book packed with 20 minute easy meals for you to prepare with the family.

Mmmm mmmm mmmm, now what to make…

Garage Sales

It’s Saturday and I thought I’d fill you in on what’s been happening around here. My eldest daughter, Stephanie who is 19, has just moved out today with her boyfriend. This is the first move out of home for her and the first time one of my girls has moved away from me. To say the feeling is surreal would be an understatement.

To help them get everything they need on a very limited budget, we have been going to Garage Sales every week for the past six weeks. I have got to tell you that if you are prepared to put in a bit of leg work, some bargaining skills and some very early mornings then you can buy just about anything you need for next to nothing.

We have managed to find everything from lounge suite to washing machine, freezer and dryer plus assorted household furniture items for under $1500. Included in that is a few trips to places like Target and Kmart where we have picked up kitchenware on special and other great bargains.

It takes some time, but you can seriously save some money if you shop around and do the
Garage Sale rounds. Oh by the way, it was actually a lot of fun along the way!

Oh what bliss it is to not be the one who has to move and unpack it all though!

Father’s Day Friday Finds

1. Coffee Time Ferrero Rocher Bouquet. $49.95 from Sweet Petals

2. Wild Men’s Spa Pack. $29.95 from Tonic Gifts

3. Harry’s Rocky Road Father’s Day Pack. $4.95 from Harry’s Rocky Road

4. Personalised Father’s Day Card. $5.95 from Moonpig

5. Extreme Driving Courses - Australia Wide - from Extreme Driving