Link to free tutorial for a Modern Nursing Shawl

Hi everyone,

I recently came across a free tutorial for a Modern Nursing Shawl (see link below) which looks really easy to make.  Depending on fabric you use, the shawl looks light, comfy and easy to use.  Wished I had these when I was nursing my babies.  I have no pics at the moment but I plan to make some for some expecting mothers :).

http://www.thecoterieblog.com/2012/05/dyi-modern-nursing-shawl-sew-one-line.html

Thanks for stopping by :).

Jenn

New Family Activity - Geocaching

Hello :),

Long time no blog :).  Recently a friend shared an activity they discovered.  We thought to try it out and now the whole family is hooked :).  The activity is GeoCaching :).

How it works?  You pick a cache to go find on www.geocaching.com.  Use a GPS (or your mobile if it has a GPS) to go find it.  There is usually a hint or two available to help you find it :). It can be a micro cache (tiny) to a regular sized cache.  Each cache will have a log book and regular sized cache often have trinkets in them.  Sometimes you find a trackable (e.g. Travel Bug Tag).  Trackables have an ID code which you enter on the website that you've found it.  You will be able to see where it originated and where it has travelled before coming to the location you found it in :).  You then put it in another cache for someone else to find.

Geocaching is great in getting the kids (& adults) out of the house, is a fun way to exercise, is like treasure hunting for the kids (trinkets to be found & swapped) and is FREE!

Here's my 3yo DD's doll at the first cache I found :).

My family found a trackable (Travel Bug Tag).  DH logged it and we discovered that it originated in Canada :).  It travelled around Canada before making it's way to US, Germany, Czech, Singapore then Queensland Australia where we found it :).  We are now trying to find a great place to leave it for someone else to find it :).

Cheers,
Jenn

Fish & Teddy Bear Recycle Crayons

I've been meaning to try make Recycle Crayons since a friend did some crayon hearts in Feb for her daughter to give to her classmates :). With 2 weeks of school left before Summer Vacation, I thought these would make cute Xmas gifts for my kids' classmates :). More fun than Candy Cane :).

There is already lots of tuts on the Internet on how to do this so I won't go into too much details. However I should add that I set my oven at 200 degrees C :). I also had them in the oven until all the crayons melted (10-15 mins). Should be quick but I had some stubborn ones that took a while. I allowed them to cool on the bench then put them in the freezer for about 5-10 mins. They then popped out really easily :).

Here is the full set of crayons I did today with my whole stash of old crayons.



Here is the close up of the Fish Crayon



Here is the close up of the Teddy Bear Crayon :).



Thanks for stopping by :).

Jenn.

Home Made Yoghurt for the Kids

About a year ago, my friend Kathleen suggested we try/use EasiYo to make our own Yoghurt. We were really keen to try and finally bought one :). Lol yes it has taken us a year to get one :P. We're really amazed how easy it was :). Here's a quick run down of the steps :).

You need the EasiYo containers :). Note: we took the lid off the big container for this pic :).

And a yoghurt powder mix. This is the yoghurt we're going to make for the kids to try :).

Step 1: We half filled the smaller container with cool water & poured in the yoghurt mix powder :). We stirred it until it was mixed.

Step 2: We filled the container to the top with cool water. Put the lid back on and gave it a good shake :).

Step 3: We poured hot water into the bigger container to the top of the internal baffle (coloured red - see first pic). Then placed the smaller container inside :). And put the lid back on :).

Step 4: We left it overnight (8-12 hours) on our kitchen bench until it was set :). Here's a pic before we placed it in the fridge (next morning).

Step 5: Enjoy! Yoghurt & strawberries for dessert :). DS preferred it with a little caramel sauce swirled in :).

Cheers,
Jenn

A Day at Roma Street Parkland

One of our school holiday activities was to take the older two kids into the city & Roma Street Parkland for the School Holiday Fun (first week of school holidays). There were face painting, balloon animals, jumping castle and baby animals to pet :). We all had a great day :).

As for me, I couldn't resist taking some photos with my trusty Point & Shoot :).

Here's a pic of the kids & DH walking around Roma Street Parkland :). Sorry for the bad pic. I was playing with manual mode in the shade so it was way too bright when we suddenly went out in the sun.



Here's a pic of the fountain :). I took several but this was the best one :P.



And of course I couldn't resist taking pics of some flowers :).





BTW for more information about Roma Street Parkland, visit www.romastreetparkland.com/Pages/default.aspx.

A visit by the Black Swan :)

The other day we took the girls to feed some ducks at the local dam and were surprised to see a black swan. Forgot my camera so we went back today and the black swan again came by for some food :). Remembered my camera this time so here are a few pics of the black swan :D.

The gorgeous black swan :).


A pic at the bank to see how close the black swan was to us :). The black swan was rather cranky at the ducks. This pic was taken just before the black swan snapped & scattered all the ducks.


Another pic of the black swan with a couple of ducks :).


My 4yo DD watching & saying goodbye to the ducks & swan :).


I could never resist pics of flowers so here are a few I took at the local dam :).







Thanks for stopping by to look at my pics :). Have a great day :).

Jenn.

They're here! My kids' Buttfreckles are here :).

I discovered Buttfreckles not that long ago and knew I had to get some for my kids :). These are handmade by a lovely lady named Bridgette in Austin Texas USA.

My kids' Buttfreckles :)

Clockwise from top: 9yo DS's Buttfreckles in Brisbane Broncos colours, 4yo DD's Panicked Princess Buttfreckle & 2yo DD's Berries & Cream Buttfreckle :).

You can purchase these gorgeous Buttfreckles on B's website: www.buttfreckle.com. She has one upload a week and are always sold out real quick! She also makes CUTE OOAK Buttfreckles :). To follow her on Facebook her FB Buttfreckle page.

Think I need more for Christmas Stocking :).

Jenn XOXO

Knitting for Born to Knit

During high school, I used to watch my mother knit or crochet blankets for charities. I've always wanted to contribute but have never found the time to actually finish a blanket. So when Save the Children Australia launched their "Born To knit" Campaign, I decided to challenge myself and actually knit a full blanket ... or maybe 2 :).

Born to Knit is Save the Children's campaign to knit 15,000 blankets to send to children in India, Cambodia & Laos. One knitted blanket will help a child stay warm and feel comfy and safe. Most importantly, this one blanket will help to ward against pneumonia, one of the biggest killers of children under five in the developing world. More info about the Born to Knit campaign can be found here.

The guidelines for knitting a blanket is:
* Use 4mm needles
* Use 8ply 100% pure wool
* A perfect-sized blanket is made up of 16 knitted squares
* Each square should be about 20cms x 20cms
* The final blanket size should be around 80cms x 80cms

Here are my 4mm knitting needles (I've fallen in love with using circular needles) & the 8ply 100% pure wool that I'm going to use :). I went for autumn colours :).



Wish me luck :). Will post my completed blanket & hopefully I have enough time to knit another before the campaign ends :).

Something Different and New for this Blog :).

Since I started using FB in August 2010, the use of my Blog for latest news/updates seem a little pointless so I've decided to use this Blog to trial the many tutorials/patterns on the web & some miscellaneous stuff e.g. Giveaways, visits to places, etc :).

To start, I'm going to talk about my family's visit to Mt Coo-Tha Botanic Gardens. It is one of our fave places to visit.

We started out by walking through the Gardens stopping to look at the flowers ...




... some unusual leaves :) ...





... some water which my youngest loves looking at ...




... and some metal creatures :).





We came across a couple of the items for the Children's Trail - Hide & Seek :). You can find more info about the Hide & Seek here. The kids were exhausted by this stage so we didn't do the Hide & Seek. Next time :).




All 3 kids were treated to some Ice Cream at the Botanical Cafe :). YUM! Definitely a fun Sunday for the whole family :).

Jenn XOXO

Winner of my Bandusta 3rd Birthday Giveaway :)

Sorry for the late announcement, today was gorgeously fine that we headed off to spend the morning at the Botanical Gardens :).

The winner of the Bandusta 3rd Birthday Giveaway according to Random.org is comment No. 8 i.e. Corinna W.



Congratulations Corinna :).

Thank you everyone who participated in my Giveaway :).

Jenn XOXO

Bandusta Australia's 3rd Birthday Giveaway

Bandusta Australia is 3 years old today (1st April) and to celebrate I'm going to have a Bandusta Australia's 3rd Birthday Giveaway :).

The Giveaway prize will be:

• One(1) x Ethereal Silver's latest Personalized Rectangle Pendants (below).


• One(1) x standard length 1mm Bead (or Ball) Sterling Silver chain, &


• One(1) x Nickel plated steel keyring.

To enter:

1: Be a fan of Bandusta Australia on Facebook
2: Come back here and comment under this post with your FB profile (your first name & first letter of your Surname is fine).

OR Please post on my Bandusta wall that you would like to enter the Giveaway and I will manually add you :).

Conditions:
* One entry per person only :).
* Open to Australia Residents only.
* Prize must be claimed within 3 days or I will redraw the winner.

This Giveaway will be opened for the month of April i.e. closes on 30th April 2011. The winner will be selected by Random.org & announced on the 2nd May 2011 :).

Good luck everyone :).

P.S. I just realised I have moderation mode on so if you don't see your comment, it just means I haven't approved it yet :).

Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

Merry Christmas everyone :). I thought I share one of my favourite recipes for Christmas baking i.e. Gingerbread Cookies Recipe :). This is not my own recipe but one I found in a Free Coles Supermarket magazine last year (2009). It is a fun and easy recipe to bake with your kids to give as gift to relatives and/or friends :). I love this recipe because it doesn't have the "cream sugar and butter" step :). I'm all for quick and easy recipes :).

Gingerbread Cookies

125grams butter
1/2 cup golden syrup
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger (we always put 2 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 180oC and line baking trays with baking paper.

2. Heat butter, golden syrup and sugar in a microwave proof bowl on High (100% Power) for 1 minute, until butter has melted. Stir to combine. Set aside.

3. Sift flour, cinnamon, ground ginger and bicarb soda into a bowl. Stir in butter mixture, egg and vanilla essence. Press together to form a dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Chill for 10 minutes.

4. Knead dough lightly on a floured surface. Roll dough to a 5mm thickness. Cut shapes with a cookie cutter. Place on prepared trays. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool on trays.

5. Decorate or eat plain :).

Enjoy :).

2010 Xmas Holidays

Just letting you all know that we will be taking a well earned break over the holidays from 24/12/10 to 09/01/11. You can still purchase online during this period with shipping to recommence on 10/01/11. Thank you :).

Bandusta Australia's November Newsletter

Bandusta Australia's November Newsletter can be viewed here :).

End of Pink Challenge this Sunday 31st Oct 2010

Good morning everyone :). This Sunday will be the end of my Pink Challenge and I'll be tallying up how much I will be donating to Cancer Council QLD for Breast Cancer :). I want to thank everyone who has bought one of my Pink Challenge items :).

It is also time for a Newsletter and to pick the next winner from my Newsletter subscriber for a $10 Gift Certificate :).

And the winner of the September Ergo Giveaway is

Kim R.

Congratulations Kim :). An email has been sent to your nominated email address :). Please get in touch with me with your delivery address so I can post you your prize :).

Thanks everyone for entering my September Giveaway :).

September Newsletter & Ergo Giveaway :)

Hi everyone,

I've released a short September Newsletter and can be found here.

This is the last Newsletter sent to my old Newsletter subscriber list. If you would like to keep receiving my Newsletter, please re-subscribe here. Re-subscribing also entitles you to enter in my September Ergo Carrier Giveaway. Be quick as this Giveaway ends 30th September 2010 and winner is drawn on 1st October 2010.

Thank you :).

Pink Fundraiser for Cancer Council QLD (Pink Ribbon Day)

This year alone around 12,000 Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. While survival rates have increased with recent breakthroughs, one in nine women still face a diagnosis by the age of 85 and will need our help and support. Your contribution can make a difference :).

Pink Ribbon Day is on Monday 25th October 2010. The selected pink merchandise is available on my website :). Please show your support for breast cancer by adding a pink merchandise to your order :). Pink merchandise is also available at www.pinkribbonday.com.au and at Pink Ribbon Day's national retail supporter outlets :).

I am also organising my own pink fundraiser to raise funds to support Cancer Council Queensland (Breast Cancer). My fundraiser starts right now and will end on Monday 25th October (Pink Ribbon Day). Please help me raise money to support this worth cause :). More Info here.

September Ergo Giveaway!

For the 9th Cloth Nappy Hunt, I will be giving away a Brand New Ergo Baby Carrier (Camel colour) valued at $159 (RRP).


More Info Here ...

Gorgeous Handmade Ethereal Silver Jewellery!

Ethereal Silver is handmade by a local designer (here in Brisbane) and is being sold by Bandusta Australia by consignment. Click here for more information or to see more pieces from Ethereal Silver range :). All Ethereal Silver pieces are 100% handmade unless otherwise specified. All pieces are beautifully hand crafted using solid sterling silver wires or sheets. No silver plated jewellery here!

Please support our local designer :). Here are a sample of her handmade pieces :).

Close up of my personalised pendant with the names of my 3 children :)


Top view of my personalised pendant with the names of my 3 children :)


Ethereal Silver Flower Helm Chain Maille Pendant


Ethereal Silver Poppy Magic Stud Earrings