Four Fabulous Freebie Fridays: Week 1 Winner is...

Thank you to those who entered the Four Fabulous Freebie Fridays Giveaway for Week 1 kindly sponsored by the very talented Karen at Be Design Solutions.

Without further adieu the first prize goes to...

And the lucky second prize winner is..

Congratulations to both Kryshia and Rebecca, please contact me via email at utterlyorganised@gmail.com to claim your prizes. I know that you will both have the most beautiful events with these gorgeous owl printable sets that you have won! Please be sure to send us some pictures to feature on the blog as I am sure that we would all love to see how your events turn out.

For those that missed out this week, don't forget that the Week 2 Giveaway is now open and you can enter here for your chance to nab one of two copies of the Nigella Lawson Cookbook - 'How to be a Domestic Goddess' for your recipe collection. I hope that you are enjoying all of the freebies that I am lucky enough to be giving away courtesy of some rather fabulous sponsors!

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank so many of you that have been throwing your support behind voting for me over at the Circle of Moms Top 25 Aussie blogger contest. I know that it can be a bit tedious having to vote each and every day, so I really am thankful that so many of you are doing it to show your support. If you feel like voting again, you can do it right here and THANK YOU!

Have a great weekend everyone...

Four Fabulous Freebie Fridays: Week 2 Nigella Lawson Cookbook Giveaway

Welcome to the second week of Four Fabulous Friday Freebies. If you haven't entered the amazing giveaway featured last Friday by Be Design Solutions then the good news is that you are not too late. Entries close tonight (20:00 AEST), so pop on over and enter right here.

As you would have seen yesterday, I am a bit of a Nigella Lawson fan and so when I was given the chance by my fabulous sponsor, Stockland, to offer up two of my lovely readers the chance to win a copy of the bestselling 'How To Be A Domestic Goddess' cookbook I naturally jumped!!

As you have probably gathered, baking and comfort cooking are two of my most favourite things, so this book seemed to have my name written all over it! This cookbook has all of your baking favourites from cakes, pies, pastries, preserves and puddings to bread and biscuits. I love the sections on Christmas and cooking for kids and have already marked many recipes to try (Snickers and Peanut Butter Muffins anyone?!). I know so many of you are just going to adore this prize!

• Utterly Organised in conjunction with Stockland are giving two lucky readers the chance to win a copy of 'How To Be A Domestic Goddess' cookbook by Nigella Lawson
• The Giveaway will be hosted on the Utterly Organised blog and is only open to Australian readers
• Readers may only enter the competition once, multiple entries will not be accepted
• The Giveaway will commence at 12:00 AEST on Friday 28th September 2012, and conclude at 20:00 AEST on Friday 5th October 2012
• The winner/s will be drawn by random.org
• The announcement of the lucky winner/s will be published via the Utterly Organised blog
• The lucky winner/s will have 7 days to contact Utterly Organised and claim their prize
• Failure to claim the prize within this period will result in another winner/s being drawn by random.org
• Prize will be posted to the winner by a representative for Stockland

• To enter you must like the Utterly Organised Facebook Page
• Reader must enter directly under this blog post by leaving a comment telling me what your favourite recipe is to bake in your home
• Please ensure that your entry contains your full name (first and last name) in order to be accepted in this draw
• Any questions on the competition can be directed to utterlyorganised@gmail.com

 

Stockland is Australia’s largest diversified property group, with a range of home, land and retail developments across Australia. From houses for sale in Maitland to house and land packages in Craigieburn, there is sure to be a place to build your perfect home. And, as a leading sustainable organisation, Stockland’s developments are designed to enhance the environment – not to spoil it. Stockland gives your family a place to truly call home – a place where your family can live and grow.

Good luck everyone and thank you to Stockland!!

Cooking the Classics: Easy, Quick & Delicious Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

I am not afraid to admit that we are HUGE fans of Macaroni Cheese in this household. What I am a little embarrassed to admit is how addicted I used to be to packaged Mac and Cheese... I know that it is definitely not a winner in the nutritional department, so I am so glad that I stumbled across this amazing recipe from Nigella Lawson to keep me on the straight and narrow. This recipe is seriously even quicker and easier to make than the packet stuff, the taste is oh so delicious and not an orange strand of pasta in sight!

This little recipe 'cheats' a little when making the white sauce. Instead of making a traditional white sauce, you make your own easy version with cheese, egg and evaporated milk. Because it is one of Nigella's recipes- so you know that it is going to be utterly delicious and a tenny bit naughty.... enjoy!

You'll need:

• 250g Packet of Macaroni Pasta
• 250g of Mature Cheddar Cheese (I actually used Tasty and it was delicious!)
• 250ml of Evaporated Milk (can also use the Low Fat version if you like)
• 2 Medium Sized Eggs
• 1 Sprinkle of Nutmeg
• 1 Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees
2. Cook your pasta according to the directions on the packet, drain and then return to the hot pan
3. While your pasta is cooking away, prepare your cheese sauce by placing cheese, evaporated milk, eggs and nutmeg in to your food processor (or Thermomix) and blitz to mix. Alternatively grate your cheese and mix everything together by hand
4. Combine the cheese sauce and the macaroni together in the hot pan. Stir well and season with the salt and pepper (optional)
5. Pour in to an oven proof dish and bake for approx 10-15 minutes until bubbling and blistering on top

Why not serve it up with a side salad for a quick and easy dinner or lunch, you'll keep coming back to this one!! It really is that simple!! If you love you Mac and Cheese as much as us, I do hope that you give this a try in your home. Love to hear your review and thoughts on the recipe.

If you are a fellow fan of Nigella then I'll let you in on a little secret that you will love. Tomorrow I am opening a giveaway to win not one, but two copies of her fabulous 'How To Be A Domestic Goddess' cookbook... see you all tomorrow!

Spring/Summer Scarves for a Song

Time for another Cheap and Cheerful Tuesday! Have you noticed just how many scarves have hit our stores with the release of the Spring/Summer lines?! Maybe it is because these gorgeous lightweight summer scarves are on my radar that I am noticing these everywhere.

I have been using the Spring/Summer scarf to give my outfits a bit of a 'pop' of colour, much like a statement necklace. They are a super easy (and affordable) way to change the look of your outfits, you can literally throw one on with an ensemble that you may have worn a billion times in the past and it really gives you such a new and fresh look - almost like getting a new outfit completely!!

Until recently I had only kept my scarf wearing for the Winter months, however this year (maybe because I am on such a budget these days) I have really embraced this trend to change the look of my trusty old threads.

So where do I suggest that you head to for some gorgeous scarves? Look no further than your humble local K-Mart store:

As you can see there is literally a shade, pattern or style to fit your style or outfit. Choose from plain, floral, stripe, leopard or a quirky print. Prices range between $8 and $10 and the quality is amazing for this price point.

So if you are like me and want to give your outfits a bit of a 'refresh', then head on down to your local K-Mart store and nab one of these pretties while stock lasts.

Of course if you have a little bit more coin to spend, some of my favourite chain stores have some notable mentions:



Source: Witchery

Witchery never disappoint with their beautiful scarves season after season. The above 'Summer Soft Scarf' is as the name suggests, just super soft and divine on the skin and it is only $19.95. The colour above is 'mint' but if this is not your thing, then check out other shades available in this style such as nude, sunset, watermelon, coral, black or cream. The mint has my vote!

Source: Sussan

Sussan is definitely on trend with a gorgeous Spring/Summer range this year and this scarf is no exception. The style is the 'Block Colour Scarf,' and it is $29.95. This scarf features the most gorgeous shades that I want to be seen wearing for Spring and Summer.

Source: Witchery

Who else loves a bit of polka dot?! Witchery has come through with the goods again and for $39.95 you can give this divine Watermelon/White polka dot striped number a home in your wardrobe.

Who else is embracing scarves for Spring/Summer? Even Mr B cannot resist a scarf... or three....

PS: Thank you all for supporting me over at the Circle of Mom's Top 25 Aussie Bloggers contest. I would love and appreciate any more votes you might be able to throw my way if you have a spare moment to vote. You can click here to do it and you are able to vote every 24 hours if you wanted to! Thanks a million.

Four Fabulous Freebie Fridays: Week 1 Be Design Solutions Giveaway

What better way to kick of Four Fabulous Freebie Fridays than with not one, but two prizes up for grabs from my very generous sponsor, Karen from Be Design Solutions.

If you are planning a little celebration in the near future then you are going to love this little printable set for your next shindig. 

Large Owl Set in Blue

Large Owl Set in Pink

3 Extra Inclusions for the Deluxe Package

This sweet little owl design comes in the perfect pink and the beautiful blue illustrated above. It would be divine customised for a baby shower, christening, 1st birthday celebration or a party for any age really! I adore this design and actually had an owl themed baby shower myself, so I am truly such a fan of this theme.

• Be Design Solutions are giving two lucky readers the chance to win one of their PIY (print it yourself) sets in the Owl Design above (winner has a choice of the pink or blue set)
• The First Prize winner will receive the full deluxe package which includes the large set plus all three extra items (bunting, thank you notes and chocolate bar wrappers). This is valued at AUD$59
• The Second Prize winner will receive the large set. This is valued at AUD$29
• This giveaway will be hosted on the Utterly Organised blog and is open to all of my readers (yay!)
• Readers may only enter the competition once, multiple entries will not be accepted
• This giveaway will commence on Friday 21st September at 11:00 AEST and conclude on Friday 28th September at 20:00 AEST
• The winner/s will be drawn by random.org
• The announcement of the lucky winner/s will be published via the Utterly Organised blog
• The lucky winner/s will have 7 days to contact Utterly Organised and claim their prize
• Failure to claim the prize within this period will result in another winner/s being drawn by random.org
• Prizes selected by the winner/s will be customised by Be Design Solutions
• Winner/s have a 6 month period to use their prize within, failure to redeem the prize within this 6 month period will result in the prize being forfeited

•  To enter you must like both the Utterly Organised Facebook Page and the Be Design Solutions Facebook Page
• Reader must enter directly under this blog post by leaving a comment telling me what occasion you have coming up that would be perfect for this gorgeous owl PIY set
• Please ensure that your entry contains your full (first and last name) in order to be accepted in this draw
• Any questions on the competition can be directed to utterlyorganised@gmail.com

 Good luck!!!

Four Fabulous Freebie Fridays

Sorry for using an F-Word so frequently, but I am just a little bit excited about my Four Fabulous Freebie Fridays!!

You see for the next Four Fridays I have some exciting Freebies to give away as prizes to some of my lucky and Fabulous (whoops, an F-word again!) readers.

I won't give too much away but there are some gorgeous party printables, an organising solution that will make your shoes thank you, a little book to bring out the Domestic Goddess in you and a very generous gift voucher that can be used towards the new Martha Stewart range at Officeworks. Wow!!

I don't know about you, but I just love a freebie, especially when it is as fabulous as these are!! So I hope that you will join me each and every Friday to find out what the prize is for the week and to enter in the draw - after all you have to be in it to win it!!

The first freebie Friday kicks off tomorrow with not one but two divine party printable sets from Be Design Solutions.... Who else is excited?!

Introducing Be Design Solutions & A Giveaway!

A very BIG welcome to my newest blog sponsor - Be Design Solutions...

Be Design Solutions offer a diverse range of services ranging from logo design, customised stationary, business cards and stationary, to posters, flyers and brochures and my absolute favourite - party printables!

It is no secret that I love a good party... and I just adore party printables and just how professional these can make the simplest of occasions look on a small budget. So naturally I was super excited when the lovely Karen from Be Design Solutions contacted me about coming on board as a sponsor because with my little events business and a blog I need a talented graphic designer like Karen in my network!!

Together with Be Design Solutions, I am going to be featuring some fabulous and free printables for my lovely readers that they can use in their homes in the near future. Don't forget to vote and tell me what you might need at your place here.

I have also already started working on events with Karen and she is an absolute pleasure to deal with, it is clear that she loves exactly what she does. So if you are after a talented graphic designer for your own personal or business needs then I highly recommend contacting Karen.

I have included above just a teeny tiny snapshot of some of Karen's beautiful PIY (print it yourself) designs that you can purchase for your own parties and events. Karen is always adding and developing new designs, so I definitely recommend jumping on her Facebook page or her Website to be updated with what she is up to. I do know that there are a few more fabulous items in her party printables range coming out very soon.

Be Design Solutions are also more than happy to come up with your own personalised creation if you were after a theme or design that you cannot see in their current range, or a customised range for a special occasion such as a wedding.

Being the lovely sponsor that they are, Be Design Solutions are offering up two prizes to my lovely readers. For those that are planning a little party, you are going to love this. More details and the competition will open up on the blog tomorrow... I know very cruel to make you wait one more sleep!

Mr B's Peter Rabbit Themed Christening - Part 2

I am so grateful for the lovely comments that I received on Part 1 of the Christening. I hope that you enjoy this second part which takes a little peek in to the nosh that I whipped up for the day...

Our Christening service was due to finish mid morning, so it would have been a tad early to plan a luncheon which was the original idea. So the idea of a 'brunch' celebration was born. I did find it a little difficult to come up with suitable brunch options that I was able to make ahead and just serve up when I walked through the door with visitors in tow. There is nothing worse than slaving away in the kitchen whilst your guests are sipping champagne is there?!

Being the sweet tooth that I am, quite a few of the menu items selected were sweet in nature. Here is what I came up with...

Mini Pancake stacks with strawberries and cream

These were a little fiddly to do, but looked so cute! I found this little idea on Pinterest (of course). To create perfect little pancake stacks, I simply cut shapes out of pikelets using a small round cutter. If you wanted to take a shortcut you could simply cut from ready-made pikelets from the Supermarket. I then popped a bit of whipped cream and a small slice of strawberry in between each layer and used a tooth pick to hold it all together.

Fruit Custard Tarts

I must confess that I cheated a teeny bit with these and used ready made frozen pastry shells. I simply cooked the shells and then filled with a vanilla custard that I had made in my trusty Thermomix. I then topped with various fruits including kiwi fruit, strawberry, raspberries and blueberries. I used frozen raspberries (the fresh are just still way too expensive at the moment) and these were a bit of a nightmare as the juice spilled in to the custard and ruined the look a little...

Mini croissants filled with various cheeses and ham

I really, really, really wanted to attempt to make the croissants myself - I even purchased a cookbook with a recipe to make them - honestly!! But in the end I ran out of time, so I purchased the croissants from my local Supermarket and filled these with a variety of cheeses and some with shaved ham. I lightly toasted these before serving so that they warm (with gooey cheese mmm) when I served them up.

Individual fruit salad pots with vanilla bean yoghurt

My lovely mother in law helped me out by making up a big batch of fruit salad for me. I served this up in plastic wine goblets that I had decorated with the very same ribbon used on the candy jars. The wooden cutlery was stamped with 'brodie'. The fruit salad was topped with a large dollop of gourmet vanilla bean yoghurt - I could seriously eat this stuff by the truckload!!

Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins

I recently stumbled across the most fabulous recipe for these muffins and have been making it ever since to rave reviews. If you are a bit of a fan of this muffin flavour, do let me know and I'll feature the recipe on the blog. These muffins unfortunately are best on the day of making, so I was up at some crazy hour baking them up. I used baking cups in blue and green spot to match the theme. I normally measure out the quantity to ensure that I get even shaped muffins, however I just didn't have the chance to do this in the morning rush.

Mini quiches

My lovely Mummy made these for me!! It just wouldn't be a brunch with any form of eggs (and bacon) for that matter, so mini quiches were a no brainer brunch item.

Macaroons

If there is one thing that I would love to learn to make - it is the macaroon. If anyone has any tips, tricks or recipes please let me know as I am scared stiff of even trying these out. These were purchased through a french patisserie local to me and I purchased in colours to match my theme - of course!!

Assorted jars of lollies/candy

I don't think any party of mine would be complete without a little bit of candy!! The jars were filled with gourmet jelly beans and marshmallows in complementary colours. I also made some personalised wrappers and used them to cover Aldi branded chocolate bars.

The Cake

And last but not least - the cake!! For those of you who have been following me on Facebook, you will know that the cake was a labour of love. I have never ever attempted to use fondant and in hindsight I probably should have done a test run. But it was a great learning experience for me to say the least!! I used ready to roll fondant in baby blue and another one in vanilla to make the polka-dots. The actual cake was a white chocolate mud cake. I am leaving it to the pros when Mr B's first birthday does roll around in a few short months.

The Beverages
I set up a little drink station that had fruit infused water and filled mini glass bottles with apple and orange juices. There was another station (not pictured) that had some grown up beverages too - no celebration is complete without some bubbles after all!

If you are planning a little brunch celebration for an occassion such as Father Day, Christmas or Easter, there might just be a few little ideas here that you can include on your menu. If you need any further information on any of the above, please contact me. Alternatively if you have a fabulous an easy brunch idea that you'd love to share, please let me know.

Mr B's Peter Rabbit Themed Christening - Part 1

Firstly I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to get around to posting the pictures of the Christening that we celebrated last weekend. After all of the running around, fondant cake making and late night party decorating, I have been left feeling a tad exhausted this week.

For Part 1 of the Christening, I thought that I would share some information on the decorations and the theming and for Part 2 I will go in to a more detail about the food and drink for the day. The Christening was only a very small affair, we only had our immediate family and the godparents as we wanted to keep it intimate. The church service finished at 10:30am, so we had our guests back to our house for an array of mostly sweet brunch treats (well you know I am a sweet tooth). More on the food in the next post...

My little man just adores the Peter Rabbit soft toy that we purchased for him when he was born. He will not sleep at night now unless he has Peter snuggled with him, it is very cute. So when I was dreaming up themes for his Christening celebration, Peter Rabbit seemed like the obvious choice. I know that in a few short years we will be doing the more 'boyish' themes like dinosaurs or trucks, so I wanted to use a 'cutesy' theme while I could!!

I was lucky that I stumbled across the lovely Dannii from The Little Soiree who has a gorgeous Peter Rabbit printable collection in her portfolio. I used the invitation and the round party circles from the range to decorate my cupcakes, chocolate bar wrappers and candy jars.

The range has shades of pale blue and pale green, so I tried to incorporate these colours in to the table that I created. I also used polka dots and stripes as a running theme through all of my decorations.

The Pom Wheel decorations were purchased via Etsy from the Pom Tree. I wanted something a bit different from Pom Pom's as I am planning to use these for Mr B's 1st birthday party in December. Pom Tree have an amazing range of colours in their range, so there is definitely one that will match your theme if you'd like to use these at your next bash!

The paper bunting I made myself by printing off some patterned digital paper (in spots and stripes) and cutting in to the bunting shape - it was just so easy!! I threaded the flags through patterned twine (available at places such as Etsy and even Typo is now stocking this) and it was done. I am planning on uploading my paper bunting template at Christmas time so that you can download and create some pretty paper bunting for the festive season.

The chocolate bar wrappers were created using the same spotted digital paper as the bunting (printed on to a different type of paper) and using the Peter Rabbit party circles on the top. I used the foil covered chocolate bars from Aldi and I was so pleased with the way that they turned out.

The food buffet tags were designed by me at 1am the night before!! They are very basic, however I used the same striped digital paper as the bunting for a co-ordinated look.

I used blue and green striped straws, muffin cups, ribbons, napkins and plates to complete the theme. The majority of items are from the very divine Paper Eskimo range. I also stamped wooden cutlery with a 'Brodie' stamp and this was displayed in mini tin pails in matching colours.

All the jars, vases, trays and cake stands are available for hire through my little business Utterly Organised. So if you are in Melbourne and would like to use some of these items for your next event, please contact me for hire information as I'd love to help you out!

Stay tuned for Part 2...

Free Laundry Printables for your printing pleasure...

Thank you all for the lovely comments I received when sharing my laundry organisation that I have in my home. As promised, I am sharing my laundry labels that I designed so that you can use these in your own home if you'd like to!

Now I absolutely must stress that my labels are not perfect - far from it. I am no graphic designer (as you can tell!) and I am not using a graphics programme, so when you print you might need to adjust the width or the height of the labels if you want to get them 100% perfect...

There are two versions to choose from, so hopefully there might be one to suit you. To access these files, please head on over to my free stuff tab.

The stripe...

And the Chevron..

 To print you simply need to;

• Right click on the individual image
• Select 'save picture as'
• And save in your chosen directory on your computer
• File will be a jpeg and you can print to the size that you want and crop etc if you wish!

If you do decide to print and use in your home, I would love to see some pictures.

I hope that these help create an utterly organised laundry closet for you!! Don't forget that we are taking 'votes' for some kitchen printables that will be created by a real graphic designer for you all- hooray! Please head on over and let me know what you would like to see in your home.

The Winner of the Home Storage & Living Competition is...

Thank you all for entering the Home Storage & Living competition, I loved reading which products you would choose if you were the lucky winner and I truly wish that you could all win! Without further adieu the lucky winner is...

Congratulations to Narelle, if you could please contact me via email at utterlyorganised@gmail.com, I shall assist with organising your selection of goodies up to the value of $150 to be delivered to you. I cannot wait for you to share with us all what you do with your fabulous new storage products!

For those that missed out, don't forget that you can still pick up the amazing products that you had your eye on at an extra special price. Home Storage & Living are offering all of my lovely readers a very generous 25% off their purchases. If you missed out on reading about this, you can get the voucher code and further information here.

Don't despair as there is another fabulous little giveaway just around the corner...

Free kitchen printables by request - What do you need in your home?!

You might recall that I had proclaimed that this week would be dedicated to looking at pantry organisation... However with the Christening preparations, work for a client and participating in the Style Workshop on the weekend - life has gotten in the way of my best intentions (and ability!) to prepare this piece for you.

So instead I hope that me featuring Mr B's Christening, offering up my laundry printables and announcing the winner of the Home Storage & Living competition may just make up for the lack of 'perfect pantries' for this week.

Rest assured that this piece will be featured very, very soon for you and I promise that the wait will be very much worth it. You see I have one very talented graphic designer coming on board as a sponsor, and together we would like to develop some free kitchen printables to make your own home utterly organised.

So what is it that you would like or need in your home? Do you need a menu planner? A shopping list perhaps? Or how about a chores sheet? Maybe you have another suggestion. I would love to see what it is that you would all like and need in your homes, and we will begin developing the most popular choice for you and include in this feature. Please comment below this post as to what you might like to see us create. See I told you that the wait would be worth it :-)

I am also really enjoying hearing from so many of you via email, Facebook or my blog suggesting ideas for posts or asking for advice. I promise that I will get around to featuring your requests shortly and please keep the requests, emails and comments coming. I truly do love hearing from each and every one of you.

One Room Two Ways - A look at a fellow Organisers Laundry Closet

Say hello to the very lovely Marissa from one of my very favourite blogs - Beautifully Organised.  I was absolutely delighted when I was contacted by Marissa to participate in a joint piece with her fabulous page. For those of you who have not checked out Marissa's blog, do yourself a favour and pop on over. Marissa has so many brilliant and inspiring ways to help busy Mummies get organised so they have more time for the things that they love - a woman after my own heart!!

Marissa suggested that we send each other a picture of our own linen closets to be able to feature on each others blog pages. As you saw my space yesterday, this post is dedicated to the fabulous organisation system that Marissa has in place in her laundry closet...

Marissa's laundry cupboards are definitely reflective of her namesake - Beautifully Organised!

When we compared our laundry spaces, this is what we found that we had in common:

As you know I am partial to using storage baskets in my home to organise and maintain an organising system, and as you can see Marissa is also a fan of this idea. I love the way that she has implemented different sized baskets to address her storage needs.

Marissa swears by the benefit of keeping 'like' items together so that you can see what you actually have in your closet and save a bit of money too (gotta love this!), as you avoid double buying items such as soap and laundry powder etc. I too love to group and give things a home as it makes it so much easier to keep things neat once you have created this system of order.

We both love the use of labelling and clever Marissa uses her Dymo Labeller (I must get one of these) to create order in her laundry, whilst I have just been designing my own simple printed labels. Labelling ensures that everything has a place and therefore it is much easier to keep the order and also for fellow family members to find things too!

I love having a little peek in to what other people do in their homes (must be why I am a tad addicted to Pinterest), so I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to share Marissa's space with you all - thank you again Marissa!!

Of course if you have any images of your own laundry cupboard space that you would love to share, please contact me. For your chance to make your laundry closet as 'beautifully organised' as Marissa's, don't forget to enter the Home Storage & Living giveaway for the chance to win $150 worth of products of your very own choice.