He's Here....

My poor old neglected blog, I promise that I am still here... just!!

 

If you follow me on social media, you will know that in late October, five became six as we welcomed baby number 4! How blessed are we right?! Blessed or crazy I am not quite sure which it is... haha.

 

 

Our baby Jesse is going really well and we are slowly learning our groove as a family of 6. Mornings are hectic, daytimes are crazy and bedtimes are bedlam, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Thank you to my lovely readers for the gorgeous comments and well wishes!

 

Smokin' Chicken Muffin Recipe

{Post in conjunction with ProQ}

Family barbeque lovers enjoy the authentic, full flavoured, succulent dishes that only true smokers can deliver. So as the weather warms up and outdoor entertaining with friends and family is all that more appealing, barbequed smoked meat should definitely be on the menu.

 

To make your Summer barbeque more memorable, ProQ has shared its recipe for finger licking good chicken muffins, an all-time favourite and people pleaser that will have adults and kids alike calling for more! 

5 Space Saving Furniture Pieces for Small Homes

{Post in conjunction with BoConcept}

When living in a small apartment, or trying to furnish a small room in your home, it can be quite difficult to find space for everything. There are a lot of ways around this, we can show you how to make small living fun. Having furniture that adapts for guests can be a real-life saver. How about a footstool that turns into a bed or a coffee table that doubles up as a dining table? Check out some of BoConcept’s genius designs that can breathe life into small living areas!

To rinse or not to rinse, that is the question… Whirlpool top 6 myth-busters for dishwasher etiquette!

{Post brought to you in conjunction with Whirlpool Corporation}

 

The after-meal clean up can pose quite the challenge, with differing opinions about the most efficient and effective methods. If your kitchen is equipped with a handy dishwasher, you might consider yourself one of the following types…an expert Tetris-style dish stacker, a dedicated pre-wash rinser or believe that glassware on the lower rack is the ultimate cleaning sin! If this sounds all too familiar, there are a few tips and tricks from experts at Whirlpool Corporation that can take the guesswork and bother out of cleaning your dishes…

 

1. Loading cutlery – Knife blades are best stacked facing downwards and although there’s an ongoing dispute as to whether spoons and forks should follow suit! It’s really up to personal preference and makes very little difference. Alternating the bowls of spoons up and down to keep them from nesting together and not cleaning is an easy method, or you can mix the type of cutlery in the same sections to prevent poor cleaning results.

 

Birdsnest Autumn Capsule Wardrobe: for the busy stylish Mum!

Are you guilty of having racks full of clothes and absolutely nothing to wear?! You are definitely not alone! If this sounds like you, then the concept of a capsule wardrobe is definitely going to be a game changer for every day dressing with ease.

 

So what is a capsule wardrobe? In a nutshell it is a small number of clothes that all mix and match to create effortless (and stress free) dressing every day! The super clever ladies over at Birdsnest are the absolute 'queens' of the capsule wardrobe. Over on their website you can view the perfect capsule wardrobe to suit your personal style, life stage, season and even special occassions such as vacations.

 

I was super excited when Birdsnest asked me to create my very own capsule wardrobe. Using only these 7 classic pieces, I have created what I feel is the perfect mix and match wardrobe for the busy, yet stylish, Mum for Autumn (and beyond)

 

 

Win a Family Pass to See Lights by DreamWorks!

Shrek and Kung-Fu Panda are set to light up Rosebud’s Foreshore Live Under the Big Top in March and April this year at an Australian-first exhibition of some of DreamWorks Animation’s best known characters in a large-scale lantern experience!

 

 

The Experience is an interactive, walkthrough experience for all ages (I am just as excited as the kids!) and is set to run for 30 days and attract more than 150,000 local and international visitors who will marvel at more than 100 of DreamWorks’ characters brought to life.

 

Ask Allison Anything: Non Chocolate Easter Gift Ideas from Cotton On Kids

Every Easter, the Easter Bunny brings our kiddos some cute Bunny themed essentials for the Winter ahead. These are usually in the form of PJ's, slippers or gumboots and a dressing gown.

 

As I have both boys and a girl in my family, I know just how frustrating it can be when you can find all the cute goodies in the girls section, but none in the boys. That is why I was SO excited when I saw all the gorgeous Bunny themed goodies - for both boys and girls - hitting Cotton On stores and website. Every year I always get asked for non chocolate gift ideas, so I hope this helps you out...

 

Pyjamas:

 

Alicia LS Girls PJ Set: $29.95
Shop it Here

Harry LS Boys PJ Set: $29.95
Shop it Here

 

Dressing Gown:

Boys Hooded Gown: $29.95
Shop It Here

Girls Hooded Gown: $29.95
Shop It Here

 

 

Slippers:

Novelty Homeboot: $24.95
Shop It Here

 

Novelty Homeboot: $24.95
Shop It Here

 

 

For Baby:

Mini Long Sleeve Bubby: $16.95
Shop It Here

Babies Bib: $12.95
Shop It Here

Cotton Baby Blanket: $22.95
Shop It Here

 

 

Easter Basket Fillers:

Knot Messy Hair Brush:$4.95
Shop It Here

Rain Poncho: $10 (online only)
Shop It Here

Spring Drink Bottle: $5.00
Shop It Here

 

 

Honestly Cotton On Kids - HUGE pat on the back! I love seeing that there is finally an equality of cute Easter stuff out this year for both boys and girls.

 

There are loads more cute bunny items over at Cotton On (tops, nighties, leggings, bags, headbands), you can check out the rest here

 

NB: Post contains affiliate links in conjunction with my disclosure policy

Organising and Storing my Digital Photographs

 

A few weeks ago I shared over on my Facebook page that one of my biggest resolutions for the year was to try and get on top of the mounting pile of digital photographs that I have accumulated since having kids. So many of you came up with brilliant ideas and so many of you sounded like you were in the same boat as me (drowning in photos), so I thought that I would share where I am at with it all.

 

Step One: Sort

 

The first thing that I did was to take all of the photos for the past few years off every phone and camera and save into folders onto my laptop.

 

I now have all photos saved by year and then under each year there is a folder for each month. Sounds simple enough, but boy it was a pretty mammoth task! However moving forward every single month I will simply just save the photos for the month into the folders set up.

 

I have also purchased an external hard drive to back up the folders should anything happen to my laptop or phone.

 

 

Step Two: Printing

 

The next thing I had to do was to try and work out what the heck to do with all of these photos?! I am the type of person who loves having photos around the house, but have avoided making albums and the like.

 

 

The kids each have a baby album that shares the first year of their life (these have been done through Mixbook). I decided to do a similar thing with the family memories for the year. So every year I will pick the top highlights for the year and produce a photo book.

 

 

As for the rest of the photos...I have purchased some basic photo albums from Kmart for these.

 

 

 

The lovely Kristy from the Sprinkle Studio created labels for the spines (by year) and each album contains all of the photos for the year. These albums the kids can flick through, help me add to etc during the year. Yes I definitely feel like I have gone all retro with these albums, but the kids adore photos just as much as me!

 

 

Step Three: Routine

 

This is absolutely the critical part, because I really need to stick to a routine throughout the year so I stay on top of everything.

 

The plan is to:

 

- Save photos off the phone/camera once a month into the folders

- Once photos are saved, pop on a USB to print at Kmart (we all know that I am there nearly every day anyway!).

- Pop photos into the small album once they are printed

 

If I stick to this, by the time the year is up I will have an album full of photos, photos organised and sorted on my computer (and backed up) and a family photo book done.

 

 

Like I said, I know that this is pretty basic. I absolutely LOVE the idea of Project Life and scrap books etc, but I just don't think that I would ever stay on top of it. So for now, this is going to be a manageable way for me to capture and stay on top of the family memories.

 

If you would like to get into the habit of doing something similar, I will issue a little reminder once a month on my Facebook and Instagram pages that it is time to save photos (and print) how does that sound?!

 

 

 

Deciding on a Lunch Box and Bag Combo: Fridge to Go and Yumbox Review

One of the hardest things to try and work out as a new school Mum has to be this whole lunchbox/bag combo business. I recently read that picking a combo that works involves as much strategy as a game of Tetris - so true! I know quite a few of you are also new school or new kindy Mums this year, so I thought that this little post (and a discount) may help you out.

 

The Lunch Box: Yumbox

 

For the past two years at kinder we have used the Yumbox lunchbox (original size) and I have to say I could not fault it one bit. At age 3 and 4, Mr B loved the bento style box and the variety that this size enabled me to pack. As his appetite increased late last year in his final term of kinder, I simply popped in a sandwich container along with the Yumbox and it was absolutely perfect to keep him going.


The Yumbox Original Size

So heading in to the big bad world of school this year this year I knew that I wanted to use another Yumbox, but we have decided to  try out the panino and the snack box size instead. Our new school (like I think most) has implemented brainfood, whereby the children can graze on healthy options at their desk. The Yumbox snack box size is going to be perfect for this. I plan to then use the panino Yumbox for lunch with some fruit and yoghurt individually packed for recess.

The 3 sizes in the Yumbox range

If you are yet to see the yumbox in action, I have popped this picture in for you to see the difference between the three different variants - the original, the panino and the snack box size.

 

The main points of difference is that the panino size allows you to pack a full sandwich or roll in the box with still plenty of room for snacks on the side. The original size, with many compartments, is fantastic for younger kids who like to graze and like the variety.

The other thing I absolutely LOVE about the Yumbox are all the gorgeous colours in the range. Not so good when they keep releasing more colours that you cannot resist and your collection keeps growing... and growing!

Buy It:

The Yumbox Panino and the Original size retail for $40.00 from Little Toot's Lunchbox.

The Yumbox Snack Box retails for $26.95 from Little Toot's Lunchbox. There are SO many colours to choose from!  

 

 

The Lunch Bag: Fridge To Go

 

Lunchbox decided (big tick), it was time to try and tackle the lunch bag side of things. Because I knew things were going to be pretty full with the two Yumbox containers, I didn't want a bag that I was going to have to pop a bulky ice block in to taking up more room. After a bit of research (seriously what did we do before Google?!), I decided on the Fridge to Go in the medium size.

Some of the amazing prints available in the Fridge To Go range

The Fridge To Go boasts the longest cooling time of all the lunch bags that I researched. Using a removable (and slim) cooling panel and patented surround cooling technology, the bag can stay cool for up to 8 hours.

The cooling panel itself zips away into a little pocket, therefore eliminating messy condensation and soggy food. You can even purchase a spare cooling panel - a fantastic idea so that you can stay organised by always having one ready to go in the freezer.

 

In addition to the large inside space, I love that the bag has oodles of additional storage around the outside of the bag.

At the rear there is a generous sized velcro pocket, the front has a zipped pocket and the side has space for a drink bottle. These bags also have the ability to be collapsed to flat, making them super easy to stash away when not in use. The bags are BPA free, PVC and lead safe too.

And did it fit everything in?!

 

It sure did!

 

 

 

I packed the two Yumboxes and still had plenty of room for fruit and yoghurt (and could zip it up with ease) as these images show.

 

Buy It:

 

The Fridge To Go retails for $35.95 for plain colours and $39.95 for prints from Little Toot's Lunchbox. Spare ice panels are available for $9.95.

 

Want a Discount?!

 

Let's face it, starting school is expensive enough! So Little Toot's Lunchbox have very kindly offered all Utterly Organised readers the chance to save 15% off their orders. If the Yumbox or the Fridge To Go isn't what you are after, they also stock plenty more items in their range.

 

Simply enter the code ORGANISEDLUNCH in at the checkout to save the discount. This offer is valid until Tuesday 28 February 2017.

Love to hear what lunchbox/bag combo you will be giving a shot this year.