Baby Sleepytime Bath Review and Giveaway!

I am always on the lookout for good quality, natural bath products that are easy to find. The Brauers Naturals Baby range of products is fantastic and it’s all available at my local supermarket, so I’m one happy mummy!

We've been test driving the Baby Sleepytime Bath for the last month and I’m really happy with it. The kids are noticeably calmer when we’ve used it, going to bed is a lot smoother and the solid sleep has definitely improved. Mister 10 months loves his baths and when I use the Baby Sleepytime Bath product he has a great night sleep … so I’ve started using it every night, who wouldn’t!

What I personally love the most about this product is that it cleanses and moisturisers and is gently on Miss 2’s skin. She suffers from Eczema and before I would have to bath her in just plain water, now she is happy for me to use the Baby Sleepytime Bath and it doesn't affect her skin.  

What Miss2 loves most about this product – the bonus rubber duckie that comes with it of course.

About this product:

• No nasties: free of petrochemicals
• Soap free
• Only pure, natural ingredients
• Gentle on sensitive skin
• Eczma-friendly
• Softly scented

You can view the whole Brauer Naturals Baby Bath and Skin Care Range here. They list the entire range, directions, pricing and ingredients.

This product is a dream come true to for us. We love it, we'd love you to give it a try. It would also make a great gift for someone having a baby (as all mothers know how sleep depriving that first year+ can be).

Brauer is giving 3 of our lucky readers the chance to win a full sized Sleepytime Bath product worth $11.49! It includes the bonus rubber duckie.

All you have to do is enter via the box below. 

"Like" Brauer facebook page and the Mums Take Five facebook page.

Bonus entries for answering our easy question 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by Three Lil Princesses

Kmart Home Range and Fantastic Giveaway

Review of the new expanded Kmart Home Range and Giveaway

So Kmart Australia has this week launched a new “Expanded Home Range”

They set themselves a new mission:

“To inspire Aussies to once again make their home their sanctuary, without breaking the budget.”

I like to have a nice home.

I like to have a few items that are trendy and in style.

I usually don't and yes the budget generally restrains me.

I was offered the opportunity and well yes I jumped for it. To check out the new expanded home range, put some to use and let you all know what I think.    Brilliant!

I went with the idea to maybe update, replace and revamp a few things in my kitchen as part of my spring clean.

I was honestly impressed.

I liked the ideas,products and colours. I liked that it’s all modern really versatile and that there is everything you are looking for accessories for the home, new bed linen, light fittings, wall hangings, new furniture and storage options Kmart have changed the lot. Its fresh, it’s a little trendy, its smart and its affordable.  They have a couple different themes being Urban, Classic and Coastal and I’m sure there is something for all within those styles.

You have to admit this isn’t the old Kmart!  Its just gorgeous!

 

I put a lot of thought into what I wanted before I went down to kmart, checked it all out on the Kmart Website studied the catalogue and tried really hard to stay to my list. I did come away with an extra few impulse purchases but the whole lot still cost me under $100!

My kitchen is sorted for organisation, a couple of things needed to be replaced, a couple of pretty things I loved and had to have.  Heres what I picked up. You can read all about my purchases here!

  

I was able to ask a couple of questions to Kate Tulip the Head of the Kmart home design team (thank you Kate) to get a better understanding of how it works :

Mum: Where do you draw most of your inspiration from?

Kate: We literally look everywhere – from global trend researching sites (who pull together future forward trends for the global retail market), magazines, blogs, catwalks, historic homes and nature! We are constantly looking – one of our recent quilt cover designs was inspired by a sea shell.

Mum: How long does it take for a product to go from an idea to on the shelves?

Kate: We work at least a year in advance so we have to be fantabulous style spotters and identify the trends early. We work hard to design the best possible items for our customers, so we can offer them our amazing prices on the most wanted styling and home pieces.

Mum: Does one person or a team decide whether a product would be good or not and do you test them all out?

Kate: It’s very much a team culture here at Kmart, and our workshops are always full of ideas as designers and buyers work together, talking products and trends. Our buyers have fantastic insight in regards to the now – So, what do our customers need and want? What are the best materials? How many options do we need? Our designers takes all this info and use the trends to create something unique for Kmart. We are always checking throughout the process that we are being true to our customers and what they want, and usually by the time it hits the shelves we can’t wait to buy the item for ourselves!!

Mum: Are a new release of homewares something we will see often, can we hope to find new looks each season?

Kate: As part of our strategy, we are focussed on making sure the key everyday items are on trend and available all year round. But, we also add new items to ensure we are including global trends and must have products in our range – plus we want to keep inspiring our customers!

Mum: If you could choose only one product from the new range to have which one would it be and why ?

Kate: The glass bell jar is a favourite of mine! It can look fab in any environment and it will show off my favourite things (plus it stops them from getting dusty!!)

The new expanded home range from Kmart is definitely something to go check out. I guarantee you'll come out with something; A candle, bowl, mug, kids cushion, wall hanging something its all covered and all at almost too good to miss prices. 

Now the "fantabulous" people at Kmart are giving one of our lucky readers the opportunity to do a little spring sprucing in the new Kmart Home Range with a $100 voucher.

All you have to do is follow the instructions and below - good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please note :  Giveaway is only open to Australian Residents.

A $100 voucher is for draw to be won by those who enter correctly.

Please only one enter per person. enter twice you'll be disqualified.

The voucher has been very kindly given by Kmart Australia.  I was asked to do a review and was reimbursed for my purchasing. The products i chose were entirely of my choice and words are of my own.

Hosted by Three Lil Princesses

Kmart NEW Home Range Review

The lovely people at Kmart gave me the opportunity to try out some of their new range homewares.

I was looking to Spring Clean my kitchen, replace a few things, get some better organisation and add a couple of things i just had to have.

Thank you Kmart for your inspiration, great range of products and affordable pricing

You can see our Kmart Home Range Review and giveaway:  HERE!

You can see our Kitchen Cleaning and Spring Cleaning Checklist: HERE!

I picked up these gorgeous Peony canvas prints for $12. I still can’t decide whether the kitchen or hall.  I like them even more now I have them home.  

 I love the clear plastic trays these are great they kinda disappear into the fridge and are handy to:

Store the kids snack foods,  stop you losing things at the back of the fridge, easy to take out stuff for lunches, reduce the chances of spilling things through the fridge, help keep it organised.

$7ea Storage turntable. I love this.  So cool. Use in the fridge for the little jars of things, in the pantry for your sauces, how about storing your breakfast spreads and seasonings and just move the whole thing to the table at breakfast time.     My five year old did think it was a playdoh pottery wheel sort of thing but I did think that a pencil and crayon holder was pretty good too.

Pullout storage $7. This is on castors. Genius the person who thought to put castors on the bottom. Use it for large things in the pantry. Fits all my baking jars perfectly or sometimes i do need an extra fruit and vegetable draw.  

 How great are these seriously large tea towels?!

2 for $5.  Brilliant! 

$5ea Under Shelf Basket.  This I like because it uses the space in the pantry that would totally be wasted.  My tea boxes and coffee pods can now sit above the rest of the teas and coffees saving me a lot of space, Great for small things like baby foods, or brilliant to hold safely seaweed and rice paper.

$7ea Three tier shelf.  I like the sturdiness of this. I like how you can fit a whole can on the shelf. Handy for bottle or jars.  You can also get a corner style shelving. 

Cereal bowls. I love these. They are high sided and a good 14cm size.  You can get them in stripes or spots in black, red, stone or these blue ones.  

Really handy bowl. The Mugs are so cute, they fit perfectly under my coffee machine and i love the silicon wraps.

At $2each you can’t go wrong.

I use the Large Pantry Shelf $4 to help sort the bowls.  Those plastic plates and bowls just get int the way all the time. not anymore

See those small glasses on the top right of the shelf. 6 for $2!
I threw out the kids plastic ones and replaced with these. 
Much better. 
and loving how all the everyday glassware fits together and takes up less space.

There is a great selection of scented candles now in tins or glass, small or large. Beautiful scents for Spring! This one was $1!

I replaced my chopping boards with these great flexible mats. 3 for $8!

This little candleholder is a great little accessory. Was thinking to put a little vase inside with some fresh flowers.   There is a great range of accessories now in Kmart!

You can see the new look Kmart Home Range on the Kmart Website.

We have a fantastic $100 Voucher giveaway running on our site currently thanks to KMART you can enter it HERE!

Green Eggs & Ham – for your little Sam-I-Am

Dr Seuss Green Eggs & Ham

  

  

 This is my daughters FAVOURITE book, it gets read several times a day and taken everywhere. I’ve even found her sleeping with it a few times!

So I made this little dish for her very worn, over read book.

This would make a great platter for a kids party or an event like Book Week.

You’ll need:

• A dozen eggs
• 2 tsps American mustard
• 1/3 cup whole egg mayonnaise
• Paprika
• Salt & pepper
• Green food colouring

• 600g sliced ham (we use honey leg ham)
• 1 packet cocktail forks
• *optional flat leaf parsley for decoration

Hard boil the eggs.

Cut the eggs in half, length wise using a sharp knife. Remove the yokes and put them in a bowl to make the filling.

Place your halved egg whites on a serving tray with a bowl in the middle for the ham rolls.

I used parsley on the base of the tray to help keep the eggs in place and for garnish.

Mash up the yokes with a folk then add mustard, mayonnaise, paprika, salt and pepper. 

Once it’s all combined start adding your green food colouring a little at a time, mixing as you go until you get your desired shade of green. *You can use the Natural Extras green but it doesn’t quite give the nice green for Green Eggs and Ham so I used the standard food colouring in the end.

Pipe the filling into the eggs using a piping bag (or place your filling in a large zip-lock bag and snip one corner).

When that’s finished cover the tray with cling wrap and place them in the fridge to set the filling.

To make your ham rolls you take a slice of ham and roll it into itself, secure it in the middle by putting a cocktail folk through it on a 45 degree angle.

I trimmed the ends of the ham to give them a neat look (and kept the cut off for sandwiches).

Place your ham in the bowl with the cocktail folks pointing upwards.

Your green eggs and ham is ready to serve!

Have you seen our other great Childrens book and recipe posts see Each Peach Pear Plum Pie here

Plum Pie in the sun, I spy EVERYONE! – Easy Plum Pie Recipe

"Each Peach Pear Plum", this is a favourite book from my childhood. I bought it to share with Miss 2 and because I still enjoy reading it, she enjoys hearing it. 

It also inspired what I planned to serve for dessert, Plum Pie!

There are a few different things you can do with this idea. I made a large pie, mini pies and even served star shaped shortcrust with dip (the plum filling).

You’ll need:

• 600g tinned plums
• 1 cup of caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 1 sheet shortcrust pastry
• 1 sweet pie base
• 1 egg white

Preparation:

Pre-heat your oven, 160 degrees for fan forced, 180 degrees for conventional.

Precook your pie base until it’s just golden and then set it aside. Place your sheet of shortcrust pastry out to defrost on a flat surface.

Make the pie filling:

Strain the juice from the plums straight into a pot.

Remove the plums and cut them into quarters, removing the seeds as you go.

Put the plums aside for now.

Mix together the dry ingredients (sugar, flour and salt) then pour it into the pot of plum juice.

Stir it together over a medium heat until the mixture has thickened.

Remove from the heat, add the plums and vanilla essence and gently mix it all together.

Assemble:

Pour the plum filling into the pie base and be careful not to over fill it.

Cover the top of the pie with the sheet of shortcrust pastry.

Trim the excess pastry by running a knife along the edge.

Use a folk to press around the edge to seal it.

Brush your egg white over the top.

You can use the left over pastry cut-offs to make mini pies or cut out shapes. Do this by needing the pastry together then rolling it out flat.

Pop your pie in the oven on 160 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. Be careful when pulling your pie out or this can happen….

I'd LOVE to show you an amazing finished plum pie with a big slice and a dollop of fresh cream on the side… but alas, reality happened and I dropped my ‘masterpiece’ on the kitchen bench.

I wasn't going to put this in but I thought I might give you all a little chuckle and show that these things happen to all of us!

How about some "Green Eggs and Ham"?  see that recipe Here!