Exciting New Product: ELF ON THE SHELF

ELF ON THE SHELF

Have you ever wondered how Santa knows who is naughty and who is nice? The Elf on the Shelf®: A Christmas Tradition is the very special tool that helps Santa know who to put on the Naughty and Nice list. This interactive holiday hide-and-seek tradition is perfect for children and families of all ages.

The tradition begins when Santa sends his scout elves out to Elf Adoption Centers. Waiting for their families to bring them home, these patient elves hibernate until their family reads The Elf on the Shelf, gives their elf a very special name, and registers their adoption online. Once named, each scout elf will receive its Christmas magic and become a part of the family’s Christmas each and every year.

Excellent listeners and even better observers, these scout elves are the eyes and ears of Santa Claus. Although they cannot be touched, or else they may lose their magic, the elf will always listen and relay messages back to Santa. Taking in all the day-to-day activities around the house, no good deed goes unnoticed; these scout elves take their job seriously.

Each night, after the family goes to bed, the scout elf uses his magical Christmas powers to fly back to the North Pole. Once there, the elf will make his or her daily report to Santa and visit with elf friends where they will tell stories about their beloved families, play with the reindeer, and of course, sneak some of Mrs. Claus’ cookies!

Before the family awakes each morning, their special scout elf will fly back to their home from the North Pole. However, since these elves like to play games, don’t expect to find them in the same spot! While some like to hide in the freezer (probably because it reminds them of the North Pole) and others prefer to sit on the fireplace mantle or hang from the chandelier, these elves love to play hide-and-seek with their families.

On Christmas Eve, the scout elf will listen for Santa’s bell and then fly back to the North Pole until the next season, wishing every girl and each boy a Christmas of peace and a year full of joy. Join the tradition and adopt your own Elf on the Shelf now - available at My Baby Giraffe - www.facebook.com/mybabygiraffe - for $45.00 plus postage

Any queries or for further information email mybabygiraffe@gmail.com

 

 

Sneak peak of product in development

My Baby Giraffe is so excited to share a new product we have in development.  We were contacted by a customer a couple of months ago asking if we could source a personalised flip out lounge to give her darling daughter for her birthday. As you know, My Baby Giraffe offers a personal buyer service where we will try and source a product for you, doing all the hard work for you.

When we couldn't find an affordable option for our customer, we decided to try and make a flip out lounge for our customer and she has been pleased with the preliminary results.

A preview of a purple plain cover.

We are going to provide an embroidery service so that you can personalise the sofa lounge to display your child's name on the seat back, see our paper prototype below.

Once we have completed our customer's order we shall announce the flip sofa for sale on our Facebook site www.facebook.com/mybabygiraffe and start taking orders. 

 Expressions of interest are welcome by personal message at the Facebook site or emailing mybabygiraffe@gmail.com.  The children's flip out sofa lounge will be available for $100.00 plus postage (price will be confirmed when available for sale).

For Sale: Alphabet Pine Magnets

Alphabet Pine Magnets - 26 pack

$12.00 delivered within Australia.

Educational but fun.  Can you see your darling playing with them on the fridge?

Order by sending your email to mybabygiraffe@gmail.com.au for payment by Paypal or direct transfer.

10 only. Currently in transit and will be in stock shortly.  Get your order in!

Like my stuff? Visit www.facebook.com/mybabygiraffe for more. Like and share my post on Facebook for the chance to win a set of alphabet magnets for free. Seeking 150 fans!

SATWM - Stay at Home (Working?) Mum

Recently Ive decided to bite off a bit more than I can chew and have taken on board a couple of jobs to generate some extra income.

I have signed up to do some pamphlet delivery with Salmat and have signed on as a Homecare Consultant.  There is no outlay involved with either project so if it doesn't work out I can withdraw my position and go back to being a lady of leisure (not leisure, being a mum is a job and a half!).

Pamphlet Delivery with Salmat

I met with the Area Representative earlier this week.  She advised me what the job generally involves.  It involves receiving pamphlets/brochures which are delivered to me twice per week, folding them and delivering them to homes along my route.  My route is in the vicinity of where I live and consists of approximately 300 homes.  With the time involved with the delivery you would only want to accept the job if it was close to home...

Once I have delivered the brochures, I can hop online to indicate that the delivery has been completed and drop off some paperwork at the Area representative's house and then I get paid.

According to my research, it is a few hours work per week primarily involved in folding the pamphlets then it takes 1-2 hours in delivering to each home.  For this you dont get paid very much, but not very much has to be better than nothing at all right?

I figure that at the moment I am walking with my baby giraffe for an hour each day anyway so Im not losing any time with him during the day.  My darling husband works night shift so Im able to fold away at night so we'll see how this one pans out.

I walked along the route today, not all the culdesacs but the main streets and it took me an hour so I figure that with the culdesacs and having to visit on the other side of the road, and stopping to post the brochures it will take at least two hours per week.  Luckily I only have to do one delivery as my Area Representative has allowed me to deliver the weekend brochures mid week as well.

Homecare Consultant

I signed up online.  Received a phone call.  Got accepted and that was it.  Here's a website login and a welcome pack is in the mail.  It was that easy.

Homecare works differently from Salmat as it is commission based.  You only make money if you make sales.  You only make sales if you deliver catalogues.  I have a route of 100 homes within a nearby estate.

Little bit extra work because you have to deliver the catalogues and then pick them up.  Make any orders and deliver any goods to the customer.  Not sure how the commission is calculated but will know more when I receive the welcome pack.

My intentions

I would like to make a little extra money so I can buy something special for myself, or for my darling husband, or baby giraffe.

I do not want this extra work to impinge on the time I spend with my baby giraffe.  Any work has to be done when he's sleeping except for the deliveries because he can come with me.

I do not want the extra work to stop the housework from being done.  Will have to work extra hard to ensure the washing is kept up to date and the house remains tidy.  This might be difficult.

I would like to lose some weight.  Hopefully having to get out a number of times per week to go for hourly or more walks will help me shed some kilos.  Its powerful motivation to put the baby giraffe in the pram and get walking.

The reality

Stay tuned...

Storing your baby food

No room in the freezer to store those baby containers full of frozen goodness for baby to eat? A cheap and effective way to store baby food is to use ice trays to freeze the food (I buy the covered ice trays for protecting the food). Once frozen, you can transfer the cubes to freezer bags, label the bags and store in the freezer.

It is also convenient as the food is in smaller portions so you can mix with other cubes, or you can give your baby a few cubes for dinner.

Don't forget to label your bags with the contents and the date they were cooked.

Baby recipes: Lamb shank broth

* Suitable from 6 months

1-2 lamb shanks, with fat removed
4 potatoes, chopped coarsely
3 carrots, chopped coarsely
3 celery sticks, chopped coarsely
Approximately 2 litres water

1. Bring all ingredients to boil.

2. Simmer, partly covered, for one hour until meat is tender.

3. When cool enough to handle, remove lamb shank and remove meat from bone.

4. Strain off the stock and leave aside. Cool slightly.

4. Blend meat with vegetables and some cooking liquid in batches until you have a thick soup consistency.

Tips:-

* Try using chicken instead of lamb shanks, perhaps lovely legs.

* Ensure you remove the fat from the shanks as fatty cuts are high in saturated fats.

* When introducing new meat or chicken, make sure you offer it at lunchtime rather than dinner so you have plenty of time to observe an allergic reaction.

If you try the recipe and your baby likes it, please leave me a comment.

Little Masterpiece Studio

I stumbled across Little Masterpiece Studio whilst shopping at Rouse Hill Shopping Village. The studio sets up temporary stalls at shopping centres all over the country, moving from location to location. I was approached by a representative who offered a sitting and 12 x 8 photograph for the low fee of $4.00.

I was reluctant at first. I had recently had a similar experience with another photographic studio who had asserted some pressure to buy a photographic package. I was assured that there was no obligation to buy.

The photographic shoot took approximately 15 minutes and involved three stagings including a teddy bear box, and a sailor setting.  The Studio had its own props, lighting and backdrop to complete the look.

At the conclusion of the shoot, I ordered my 12 x 8 photograph and two magnets and made an appointment to collect the photograph at a later time.  I also gave permission for my son to be entered into a baby contest which would be published on Facebook.  A couple of days A's photo was published on the Little Masterpiece Studio - NSW facebook page and entered into Rouse Hill February 2013 Popular Baby Contest.

Family, friends and the public are invited to vote for the cutest baby by "liking" the baby's photo. The top three winners for each location would win a portrait of the photo entered into the competition. Now it was time to network and get as many votes for the photo that I could get! Unfortunately, this meant a clogged news feed for my family and friends at first (oops, sorry).

A couple of weeks later I returned to Rouse Hill Shopping Village to pick up my photo and magnets. I was very pleased with how the photographs turned out however I had high hopes of winning my portrait and decided not to make any purchases. Their prices were reasonable but alas I'm a stay at home mum!  There was no pressure to buy. The representative was very helpful and indicated that the  Studio usually returns to each location every three months and that mums can take the opportunity to have their babies photographed at the promotional price on each occasion.

If you are thinking of getting your baby photographed go to the LMS website where you can find the location closest to you, and you can download a voucher to use to get a free sitting, photograph and two keyrings.

Thankfully, my little boy was the most popular baby and we won a 13 x 10 enlargement and a $100 voucher at LMS.  Just waiting on my prize which is being mailed out.  The only question now is where do I hang the photo...?

Look at my beautiful boy! Thank you to my family and friends for their support in voting for my boy. He got an amazing 651 votes.