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1. #BloggingPrompts: Start a microblog – by @KatrinaHigham

Come on. Say it. SAY IT! You want to have a blog but don’t have the time? You want to write about things that matter to you but the five seconds you have, you have a million other things to do. Well, write a microblog! Simple!

What is a microblog I hear you ask?

Short. Sharp. Punchy sentences about what you care about.

My tips to a microblog:

Keep it short.

Include a link to someone else.

Bit.ly link your microblog.

Add a photo.

Done.

Katrina Higham of Katrina Higham Consulting runs her own microblog full of fabulous social media tips and opinion. She is also the inspiration behind this micropost series #BloggingPrompts. Be sure to connect with her on Facebook or on Twitter at @KatrinaHigham.

Photo credit.

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June 2, 2012
{Foodie} Be Natural Homemade breakfast bar recipe + giveaway

We spent yesterday in the kitchen cooking. Well, I cooked. Ella licked. We were given all this glorious Be Natural cereal, which many of you know I’m already a fan of. Crunchy clusters… ahhhhh!

So, instead of telling you how far the drool is progressing down my chin as I eat another bowl, I thought we’d go all MasterChef on you instead and create something for snack time.

We wanted to create something like this:

So here’s our version of the Be Natural bars – the Homemade Breakfast Bars.

HOMEMADE BREAKFAST BARS

INGREDIENTS:

3 sachets (35g each) of Be Natural Pink Lady, Apple and Raspberry Porridge

4 ½ cups of Be Natural Manuka Honey and Spice Clusters with Flakes cereal

½ cup shredded coconut

125g butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

½ cup honey

METHOD:

Line a 26cm x 21cm baking tin with baking paper.

With a mortar and pestle, crush the cereal into smaller pieces. In a frypan, cook the porridge, cereal and coconut until light brown. It should take about 5-7 minutes on low to medium.

Meanwhile, melt the butter, brown sugar and honey in a pot until the sugar has dissolved. Let it simmer for about 5-7 minutes. When you drop a small bit of mixture into cold water, it should form a small ball. This is when you know it’s ready.

Combined all ingredients in a bowl and then transfer into the baking tin. Be sure to push down the ingredients tightly into the tin. Let it cool.

The girls were impatient to eat it, so we ended up putting it into the fridge for a little while. Then cut into squares.

Plus, there’s more… We’ve teamed up with Be Natural and Kellogg to give one lucky reader the chance to score a year’s supply of Be Natural and Kellogg products. The prize includes:

– 4x Be Natural Pink Lady Apple and Raspberry Porridge,

– 4x Manuka Honey and Spice Clusters with Flakes

– 4x Be Natural Four Pink Lady Apple, Flame Raisin, Almond & Pepita with a hint of spice

– 4 x Be Natural Seasonal Blend Strawberry, Cranberry and Flame Raisin

– Special K Chocolatey Bar Caramel

– Special K Dessert Inspired Bar Berry Cheesecake

– Special K Dessert Inspired Bar Lemon Meringue

– All Bran Fibre Toppers

– LCMs

– Just Right

– Sultana Bran

– Sultana Bran Buds

– Crunchy Nut

– Mini Wheats 5 Grains

– Corn Flakes

– Rice Bubbles

Phew! Now we’ve made our way through that lot, here’s how to enter. Simply tell us why you want to win a year’s supply of cereal.

Terms and conditions: The Be Natural competition will be judged on creativity and originality. The competition opens Friday, June 1, 2012 at 7am AEST and closes on Friday, June 29, 2012 at 7.30pm AEST. One entry per person. Australian entries only. There is one prize winner, who will receive the product in one delivery. The winner will be notified via email and name published here. Entries remain the property of Three Li’l Princesses and may be republished.

If you would like to learn about more of our giveaways, make sure you sign up to our eNewsletters. You’ll also find more giveaways in the Aussie Giveaway Linkup.

DISCLAIMER: I received Be Natural cereal and bars to try. I have not been paid to write this post. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

June 1, 2012
One man’s sweet take on the “morning cuppa”

Li'l Holly making herself a drink in her big sister's kitchen.

By The Bloke In The Shed

SOME of my fondest memories as a child are of jumping into my mum and dad’s bed early of a morning. Compared to my own bed, it seemed enormous.

Not only that, I watched my dad – the hunter/gatherer of the family – religiously be the one to get out and make my devoted mum her cup of tea in bed of a morning. Like breeds like.

Our family loves our morning snuggles in bed and, yes, it has been traditionally yours truly to get out of bed and make the morning drinks for the clan.

Ella’s morning brew, as opposed to mum’s cup of tea, has been Milo since about the age of two. On the odd – and I’ll say very odd – occasion, mum has got up to make the family drinks, Ella has chucked the most enormous of hissy fits.

“No mummy, I want daddy to make my Milo; you make it yucky etc etc etc etc.”

Until recently, I’d always worn it as a sense of pride. That is, until, Princess Kel and I both had cause to be up in the kitchen during the drink-making ritual.

Li'l Holly insists on putting her milk container into a Collingwood stubby holder.

As usual I poured milk for Li’l Holly, a one-sugared tea for mum, a one-sugared coffee for dad and a one-sugared Milo for Ella. Princess Kel looked at me as if I’d just shot the Pope.

“YOU SUGAR ELLA’S MILO!!!!!!!!!!,’’ she wailed, like Tom Cruise wailed for ‘the truth’ in the closing scenes of A Few Good Men. I refused the urge to say “you can’t handle the truth’’ and offered up a feeble, “_yes”.

“We talked about it when we started giving her Milo,’’ I said, with the knowledge I was backed up by my photographic memory …… um, what were we talking about?

Let’s face it, Milo without sugar is like bacon without eggs. It’s not right.

Whatever the scenario, mum was offended and upset at the fact her sugarless offerings had been treated with the contempt they’d deserved.

Ella and I looked at each other. Shrugged. And poured ourselves another hot drink.

God love her.

Do your children get to drink Milo or is it strictly a morning milk affair?

May 31, 2012
Aussie Giveaway Linkup #51: The musical edition
So, what wins do I have to sprout about this week? Well, let’s see:

WIN: I finally got Ella to look beyond Hi-5 and The Fairies and introduced her to High School Musical. I discovered a copy of the DVD tucked away in the cupboard from my entertainment magazine days. She instantly fell in love. I instantly wanted to be 10 years younger so I was half a chance with Zac Efron. OK, maybe more like a 3% chance.

LOSE: Three days later we’d watched it five times already and she’d discovered I also had the CD. It is now on high rotation in the car.

WIN: I had to go to the video store (not that they have videos anymore. Someone really needs to rebrand them) to get a copy of Red Dog for the book I’m writing. I took Ella along. We discovered High School Musical 2 and 3. I know. Who would have thought?

LOSE: She’s not interested in the second and third instalment. Not even with a bucket of popcorn thrown in. She just wants the original and to bust a move singing Stick To The Status Quo. Not that she has any idea what “status quo’’ is.

WIN: Did I mention Zac Efron’s not bad looking. Sadly, that’s as good as it gets, people.

Are your children obsessed with any TV shows or movies at the moment?

If you want a real win, then start clicking on the links below. We had 36 links last week. Can we top it?

If you’re a blogger or business wanting to take part in the Aussie Giveaway Linkup:
1. Only link directly to the giveaway post/s and include the prize and end date in the linky tool below. Link each giveaway separately. If you need to delete it, hover over your link, wait until the red “x’’ appears and click.
2. Giveaways must be open to Australian residents.
3. Grab the button below to add to your post.
4. A new list is added each Sunday so bloggers need to add their links weekly.
5. Start entering the giveaways! Entry is at your own risk. We do not take responsibility for unfulfilled prizes or a blogger/business not abiding by their own terms and conditions.
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Hosted by May 27, 2012
{Finding My Style} Do you shop on eBay? + $50 Paypal giveaway
I am the worst shopper in the world. I want to get better. My husband wants me to get better. (I know. How many of you can boast that?).

I often flick through magazines and just wish I had the budget to clothe myself in the gorgeous classic coats, well cut tops and designer jeans that the celebs wear. Their figures and a few more inches in the height department would probably help too.

So with that in mind, and some play money from the wonderful people at eBay, I went shopping.

I got drawn by this:

I don’t know why. I am a mother. I would never in a gazillion years get away with wearing it, but it did draw my attention. And yes, I know, she is a mother too! It was at this point it was time to *step away from the computer*.

I scrolled through a myriad of trench coats and jackets, trying to find the perfect one.

Then this gorgeous number caught my eye:

I was ready to buy until something else popped up in my eBay feed. My heart started racing. May palms got sweaty. I became short of breath. I was instantly falling in love.

I was torn. Do I go with the one I’m in love with and spend a bit extra? It’s reversible, so it’s like buying two coats in one. Right? Or do I go with the cheaper option and have money leftover?

I couldn’t decide, so I asked Facebook. They’re a smart mob over there. Just to confirm Facebook was right, I asked The Bloke in the Shed. He agreed with the Facebook crew and I came away with this gorgeous reversible Marc Jacob jacket.

I am happy.

See? 🙂

So, if you want to know how to find THE perfect fashion item on eBay:
1. 1. Use the search options to whittle down the myriad of items to an easily searchable list. Add in the size, the brand, the type of garment and even the colour if you’re so inclined.
2. 2. Buy something from a brand you already wear so you can find something that will fit. This was my biggest mistake with the Marc Jacob jacket. I was taking a gamble in buying it. It’s slightly big. Yes, even at size 8. Where as I knew the Portman’s trench would fit.
3. 3. As you find things, add them to your “Watch List’’. You can delete them later. Like taking a handful of garments into the dressing room to compare and decide exactly which one you’re going to buy, your Watch List can work in much the same way.
4. 4. Check out the feedback on the seller’s page. It’s always good to see if people have been satisfied with the service and product they’ve been supplied with.
5. 5. Have some money ready in your Paypal account. There is nothing worse than seeing something you want to buy instantly, only to realise you don’t have any money in your Paypal account and it’s going to take 3-5 days for any fund transfers to clear.
Just so you know, this post wasn’t just a tease. We’re giving away one $50 Paypal credit to help you do a little shopping on eBay for yourself. To enter, all you have to do is tell us in the comments below your “best’’ eBay purchase. It could be anything that was weird, funny, personally meant a lot or was an absolute and utter bargain. The winner will be judged on creativity and skill. The giveaway closes Monday, June 25 at 7.30pm and winner announced on this blog and via Facebook and Twitter. Australian residents only. One entry per person.

Feel free to share the post via Facebook and Twitter and don’t forget to sign up to my eNewsletter so you never miss any of these fabulous giveaways.

**DISCLOSURE: I received a $100 Paypal credit to spend on eBay. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW CLOSED
May 25, 2012
Would you like to be my guest?
I’m looking to start a series of fun posts from fellow mums and mum bloggers on “Life and Laughter” to run every Friday. There are a few reasons behind starting the series, including giving mums a place to post outside their own blog or Facebook page and hopefully drive a little traffic and Google ranking their way.

If you’re interested, you can choose any of the “new’’ sub category topics under “Life and Laughter” – “new’’ because I deleted ALL my categories the other day accidentally and so decided to start from scratch. So pick a Life and Laughter sub category topic from the homepage sidebar (apart from The Bloke in The Shed – unless you have manly bits) and inform, educate or entertain us. Note: we’re also adding a “Looking after mum’’ headline if you’re interested in posting on that topic as well.

There are a few guidelines:
- Aim to keep your post between 300-700 words.
- You can be witty, serious, write in list form, use an image only or story format (although, note, short sentences and some images help prevent the “grey slab of text’’ look).
- Include at least one image, but you’re more than welcome to include more.
- End with a short bio and a photo of yourself or your blog button. You’re more than welcome to leave a link to your blog and one social media site.
- I’m happy to hear if you’ve got keywords you’d like me to use.
- The post can be submitted as text in an email with images attached or html in a Word Doc file, whichever is easiest for you.
- Please refrain from making the post an ad for your business or brand. We won’t run content we don’t believe fits in with the style of the blog. I know, we’re mean, aren’t we?
If you’re interested in taking part, email the idea or the post itself to us and we’ll get back to you.
May 21, 2012