Vintage Kid and The Bees Knees Kids

Vintage Kid Website

Vintage Kid Facebook Group

Their Facebook page describes the business perfectly!

". . . a growing variety of beautifully made baby items and gifts - all sorts of things that are not only gorgeous but get us all saying 'oh I remember these!'. The kinds of goodies that make us all smile and feel like we did 'way back when'.Quatities are kept small so you won't find your favourite VintageKid™ items on the shelves of any big stores - each time you make a purchase you are getting something wonderfully uncommon."

The Vintage Kid site is well worth the look. The items are top quality and the range is unique and special. If you want something that reminds you of your younger days (fashion wise that is!), you are sure to find something you want here!

bib on auction

Vintage Kid owners are supporters of the B4AK project and have donated items to the online auctions running now at Aussiecongo.com.au

The Bees Knees Kids Website

Facebook Fan Page

This online business is owned and operated by Bernice and Sean, who are committed to providing top quality and service at all times. Their focus is to provide an excellent variety of clothing and accessories from bub to mum and stock products that they use, or have used themselves.

As well as this, Bernice and Sean are passionate about helping the children in the community gain a voice and strength. They donate 10% of their profits to Compassion and Feed the Children.

It's obviously very important to the store owners that they give back something to the community and I guess that's why, when Bernice heard about the online auctions that Backpacks 4 Aussie Kids were having, she had no hesitation in offering items to be auctioned off.

sandwich cutters on auction

Funny how I continued to be surprised and thrilled every time someone offers to help the project . . . I should be getting used to it by now.

Overall Being supports B4AK

Overall Being Website
Overall Being Blog
Facebook Fan Page

Overall Being has been a strong supporter of this project right from the get go. I'm happy to say that I've been able to chat with Lisa over the phone and receive some much needed healing energy from her as well.

Mother of 4 boys, Lisa runs a successful and gorgeous business from home, making jewelery, minky blankets, beaded bookmarks and can accommodate just about every taste and want in her lines!

I think Overall Being was the first online business to encourage support of the project through a fundraiser. The scrabble tile pendants were offered at a discount price and a percentage of the funds raised came to B4AK.

Here you can see a couple of the things Lisa made just for me!

I was so impressed, I even ordered a custom keyring holder for my dad for Father's day this year. He totally loved it! That's him, my Dad the Greek Cook!

To show her continued support of the project, Lisa has donated a Monkey Zoobie to the online auctions at Aussiecongo.com.au. This cute little fella is a toy a cushion and opens out to a blanket!
Go to the Overall Being website to see more Zoobie creatures. I just love the crocodile Zoobie, and I know a little girl who would love to get one for Christmas.

Love Mum supports auctions

Love Mum Website
Love Mum Facebook Fan Page

Love Mum Blog

The lovely Jodie describes her business as,

"Love Mum is a classy classic designer range for mums that are exciting and practical, its going to be a place Where all Stylish mums will love to shop!"

Jodie is one of those magical creative types that obviously loves her job so much that it's not a job to her. There are always lots of specials and giveaways on her Facebook Fan Page and the online store is jam packed with all sorts of goodies for mums, bubs and kids.

I first became aware of Love Mum when there was a competition running to win a tutu for a little girl! Unfortunately Jodie was unable to make one in my size!! LOL

The range of hair clips and accessories is my favourite category and I look forward to her new creations on a regular basis.

Since then I have been proud to watch as Jodie has grown her business, her fans and her product base into a positive and successful business.

Love Mum was kind enough to donate this Rainbow Hearts girls necklace to the auctions. It's been won, but drop on over to her website and pick one up for yourself.

Jodie is a mum, creator, partner, business owner and artist!

Thanks to her, our kids are looking more stylish than ever.

TrendyKidz support B4AK

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TrendyKidz Facebook Fan Page

TrendyKidz Website

I've just been looking over the TrendyKidz website and realised that online shopping is really big business!

I met Bev on Facebook through our individual fan pages and she has sent an enormous bag of donations from herself for the B4AK project.

When I mention that I was in need of clothing for older kids, TrendyKidz then sent in two 5 kg bags filled to bursting with long sleeved t-shirts for kids in middle, upper primary and high school!

I was having morning tea with a couple of good friends (and B4AK supporters!) when the lovely postie arrived with the packages. My friends just couldn't believe it when I opened the parcels to reveal all the shirts inside! Both of them were really amazed at the generosity of the sender, so I explained that people like Bev really make the project work. It was her generous spirit that decided to send the shirts.

Needless to say, we spent ages looking at the sizes and colours of shirts and talking about how best to use them on our next packing day.

The TrendyKidz website is full of quality clothing for children, babies and teens. You can shop online or host a part in your house, (with some excellent hostess gifts of course), or you can also become a TrendyKidz consultant and work for yourself, you can even take your kids to work with you as the models!

Click on the links to visit the site and support another Aussie WAHM.

Pretty Things Distract Me

Supporting B4AK through the online auctions at
http://www.aussiecongo.com.au/category.php?SC=16

Love the name of this online business! Mainly because it's true . . . Pretty Things Distract Me ;o)

The owner of the site (and creative genius) is WHAM Bec, who is mum to 4 kiddies.
Her aim when starting this business was to enable people to buy quality kids accessories and clothing at very reasonable prices.

What adorably pretty clips, and how about the infant headband! Great for dressing up the little one for a special occasion, or even just a trip to the shops to show her off.

click on any picture to go to the auctions

These wooden letters are just lovely for your child's bedroom, no matter how old. From nursery to young child to teenager, this is a great way to personalise a room for someone you love. And I guess you could ask for the word to be 'Imagine' or 'Love', or even, 'Inspire!' I'm sure Bec would do her best to accommodate your wishes! At just $7 per letter, this is a great idea.

And this is just the start of the range available online from the Pretty Things range. Just click on any of the links below to see what's on offer.

Headbands
Hair-Clips
Hair-Ties
Hair-Clip Holders
Flip Flops
Korkers
Small Flower Clips
Toggle Headbands
Large Flower Clips
For Mummies
What I wish I knew before I became a Mother
All Things Christmas
Mini Clips
Rewards Program
Hippie Headbands
Reindeer Food

You can see several of these items listed at the online auctions here - http://www.aussiecongo.com.au/category.php?SC=16

Please take a moment to visit the site and the blog:

http://www.prettythingsdistractme.com

http://www.prettythingsdistractme.blogspot.com

4 Li'l Darlins

When Chris of 4 Li'l Darlins heard about the call for donations to the B4AK auctions, she dropped everything she was doing to create some wonderful Christmas accessories!!! Ok, maybe she was on a coffee break, because she whipped these beautiful bows and clips up in less time that it takes to check your Facebook status!

This one is my favourite . . .

And according to Chris the little bell on Santa's hat really does jingle. What a perfect idea for Christmas day, not to mention all the days leading up to it!


This next one is called a Christmas Korker and I have to say, I'd never heard of such a thing until Jodie from Love Mum explained it to me! And now that Chris has told me the 'secret' of how they are made I might just attempt my own . . . in my spare time, when I'm not busy packing backpacks or nappy bags, cooking dinner, playing with the dogs and the new kitten, watching Dr Who and Torchwood, the list is endless - I should just buy one from Chris!

And who wouldn't love these glamorous starry clips! These could really be worn any time of the year.

All these wonderful accessories are on Auction as a Christmas Bundle, with a starting price of just $10.00! Bidding commences Tuesday 8pm, but listings are available for preview now, with more being posted daily.

Who do you know that would look fabulous with these festive accessories? Maybe it's you!
Just click on the picture to look at the auction listing.

Online Auctions ready for preview!

Next Tuesday the Auctions for Backpacks 4 Aussie Kids will go LIVE!!!
Until then you can preview all the items at http://www.aussiecongo.com.au/category.php?SC=16

At the moment the auctions are saying they are 'closed', don't worry, they will be open next Tuesday at 8pm!

The length of the auctions will vary from 3, 5 and 10 days. The last day I can add a listing is the 6th of December, so if you would like to add something just email me at despinaparakas@yahoo.com.au

All the items shown here are random and should refresh each time the page is loaded. If you are interested in any of the items just click on them for more information.


So many WHAM's have donated items and I'll be blogging over the next few days and weeks. For now, here is a list of the business women who are supporting the project so far! Cllick on the banners to go directly to their sites.

Keep an eye out for blogs on each of these WHAM's businesses. I'm am honored to be supported by such strong and thoughtful people.

Support from online Op shops!

Online shopping for kids in need
AND

Long time supporter, Sophie from Optots and new supporter Kate from Echo Way, are both offering free postage to anyone purchasing items to send to B4AK!

This is such a generous offer and a great way for people to donate much needed clothing without having to pay postage as well!

Both sites have an excellent range of pre-loved clothing at great prices. I often shop online at Optots and am happy that I now know of another online store that sells recycled kids clothing.

Optots has expanded it's range to include "Mummy Wear" as well as maternity and other accessories, including toys and books for the kids.

Echo Way has new organic kids clothing for sale as well as the recycled items.

Both stores are great value and I've heard nothing but excellent reviews from happy customers.

If you are looking to help B4AK or looking for something for yourself or a special child in your life, you really can't go past these wonderful online op shops!

NB- Sophie, your continued support and little extras in the packages always keep me smiling :o)

Packing Day Nov. 8th 2009

Whistle while you work . . .

What a day!
We woke up to terrible weather, wind, rain, gusty blows . . . just perfect to set up on the back deck for our packing day (sarcasm!).

Jo was the first to arrive. She had to drive over 90 kms through the wind and rain to get here but she did, and with a car load full of donations as well! Tara turned up next , so we sat down for a cuppa while waiting for the rest of the crew.

Tracy and Jaala arrived not long after, so the organising began. Tracy suggested that we set the donations out in sizes and by category in a production line, so we all set about moving tables and unpacking storage containers and bags of toys.

I have to say, this layout worked extremely well and in no time we had packed almost 30 backpacks in sizes 4, 5 and 6 for both boys and girls!

In fact we eventually had to stop packing the larger sizes because we ran out of torches, undies, and activity packs! Which is great on one hand (because it meant we'd packed lots of bags) . . . but frustrating on the other,(because we had more bags we wanted to pack).

Undeterred, the team pressed on and decided to pack nappy bags. The production line was changed over to include nappies, bottles, bibs and some of the most adorable baby clothes you could ever see!

In less than you can imagine, the girls had packed a few dozen nappy bags and continued packing sizes 7 and 8 until we: a) ran out of backpacks and had to pack into plastic bags until more donations come in, b) exhaustion kicked in and we all had a cuppa and c) husbands started calling mobile phones to see if their beautiful wives would be home soon!

If you have ever wondered what 75 backpacks and nappy bags would look like when stored in a room . . . wonder no more! Just take a peep at the photo below.
Now all that needs to be done is deliver the bags :o)

Once again, thank you to everyone who is supporting B4AK. Without your generosity these bags could not have been packed . . .

PakMag article published!

Missing In Action

It's been a while since I posted!
Had lots of 'stuff' going on. Sometimes life just gets really busy and crowded, but I think I'm just about through the deep end. Gosh! I hope I haven't jinxed myself :o)

Someone from the Department of Child Safety and Communities (I think that's what it's called now), gave me a call a couple of days ago and requested 110 backpacks to be split up between several different Offices in the Far North.

This is really exciting. It's the first time that B4AK has been recognised by the Department!
I'll be busy packing over the next few weeks.

Below you can see an example of what goes into a backpack for a 2 year old boy. I think it's really important that all ages get a blankie and teddy of some sort, as well as a torch for the kids old enough to work it themselves.

If you have any ideas or suggestions on items to include in the backpacks or nappy bags please just get in touch with me at despinaparakas@yahoo.com.au.

Slide Show of donated items

Check out just some of the items that have been donated to B4AK. Thank you to everyone that has opened their hearts to this project and the children.

Pram Rock Rocks!!!

I got the coolest delivery the other day from Pram Rock. All these T's with 'attitude' are just great!

The website says it all . . .

"Pram Rock is dedicated to providing babies with tshirts that rock, funk and break. No more baby tshirts with ducks, balloons or trains. Nup, no way, we're here to rock!"

If you are a cool, rad or hip parent, (or think you are), then these are the T's for your bub. Great slogans and sayings combined with 100% cotton and screen printed by hand. I wish they made the shirts in my size.

In fact I'm thinking of asking for this one -

I am a big Staffy fan and have two of the darlings myself. They are sitting with me while I do this blog, waiting for me to go outside and play with them.


Pram Rock is the brainchild of two parents who live on the Far North Coast of NSW. Live music, surf, skate and graphic design are the background to the idea of funky T's for little ones.

These T's will be included in the Backpacks and some Nappy Bags for children going into foster and kinship care.

Thank you Pram Rock!

ROCK ON!!!
http://www.pramrock.com