blog http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/latest-news/ 2011 Photo Winners http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/2011-photo-winners/ <blockquote> <p>Wow, what an amazing selection of photos we had entered for this year’s Photo Competition... making our decision on the winners that little bit tougher!! We loved seeing all the photos you sent in of your children (and grand-children, nieces, nephews etc!) in their Three Bags Full gear... it made us really proud to see them being worn in so many different locations around the country and even internationally.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>Without further ado, the winners are:</p> <p><strong>City</strong><br/>Samantha Fawcett in Wellington Harbour, Wellington</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p><strong>Snow</strong><br/>Hannah Buchanan at Castle Hill, Canterbury</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p><strong>Surf</strong><br/>Sebastien Fraser at Brown’s Bay Beach, North Shore</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>Congratulations to our winners, who each have won a $100 voucher to spend on Three Bags Full clothing.</p> </blockquote> Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:13:41 +1300 http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/2011-photo-winners/ Recipe of the Month - Crunchy Caramel Truffles http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/recipe-of-the-month-crunchy-caramel-truffles/ <h4 style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 3px;">Crunchy Caramel Truffles</h4> <blockquote> <p><em>These delicious little treats are much healthier than you’d think – I’ve even managed to trick my 7 year old into eating them who swears he doesn’t like dates! A great lunch box filler or treat for morning tea.</em></p> </blockquote> <table border="0"><tbody><tr><td style="font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">2 cups rice bubbles</td> <td style="font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">1 egg</td> </tr><tr><td style="font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">75g butter</td> <td style="font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">few drops vanilla essence</td> </tr><tr><td style="font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">1/3 cup brown sugar</td> <td style="font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">½ cup coconut</td> </tr><tr><td style="font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" colspan="2">1 cup dates, pitted &amp; roughly chopped (can use handful of dried finely chopped apricots as well)<br/></td> </tr></tbody></table><blockquote> <p>Mix rice bubbles and finely chopped apricots together in large bowl. <br/>Melt butter, sugar and dates together in saucepan over low heat until combined. <br/>Gently bring to boil, stirring constantly until mixture begins to caramelise (about 2-3 minutes). <br/>Cool caramel mixture for 5 minutes then beat in egg and vanilla essence. <br/>Mix together with rice bubble mixture and roll into small balls. Roll balls in coconut and refrigerate to set.</p> </blockquote> Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:50:37 +1200 http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/recipe-of-the-month-crunchy-caramel-truffles/ Gift With Purchase & Winter Newsletter http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/gift-with-purchase-and-winter-newsletter/ <p>Gift with Purchase<br/>Purchase over $100 worth of Three Bags Full product between now and August 30, 2011 and you will receive a FREE copy of the current issue OHBaby! Magazine. Packed full with great articles, recipes and also each magazine contains a unique code for you to enter their Ultimate Competition to win $25,000 worth of baby gear!<br/><br/>On the subject of competitions, we are also going to be running our Three Bags Full Photo Competition next month, so start snapping now for one of the following three categories – Snow, Surf and City. For those of you new to the Three Bags Full Club all you need to do is take a photo of your little cherub in his or her Three Bags Full clothing in one of the above settings, for your chance to win Three Bags Full clothing…it’s that simple! Keep your eyes peeled for more details to follow next month…<br/><br/><br/>Recipe of the Month<br/>These delicious little treats are much healthier than you’d think – I’ve even managed to trick my 7 year old into eating them who swears he doesn’t like dates! A great lunch box filler or treat for morning tea.<br/><br/>Crunchy Caramel Truffles<br/>2 cups rice bubbles    1 egg<br/>75g butter    few drops vanilla essence<br/>1/3 cup brown sugar    ½ cup coconut<br/>1 cup dates, pitted &amp; roughly chopped (can use handful of dried finely chopped apricots as well)<br/>Mix rice bubbles and finely chopped apricots together in large bowl. <br/>Melt butter, sugar and dates together in saucepan over low heat until combined. <br/>Gently bring to boil, stirring constantly until mixture begins to caramelise (about 2-3 minutes). <br/>Cool caramel mixture for 5 minutes then beat in egg and vanilla essence. <br/>Mix together with rice bubble mixture and roll into small balls. Roll balls in coconut and refrigerate to set.<br/><br/>And the winner is…<br/>Congratulations to Katie Wesney of Devonport, who is this month’s lucky winner of a Three Bags Full merino top.<br/><br/>Don’t forget to keep your camera handy to catch that perfect shot for our upcoming photo competition!<br/><br/>Until next time stay safe &amp; warm,<br/><br/>Tracey &amp; Pip</p> Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:41:18 +1200 http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/gift-with-purchase-and-winter-newsletter/ Colouring In Winners http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/colouring-in-winners/ <table border="0"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/Winner-ColouringIn-3andunder.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/_resampled/resizedimage200285-Winner-ColouringIn-3andunder.jpg" width="200" height="285" alt="" title=""/></a></td> <td><a href="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/Winner-ColouringIn-Fairy4to5.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="left" src="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/_resampled/resizedimage200285-Winner-ColouringIn-Fairy4to5.jpg" width="200" height="285" alt="" title=""/></a></td> <td><a href="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/Winner-ColouringIn-Fairy6to8years.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/_resampled/resizedimage200285-Winner-ColouringIn-Fairy6to8years.jpg" width="200" height="285" alt="" title=""/></a></td> </tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/Winner-ColouringIn-Tractor3andunder.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="left" src="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/_resampled/resizedimage200285-Winner-ColouringIn-Tractor3andunder.jpg" width="200" height="285" alt="" title=""/></a></td> <td><a href="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/Winner-ColouringIn-Tractor4to5years.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="left" src="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/_resampled/resizedimage200285-Winner-ColouringIn-Tractor4to5years.jpg" width="200" height="285" alt="" title=""/></a></td> <td><a href="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/Winner-ColouringIn-Tractor6to8years.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="left" src="http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/assets/news/_resampled/resizedimage200285-Winner-ColouringIn-Tractor6to8years.jpg" width="200" height="285" alt="" title=""/></a></td> </tr></tbody></table><p>Here are the winners of our Three Bags Full Colouring Competition for 2011...click on the individual pictures to have a closer look!</p> <p>The winners are:</p> <p>Ages 3 &amp; under</p> <p>Emily Russell - Fairy</p> <p>Jake Wilson - Tractor</p> <p>Ages 4 - 5 years</p> <p>Jasmine Neale - Fairy</p> <p>Lochie McKenzie - Tractor</p> <p>Ages 6 - 8 years</p> <p>Sorraya Dodunski - Fairy</p> <p>Ethan Weber - Tractor</p> <p>Congratulations to all of you, and what a great effort you all made!</p> Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:29:37 +1200 http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/colouring-in-winners/ Delivery Delays Expected http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/delivery-delays-expected/ <p>With this wild and crazy weather we're having all over the country, we are expecting some delivery delays over the next few days.</p> <p>Roads are currently closed both into and out of Queenstown, as well as Queenstown Airport, making freight deliveries very difficult!</p> <p>If you have any queries about your order, please contact us directly on info@threebagsfull.co.nz.</p> Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:36:38 +1200 http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/delivery-delays-expected/ Three Bags Full Colouring Competition Closes http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/three-bags-full-colouring-competition-closes/ <p>We were so surprised with the amazing response and amount of entries we received for our first Colouring Competition!</p> <p>We are busy perusing all the entries to choose a winner in all the relevant categories...the winners will be announced here by the end of the week, and a selection of our favourites will appear on our Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Three-Bags-Full-Merino-Childrenswear/116559751706034.</p> <p> </p> Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:31:19 +1200 http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/three-bags-full-colouring-competition-closes/ Winner Announced! http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/winner-announced/ <p>It’s been a strangely warm and pleasant start to winter for us in the deep South, but we are now waiting with baited breath for some snow to fall on the mountains…not only for us to enjoy, but for the thousands of guests due to file into town for next week’s Winter Festival.</p> <p>We’ve had an amazing response to our promotion, to win a trip for two to Winter Festival, and are very excited to announce our lucky winner below.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>NEW Products</strong></p> <p>We’ve had a few new items grace our shelves over the past few weeks, which are both, at this stage, one-off designs. For the girls we have a gorgeous cross-over top with cute polka dot trim, and for the boys a new stripe top in North Sea and Milo, which has been flying off the shelves! Be in quick to make sure you don’t miss out…these may not be repeated. The cross-over tops are on the website for pre-orders, due to arrive in-store late next week.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>American Express Winter Festival Street Parade &amp; Teddy Bears Picnic –</strong></p> <p><strong>Saturday 25 June 2011.</strong></p> <p>We are working hard on our inaugural float entry in the American Express Winter Festival Street Parade and are hoping to get as many people down there as possible for the event…if you are in the area we’d love to see you there!</p> <p>Our Float will be parked up at Earnslaw Park after the Parade for the Teddy Bears Picnic, and will be giving away balloons and Three Bags Full product…it will be a great day out for the kids!</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>And the winner is….</strong></p> <p>Congratulations to Jo Doyle of Ashburton, South Canterbury who is our winner of our Win a Trip to Queenstown promotion. It was such a thrill to make that call to let Jo know she had won!</p> <p>Jo will be enjoying return flights for two to Queenstown on Air New Zealand, 2 nights accommodation at Novotel Gardens, dinner at Winnies Pizza Bar and breakfast at Vudu Café and Larder.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Oaty Chocolate &amp; Cinnamon Cookies</strong></p> <p>These quick and easy little gems are a great lunch box filler and really just a twist on the traditional Anzac biscuit recipe…very easy and quite healthy too! My kids love them fresh out of the oven with a glass of milk after school…yummy!</p> <p> </p> <p>½ cup flour                                                50g butter</p> <p>1/3 cup sugar                                                1 tbsp golden syrup</p> <p>2/3 cup coconut                                    ½ tsp baking soda</p> <p>¾ cup rolled oats                                    2 tbsp boiling water</p> <p>1 tsp cinnamon                                    2 handfuls chocolate chips</p> <p> </p> <p>Turn oven to 170 degrees C, and line or grease a baking tray.</p> <p>Mix all dry ingredients together (except for chocolate chips)</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Gently</span> melt butter and golden syrup together – do not boil.</p> <p>Dissolve baking soda in hot water, then add to butter mix and whisk to combine.</p> <p>Add butter mixture to dry ingredients and mix gently, then add in chocolate chips and mix to combine.</p> <p>Roll walnut size balls and place on baking tray, and flatten slightly before baking for 10 minutes or until golden brown.                                   </p> <p> </p> <p><em>To make these Gluten Free, I substitute flour for Bakel’s Gluten Free Health Flour Mix.</em></p> <p><em> </em></p> <p><strong>And the other winner is….</strong></p> <p>Congratulations to Jolene Garrett  of Rotorua who is the winner of our Three Bags Full Club prize-draw for a Three Bags Full top of her choice.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>We hope you are all keeping nice and warm wherever you are, and we hope to see some of you at the Parade or Teddy Bears Picnic next week.</p> <p> </p> <p>Thank you for your continuing support,</p> <p> </p> <p>Pip &amp; Tracey</p> Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:06:00 +1200 http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/winner-announced/ WIN a Trip for 2 to Queenstown Winter Festival http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/win-a-trip-for-2-to-queenstown-winter-festival/ <p>Hope you all managed to get some ‘rest and relaxation’ on Mother’s Day… I certainly enjoyed my cooked breakfast in bed… (even if the scrambled eggs my 7 year old made were completely overcooked…!). Us Mums certainly deserve a few treats every now and then, with the busy lives we lead…don’t we!</p> <p>On the subject of treats…this issue we are really excited to tell you about our mid-winter promotion…which we are sure any busy parent would love to win….</p> <p>One lucky customer will win a trip to Queenstown for 2 nights with a friend or partner for the Opening Weekend of the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival.</p> <p>The prize includes return flights for 2 to Queenstown with Air New Zealand and 2 nights accommodation for 24 – 26 June, 2011. Also included is a meal for 2 at Winnies Pizza Restaurant &amp; Bar, and breakfast for 2 at Vudu Café and Larder. Just the midwinter getaway you deserve…</p> <p>To enter just make a purchase online at www.threebagsfull.co.nz between now and the 15th June 2011. The winner will be contacted by the 17th June 2011, and announced in our next Newsletter.</p> <p>Whilst in Queenstown you will be able to witness the inaugural Three Bags Full float entry into the American Express Queenstown Festival Street Parade. Be sure not to miss it if you are in our neck of the woods.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Event Calendar:</strong></p> <p>If you’re out and about in Arrowtown on 28th or 29th May, head down to the Hall for some great bargains from local designers, including Smith &amp; Western, Claire Bloom and Tamsin Cooper…and of course Three Bags Full!</p> <p>Arrowtown Hall Designer Sale 28 &amp; 29 May 2011 Arrowtown Hall, Arrowtown</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Best-Ever Chocolate Cake (A.K.A Easiest Ever Chocolate Cake!!)</strong></p> <p>Now I know everyone claims to have a “best-ever” chocolate cake recipe, but this one is so fail safe and I have been asked for the recipe so many times, I thought perhaps it’s about time I gave it away!! It takes less than 10 minutes to make and I have even used it as a wedding cake base before…it’s that good! The other bonus is it also makes equally good cupcakes…so very versatile!</p> <p>2/3 cup cocoa 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour</p> <p>1 cup sugar 2 tsp baking soda</p> <p>1 tsp baking powder</p> <p>½ tsp salt</p> <p>2 eggs 3/4 cup buttermilk or plain runny yoghurt</p> <p>1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla extract or essence</p> <p>¾ cup warm water</p> <p>Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a small round tin or line 24 cup-cake pans.<br/>Mix all ingredients together with electric mixer for 3 minutes, until smooth.<br/>Pour batter into cake tin, or divide evenly among lined cupcake pans.<br/>Bake, until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes for cake tin or 15 – 20 minutes for cup cakes.<br/>Delicious filled with Raspberry Jam, iced with chocolate icing and served with a dollop of cream!<br/>Too easy!! I often use Bakels Gluten Free Health Flour Mix, and just drop the baking powder from the recipe. Double the recipe for a large cake (ideal for birthday cake size!).</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>And the winner is…</strong></p> <p>Congratulations to Diana di Corrado of Greenvale, Australia, who has won this month’s draw, and will be receiving a Three Bags Full top in the mail!</p> <p>Also congratulations to Terressa Moyle (Australia) and Mel Hornby (New Zealand) who also won a recent promotion we ran with Kidspot in Australia and New Zealand.</p> <p>Don’t miss out on your chance to win a trip to Queenstown – every purchase puts you in the draw!</p> <p> </p> <p>Hope you are all keeping well and warm,</p> <p> </p> <p>Tracey and Pip</p> <p> </p> Wed, 11 May 2011 14:16:58 +1200 http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/win-a-trip-for-2-to-queenstown-winter-festival/ Winners of The Three Bags Full Club Photo Competition 2009 http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/winners-of-the-three-bags-full-club-photo-competition-200/ <p>We're delighted to share with you the winners of the Three Bags Full Photo Competition for 2009. Congratulations to Susan Alberts, Annette Smith, Debbie Bal who were the winners of our photo competition in the three categories Sun, Snow and Surf. They have each won a Three Bags Full prize pack for their little ones. Thank you to all those who entered the competition - the standard of photos was very high which made our job very difficult and we couldn't resist showing some of our other top picks below... we're sure you'll agree they are all irresistibly cute!</p> Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:40:00 +1300 http://www.threebagsfull.co.nz/index.php/winners-of-the-three-bags-full-club-photo-competition-200/