Ollie's Halloween Colouring Competition

Here at Ollie's Closet, we love this time of year. With Halloween, Bonfire Night and then Christmas to look forward to, it's a great time for kids and parents alike!


To celebrate Halloween this year, we are having a competition with the chance to win some Halloween goodies. Just download the picture (right click the image below, save it on your desktop & print it off), colour it in and pop it into the shop. All of the entries will be displayed in the shop window and the winner will be chosen on Saturday 29th October.




Good Luck!!

Following our photo shoot last week, we've been busy putting together some new promotional material.

What do you think?

Meet Alicia, this year's face of Ollie's Closet

Earlier this year, Alicia won our competition to find this year's face of Ollie's Closet and after many weeks of trying to get a suitable date for all involved, we finally had our first photo shoot last week.

Here are a few of our favourite pics from the shoot. Thanks to Karen at KW Photography for letting us share them.

I'm sure you'll agree, Alicia is a worthy winner!

Time to get voting.....

Following the Ollie’s Closet  photo shoots earlier this month, all of the proof
cards have now been distributed and everyone needs to make sure that they
have submitted their entry image into the model competition.

The gallery of entrants is now live. You can view it on http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150217134257894.315380.31246542893

You have 2 ways to vote:

1. Go onto facebook and 'like' the picture of the child you wish to vote for, or

2. Come into the shop and fill out a voting form.

The closing date for voting is Sunday 10th July and the winner will be announced on Wednesday 13 July.

Please note that it is strictly one vote per person. Anyone violating this rule will have their vote cancelled and may have the child involved disqualified.

Photographs are still available to purchase- please contact karentwiltshire@me.com for further information. If you have already placed an order, it will be ready for collection from Saturday 2nd July instore.

Lulubelle’s Cupcakes are coming out of the closet...Ollie's Closet!

Photo by KW Photography

Lulubelle’s Cupcakes and Ollie’s Closet are teaming up for a joint venture.

The new partnership will see Lulubelle’s move into a specially fitted kitchen at the back of Ollie’s Closet, a children’s clothes and toy retailer in Winton.

The idea was dreamt up by Louisa Harman, who started her cupcake business in 2010, and Nicky Hargadon, who founded Ollie’s Closet in 2008.

Customers in the shop will be able to see Lulubelle’s Kitchen at work through a picture window as staff sprinkle, ice and sculpt the creations.

Louisa said: "We want the kitchen to reflect Lulubelle’s personality so we’re going for pink walls and a gallery of photos showing some of our favourite cakes."

To celebrate this partnership, Lulubelle’s and Ollie’s Closet are holding a launch party on June 25th from 12-4pm, where you can sample free cupcakes and see the new kitchen.

There will be face painting and children’s entertainment in store and the first 100 visitors will get an exclusive goodie bag.

 

Is your child this year's Face of Ollie's Closet?

It's here again! This year's face of Ollie's Closet will be launched with photo sessions starting on Wed 1st June.

the full details......

Ollie’s Closet is celebrating its 3rd anniversary with a competition to find Dorset’s cutest child.

This year Ollie's Closet will be welcoming KW Photography as the official Cute Kids competition photographer.  Karen Wiltshire is a Dorset based photographer specialising in family portraiture so has plenty of experience to help your child produce that winning smile for the competition! 

Photo sessions will take place between 11am & 2.30 in the shop on the following dates: Wed 1st June, Sat 4th June, Wed 8th June, Sat 11th June, Wed 15th June & Sat 18th June. 

How to enter:

Booking is essential!

Make an appointment by either following the link using' olliescloset' as username and password and choose an available time slot.  http://www.keepandshare.com/ca

lendar2/show_event.php?i=13666

17&date=2011-06-01 or pop into the shop on Cardigan Rd, Winton.

Once the pictures have been taken, you will be contacted in order to view them and make your selection for entry into the competition. Photos will also be available to you to purchase.

Voting for your cutest kid will be via internet poll or instore.

Prizes:

• A model shoot & presentation cd  

        of the final photos from  KW Photography                                   

• £50 to spend instore at Ollie’s Closet

•  a framed personalised print from Little Van Goghs, and

•  a dozen cupcakes from  Lulubelles Cakes 

Good luck

terms & conditions....

1. The competition is open to UK residents aged 18 or over; except employees of Ollie’s Closet, KW Photography and anyone professionally connected with this promotion. Only one entry per child.
2. Maximum age for children featured in competition entry photographs is 5 years old.
3. By entering the competition, the entrant agrees to be bound by the rules and by any other requirements set out in the promotional material accompanying the promotion.
4. The three finalists will be decided by a public vote. Closing date for voting is the 7th July 2011. 
5. The winner will agree, on their own behalf and on the behalf of the child featured in the winning photograph to be involved in any publicity concerning Ollie’s Closet, including but not exclusive to additional photo shoots and publicity appearances.
6. The winner will be decided by a panel of judges and announced on the 11th July 2011. The winner must claim their prize within 30 days of the notification. If the prize is unclaimed after this time, it will lapse and the Promoter reserves the right to offer the unclaimed prize to a substitute winner selected in accordance with the Competition rules.
7. There is no cash alternative.
8. The promoter reserves the right to exchange any prize for one of equal or greater value.
9. The winners' details (name and country) will be made available on request to those enclosing a stamped SAE marked Face of Ollie’s Closet to 1d Cardigan Rd, Winton, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH9 1BJ within ten weeks after the published closing date.

Today is Earth Day- what does it mean to you?

All week we have been talking about Earth Day. you may have read the posts and thought, 'Yes, I can make changes in my life to benefit the Earth or was it another thing dismissed as you don't have time or can't be bothered? 

What if I were to say that it doesn't have to be something big or inconvenient to your current way of living? What if that little act you did today multiplied by millions of other little acts by others around the world  made a big difference to halting or even reversing the damage inflicted on our environment? 

Not sure where to start? Take a look at the pledges people have already made on the Earth Day website or have a read through Natalie Collinson's fabulous blog on WAHM inspired ways to celebrate. 

And do one little thing today. 

Get down and dirty with the kids

We have a massive garden and in one corner, there is a vegetable patch (when I say corner, it's the size of the average London garden!).  This should inspire me to grow my own right? Well, it would if I didn't have such a hands on father that keeps it full of yummy produce and even delivers it to my back door!

Well, this year I am determined that the kids and I will be more involved and whilst looking into it (I'm an ex-lawyer, we can't do anything without researching fully first!), I found this great article about making your own compost. What could be better, a fun activity with the kids that teaches them a little science- I'm sold!

What will you be doing for Earth Day?

As you may or may not be aware, it is  Earth Day this Friday (22nd April). Now, here at Ollie's we pride ourselves on doing everything possible to promote eco friendly practices- in fact, our whole business is based around recycling. 


So this week, we are looking at other businesses and individuals that are doing their bit, starting with a family in Kent. This family keep a blog about their green practices and have started a 14 day 'Getting Back to Nature' challenge that was inspired by Bridget Strawbridge's  Off the Grid Sundays. 


Basically, the Challenge entails joining in with an activity every day which will take you back to nature. Fancy joining in? Then follow this link to see what it is all about. http://www.usbeinggreen.co.uk/2011/04/off-grid-sundays-our-14-day-getting-back-to-nature-challenge/

Love is in the Air

It's still a few days away and already Valentine fever has reached OC headquarters. We had a girl in today who already has 3 cards...is it wrong to be jealous of a 5 year old?


So it would appear that children are introduced to the concept of Valentines Day from a young age and it can be used as a way for them to show their friends and family how much they care for them. Why not  get out the craft box & let them get creative! There are some great ideas on this website if you need a little inspiration.  http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/valentines_day_crafts.htm


Or how about some yummy heart shaped cookies? Here is a foolproof recipe:


Ingredients

For cookies:
350g (12 oz) plain flour, plus extra for rolling
110g (4 oz) caster sugar
225g (8 oz) butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
salt

For icing:
About 450g (1 lb) icing sugar

food colouring (red or pink is best)

Put the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt into a food processor then add butter and vanilla extract. Pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Pulse again to bring it together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes. (If you don't have a food processor, you can of course do this by hand).

Roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick and stamp out biscuits using cutters. Place on baking sheets

Bake at 350F (180C, Gas Mark 4) for 12-15 minutes. Remove and leave briefly on trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Use boiling water to make up the icing. Decorate as appropriate- we used pink icing and heart sprinkles found at all main supermarkets. 

And for us adults, there is a fantastic new blog all about love.  Kiss the Frog x and other love stories is a new blog celebrating love and life through photographs, words and kisses.

Created by wedding and portrait photographer, Andrea Pittam, Kiss the Frog x and other love stories has been created for the purpose of not only telling wedding and portrait stories, but also sharing private images of her personal life, documenting both small and big adventures through photographs, words and kisses..

We all know that reading or seeing something that touches us is a positive and heart warming experience that is good for the soul.  The blog posts will focus on love and beauty and will contain Andrea’s images.  Readers are also encouraged to leave comments to interact with the blog

Kiss the Frog x opens on Monday 14 February and Andrea will be offering a complimentary canvas print (see picture below) from her range of signature images.  All you need to do is visit the blog www.kissthefrogx.com  and ‘blow a kiss’ by leaving a comment.  One person will be randomly selected to receive the canvas print of their choice.