This Christmas, Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is...

I really enjoy Christmas...it is a lovely time of the year, and I love how both my immediate, and extended family make the most of spending time together. I also have four very excited children, and you can't really help but be swept up in all their excitement!

I also enjoy Christmas shopping. I really love choosing and buying gifts for people. As is the case most years, I have not yet started my Christmas shopping, and tend to be one of those foolish people that are out fighting the crowds and the carpark a day or two before Christmas day. I obviously work well under pressure...

Today, the convenience of online shopping continues to increase in popularity, and we have also seen a surge in online shopping services, which bring a plethora of international brands previously unattainable to us Aussies down under, literally to your fingertips.

Today,  I would like to share the "Put Your Money Where You Heart Is" campaign, run by Australia Post. This campaign, and associated website, give you the convenience of online shopping, with thoughtful intention and lots of heart. Big ol' Aussie heart.

Where Your Heart Is comprises two online stores, the social enterprise marketplace Good Spender and Farmhouse Direct, a popular Australian online marketplace. Together, they offer you a place to purchase goods from Australian famers, artisans and small businesses alike. Not only that, but many of these companies bring to the fore an ethos of giving back to the community. 

As you meander about Good Spender, you will find a wide variety of goods on offer, from beautiful, gourmet foods ( yep...there's chocolate ) to lovingly homemade skin and body products, jewellery, homewares, clothing,  and much more. There is information about each business as you click on  a product, with details on how they contribute to their chosen cause, varying from employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups, to the sharing of profits to charities. 

I happened upon the brand "Thank You" whist I was browsing...they have just released a new line of body products! How does Mint and Spring Flowers Body Wash or Sweet Orange and Almond  Hand Lotion sound? They are on my list!

Farmhouse Direct provides shoppers with access to thousands of Australian grown and made products, from over 300 farmers, growers and artisan producers. There are so many lovely gift ideas, hampers, and Christmas totes all full of home grown deliciousness. Each farmer has an online "stall", so you are  purchasing directly from them, and your money is supporting their small business. 

Head over to Where Your Heart Is...here. I'm sure you will love browsing and making a list as much as I did!

Be sure you order by 15th December to ensure your goodies arrive before Christmas Day!

So you may be wondering what these lovely little bundles are above? Well the lovely people at Rub A Dub, a stall from Farmhouse Direct, have kindly and generously provided some gorgeous products for a little giveaway for my Aussie beauties. You have a chance to win one of three beautiful prizes, that you may wish to gift to someone special, or keep just for you. My home has had the most beautiful fragrance floating through it since these arrived. I am sure you will love them!

Along with these giveaway prizes that arrived to The Beauty Vine HQ, I was gifted two soaps, and two little sample pots of the balms to play with. Only having had them for a couple of days, I can share a little first impression...the soaps are gorgeous, and have been enjoyed by myself and my children for the last few days. I am not normally a fan of soap bars, but these are creamy, non-drying and smell just beautiful. I loved the smell of my children's skin when they got out of the bath...and we used the Bloke Soap too!! It has a lovely hint of sandalwood ( me - sigh, children - giggle ).

It's pretty safe to say that I am a bit of a balm addict...and by golly I know a good balm when I see/feel/smell one, and both of these are gorgeous. They melt luxuriously into the skin and contain beautiful, nourishing ingredients. The Gardeners balm has a beautiful citrus scent, and the Bub balm has the subtle fragrance of manuka honey, one of its main ingredients. I have been slathering the Gardeners Balm on my poor dry hands and cuticles, and have been using the bub balm on some patches of excema, dry skin and mozzie bites on my children and it has worked beautifully. If my offspring were still babies I would be slathering this on their bare bottoms for sure!! I would consider both to be very nice, multipurpose, healing soothing balms that every household would use and love.

RUB A DUB GARDENERS PACK - GARDENERS SOAP AND GARDENERS BALM.

RUB A DUB BUB PACK - CALMING LAVENDER SOAP, FRAGRANCE FREE SOAP, BUB BALM.

RUB A DUB BOD PACK - BOD MOISTURISER, AND SCRUB

You have no idea how difficult it will be for me to part with these prizes...you lucky things!! 

You can learn more about Rub A Dub products here, and find some more gorgeous gift packs and stocking fillers!

I will be running this giveaway over on my Instagram account. Please read the details below!


TO ENTER;

1. Follow Farmhouse Direct and me! The Beauty Vine on Instagram.

2. Regram the picture I will post featuring the RubaDub products and tag me.

3. If you would like to win the Gardener's pack add the hashtag #rubadubgardener in your caption

4. If you would like to win the Bub's pack add the hashtag #rubadubbaby in your caption

5. If you would like to win the Body pack add the hashtag #rubadubbody in your caption

6. One entry per person only

7. Australian residents only

8. My current/existing followers on Instagram will receive one extra entry automatically as a little thank you from me if they enter.

9. Giveaway accounts will not be entered.

10. Giveaway will commence from when I post my pic on Instagram, and will end on December 15th 2014.

11. Please set your account to public on or near the 15th of December so I can see your entry!

12. The three winners will be selected at random and notified on Instagram.

13. Please...18 years and over, or permission from your parents please as I will need your postal address to send you your prize if you are a lucky duck!

Good Luck! If you have any questions feel free to ask me in the comments below, or on Instagram!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lou xo

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored, nor do I have any affliliation with the above mentioned company's, businesses or websites. I was very pleased to share it because I think it's pretty fantastic. The only relationship I may have in the future, will be as a customer, purchasing my own products for my family. I was gifted some samples as I mentioned in the body of the post, and the giveaway prizes were kindly and generously provided by Farmhouse direct and Rubadub. Cheers, xo