A student's life: Renting textbooks + GIVEAWAY

I would hate to add up all the money I've spent on textbooks over the years. While I've tried to save money where I can by buying second-hand, often that was not an option and I had to fork out for brand new books!  If only I had known about renting textbooks!

At Campus Book Rentals you can rent the textbooks you need, saving you 40-90% of the cost of the books!  

They make it super easy too.  There is free shipping, free returns (in case you change courses), you can choose your return date AND you can write and highlight in them.  Yep, that's right, YOU CAN HIGHLIGHT IN THEM! 

For more info check out this video: 



So, by renting your textbooks you save money.  That's good right? But also, Campus Book Rentals donate money to Operation Smile, helping them carry out thousands of life-saving cleft lip surgeries.


I know you're already on your way to their site, but wait, it gets better!  

They have a new program called Rent Back, where they rent out your own textbooks to other students on your behalf, so you get paid again and again.. and again!

GIVEAWAY

Campus Book Rentals have kindly offered a $25 gift voucher to one lucky reader.  

To enter, you need to:
1. Follow The Cottage Diaries via GFC and leave a comment telling me you have done so AND
2. You need to 'like' Campus Book Rentals' Facebook page.

(Giveaway is US only, sorry)
(Giveaway ends 17 February, 23.59 New Zealand Daylight Time)

Enter away!!

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Molly

DIY Valentines: Shrewsbury Drops

Hi all! As promised in this post, I have got creative and come up with my own DIY gift for Valentines Day.  These shrewsbury drops with heart-shaped jam filling are super yummy, with a subtle lemon flavour.  Try them out!

Shrewsbury Drops

125g butter
125g sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp grated lemon rind
180g flour
60g custard powder
1 tsp baking powder
raspberry jam


Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg and lemon rind and beat again.  Add sifted dry ingredients and mix well.  Make mixture into small balls and place on a baking tray.  Flatten biscuits slightly.

Using your finger, make a heart shaped indent (shown below).  

Spoon jam into indent and spread with fingers.

Bake at 170 degrees Celcius from 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Make into cute parcels for valentines gifts, or serve in a bowl with a red ribbon like I have.

Hope you enjoy these!

X
Molly

Giveaway by Oh So Nifty

Hey guys! I am offering one month of large ad space on my blog as part of a group giveaway over on Oh So Nifty.

First thing you have to do is check out all of these lovely ladies that are making this giveaway so awesome! Show them some love, because they are cool and deserve it.

Then, enter in the rafflecopter below.
This giveaway is only open to U.S. residence. {Sorry if that left you out, we still love you}

Blog

Blog :: Twitter :: Facebook :: Pinterest

Blog :: Twitter :: Facebook :: Pinterest

Blog :: Twitter :: Facebook

Blog :: Twitter :: Facebook

Blog :: Twitter :: Facebook :: Pinterest

Pretty sweet right!?! AND... One winner takes all! It's more fun that way!
Well, get to it and get to winning!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good Luck!

Hope you all enter!!

X
Molly

DIY Valentines Gift Ideas

Happy February everyone!!

I've been getting lots of Valentines Day inspiration from some crafty ladies who made the things below. I don't normally celebrate Valentines Day but I may have to get into the spirit of it this year!

From The Purl Bee: Find the instructions here. All you need is some felt and a needle and thread!

Can you believe these were made from toilet rolls? Have a look over here to find out how to make them.

These look so good!  You can find the recipe here via Thirty Handmade Days

I love this cute card made with birthday candles!  From here.

Find the easy instructions for how to make this cute candle here, thanks to Eventful Life.  An awesome way to liven up old candles and get in the mood for valentines!

I think its about time I got creative myself! Give me a few days, and I'll see what I can come up with!

X

Molly

January Sponsor Highlight

It's time to introduce you all to this month's sponsors.  These three lovely ladies are my large ad holders, and I would love you to check out their blogs/shops.

 

Meet Mo!

My name is Mo and I'm a New Orleanian, vegetarian , animal lover, pizza addict, bicycle commuter, women's college graduate who currently works in the film industry.

Blog: Fleur De Moi

Meet Laura!

Hi! I'm Laura from Lauryn Green. On my blog I like to share my daily life, illustrations and projects. I usually draw animals and things that make smile to others, this is what I like most of my job. Come and say hi!

Blog: Lauryn Green

Etsy: Lauryn Green 

Meet Amy!

I live in the most beautiful state of Vermont where I garden intensively on a small piece of paradise. I am developing a very small nursery here specialising in hardy woodland perennials and also focusing on Primroses.

My other passion is knitting. A good day must include time to garden & knit! I love the feel of natural fibers and knitting them up into pretty accessories. I mostly knit small items such as scarves, shawls, fingerless gloves & childrens items. This way I don't have to buy large amounts of yarn and can play with different fiber contents and stitches.

Etsy: Primrose Hill Handknits

Thanks for your support!

X

Molly

BLOGGERS OPPORTUNITY - FREE SIGN UP!!!

Ohsoamelia will be hosting another HUGE giveaway as the $100 cash giveaway was such a success last month! Interested in participating in this awesome giveaway? Keep reading for more details! You can now sign up for free by re-posting this post or purchasing a link from $5! 

We are giving away an Ipad Mini! That's right! One lucky reader will win an Ipad Mini 16gb in the colour of their choice! Last months Giveaway was a tremendous success for our participants and of course for our winner Bex who was super lucky to win $100 in paypal cash! The giveaway rang in an enormous amount of bloggers and traffic to all co-hosts blogs. Participants on average saw a growth of 200-500 GFC followers each! 

Don't want to participate? Don't forget to come back February 15th and enter for your chance to win! :)

- Giveaway will run Feb 15th – March 15th 

- Hosted By: Ohsoamelia

- Prize: Ipad Mini 16gb Wi-fi Colour of Choice!

- Open Worldwide

- Entries will close once we have reached the prize total amount.

- The blogger who refers the most amount of people gets $25 Free Paypal cash!

SIGN UP OPTIONS:

- FREE SIGN UP by copy and pasting this post onto your blog 

OR...

- Pay $5 for ONE LINK Facebook or Twitter ONLY. (If you would like other links you must purchase them separately i.e 2 links = $10 3 links = $15)

For more information and to sign up CLICK >>>> 

BLOGGERS WANTED

Sponsor The Cottage Diaries in February (the month of LOVE)

I'm a small but growing blog which means advertising is cheap!  My large ads are $8, and include a group sponsor highlight and an opportunity to host a giveaway or do a guest post.  I also do ad swaps! Get in quick as I only have 4 large ad spaces and 10 swap spaces, which means each ad gets more individual attention.

Check out my sponsorship options here.

X
Molly