A few weeks ago, we mentioned the Jump For Wishes charity event. The results are now in – across Australia, over 600 people participated in “star jumping” for charity. Not only did they bring in lots of money for the Starlight Children’s Foundation, but they succeeded at setting the record for simultaneous star jumps – a total of 26,830 jumps.

In other Australian news, Erina Fair is taking advantage of the DIY craze this Christmas. It’s holding a competition for 16 local elementary schools. Teams of students from the schools will be given a $100 gift certificate to a mall crafts retailer, and can spend the money to decorate a Christmas tree in any way they like. The trees will decorate the shopping center over the holidays, and visitors can vote for their favorite with a donation to the Cancer Council NSW. A little bit user-generated and a little bit DIY – that’s a great job of managing trends.

Westfield is offering Australian shoppers the chance at a a very authentic Christmas, with its Magical Holiday contest.

One family of four will win a week-long trip to Finland, where they will enjoy a snowy holiday adventure. They will meet and dine with Santa, and explore an assortment of European holiday traditions. They’ll also get to go to the Arctic Circle, and visit Santa’s home and reindeer.

It’s sure to be a magical experience that children will remember fondly for years to come. Speaking from experience, an Arctic Circle Christmas is about as magical as it gets, so we’ll call this an inspired choice on Westfield’s part.

Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre is celebrating the release of the Baz Luhrmann film Australia with an exclusive exhibition.

The shopping centre will be displaying photography from the set of the film, including candid shots of its stars, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The event will include a silent auction of some of the photographs, with proceeds going to the Australian Conservation Foundation. The shopping centre will also be launching a new Australia themed gift card to commemorate the film, with partial proceeds going to the Foundation as well.

It’s not every day such a conveniant theme for a promotion comes along, so kudos to Forest Hill Chase for snagging the exclusive exhibit.

Erina Fair, in New South Wales, AU, hasn’t forgotten about the environment. It’s holding “It’s in our hands,” an interactive expo that aims to teach shoppers about the important changes they can make in their own lives and homes.

From tips on water conservation to ways to recycle more efficiently, the shopping center is helping to educate and inspire. And while saving the environment might seem like a hard sell when we’re all more interested in saving what’s in our pocketbooks, it’s important to remember that being greener is often about being more efficient. Saving electricity means saving power costs, and now is a great time to encourage shoppers to save on both.

Chadstone, in Victoria, AU, celebrates tasty spring treats this weekend at the Chadstone Festival of Food. On Friday, cookbook author Donna Hay kicks things off by cooking of recipes from her new book, followed by a signing.

This is followed up with a busy weekend of activities. Some of the delicious demonstrations include lessons on cooking for a healthy lifestyle, cooking with fresh produce, baking bread, and cooking pasta. For the more decadent shoppers, there will be wine tasting events, cocktail recipes, and a barista competition.

The festival commemorates the opening of Chadstone’s fresh food precinct, which includes supermarkets, gourmet food markets, and eateries.