From Paris... With Love

Moving to our new home in Frankston was exciting for so many reasons- its newer and bigger and warmer and close to school and kinder and church and only 4 minutes from my newest nephew :)

It also allowed Francesca to have her own room.
She loves Paris and the Eiffel Tower (her name is FRANCEsca, so you see the connection?)

I desperately wanted to make it a perfect room for her- a comfortable space with personal touches. I saw some beautiful wall decals and thanks to a custom order for some bibs and burp cloths I was able to justify the cost of purchasing them for her:

(not our home, just a generic photo ;)

There were a few other items generously gifted to her from friends and family. And one of my favourite touches was a photo board I made with some lovely fabric I found.

A large canvas with some fabric, ribbon and pretty coloured brads was where I started.

I added a layer of wadding under the fabric to gift it a softer finish. I used spray adhesive and a staple gun to ensure a smooth and firm attachment for the fabric.

I attached the ribbon with a staple gun and then used brads on each cross point to add some more colour and add stronger hold.

 A closer look.

My inspiration was my sister-in-law, who created a lovely board for her new son, Henry
(you can see the incredible nursery she created on her blog, Paper + Ribbons)

So there's another craft project that I hope can inspire you.

Love Gubby xo

The reason for the season

I have recently discovered (and become a fan of) subway art.

They look so effective and are a great way of communicating a message... but in a pretty way :)

For those who don't know what 'subway art' is, its basically a collection of words/phrases in various font styles/sizes/colours that you can use for decoration (see my Valentines Day post for a subway art printable).

This one appeared on Pinterest and immediately caught my eye. I wanted something for Easter that a) wasn't too pink, b) contained no reference to the Easter bunny and c) looked good!

And so this piece now adorns our entrance way- a reminder for all our visitors that Jesus is the reason we get to gorge ourselves on chocolate some time in March/April/May each year! I like the emphasis on HOPE, as hope and new life are the themes we emphasise when talking to our kids about Easter.

My littlest will celebrate her birthday on Easter Monday this year- so am looking forward to planning a birthday/Easter celebration with all our friends. It is fitting that my precious little 'surprise' baby is born at this time of year- as hope and new life are the characteristics she brought with her when she landed in our family almost 3 years ago :)

Love Gubby xo

*oops* Completely forgot to credit 'Antsi-pants' blog for her beautiful subway artwork. There are 3 colour schemes to choose from :)

Next!

The next holiday on my list is Easter. Only 6 weeks or so and its time to get started.

I was thrilled yesterday when I picked up a silver tree at the Salvos for $5.

I decorated it with some hanging eggs and a pretty Easter Egg ribbon:

I have some pretty little handmade birds to hang next and a gorgeous piece of subway art ready to go!

Hooray! I love Easter.

Love Gubby xo

I {heart} Valentines Day

Never. NEVER been a fan of Valentines Day.

It always seemed to forced and commercial and I hated the idea that expressions of love needed a spot on the calendar and a Hallmark card.

But I recently came across a very cool concept- essentially, that anything- a holiday, a concept, an opinion- can be received, rejected or redeemed.

There are obviously plenty of people willing to buy into the commercial aspect of Valentines Day- just like Christmas, Easter, Mothers/Fathers' day. But that doesn't mean there is no good to them at all.

There are those who choose to completely reject those holidays simply because there are those who have moved the focus from their true meaning. But that is throwing the baby out with the bath water.

I have decided to redeem Valentines Day for my family. To use this opportunity to take a little extra time and effort to remind each other of why we do love eachother.

Most importantly, we love because God loved us first.

And with that in mind, I have put up a little reminder in our house, so that even as we make cupcakes and cute little love notes for each other, we won't lose our focus.

Thanks to The Girl Creative's gorgeous website for the printable

Love Gubby xo

Time for some lovin'

Welcome to February. The month in which school goes back in Victoria (yay!) and Valentines Day happens.

Valentines Day is not huge in Australia. There are cards, choccies and flowers around, but nothing like some of the traditions in the US surrounding this day that's all about love.

My hubby and I have  never celebrated Valentines Day, although I think I have made him a card for the past couple of years- its a good opportunity to remind him in writing just how much I love him *aww*

But I decided this year that Valentines Day is a perfect opportunity for us as a family to tell eachother why we love eachother. We should be doing this every day- and I often see my girls sharing a special moment- a hug, kiss, apology, sharing a toy or making room on the couch when 'Octonauts' is on. But I like the idea of having a special day to celebrate that together.

So I have made and hung my first ever Valentines Day decoration (made with a piece of dowling, ribbon and paper hearts). Its just a simple wall hanging in the entrance of our home, letting visitors know that there's plenty of love in this house.

As the day draws closer I will be making little pouches for each of them to decorate and then will be encouraging each of them to write a note to each member of the family to let them know what they love about them (in the case of the little 2, I will sit with them and scribe, of course ;)

So, brace yourselves for plenty of Norris lovin' this February :)

Love Gubby xo

A wooly situation

Well, I decided this year that I would wrap my gifts in brown paper with some coloured twine. But I left my twine-buying a little late and couldn't get my hands on the colours I wanted.
But, in a moment of pure genius, I bought some coloured wool from K-mart for $3 a ball and the effect is really effective.

My Christmas decorations are pink/purple/blue, so I purchased a pink/purple ball, one with different shades of blue and one in green.

So, that's my Christmas craft for today.
Love Gubby xo

Its beginning to look a lot.... more pink!

We have finally put up our Christmas tree. Last year we bought a new tree and decorations for the first time since we were married- I chose the pink/purple/teal combo- we have 3 girls, why not just give in to the pink?!?

So here's the loungeroom:

And here are our 4 different types of Christmas tree- all to theme, of course ;)

I have also put up the gorgeous nativity that my Mum bought for us when Francesca was younger. She wanted something that was cute for the kids, but nice enough for Mummy to want to put up in her loungeroom for Christmas.

And now begins the process of reminding my daughters of what Christmas is all about...

"That God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Wishing you all the best for the festive season,
Love Gubby xo

Super Francesca

My biggest baby turned 6 in November. Much to her mother's delight, she chose a 'superhero' theme; a nice break from the pink that defines my life :P

And with the help of wonderful friends and family it was an absolutely perfect day and a wonderful party.

Decorations were red, blue and silver- very super hero- and my hubby placed all of our dolls houses etc in the entrance, so guests had to 'leap a tall building' to get into the party!

Everyone went to great effort to get into the party mood. My sisters and Momo were Zap, Kapow and Boink and did a great job of playing the villians for the day.

As you can see, the kids had such a wonderful time chasing and being chased by Zap- the world's most dramatic bad-guy!

My littlest Super Girl. Doesn't she make your heart melt?!

And here's my middle-sized Super Girl. Her super power is the ability to eat more than any human who has ever lived!

How many aunty/niece combos do you think have such an awesome photo in their collection?!

I was really disappointed with the cake- but she's 6- she loved everything about the day and the kids will eat any cake, especially if its chocolate

Goodie bags included some green 'kryptonite' candy, a small water gun for fighting grime, a couple of glow bracelets, some 'kapow' candy and some galactic popping candy

And here she is... my beautiful big girl. I love the way this photo captures her so brilliantly.