Beth's pARTy: the finished canvas!

This past weekend I hosted a 5th birthday pARTy for my middle daughter. If its not obvious from the unusual use of upper/lower case it was an ART theme (I posted a pic of the invitation a couple of weeks ago ;)

An art supplies buffet... to cut down on the sugar!

This was the sign we put up at the front of the house

 My 4 favourite aspects of the theme were:

1) The art/craft tables

2) The dessert buffet (minus the dessert ;)

3) Art palette cookies

4) The cake!

1) I had 6 art/craft activities outside: decorated paper mache boxes, cards, foam finger puppets, paper cutouts, foam bracelets and portraits (pictured above are my eldest and her Nanny, getting all creative :)

I had a selection of art smocks as well as a bucket of warm, soapy water and towels, so the kids could wash their hands onsite and not have to traipse through the house with paint or glue on their hands.

2) The art supplies buffet was my favourite feature. Dessert/candy buffets always look amazing, but its just a ridiculous amount of sugar, so I decided on a more parent-friendly option and created a table of colourful art/craft supplies for the kids to fill their party boxes.

Mini water paints: Party Shop (Mornington)
Mini scissors: Reject Shop
Crayon erasers: Reject Shop
Rainbow crayons: Reject Shop
A5 and A6 paper rolls: Reject Shop
White boxes: Pack It In

I also had several lolly options available, but you could easily leave the lollies out all together.


3) I saw these adorable paint palette cookies on a blog (cutest little things) and really wanted to make them, but I couldn't find a palette cookie cutter anywhere. So I took DIY to a whole new level and made my own cookie cutter. I found one in my collection that was the closest to the shape I wanted and used a pair of pliers to bend the metal into the shape. The above photo isn't a great angle, but I was too busy with the party that this one was taken by my 8 year old ;)

4) And of course, for those of us who grew up with the Women's Weekly birthday cake book, the cake is always the most important thing at any party. As a kid, I would spend the weeks and months leading up to my birthday pouring over those pages, choosing the cake with the most lollies/chocolate/biscuits/icing-to-cake ratio.

Now that I am a mum, I am at the other end of the experience, watching as my girls angst over which cake they want- cake is too important to leave until the last minute!

This one was a no-brainer, with an artist's palette cake right there for me to emulate. I added another fun touch by colouring the cake batter and creating a rainbow marbled effect inside the cake.

Beth's mouth was full of food when she blew out the candle. For anyone who knows Beth, this is not at all suprising- that girl LOVES food so much, there's no activity worth interrupting a meal for ;)

Decor was really anything brightly coloured, or vaguely art themed and there was so much available in $2 shops, Reject Shop and party supplies websites- I could have spent a small large fortune on party favours and crafts.

But for Beth, as it should be for all 5 year olds, my efforts paled into comparison to spending the morning with friends and family she loves!

Please post any questions below and I will attempt to answer them as fully as I can.

Love Gubby xo

(Warning: Gratuitous nephew photos)

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

Fathers' Day

My wonderful husband recently traveled for work- he was gone 5 weeks and left me alone with our 3 kids. But he arrived home in time for Fathers' Day... how convenient ;)

We helped my sister move house on the day, so Fathers' Day was pretty low-key, but I wanted to share a couple of ideas that helped make it a special day.

In time for his arrival home from his travels, I framed a gorgeous printable that I found (today's creative blog). I wanted him to know how special he is to us:

I had to prepare a fathers' day related craft for the MOPS group I attend. Cards are a good, simple craft and everyone needs a card at Fathers' Day.

Again, I found an adorable tutorial on The Gold Jelly Bean (seriously, what did we do before Pinterest?) and amended it slightly for a simpler, quicker design. My friend, Janine, used to insist that macaroni is not for grown-up craft, but I think even she would agree that this is an acceptably cute use of uncooked pasta... even for grown-ups!

So its late, but I hope that the ideas are fun, inspiring and useful.

Love Gubby xo

10 years and going strong

This April my husband and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary!

Again, the challeng of hand-making a gift for my most beloved exerted some real pressure on me. I wanted it to be something I had made (obviously), that expressed my love for him, that was significant enough for a 10th Anniversary and that was masculine.

I found this gorgeous idea for an embroidered 'love tree' (from Cat on a Limb). I used hessian and embroidery thread, and picked up the frame for $5 from Spotlight. I was really pleased with the result.

Hanging in the loungeroom- that's a good sign that he liked it :D

We enjoyed a dinner with family and friends on the evening of our anniversary and I surprised everyone by appearing in my wedding dress!!

As you can see, its been a busy 10 years for us ;)

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life- every day I am more aware of just how awesome this is :D

Love Gubby xo

Easter bonnet parades... a modern day sham?!

My daughter is in grade 2 and so this will be our 3rd Easter bonnet parade.

As a crafty, I have SO many ideas for the kind of bonnet I would like to make- the internet is full of amazingly creative ideas for the kind of bonnet one can make, materials one can use and looks one can achieve.

But I try very hard to remember that my girl has ideas of her own. This is another wonderful activity for her to direct. Its relatively simple, has no life or death consequences, but allows her to work her creative muscles, direct a small project and then display her work in public.

I also understand that my job as 'Mum' is to develop lifelong independence. If I make all her choices and do all her things now, how will she learn what she dis/likes, what she is and is not capable of, what works and what doesn't??

And so I have (painfully) left it entirely to her (my only involvement has been sourcing goods and holding 2 things together so she can staple them herself... lop-sided, of course :P)

I must say, I am really disappointed that the prizes seem to go to the bonnets that are most obviously made by the mums.... NOT the kids. I am all for Mums being involved, but perhaps we should have a bonnet parade for Mums, so the kids can have this one back!

Do you struggle keeping your hands off your kids' projects too?

I hope many more mums will join me this year in allowing their kids the opportunity to create and display something that is their own making :)

Yours in indignation,
Gubby xo

Stay-at-home-mum- not a job for the weak-hearted!

Late 2011 I made a BIG decision. One I never thought I would make. A decision that scared the life out of me, but that I believed to be important enough to sacrifice my own security for... I decided to resign from my part-time job to be at home full time with my 3 young daughters.

My parenting journey has been one full of drama and excitement- post-natal depression; life-threatening ectopic pregnancy; 3 caesareans and another life and death surgery just for good measure; unplanned pregnancy.

I have not enjoyed being a mum.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids. I think they are pretty awesome as far as kids go- bright, hilarious, inquisitive, beautiful, creative, confident, loving... But the job sucks- bad hours, shocking pay, unresponsive patrons, no sick leave, just to name a few.

I expected that as they grew up they would need me less, but actually found that as they get older they are actually MORE aware of what I am not around for. They want Mum to come and do reading at school, kinder duty, choir practice, Christmas concerts and the numerous and various activities they have on.

I also realised recently that in the past 4 years I went back to work when baby number 2 was 8 months old, fell pregnant with my (unplanned) 3rd child, finished work in time for number 3's arrival, went back to work when she was 6 months old, changed jobs a year later and juggled 3 young kids and work 2 days a week.

I know 2 days doesn't sound that much, but juggling timetables, time away from home when I could be doing cleaning, cooking etc; and the mental seperation required when you have more than 1 job was taking its toll on me, hubby and my kids.

So we made the call that I would resign from paid employment to give myself full-time to my job here at Casa de Norris ;)

I was seriously concerned about not having that time out. Time to go to the toilet on my own. Stimulation, conversation, change of scenery. What if I enjoyed my time with my kids only because I knew I could have time away from them... and now I wouldn't get that time?

But you know what? I am really enjoying myself. Today I was a complete Stepford mum- dressed neatly, shopped for fresh fruit & veg, cut up fruit & veg, baked cakes, prepared dinner, picked up a friend's daughter from kinder, entertained my best friend for the day, oversaw the handyman doing some small maintenance jobs around the house and had the chance to support my husband in some important experiences and decisions.

Days like today are not every day. But they sure feel good when they happen.

Each day I feel a little more confident in my abilities as a mum and more importantly as Mum to these precious little creatures God has put in my care. A good day reminds of why I gave up work and keeps me motivated when the bad days come.

I hope that I can continue to make this a comfortable and nurturing home for my family... and for every person that enters these walls.

I hope today was a good day for you, wherever you are in your life journey.

Love Gubby xo

Pin doctor

So, as you know, after many years of firmly refusing to venture away from paper crafts, I developed a recent and fairly serious obsession with sewing.

On the plus side, there are an endless number of new projects available to me now that I can handle fabric, as well as paper. On the downside, craft stores only used to hold 50% worth of temptation for me. Now when I go to Spotlight, the WHOLE store is a source of temptation. And its worse than just the fabrics themselves as I have not had much time to stock up on fun sewing tools and gadgets, so there's so many things I NEED to look at and consider.

One thing I have been working without is a pin cushion. I bought my pins on a plastic wheel and have been just placing them onto the table beside me as I sew and then carefully putting them back into the wheel when I am done.

Its time consuming and... to be honest, not very pretty! And what better use for my new sewing skills, than to make myself a tool to make my sewing easier.

This one I made for myself, using some Amy Butler remnants I had from a previous project. I love it- its big and colourful- pretty and practical- my 2 favourite things :)

When I took up sewing, my amazingly talented mother-in-law let my rifle through her old stash- she doesn't do much craft these days, but is very capable! She showed me the pin cushion she made when she was in primary school (and the history student in me was super excited :) that was really too small to be practical. So I determined to make her a replacement (the little turtle pin cushion will hang around for posterity, but a new larger pin cushion was needed for practicality).


 And then when I showed my sister-in-law she looked impressed so I thought perhaps she would like one too.

(the tutorial is available at Better Homes & Gardens)



I had also seen a really adorable pin cushion idea, using a frame. I picked up a frame for $1 at the local op shop and put together this one for my other super-talented sister in law. This is much more her style and I was really pleased at how it turned out. This one is fun too, cause you can use it lying flat or prop it up with the stand at the back- just like a photo frame !(tutorial at Spin Cushion)

I am so enjoying the ability to make myself pretty things. I love being able to see something online and have a pretty good go at making it.

Hope your weekend has been as productive as mine.

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 :)

Love letters

I spent this afternoon with my daughters writing Valentines Day notes to eachother.

I bought some red sparkly gift bags from a $2 store and personalised them for each member of the family.

The girls added some embellishments of their own this morning- little punched hearts. Obviously, not enough love hearts for little girls!

I also found another lovely quote for my wall of love.

I can't wait to read all of the notes tomorrow morning. The girls had such lovely things to say about eachother.

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

With every Christmas card I write....

"May your dreams be merry and bright and may all your Christmas' be white."

Well, Christmas in Australia is not white, but the trees on my pretty Christmas cards are white.
I made these in July with my wonderful friend Adele Khoo from Stampin Bliss.

I have set myself up for the writing of the cards- envelopes (labeled), return address labels (from Vistaprint), handmade cards and notecards- with our 'family newsletter' printed on the back.

I love writing my Christmas cards. And I love sending out cards that I have made myself, with love and creativity!

Everything about Christmas is so lovely and pretty and fun!

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

Made with love

In October and November, my husband's extended family celebrate many many birthdays. 8 birthdays in 8 weeks to be precise. This year I decided I would like to hand make some of the gifts for my sisters in law.

Beginning with some kits from Kaisercraft. This one was for my sister-in-law, Lisa. She's a graphic designer, so i wanted something for her desk!

 Cover the kit in paper- these are also Kaisercraft: Peachy Keen. I love this set. There are matching rub-ons and some really cute pearl stickers. 

Assembled

And edges painted

I also made a set of drawers for my other sister-in-law, Paige. Could be used for craft storage, jewellery, make-up. A really compact set but the drawers are quite roomy

Cardigan? Ma-digan!!

Its so wonderful to be surrounded by talented people.
My mum is a knitter. She does beautiful work knitting for my girls.
She is our 'Ma' so when she made Beth and Francesca each a very special cardigan last year, we dubbed them the 'Ma-digan'

I get comments about the Madigan all the time and luckily Ma decided to knit them all a new one this year. She is still working on Francesca's one (yellow) and I don't have a photo of Penny in hers yet, but here's Beth in her latest- with matching beanie! Isn't she adorable?? And don't you love the pose??

Easter egg hunt with the Tarnsie bunny

We spent Easter Sunday with my family. My wonderful sister, Jess, and her puppy, Reuben, hosted a late lunch/early dinner. We had yummy food and great company.

My little sister, Carmel, made the day perfect with a visit from the Tarnsie-bunny:

She printed out little footprints to lay down the path;

She hid eggs, bunnies and chickens for the girls to find. They had such a wonderful time and Beth kept squealing with excitement every time she found some chocolate.

Here are the girls with their booty :) Very proudly holding up their chocolate chickens.

The girls had another wonderful holiday with family. Everyone makes so much effort to make them happy and give them a good time.