Three sleeps- Christmas Countdown...

Three sleeps and counting here on the beaches...

It's been a few big weeks here on a personal note: with poorly family and the sooo long-awaited arrival of our bestest friends from the UK...

After a fab roll of crafts and Christmas, I just sort of needed to stop for a while and to take stock of life.

I'm very, very, very happy that I started early with my Christmas gifts and decorating, as it would not have had much attention over the last few weeks had I left it to the last minute!

For once, being ahead of myself has totally paid off BIG time.

So...how are you all going...THREE SLEEPS PEEPS!!

Seriously it's almost here...at last.

I have a house full here and we are getting into the festive spirit...a ferry load have head into Sydney City to see sharks at the Aquarium, and to bathe in the beauty that is Sydney in Summer on the doorstep of Christmas.

I'm planning Christmas lunch- sorting lists of what still needs buying and what needs re-thinking.

I've some last gifts to wrap and my big gal and I are decorating a few more *lunch-areas* ready for the big day.

The breeze is cool, the sun is hot, the sky is hazy and the cicadas are loud...

It's Sydney in Summer.

Do you find that the last few days before Christmas almost the least frantic?

I seem to save these last days, unknowingly, to do all the fun stuff...movie watching...mince pie eating...calm last wrapping...shrine building!

Hoping you are having a wonderful lead up to Christmas wherever you are in the world...

It's been so simply lovely watching our English friends take in a warm Christmas Down Under...and after the few weeks we've had here, nothing makes me happier than seeing them sitting across our table, day in and day out as Summer rolls on...

Melissa xx

*Get Your Christmas Craft On- Day 6*

Good morning from the Coast of Australia...

Today- Day 6 of *Christmas Crafting* is happening in the beautiful space of my friend Alicia's blog

*La Famille*...

She's a wonderful mum to four, and blogs about family, crafting, home decor and life... 

For this month of December she is sharing Christmas Crafts with various Guest Bloggers -

~Handmade Giving 2013~

You can find today's (my *Day 6 of simple Christmas Crafting*) HERE

Love you to pop over and say G'day to Alicia- and hope you love today's craft!

Melissa xox

*Get Your Christmas Craft On*- Day 3

Hi hi hi...welcome to Day 3 of *Get Your Christmas Craft On*.

Hope you'e been inspired so far to get a little festive and to start planning for the holidays.

Today is another *use what you have* craft post.

Christmas needn't cost a fortune each year...creating simple, beautiful pieces for your home is totally do-able and incredibly rewarding.

Although I'm partial to a little glam at Christmas- for me it only works when sitting alongside natural styling, and simple hand made pieces...think nordic, coastal, minimal glamour!

We find our garden to be full of inspiration most of the year- I'm always dragging in branches for oversized glass vases on our side board...or sticking large succulents in stainless steel buckets from the hardware store and the like.

Whilst I love sweet flowers, I don't tend to have many large vases of flowers around, preferring instead large bunches of greenery, and smaller prettier vases of flowers and colour.

So in this project, my eldest daughter made up an oversized wooden Christmas star, from the branches of a crepe myrtle tree we had just trimmed.

It's as always, a simple, achievable project...

You will need:

5 branches- stripped of any twigs/leaves & of a similar length.
A ball of simple brown string- although a beautiful colourful Christmas colour would also be lovely.
A string of white fairy lights- again if you are all about colour at Christmas, throw on some party lights.

To create your Holiday Star:

1.

Lay out your sticks in the most visually pleasing star shape- they will sit differently due to slight    differences in each stick shape- there will be a *best* way though, so be patient.

2.

Knot each corner join (the five points of the star), and then each cross stick (there should be five of   these too).

3.

Again tie each join with fresh string, to neaten and cover the knots on all ten positions. (It's worth it 

I promise you!) 

4.

Position the star and wrap with fairy lights. This is beautiful on an outdoor serving table, or a window

sill by the front door etc.

We love ours so much that it's been lighting up our home each night since Ella made it...there is nothing like fairy lights to get a home holiday ready!

We had it on our outdoor serving table for Sunday dinner, and it's now sitting on a ledge in our front window that can be seen from the garden....

Simple.
Natural.
Home.

Hope you're inspired to up-cycle again from your garden, or your neighbours, or your mum's...this star will dry in time, and be beautiful for years to come.

Smaller versions would be gorgeous as the final touch to your gift wrapping

Simple white butchers paper, brown string or red & white baker's twine, and a hand made wooden star.

A few of them strung across a window and entwined with fairy lights would be magic on Christmas Eve...the uses are endless, and the cost nothing but an hour or two of holiday planning.

Enjoy!

Melissa x

*Get Your Christmas Craft On*- Day 1

Morning all from our little place by the Sea...

As Christmas is literally *50* days away- I thought today was the perfect day to start a new Christmas series here on the blog...

Introducing all you Crafty...Bloggy...Christmas-loving friends to...

*Get your Christmas Craft On*

A series of simple, lovely, making-memories crafting in the lead up to the Holidays.

This series is all about~

Using what you have.
Up-cycling where possible.
Embracing making memories.
Using your creative heart.
Finding your inspiration in the simple things.
A.N.D
Loving your home whether it be by the Coast or blessed by snow.

Today...

The Christmas wreath...we all have one~ and ours tends to remain on some wall all year in various forms!

There are many many many cheap and cheerful wreaths in the shops at this time of year- the world over!
They are pretty average up close...they say nothing about your home, or your family...and most get thrown out as the New Year kicks in, only to be re-purchased again the following year.

This craft will fill your heart, allow your creativity to be imperfect and random, and will make you smile year after year as you add to it...

As mad & dedicated gardeners now in this little beach house- I always often have a huge green recycling bin of garden offcuts- vines, branches, leaves etc.

Now's the time to see these offcuts in a new light.
I made our large Christmas wreath here out of jasmine vines that needed serious pruning.

I twisted & gathered the vines in a ring whilst the vines were freshly cut- and allowed the wreath to dry out in the fresh air before banging another nail in the wall carefully attaching a hook to the wall & hanging it by our sofa's.

The vines can be secured using very fine hardware wire or simply using smaller vines as ties to hold it all together.

I can't tell you how simple & rewarding making this wreath is...nature inside the home for Christmas.

Nothing says Christmas for our family more than *fairly lights*.

I can't imagine Christmas Eve without endless rows of them all over the garden & in many rooms in our house.

Their voltage is low & electrical usage nothing. The smaller battery operated sets allow you to hang them in all those places that you don't have a power outlet.

In the photos here- the battery box is blu-tacked to the wall behind the gorgeous french *1*, that was made for me by a bloggy friend, whilst we were living in England.

Each home has it's own Christmas traditions...it's own people...it's own decor...this wreath can be loved for years by adding what makes your family happy over the holidays.

For my little family here by the Sea- fairy lights, stainless steel industrial decorations, a good whallop of blue & bucketfuls a good dose of flotsam & jetsam we've collected over the year around the world says Christmas.

Get your Christmas Craft On.

Get your children involved...
Collect your inspiration & spend an hour with a cup of tea making your own Christmas wreath this year...

I'll be sharing all we make here as a family in the lead up to Christmas- there is something so lovely about sharing and inspiring one another for the holidays...

Cheeers to a Creative Heart for the Holidays!

Melissa x

Happy Christmas Day...from Down Under...

Happy Christmas lovely bloggy friends....

Have a wonderful day & thanks for being here with me...

Hope you & your families have a perfect day...

xxxxx

a moving from the English countryside to the beaches of Australia up-date x

evening lovely bloggy gals...


it is soooo nice to sit  with you...glass of wine in hand...mince pies & pistachios beside me...

in the wonderful *once-was-victorian-old-now-new* apartment we have moved into...

a little moment to ourselves...after a massive day of helping removal men start to move us back to the 


beaches of Oz...it feels good...it feels exhausting...

it feels like the end of something wonderful & the beginning of something deliciously familiar...

so the apartment is on our village Green, overlooking the Irish Sea...


it is the P.E.R.F.E.C.T place to finish up our 4 years in the English Countryside...

it's simple, beautiful & very different to the *gathered, loved, collected boho* of our house...

i need different at the moment...i need simple & laid out & organised...

the apartment is a big old house divided into 12 huge, individual apartments...

we are a family of 5 living in 1/12th of a house...i cant quite get my head around how one would live

in it's entirity....but people did...

anyway....aside from space & simplicity...according to Miss.A we needed a tree...


i do love me some doilies...{see here, here & here }

& i do love me an instant *god-what-have-we-not-packed* Christmas tree...

we had not packed a packet of doilies & a set of Christmas lights...

the *trunk* was to be binned...one can't take random Scottish drift wood back into Ox apparently... :-(

but i grabbed it outa the bin on my upteenth trip to the apartment from the house today...

ceeeeute huh!!??

so with the *tree* up...i set upon my usual *go-to* packing snack- mince pies...


if you've ever had a virtual Christmas coffee with me {see here & here}...

you'd know that mince pies are my *between-every-meal* sustenance...

i have lived on them for at least the last week or two...

i'm ok with that...the local mince pie makers are ok with that...

i'd send you home with a batch if you popped past the apartment...

i pulled out a fresh batch last night to do a bit of Santa letter writing with Miss.A...


she's 6 & very concerned that Father Christmas may not know of all our moving...

i assured her that 12,000 miles, 5 days before Christmas by a family of 5, does not go un-noticed by

Mr.Claus....she's not quite so sure...

so we cracked open a mince pie & sent him a little reminder of our movements... :-)

super gorgeous sweet...all done with very intense concentration & a lot of photo moments...

the kiddos have been amazing...


the changes are by the hour now...we have moved out of our family home...

but they are ready...they are soo wonderful...

we've had moments...but they all seem on track today...they are all soo excited today...

& let me tell you sweet friends- if you ever move your kiddos across the world, you will know that

you take it one day at a time...

we did that to get here- & we are doing it going home...

Santa has a very special...this is where we are at...letter heading his way...


we have a seriously cool...made out of what we didn't pack doily Christmas tree...

we are having dinners & drinks with all our beloved local friends...

& half our big old country house is packed in moving crates...

life is good...i feel settled tonight...i needed this moment....

& i need a few more this week...

it's lovely to have a moment to *check* in with you all...


to centre myself...have a little *me* time with you here...

i am loving all your messages, emails, comments, tweets...all of it keeps me happy...

all of it gives me a moment *away* from what i have to do each day to get us home...

i love you for that...if i haven't replied- i'm hoping to...but i need to prioritise & have a serious time

frame...

i know you'll be here for me...the boat won't wait...the crates need sorting!

see you over the weekend...love to you all....

xoxox

Christmas luggage tag stamping- avoidance heaven!

morning from ol'Blighty...


just saying that whilst i still can... 


we're outa this beautiful, big old house that has been our home for almost 4 years on monday...

& there is a huge part of my heart that just wants to throw it in a crate & have it sent to Australia with us...

so when the end gets nearer...& the decision making becomes more demanding...i have a fail-safe

way of just ignoring it all for a bit...

is it just me...or do you too put some big moments on hold...& just for a little moment climb 


into your safety net & do something so totally unrelated that you can switch off...


wooden stamps...luggage tags...typeface...my kinda nothing...

total escape...HEAVEN...IGNORANCE...whatever you want to call it- i needed it...

after an enormous day of decision making yesterday...with the hubster home from work...


two minds better than one sorta thing...


i just needed to switch off...not decision make...not file...not think...

& so i made tags...Christmas tags...as many as i could till i was ready to make bigger decisions

again...

you see...i'm one of those people who's *surroundings* influence their emotions BIG time...


i need the things that make me tick around me...

visually i need it to be my kinda right...i've always been like this...

it's not that i place value on monetary objects at all...it's all the small things that tweak my memories...

& my heart- that make my space about our family...about me...

the drawings...the notes...the photos...the bits of shell & collected stones...

Ritchie & the kids are so used to it...my parents are so used to it...my {B.B} is so used to it...

i can't remember the last time we travelled somewhere, that i didn't *sort out* our room somehow...

so now...whilst all that is *us* is being packed up...& i know i can't surround myself with these

things till March next year- i'm getting twitchy...i'm tag making...

it's all about keeping sane & big picture focused apparently... ;-)

so...my moments of *non-decision-making-me-time* now involve hanging out with you here 


blogging & making a ridiculous amount of Christmas tags...


forgive me this one little vice...{12,000 miles} is a long way...there's mucho decision making

happening here....

so visions of this....

piles of our beloved, collected memories...

& our aussie passports....

turn me to this...

if i worked in some corporate office- i suppose i'd be an example of an *avoidance strategist*...


how to not get where you need to be...


but as i'm in uggs & a loved old jumper, piling up our life to move 12,000 miles home to

 {the beaches in Australia}...you're just gonna have to run with me.... :-)

love you for being here...

coming on this journey home from the English countryside to the beaches of Oz with me....

& letting me hide in my *stamping-Christmas-tags-vice* along the way...

have a wonderful weekend

hug your kiddos

savour your moments

&

let me know if you have more avoidance-me-time strategies up your sleeve for a packing up her life mama!

xoxox


~~~


stamps from amazon: {here}

vintage milk bottles & decorating for Christmas with what you already love...

december *2- vintage milk bottles,  jars,  rolls of ribbon...& Christmas...


there's something about jars & jugs & bottles of greenery at Chritstmas...


especially if you've just lugged a trolley around a huge store loading up for a *Farewell England*

party that you are throwing on Sunday- & then lugged it into the car...& then into the house...

it's just nice to be surrounded by something simple...& Christmas-y...& not to do with

lugging...

all year i love big bunches of flowers...


it's actually the *one thing* i've not really gone a week without, here in ol'Blighty...


especially as the weather really pushes those * i-need-some-colour-desperately-in-my-life* 


buttons... 

wild overgrown peonies in the english summer...

big branches of frangipanni in the australian summer...

greenery & berries at Christmas from the garden...

christmas time is all about *simple* for us...our kids have thought we *under-do* Christmas


since seeing how my gorgeous B.B {british bestie} does Christmas decor...


{& just for the record BB i'm so fine with them loving you more....x}


but it's all about simple- especially this year...with the {move back to out beach house *Down Under*}


simple budget friendly decoration...


simple household items used with a new Christmas twist...

home made goodies thrown together with one or two special pieces that can be pulled out year

after year...

i love anything tarnished...white & this year it seems red....


i pull out the same baubles each year...there's apparently never enough of them nor are they wildly

coloured enough for the kids...in my book this is a good sign ;)

kids & christmas- most of it "perfect"...some of it "hmmmm"...but that's what a playroom is for ;)

so...back to the simple use-what's-around-your-house-decorating...


vintage milk bottles- awesome yes...but i also bung candles in old jam jars...berries in long pasta

sauce jars, greenery in small tonic water bottles & berries in tin cooking pots...

vases are just not necessary when your mixing bits from your house together, uniting them with

a Christmas twist...

this year- because we can't go all out till we get home to Oz- it's ribbon all the way here....

i'll be lugging all these bits to our farewell Sunday- along with some good old fashioned 


paper-chains that miss.6 is crazy slightly obsessed with producing by the acre...


so...rounding up Christmas deco's from round the house is the way to go- up-cycling...recycling...

vintage loving- call it what you like- there is something special about using what you already love

& giving it a Christmas re-vamp...

& just to give you a little insight into what my loving, patient husband walks through & 


around on a regular basis...{yep toilet roll on table & all !}...


god love him- he makes me tea & pours me a glass of wine around all this...

whilst i light the fire...he smiles at my piles of gathered goodies dumped scattered around the house...

he checks in on this here blog & he lets me know what he thinks of the pickies...

he knows that our house is a home because of all these bits...& i love that he smiles & he nods...

& he takes the long way round our sitting room...

happy decorating 

with all the *bits* you already

live with & love

let me know if you've got any plane friendly

20th of December airport appropriate deco's 

i need to be making!

see ya monday

xox

december 1...advent pockets to fill with love...

morning lovely bloggy friends...


we had a mid week teacher's strike here yesterday & therefore a house full of extra's...

so not all my boxes were ticked- which i'm needing to do each & every day now that we are *in*

the month of our huge {move back} to the beautiful beaches of sydney...


so...after a morning of balance (you know those mornings- & it wasn't the kids!)...

the ever patient, every gorgeous husband took all the kids to school...

& i'm sitting here, with a strong cup of tea...thinking bout filling advent pockets...

not life altering i realise ;) but about all i can manage this morning...one of those mornings people...!

for our three kiddos, age irrelevant, the *advent calendar* is a special lead up to the big day...


they've all gone off to school this morning anticipating the opening of the first advent goodies

this afternoon...


some years we've had little fabric squares on string lines across the windows...


some years we've done the desperate easy quick-it's-the-flippin-first-of-december-store-bought 

chocolate calendar boxes, with the flip open windows...

you know the ones...awful, loud, disney inspired {!!??}...yet do the job...

this year we needed something simple...that could survive a mid-advent flight {home to Australia},

whose daily pockets could be filled with more than chocolate coins...& that was made with love

by me, for them, in the house we have loved in the english countryside, for so long...

so...the squares were cut...the french numbers stamped...the pieces sewn together...


& this morning i am going for a quiet, simple wander to fill those pockets...

english sweets...some little english souvenirs...little reminders of our time here together...

by Christmas day we will be sitting in the sand, drinking smoothies & wondering what the cold

felt like...

so taking this advent calendar home on December 20 & opening one day in Dubai & the

remaining days in the sunshine just makes this year's calendar all the more special...

at this time of year- life can be a tricky balance...

remember the simple things are often the loveliest memories...

~~~~~~~

a shared thought: yesterday an incredibly brave mother from our little school lost her long fight with cancer...


her two beautiful children were blessed to have had her guide them for as long as she could...


today please just take a moment to look at your children...
& to love them that little bit more...


Karen will always be an inspiration in my mind & though there are many tears- her smile is what i will recall each & every time we passed with school bags, scooters & *good morning's*...


thank you for the small *moment* of time in which i knew you Karen- your children will continue to be loved & watched over at school by their many gentle friends...

xoxox

Memories of London & a Christmas Ribbon winner...

virtual coffee gals...


london style...


though today my lovelies it is tea...


black tea as i have a very yucky tummy...


black tea in the most divine mug from a very special {friend}...

london was divinely perfect...


the kids cruised round that city like it was home...

it was another reminder for us that travel is one of the best gifts you can give a child...

they embraced the ever-changing scenes of London life, with the thoughtfulness & enthusiasm that we

have seen in them endlessly since we have brought them to live abroad...

this time- i didn't record every moment of our days in London...


it was about making the kind of memories that fill your heart with friends & fave spots...

taking it all in...wanting to hold the moment of a city we love for a little longer...

St.Paul's made my heart sing...we saw the {tent city} that has taken hold here- amazing...


the kids learnt about the *realities* of big city life...

they learnt about the frustrations that people face across the globe- they made us so proud...

the questions later, the understanding...the compassion...

we loved the christmas lights...the traffic...the people...

we loved the air of excitement...the history...the shopping...

we walked through lanes...visited iconic landmarks...had our last fix...

& we looked at one another- for the last time in london during our wonderful four year 


journey to this side of the globe- & we smiled...


we've lived it...we've loved every moment...we've made lasting memories & cherished friends...

we've done it as a family- & we couldn't be prouder of what we've created...

if you ever get the chance to just sit on the banks of the Thames...with kiddos in tow...

do it...

it's one of life's small blessings...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

&

 

onto the give away

...drum roll...

{sarah from Red Gingham}

xoxox