Just arrived: too much cuteness

Just arrived at Casa Ribena: my cute, cute, cute order from Mooo. They specialise in customising their already adorable designs with your child's name. Hugo's already LOVING his backpack (first pic) and he and his big brother are never taking off their new t-shirts!!!. Here's what else I'm loving...

Chalk board stickers (luurve the woodland animals), personalised wall art, very cool invitations for parties, faaaaabulous birth announcements, adorable name labels, pencil case, library bags, and more...

And thanks to Mooo and Canberra's Got Style we have a giveaway for some lucky Canberra kids. I have a few sample goodies for the first kids with the right names!!! Items are below...

"Ryan" t-shirt size 2; "Harry" Backpack; "Natasha" wall art

First in, best dressed!!!

Love Nina x

Don't miss: Mathilda's Market

Canberra's little market for the best handmade kids goodies...

Too cute!
Love Nina x

Have you met MissChief Maker?

Nestled into the gorgeous gardens of Rodney's Pialligo, there lies a treasure trove of the coolest and prettiest goodies for kids and mums - and with a cafe and playground at the door step - it couldn't get more decadent (if you have tiny ball & chains like I do!).

Misschief Maker, housed in it's own little (new) rustic shack is run by Canberra mum Katie Dawson, and is entirely stocked by women and mums, busily hand making lamps, clothing, acccessories, toys and more - including 13 Canberran's! Plus a range of pre-loved threads for little ones.

Now's the time to check it out though, because, not only is the weather perfect for lolling in the gardens with a cold drink, but Katie is running a "gold sticker sale" for February - in time to make room for Autumn stock arriving soon. With loads of handmade clothes marked down up to 30% off and the big kids back to school this week, bring your pre-schoolers... I'll meet you there!

Goregoussss!

Love Nina x

Kids in style: Riley and the Sleeping Quarters

Gorgeous Canberran Blogger, author of "Beijing Tai Tai" and childrens book "Riley and The Sleeping Dragon" and busy mum, Tania McCartney recently revealed the spaces she designed for her two, Ella and Riley, so cute I just had to share them with you...

"We absolutely love art in our house. These are canvases stretched with vintage fabric found on ebay and I got the black and cream paintings in Beijing. The cartoon portrait was done of Ella in San Diego and the black and white photo with the cut out of a fairy Ella was something I designed for an article in beijingkids magazine."

"I began collecting wooden toys (above) for Ella when we first moved to Beijing. Such a shame she'll soon be turning 9 and will be well grown out of such things... maybe I can buy them for ME."

And in Riley's room, Tania has done a stellar job of fending off offending primary colours and Disney characters so plentifully on offer... The bed linen is adorable, who doesn't love monkeys?!

And while Tania ponders whether it is time to 'mature' their rooms, she's happy to savour the innocense a while longer, "Isn't decorating a process not an end?". So true Tania!

Beautiful rooms Tania, though I completely understand the need to make changes.

And make sure you check out Tania's books, they are both a great read,

love Nina x

Got it: Luft wall decals

Well who could possibly resist???

Luft wall decal set in white, Kikki-K

I'm thinking these WHITE stickers will be perfect for my little boy's room as an addition to the hand painted white tree silhouette (on an adjacent wall though)...

Hugo's room has just been featured on gorgeous baby decore site Spearmint Baby ! He's out of the cot though and now sleeps in a convertible toddler bed (Ikea 'Vikare' - best thing ever).

How to: Keep your style with Kids

Written by Barbara Fisher - one of the most stylish mums I know...

I’m an aesthetics person. I like it when things look pretty and ordered and well designed. So you can just imagine that upon discovering I was pregnant, along with the pre-requisite amounts of joy at bringing a new life into the world, there was a certain level of horror. Would I be expected to embrace primary colours? Was it really necessary for a child to have toys? And would I become one of those mothers that carries a teensy weensy Dorothy the Dinosaur backpack around on my shoulder?

Months passed, and in time I realised that I actually wouldn’t have to sacrifice all sense of taste and style to incorporate this new little person into my life. Difficult it would be, yes. Wading through store upon store filled with fluffy bear emblazoned bedding and hot pink and purple frilly lampshades was nearly enough to make me stick hot pins in my eyes. People buy this stuff? They live with it every day? And they think it looks good? Whoa. I decided to soldier on and try and achieve some sort of balance between an attractive, well designed home ... and A CHILD.

The first place I started: the nursery. I really wanted to do something tasteful, but a room that a growing child would find stimulating and happy to be in. Ignoring anything aimed at the babies/children market, I found a beautiful Les Olivades fabric at Arteforge and used it as my inspiration. I gave my wonderful friend {yours truly - Ninaribena} a very loose brief to create a quilt and some cushions (below) and of course she didn’t fail me.

Using the fabric as my colour palette, I painted a striped feature wall and enlisted the help of another creative friend, Erin, to paint a simple tree mural (below) on the opposite wall. A couple of pieces of artwork and some new light fixtures and the effect is girly and feminine without being too brash or overtly childish. Phew, managed to escape without a single primary colour or Pooh Bear in sight.

Not so lucky in the playroom. Yes, one thing I realised quickly: children do need toys. These are purely so Mummy can still shop on the net without being disturbed. In the beginning, I tried to limit the amount of brightly coloured, plastic toys that my daughter had available to her. But you soon come to realise that with presents and hand-me-downs, coupled with the fact that some of these toys are the ones that actually occupy them the longest, attempts to ban them completely are in vain. Hence, your most important friend at this point: STORAGE.
God bless IKEA. On the other hand, damn the gods of IKEA for not deeming Canberra worthy enough to have one. The number of trips I have had back from Sydney, sitting sideways in the backseat, face squished against the window, flat packs piled up to the roof. Sigh. These are the things you do to hide the ugly.

The only way to pretend the ugly stuff doesn’t exist is to hide it away. Simple white storage units, baskets and clear plastic tubs are my weapons of choice. I found the best result was to give my little girl her own dedicated playroom, then everything can (pretty much) be contained to just the one area that looks like a hurricane has passed through, rather than the whole house.

Most of us don’t have the luxury of unlimited space, and my husband and I decided to sacrifice our dining room to make way for the playroom. I was dead against this idea in the very beginning (whilst still under the illusion I could limit the number of toys), as our lounge room flows right onto the playroom and is in full view – so I really didn’t want it to look like some giant toy monster had vomited right next to the place we relax and entertain. Following the same sort of principles I had applied to the nursery, I used the same colour palette we already had working in our lounge room to flow through into the playroom. I tried to choose fun items that don’t necessarily scream CHILD, but that provide a bit of stimulation and fun for a two year old just lookin’ to have a good time.

I bought a cheap old kids table and chairs from the Burley Griffin Antique Centre for $20 and painted it white, recovering the table top in a vintage style Dick & Jane fabric followed by thick plastic (great for Play doh and painting as it just wipes down). In terms of seating for plonking down to watch the telly, I invested in a Cocoon Couture beanbag in understated colours that wouldn’t be too garish when left in the lounge room. However, after several visits to her little friends houses, my little girl became obsessed with those little lounges that fold out. My husband came home with shocking news one day, telling me he had nearly bought her a hot pink Dorothy the Dinosaur version from Big W. Nooooooooo. I did a bit of research and red and white gingham lounge was delivered pronto from online store Sitting Pretty Kids . It sits happily in the corner of the lounge room attracting no attention whatsoever. Ahhh, happy days.

So, my point is that you can do it. You can actually have a child and still maintain a certain level of style within your home. Let’s face it, your house is never going to look like one of those places straight out of a magazine with no sign that a living, breathing child actually exists in that space. But that’s OK. I didn’t go though the excruciating pain of childbirth to have nothing to show for it. I still go ‘aawwww’ when I see one of her teeny little shoes left lying on the floor after she’s gone to bed, and take a minute to marvel in that fact that she’s actually ours. Then, of course, it’s promptly whipped up and put away into it’s little hidey hole, until prying little fingers scatter everything about again the very next day.

Thank you so much Barb, I too enjoy the challenge of designing my home around my kids... and my home doesn't look like it should be in a magazine most of the time either!

Love Nina x

Don't miss: Mathilda's Market

On this weekend is Canberra's first Mathilda's Market, fabulous niche market that offers unique, stylish and affordable baby and kids wares that are lovingly handmade, from limited production or simply divine.

Discover a vast variety of funky, unique and gorgeous clothing (for example organic cotton, vintage, 70's, etc) wooden letters, canvasses, soft & wooden toys, soft leather shoes, travel activity packs, room decor, bags, paintings, fun & personalised accessories, vintage-inspired products, musical instruments, handcrafted jewellery, fairy & dress up costumes & accessories, hair accessories, doll houses & accessories, linen, sleepwear, scooters and so much more! And all this for your little ones ... it's a kid's shopping haven.

Most stall holders do not have a shop front, so you know you'll find something special, not available anywhere else. And some of my Canberran 'Mumtrepreneur' friends will be there including Emma from Brindabella Baby, Posie from Posie Patchwork, Jen from Red Instead and Charlie Mac of Wombagully Wonders. And just returned to Canberra from living in Bejing, author and busy mum Tania McCartney will be signing her books, Riley and the Sleeping Dragon and Beijing Tai Tai.

Sunday 5 April 2009 - Manuka Oval (Bradman Room), Manuka Circle, Griffith. From 10am to 2pm, plenty of free parking available, and a lift for those with prams.

Fabulous, I'll be there! Hope you have a beautiful weekend,

*Update*

Check out Tania McCartney's wrap of the event with loads of GORGEOUS images

Love Nina x