Washi Clipboards

Inspired by this…

I finally found the time to do this…

A washi tape clipboard!!!

Will be using this to display pictures on my office wall

Must remember to use a brighter color next time, though  Hahaha!

Doesn’t this post card make you smile?  It’s so happy!  Thanks, heykessy!

Photo of clipboards grabbed from decor8 instagram

Sneak Peek : M’s Flower Power Baby Shower

One of my BFF’s is about to give birth soon!

Not only is her impending delivery something to be excited about, but so is the baby shower we’re throwing for her next weekend!

Another opportunity to be creative and to do some DIY!  Woot!  Woot!

This time around, because I know she’s having a girl, I thought of having a simple, but very dainty and feminine floral party.

I got my inspiration from this Rifle Paper Co stationery design:

Ofcourse, the color motif is pink, blush, peach, white and gold

Here’s a glimpse of what I’ve been working on as part of the decor:

I’m pretty happy with how these paper flowers turned out

What do you think?

More pictures of the party styling next week!

Stay tuned!

Fab Finds : Craft Fair Loot!

I am so excited to share with you all the loot I got last weekend!

As it turned out, there were 2 arts and crafts fairs, and I was lucky to be able to hit both!  Woohoo!

First off was the La Feria En Arte.  It was held at ARTS in the City in BGC.

I was able to score some cute felt items for the little miss…

Aren’t they adorable?

It’s too bad I wasn’t able to get the name of the seller.

I also got these pretty frocks from Silly Monkey Clothing.  I just love the fabric prints!  Cheerful, happy, girly, and perfect for the summer!

My next stop was 10a Alabama–my favorite arts and crafts fair!

It did not disappoint!  Just look at all the treasures I went home with…

01 Postcard from heykessy

02 Notebooks from Spellbound

03 Washi Tape from heykessy

04 Doily Stamp from Sitting Pretty Crafts

05 Little Girl Stamp from Rubber Ducky Stamp Co.

06 Bookplates from InkyLivie

07 Notecards with Envelopes from InkyLivie

Can you believe all these are made by local artists/crafters?  Serious talent, right?

*Sigh*

For now, I live vicariously through these amazing creations.  Hahaha!

Hooray for DIY!  Hooray for arts and crafts!

Today, happiness is…

…a mother-daughter art collaboration!

With nothing planned over the non-working holiday (intentionally so as I had just arrived from two back to back trips!), I was determined to do something creative and fun with the little miss .

I’ve been feeling awfully guilty about not spending enough quality time with her lately (the pitfalls of being a working mom ), so I thought it was time to bust out the watercolors and paint to Katy Perry!  Hahaha!  Yes, my daughter loooooooves dancing to Katy’s music!

A did the lines, while I made the “dots”!

Of all the artworks we produced, this was my absolute favorite!

It’s a good thing I remembered I had a spare frame from SM in our storage cabinet so in a matter of minutes our collaboration was framed and ready for display!

Simple pleasures .

My dose of happy for the day .

What’s In Store + Happy Weekend : March 16-17, 2013

Gaaah!

So many things to do this weekend, so little time!

Here’s what’s in store:

This is a must see!

I’ve been waiting for this since last year!  I can’t wait!

I am sure there will be lots of drool-worthy home stuff here…

Retail therapy is always a good thing…

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!!

Handcraft Holiday

Just before the Christmas madness began, I found time to do one of the things I love to do the most–craft!

Yup, I’m a crafter .  And I’ve been one for as long as I can remember.  When I was little, I used to make lots of things–bookmarks, stationery, comic books, picture frames, jewelry, t-shirts, etc. etc.  I even sold some of them to my classmates !  That didn’t last very long, though, as I discovered that I’m more of a creative rather than a business person–hahaha!

As an adult, I’ve had less time to craft, and I miss it so .   While my job allows me to exercise a lot of creativity, it’s just not the same as making something with my hands . During the few times I’ve had the opportunity, I try to go all out. The last crafty thing I did was the decor for my daughter’s 2nd birthday party. Read all about it here.

So when one of my favorite bloggers, Alessa of lifeafterbreakfast.com, announced that she was holding a Handmade Holiday session, I jumped at the chance and signed up!  I’ve been wanting to join her crafternoons for the longest time, but it’s either I don’t have the time, or I already have something planned for that specific weekend.  However, as fate would have it, December 9 was a rare, free Sunday for me!  Yipee!  So I was super duper excited to participate in this afternoon of crafting and creating .

The Handmade Holiday session was intended for crafters to get together, and make gifts for the special people on their Christmas list.  We were provided with materials such as wooden beads, paints, canvas bags, rubber blocks, kraft paper, stamp pads, wooden tags, etc. etc. so we could create handmade, personalized presents, and even wrap or package them in a creative, unique way.

Earlier on, I had decided I wanted to make some rubber stamps, so that’s what I worked on the entire afternoon.  Here are images of the super fun session:

Alessa also fed us some really yummy snacks while we were crafting–kamote chips and vegetarian lasagna! Sarap!

It was really such a fun afternoon!  I got to meet several crafters, and spent the entire time doing something I love .  I actually got so lost in the moment that I didn’t feel the hours whizz by so fast!  At 5PM, I was super bitin, and equally sad to leave .  Huhuhu  :(.

If anything, this Handmade Holiday session only made me realize how I’d like to do more creative things and pursue more of my passions in 2013.  These have taken a back seat to work and mommy duties lately, but I’ve decided that I’d like to push myself a bit more to make the time this year .  2013 will be MY YEAR to get creative!  Woohoo!

I am so excited!  Wish me luck  This is definitely one goal that I’m determined to make happen!

{Party Planning} My Big Bro is 40!

I don’t know what it is about this year, but it’s been a year of surprise parties!

We had two in January for my dad and my FIL (Father-in-Law), and another one for my cousin in February.  A couple of friends who were celebrating milestone birthdays this year were surprised by their spouses too !

And it’s cool that most, if not all of these parties were successfully planned.  Meaning, none of the celebrants had a clue!  They were truly and utterly surprised by the event and all the well-wishers who were in attendance .  Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?

Recently, my brother turned 40.  And yup, you guessed it–the SIL threw him a surprise birthday party.  Hahaha!

To pull it off, she enlisted my mom and my sister to help her with the party details and the menu, and ofcourse, I was given the task of styling the event.  I can’t tell you how excited I was to get cracking at it!

Because the birthday boy is a lover of all things Karmann Ghia, we decided to turn it into his party theme.

Since I don’t know much about vintage cars, I had to do quite a bit of research.

Eventually, I came up with a concept for his dessert table, which was, ofcourse, going to be the focal point in the party.

I decided to make a collage of different blown up parts of a Karmann Ghia–the emblem, the steering wheel, the dashboard, etc. etc., and mix in some old advertisement posters.  I printed out the pictures in sepia, to keep the vintage feel.  But to add a pop of color, I also printed out a few pictures in light blue and red.  This is how the collage looked:

Whoops!  Please don’t mind the gaping hole amongst the pictures.  One of them must have fallen off when this photograph was taken .  Hahaha!

Unfortunately, the venue would not let me use one of their blank walls to hang the pictures so I had to make do with this window.  Definitely, it was a lesson to be learned to check whether the events place has any restrictions regarding party decor.

Moving on, here is a picture of the entire table (sans some of the desserts! :0) :

And here are some Karmann Ghia details:

The birthday cake was, ofcourse, Karmann Ghia-inspired .

Last minute, I also made a road out of black cardboard and white strips of paper, then asked my SIL to bring along some of my brother’s matchbox Karmann Ghia.  Cute, right?

To add a more festive flair and to finish off the table design, I added some buntings with the celebrants name, and balloons.  You can never be too old for balloons–don’t you agree?

As for the rest of the venue, it was decorated very simply.

Blue, white and brown balloons were tied to chairs, and centerpieces consisted of white flowers and sepia photographs of my brother during his younger years.

I also tried to add a Karmann Ghia detail by printing out these red Karmann table numbers.  I don’t think they really matched the centerpiece, but oh well…  Hahaha!

All in all, considering the tight budget I was working with, I think the decor for brother’s big day turned out better than expected .

If anything, the celebrant was extremely happy with what he saw, and he even took home all the pictures I had printed!

SIL also gave me the nicest feedback–I had totally surpassed her expectations! Yahoo!

Hmmm…I may have a future in event styling after all!

Halloween 2012

A couple of months ago, I saw this image on Pinterest.

I knew, without a doubt, that this was going to be A’s Halloween costume this year.

And I think I pulled it off!

Check out how the little miss looked:

Presenting….Holly Golightly!!!  Hahaha!  :)

I love that it cost me next to nothing to come up with this costume!

Her black dress was an old tank top of mine that I simply tied and pinned together.

The necklace, the sunglasses and shoes were items we already had at home.

So the only thing I had to purchase was her tiny tiara, which only cost me 40 pesos in Shoe Mart!!!

And the best part was that the little one was really comfortable in her costume!

I really had a fun time putting this look together .

I’m glad A seemed to like it too!

I figured I’d enjoy dressing her up before she starts choosing her clothes and telling me what she wants to wear (although that already happens sometimes)!  Hahaha!

Oh the joys of motherhood!

{Party Planning} A’s Mexican Fiesta

A couple of months ago, while on a shopping trip to Shoe Mart for some of A’s essentials, my daughter happened to be drawn to a fuschia, purple and orange tiered dress that was displayed on a mannequin.

I can totally see why my daughter was attracted to it–mind you, it was a pretty cute dress, and colorful too! .  It also had the cutest crochet detail at the back . However, while we were not there to make any unnecessary purchases (my daughter has a closet-full of clothes already–haha!), A would unfortunately not leave the store without the dress.  Her obsession was beyond me, but because I was not in the mood for a scene, I relented and bought what I now refer to as “the dress that inspired it all”.

When planning parties, it helps alot to have some design inspiration.  Whether it be a color, a pattern, a character or a country.  In this case, the tiered dress with its bright palette reminded me very much of a Mexican fiesta.  And since I was already researching themes for A’s party at that time, I thought it would be perfect!  Coincidentally, I just loooooove Mexican food too so that pretty much sealed the deal!

So with the theme settled, I buckled down to work on the menu.  I decided on tacos, cheese quesadillas, chicken empanadas, and baked spaghetti (I had to throw in some noodles for long life!).  My mom, on the other hand, contributed some jamon in toasted pandesal from The Plaza.  For desserts, we had some leche flan, mexican wedding cookies, and ofcourse, churros con chocolate!  To keep things within budget, I also decided that most of the food would be cooked at home .

For the event styling, I was challenged to find decor that made a lot of impact, but didn’t break the bank!  Hahaha!  If you read my post on A’s first birthday party, I totally did not want to throw a party of that proportion again!  Hahaha!  Well, maybe not until A turns 7! :p  The H and I decided that we were just going to celebrate on a much smaller scale this time around, inviting only family and our closest friends.

So for the party decor, I decided to go DIY.  If you love DIY like me, then I personally think there is no need for expensive party supplies.  Just craft them! The net is chockful of ideas!

There were several items that I knew I had to make to give the party a truly Mexican flair.  A pinata was one of them .  Luckily, there are so many tutorials on the web that offer easy instructions on how to make a pinata, so I was actually able to construct one without much difficulty.  It was pretty fun to make, and I was so proud of the outcome!

Other elements of the decorations included some papel picado, mexican paper flowers, paper stars or lanterns, papier mache horses, sombreros, maracas, and some cactus as well .  Luckily, most of these can be made with a little bit of creativity and a lot of patience–hahaha! .  And good thing I happen to looooove crafting so I was actually excited about all the projects I had lined up!

I’m so excited to share with you how everything turned out!  In the end, I was so proud of my work!  It may look like I may have spent a fortune, but I actually didn’t!  That’s the best part!

On a bit of a serious note, A’s party actually had to be postponed about 2 weeks. The original date it was planned was a week filled with heavy rains that resulted in flooding.  Many people were affected and lost their homes.  I donated some of my party funds to the victims, but decided to proceed with the celebration at a more appropriate time.  We also downscaled the number of invitees, and ended up just inviting family.

Anyway, I hope you liked the photos of A’s party, as much as I enjoyed styling it!  I hope in some way, it inspired you with some DIY ideas for future parties of your own!

Star Crayons + Happy Weekend

A’s 2nd birthday party was a success!  Yippee!

While I am still writing my blog post about that, in the meantime, I’d like to share with you one of the projects that I did for her party–Star Crayon give-aways!

I gave these out to A’s cousins who were still too young to be given the papier mache horses (takas).  Those went to the older kids .

Anyway, these star crayons are not only very easy to make, but it also cost me nearly zero pesos–next to nothing!  Hahaha!  I say “nearly” because while I recycled materials that I had lying around the house, syempre I did use up some electricity while in the course of making them so I guess may gastos pa din yon (I still spent something) .  Hahaha!

Here are the things you’ll be needing to make your own Star Crayons:

one deep pot

mini glass jars (the number depends on how many colors you are making)

old crayons/broken crayons

mold/shaper

Here are the steps.  Easy Peasy.

Step 1: Sort your crayons into like colors and shades.  This is not really a super necessary step–only if you decide you want to make a monochromatic crayon.  In this case, that’s what I pretty much wanted.  I’ve seen other versions, though, where the maker just went wild and mixed so many different colors together!  The results are beautiful as well .

Step 2: After you’ve got your crayons in groups, break them apart and put them into the glass jars.  One color group per jar.  Again, if you have an extra non-stick muffin or mold pan, you can totally eliminate this step and just sort the crayons straight into the pan itself.

Step 3: Fill your pot with water (up to the level where the crayons in the glass jar are covered, but not high enough for the water to enter the jar)  and bring to a boil.  Once water starts to bubble, carefully place the glass jars inside, and let the crayons melt.

If you use the non-stick pans, you can do this step in the oven.  I think melting the crayons to 325 degrees will do.

Step 4: Once the crayons have all melted, pour them carefully into the molds.  You may want to use an oven mitt in this step because the glass jars will be very hot!  Also, it’s best to do this project without kids nearby since you are dealing with stuff that can potentially scald or burn.

Step 5: After pouring, stick the mold in the refrigerator to cool for around 20 minutes, or until they harden.

Once the crayons have fully hardened, just pop them out!  In this case, maybe because I used a silicone mold, the crayons popped out easily .  In other cases, especially if your pan or mold is not non-stick, you may have to spray some oil or any other agent that will make the crayons slip off with ease.

And here’s the finished product!  Voila!  Ready to be wrapped .

Pretty, right?  I made them in the party motif colors–yellow, purple, fuschia and orange .

Here is the little one giving her own set a try…Perfect for little hands!

Success!!!

Hope you have a great weekend, folks!