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Tuesday 29 October 2013

DIY Project: Halloween Witch's Hat

31st October - It's Halloween! Have you made your Halloween crafts? If so, what have you made?

I have made a simple Halloween Witch's Hat! This is my first attempt to make Halloween project. Actually, I had a very last minute decision to participate in a Halloween event. I had limited time to prepare Halloween costume for Little Ze. Furthermore, I din't want to spend money for special Halloween costume which only use for just once a year. I decided to handmade a one-of-a-kind Witch's Hat from materials available at home. I knew that even if I forgo the costume, a tall and pointy little hat will for instant create the holiday spirit. Am I right?

Here's my version of the Witch's Hat.




Materials:
  • Double-sided colored thick paper (Get and reuse from my store room)
  • Cardstocks
  • Ribbon
  • Art glue
  • Adhesive tape
  • Scissors
  • Scroll pattern border punch
  • Circle and Oval punch
  • Lara grass string

Steps:

Draw and cut out two circles from double-sided colored thick paper. One for the cone and another circle is for the brim. Note: Thick paper will make the hat more steady and nicer but do not to use paper that is too thick or you will have a hard time keeping the cone together.




To make the cone, cut one of the circles into half. Roll the semicircle into a cone; join sides, making sure they line up. Measure the circumference of your wearer's head before adhere the sides. Use the adhesive tape to hold the sides together and apply glue to adhere it.




To make a brim, first measure the diameter of the bottom of the cone; divide this number by two to get the radius. Draw a circle using radius at the center of the pre-cut circle. From same center point, make a hole and cut slits about half inch apart. Bend each resulting flap slightly upward. Tie the ribbons between the slits. Use stapler to hold tight. Apply glue to flaps or slits, place the cone on top of the brim, adhere both cone and brim together.





Done! Now you can decorate your Witch's Hat. 

Initially I want to decorate my hat with real pumpkin leaves and vines that grow in my garden. Unfortunately,  my dad just trimmed the plants and not much young leaves left. Those around are too big for my hat. So, I have to come out something with papers. I had mine in a very simple one. 




Punch a strip of scroll pattern border from orange cardstock. Adhere the strip diagonally to the hat. To make the jack-o'-lantern, punch three ovals from orange cardstocks, adhere them side by side or overlap. Cut a stem from green cardstock and adhere to the top of the pumpkin. Cut two triangles and punch a circle from black cardstock. Trim the circle into semicircle and cut out three squares from the semicircle to make the 'teeth'. Adhere them to the pumpkin. Adhere the jack-o'-lantern to a strip of paper.Fold and adhere the strip to make the jack-o'-lantern 'stand' on the brim. Add lara grass string to the top of the hat.

That's easy! Happy crafting! Happy Halloween!



Monday 21 October 2013

My Birthday & 5th ROM Anniversary


928. A date to remember. It's my birthday and also the day Jay and I were pronounced husband & wife in the name of the law. Why we chose our ROM to be the same day as my birthday? Well, there was such a coincident that my birthday and Jay's birthday fell on Sunday and Saturday respectively in 2008. So we chose both our birthdays' as our BIG days, fair enough. There will be no excuse for us to forget or miss out our birthdays, ROM and Wedding Day. Furthermore, we need not to scratch our head for so many times to plan for the celebrations, everything just 2-in-1, as well as the presents, just go for bigger present instead of many presents. Hehehe....

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This year marks our 5th ROM anniversary. Seems like yesterday. Oh! How time flies!


28 September 2008 - Hubby Jay gave me a birthday surprise after our ROM ceremony.

Here we are, on our fifth journey, with two adorable boys.



Haha... I'm sure you will be shocked after viewing the photo. So much different in terms of  my size!  Progression from a giraffe to a hippo...Hmm. Luckily Hubby Jay also put on weight to accompany me. That's why I love him so much!!! 

5 years is considered not too long or short ,  but we felt that we have done so many things and there were so many changes within these 5 years. Not only the change in our sizes, but our lifestyle too. No more late night movies. Lesser fancy or romantic dinners. No more chill and relax time just to have a sip of tea or coffee and listen to Jazz music. Now, we cater our days to entertaining our boys. We watch only cartoons and more children programs; listen to kids songs and nursery rhyme because our Little Ze conquer the Hi-Fi set and the players. We Eat-Sleep-Play with them. Everything our boys come first.  It is a totally different type of happiness compared to our dating days. Although there are real exhausting moments, but all these made our life more fulfilled. 

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Early in the morning, my Hubby Jay drove for some take away  breakfast. He bought us Starbucks coffee and redeemed a piece of cake for his birthday girl using Starbucks card. After that, he went to Mc Donald to buy two breakfast sets. My dad cooked us oats too. Then, we had our relaxed breakfast at our office's garden with both our boys. Little Ze just couldn't wait to taste his favourite chocolate cake. Look at Baby Hang! He wants to eat too!



In the evening, I went for an eye brow shaping services at Benefits Brow Bar in Gurney Plaza. It has been a while since my last facial or makeup session. So, it was a chance to pamper myself. Thank you to Benefits for giving this free treat to the birthday gal. For that half and hour time, my Hubby Jay handle our two active boys without a word although they are noisy. Hehe...It's my big day. No complain or black face. I'm the boss!



After that, we had our dinner at Miam Miam Cafe Restaurant. This cafe has been the latest hot thing and we decided to give it a try. Mostly it is full and they do not allow  advance reservation. Luckily we managed to have our seats. I love the environment,  very cosy and well decorated. The food was alright but not much varieties. We had Miam Miam Spaghetti, the famous French Toast and Vanilla Soufflé. Both me and my Hubby felt not satisfied with this dinner. I would say it is more suitable for Hi-Tea or catch out with friends as they have nice desserts. Well, our Little Ze enjoyed the food very much. 





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Next day, my in-laws and my parents celebrated birthday with me. We had lunch at Italiannies Gurney Paragon. We had giant pizza, stuffed mushrooms, claims, pastas and Chicken Milanese. All of us had a wonderful lunch.






The Most important moment, cake cutting ceremony! My Hubby Jay bought me a boutique cake for our 2-in-1 celebration. (I made the order actually...Haha!) I'm very particular with cakes. I will not ask for fine dinings or expensive jewelleries but I will definitely ask for fine cakes. Tada...

JT Romance

Thank you my dear friend, Jess of Chantilly Cakes for making this special cake for me. JT Romance was extremely delicious with just the right balance in taste and texture.  As the name suggest, the colors were sooooo romantic  like deep red wine,  made possible with 100% natural berries. No artificial coloring added. I think this cake made from kilos of berries. Look at the inside of the cake. It stacks like Lego. Look at the overall color combination, isn't it amazing no coloring at all.  So nice! The sponge is so soft but filling unlike other sponges you find elsewhere. Chantilly makes them from scratch.    Yummylicious! 



See.. my Little Ze couldn't wait to blow the candles! Oh no! Add on! His saliva all over the place. But it's taste sweet whenever seeing him happy and cheeky.



Even my 4-month old boy can't take his eyes off the cake!


At night, my friend Lee Joo and her family came to celebrate birthday with me. They just arrived from KL and  came straight away to my house. They brought me 3 Swiss rolls as my birthday cake and we had a mini cake cutting ceremony. Thanks, you guys are cute and warmed. Next time we go for roti tissue cake ;)



Another thing that I must mentioned. I had a birthday surprise a day before my birthday. I received a parcel from KL. There's no sender name. My hubby Jay thought I made an online purchase but I didn't. I was confused. I touched and feel the parcel. It's seem like a bag. I opened the parcel and saw the paper that have logo printed. It's Coach logo! Unwrap the paper. Oh no, it's a Coach sling bag. Who sent me this?! Such an expensive bag! I keep asking my Hubby Jay and he said not him! He shown me an innocent and confused face. I thought he's so good in pretending and try to give me another surprise (He already bought me a Sizzix Big Shot Machine for my craft). Later, I found out actually is a surprise from a friend of mine. She didn't want me to mentioned her name. She's shy. Hehe... Thank You, YOU! (Yes, you, you know who you are :p )



I would say this birthday is pretty cool. Simple. I feel so pampered and happy to have such a wonderful and memorable celebration. Never thought that I still have birthday surprise at this age.

Okie, this is a long enough post. Thank you for all the wishes and blessings from family, relatives and friends around the world! So much love from you all. You all are awesome.

Happy 5th ROM Anniversary, my dear Hubby Jay!
Happy Birthday to me, Tee!

Thursday 10 October 2013

My Nursing Wardrobe: Nursing Tops from Camomile Spring Maternity. Nursing. Baby

Breastfeeding in public is just normal to me. I latch on my baby anytime, anywhere, whenever they want. Hence, I need well-designed and suitable nursing clothes that offer quick and easy access to the breast to nurse my little one, while keeping my chest, tummy (my big spare tires) and back covered.

I started to buy nursing clothes since my first breastfeeding journey with my elder son. Nowadays, the nursing clothes are just as fashionable as our normal clothes. They are trendy and they come with nursing access. I don’t want to be a frumpy mummy. I want to look stylish and fashionable. You know what - Having beautiful nursing clothes does help to lift the spirits up! I have tried various brands of nursing clothes, from cheap to expensive, different quality of materials and different types of nursing access. Some are well-designed but some are not functional.

Today, I want to share two of my latest collection in my nursing wardrobe. A brand that I just came across and I found that their nursing clothes are fashionable, trendy, comfortable, well-designed and functional. They are some of my favorite nursing tops. 

What is the brand?


Camomile Spring Maternity. Nursing. Baby operates under the umbrella of Spring Maternity. Nursing. Baby outside of Singapore. Spring Maternity. Nursing. Baby is a Singapore maternity and baby specialty retail chain, a friendly one-stop store providing mothers and young parents with fashionable and well designed maternity, nursing and baby apparels and quality baby and life-style products to meet the needs of modern parenting. (I’ll mention Camomile Spring Maternity. Nursing. Baby as Spring in this post.)

Spring really brighten up my nursing wardrobe. Most of my nursing clothes are neutral or dark in colors such beige, brown, dark blue and black. The nursing clothes at Spring are bright in colors. They have pink, blue, green, yellow and so forth. Isn't it nice? 

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Before showing you the photo, please bear in mind that I’m not model quality as I’m from the size of giraffe to hippo kind of size after giving birth.

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1st piece – PINK Sleeveless Amber Drape Top


This pink nursing top is my favorite. It is made of Bamboo Cotton Spandex. The material is so soft and confortable. It is very suitable for our hot weather all day long. This nursing top is easy to wear style with criss cross panels with empire lift nursing access and a sexy cross back detail turning heads as you go. Isn’t it stylish? This comfy top perfectly matches with white pants or blue pants. I match it with white linen pants and denim shorts too. I have been wearing it for so many occasions such as Hi-Tea and meet up with friends, breastfeeding events, flash mobs, to the park and so forth. I’ll just add a grey soft cardigan if I attend formal meetings. This top is from Cerulean Paradise Collection. Thought it is not the latest collection of Spring, I still love it so much because of its stylish design, its striking beautiful color and its super soft and comfortable material. Most important it can hide my flabby tummy!



2nd piece – Grey + Lemon Kimono Sleeve Penny Cutout Top



Another ultra-soft and comfy nursing top from Lemon Dust Collection.  The grey part is made of Bamboo Cotton Spandex; the yellow cutout part is made of 100% Polyester. The material used and the cutout make this nursing top really cooling and soft. This top comes with side access to ease nursing. It can easily pair with shorts, pants or skirts for a casual weekend lunch outing with baby and girlfriends. It can also pair with skirts for meetings or wedding lunch. I like the Kimono sleeve which ‘shape’ my big arms. This top can hide my flabby tummy too!


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Both nursing tops mentioned above are meant for maternity and nursing. Last time, I bought purely nursing tops. After having 2nd baby, I think pregnant ladies should get more maternity clothes with nursing access because the clothes will have higher mileage. Hahaha…


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Why I only purchased two tops since there are so many nice pieces? This is because I bought them online. This is my 2nd attempt to purchase clothes online. I still lack of confident to purchase online especially when it is my first time deal with the shop. I have no chance to touch and feel the material and not sure whether the clothes look nice in me.  Well, I have no regret on this purchase with Camomile Spring Maternity. Nursing. Baby. Their team is so nice and helpful. They response in time and they give very detail explanations. I feel comfortable and secure even we just deal online. They advised and help me getting the right size.  I’m going to shop personally at Spring! Very soon! Looking forward and so excited!

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Some people might say nursing clothes are pricy. But for me, they are worthwhile to invest. Considering how pregnancy and breastfeeding will take up at least 1-2 years of our lives. Like my case, it will be at least 3 – 5 years or more. I breastfed my elder boy for 28 months and now continue to breastfeed my 2nd boy until he decides to stop. Therefore, nursing clothes do help a lot and make me feel at ease nursing when I’m out with my boys. I will just enjoy these periods, wearing nice clothes and looking gorgeous and awesome. When I look back at my breastfeed journeys photo, I’ll have wonderful and nice recall then. 




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To purchase

Shop: Camomile Spring
           1F-27, Bangsar Village II, KL
           L1-02, Setia City Mall, Shah Alam

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* Disclosure: This post is NOT sponsored. I purchased the nursing tops with my own pocket money.  All text and opinions are of my own honest opinion of the product.