Father's Day Shirts

This sewing project was inspired by Made by Joel's Owl Shirts.  They are nowhere near how neat the Owl Shirts were made but they were fun doing anyhow!

These shirts were the gifts we gave for Father's Day to all the dads in our immediate family:

Crown - for my dad "Rey" whose name means "King."
Barbell - for my father-in-law who is a health enthusiast.
Mount Everest - for my mountaineer brother-in-law.
Darth Vader - for my brother-in-law who is into Star Wars.

Below are the photos of the gift-wrapped shirts!  I used corrugated paper boards to make them.  They looked pretty with the matching plaid ribbons.  I was pleased with the result.

Homemade Toy Kitchen

Since my daughter Therese enjoys playing with toy kitchens, I thought I'd make one rather than buy the glammed-up, plastic kinds in the department stores.  The inspiration for this toy kitchen came from the book lent to us by my sister-in-law (Children's Rooms: Practical Design Solutions for Ages 0-10).

The book's version was nice and basic - made out of a brown box, silver packaging tape and black paper for the controls.  I wanted to make an exact copy but I thought I'd use the pink packaging tape I had on hand (from the pink flamingo mallets we made for Therese's "Alice" birthday party) and cover the slightly worn-out box with yellow, pink and green paper.    

Part of the fun in putting it together was sourcing all of the add-ons with my hubby - the pots, pans, cooking mitts, mini tongs, purple baskets, S-hooks, foil pans, etc. from the local grocery store, hardware store and Divisoria, the local market district in Manila!  I think we did a pretty good job! 

On S- hooks: Oven mitts, strainer, detachable purple basket with mini tongs, ladle and server  

Stovetop made out of foil pans (held in place by double-sided tape).  Controls are black kettle cover holders!  Underneath is one of my best finds - aluminum foil tape!

Detachable purple baskets holding sponges and mini plates.  

The "oven" is on one side of the box and on the opposite side is the "ref."  Inside the ref and oven are shelf racks to serve as the oven grill and ref shelving.

The purple baskets are detachable so they can serve as "shopping baskets" when Therese and her cousin Sophia "go to market."

I love that the girls keep busy playing with this kitchen set!   

Here's a photo of them "cooking" white beans!  

And Therese checking how the "doughnuts" are doing in the oven.

A rough guide to the oven and ref measurements.  Do adjust the measurements to the size of your box. : )

Easter Craft Fun

We had so much fun during a family crafternoon session the day before Easter.  We had  many craft projects lined up, too bad there was so little time to do all.  

Just some of the activities we thought up in preparation for the Easter breakfast celebration:

1. Rabbit masks for the kids made out of foam sheets

2. Egg decorating

3. Mini paper baskets

4. Brown paper baskets

Before we knew it, the sun was setting and I only took a night shot of the dining room centerpiece.  Hope you enjoy them nevertheless.  

Rabbit masks made out of foam sheets. Copied this from an art project done in school!

 I stuck double-sided tape on the back side.  It works better than glue.

 I used a hole puncher to make tiny holes to put the garter in place.

Brown paper bag baskets.  Got this idea from the Martha Stewart website.  Check out Paper Basket Bouquet.  Martha's basket looks better of course!

Decorated the basket with foam stickers.

The other paper baskets were made out of pastel board paper. 

My pink and purple paper basket. (Behind it are the eggs waiting to be dyed!)

My mother-in-law studied the stencil and made a larger version of the paper basket.  Below is a photo of her creation.  Really cute.

I made out a stencil for efficiency.  Stencil for the mini paper baskets.

Voila!  The nightshot of the stuffed bunny centerpiece purchased by my mother-in-law surrounded by our little arts and crafts projects...I love the yellow paper basket my sister-in-law made.  Too bad this is my only photo of it...The table runner is made out of yellow-green felt paper.  My sister-in-law scattered foam stickers on the felt paper to make the effect of strewn flowers and insects on grass.  Lovely.

Doodles Made into a Birthday Card

My two year old was busy one morning cutting and doodling circles that looked like gorgeous roses with different shades of yellow and red.  I thought I'd cut and paste them to make a card for my sister-in-law whose birthday was just around the corner.

I love that we made the card out of recycled paper.  My daughter doodled on a scratch paper that came from Daddy's office and the leaves and stems were from a piece of green paper I got from an old calendar.

The flowers were done with the Crayola Paint Markers, a treat from my brother-in-law who arrived from a US trip years ago.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had not dried up.  The tips of the paint markers are made out like a paintbrush so the doodles come out  like brush strokes!

 

My Absolute Favorite Pair of Scissors!

I was first introduced to this pair of scissors years ago during a "crafternoon" session with some friends but never got to buying it.  Then sometime last January, my co-teacher gave me hers!  I never really thought I would appreciate it as much as I do now! 

It is a very efficient, little pair of scissors with non-stick blades and comfortable, soft grip handles.  The non-stick blades can cut through clear tape, double-sided tape, masking tape and sticker paper - without the sticky stuff adhering to them!  I just love it!  

I also love that the fine point tips of the blades make it easy to puncture paper when I have to cut a hole through a design.  So convenient.

This should be available in National Bookstore, SM Southmall branch.  Check out the scrapbooking section.  Its brand is All About Scrapbooking.   It comes in bigger sizes as well.

PaperMarket in Raffles City, Singapore

We went to breathtaking Singapore last weekend with the family and my sister-in-law chanced upon a noteworthy paper store in Raffles City mall - PaperMarket.  I spent a chunk of our Monday morning drooling over the paper, embellishments, stamps, craft punchers and cute gift ribbons before deciding on getting a Basic Grey paper pad with a "life of the party" theme!  (Side-story:  my two year old Therese had her eyes set on a neon-colored pencil set, bought it at the counter with the money Daddy gave her...then remembered to get another set to give to her cousin Sophia!)

I really wish we took photos to share but I did not even remember to do so!  Too busy perusing the shelves with so little time!

I will just post some photos of the charming, little paper pad I purchased!  And hopefully, if I get into the mood of posting photos of my other wonderful, lovable paper pads/paper that make my collection, they'll be on here someday!

Basic Grey paper pad, "Life of the party" theme.

A sampler of some of my favorites.