We have been crazy busy packing and prepping your orders to ensure that all packages paid for are shipped before our trip. Yes, we are going for a short holiday with the kids, and whilst we will be online, we will not be in Singapore. So orders will not be processed till we return.

Some sneak peeks on our #behindthescenes as we prep your orders… We have fallen in love with washi tape (ok, more like renewed our undying love for it) and have restocked on more pretties. We have also got some totally awesome twine that works prettily with Sparkle Thots (you know, our love for pink!). You’d start seeing them as they have already been shipped out.

So, here’s us signing off till the 9th. We are taking a couple of extra days off to pack and prep for the trip. So we do thank you for understanding.

** The shop‘s still open. All orders will be processed on a first in, first out basis. Shipping is expected to resume on 12th June. Thank you once again for your patience.

babies are more trouble than you thought… hah.

I was motivated to work on hairbands this week! Mainly because a certain little girl managed to break my 20 odd year old hairband to pieces. No more plastic pieces for her!

So, because I can, I got to work on a couple of new ones. On metal frames. Pretty happy with the results.

Except the model wasn’t quite cooperative. *sigh* cue memory on first line of the post. More proper shots of the hairband when I can get a better model or at least this one in a GOOD mood.

Today, I had this irritating bee in my bonnet that just refused to leave. So I finally got to work to edit the shop banner. I totally love the new font but apparently, not everyone does. And I must admit, it’s not easy to read. Definitely not the best thing you’d want in a banner.

So I swallowed up my sadness and clicked ‘delete’. Sigh. But the banner has been changed from an old pair of gorgeous carnelian earrings (that have long since sold) to that of the dreamy rose rose gold vermeil. Ahhh… bliss. It has been a long time coming really. You really don’t know how many emails  / convos I field with regards to the earrings (can you remake them / are they still available…).

Hop on over to the shop to sneak a peek at which of the remaining two was finally chosen.

More work… Editing images to be ‘web ready’. A couple of new items listed.

A peek into my stash (part thereof).

And my very pink packing station. (just FYI, I DO have a pair of pink scissors!)

Upcoming… I hope to list this amazing something blue piece later. It’s been sitting here for the longest time. Totally drool-able in reality.

So… I’d see you again next week. Over and out.

Till the next update, have fun. The weekend’s here. Woot.

Spent the weekend tinkering around with Swarovski crystals. Some experimental and some for a custom order. All I can say, boy, do the folks behind Swarovski really know what they are doing! A lot of dazzle for something still friendly on the pocket. Shimmer, shine, dazzle your way through dreary days.

My current hot faves are these simple studs. Simple, elegant pieces that are great for everyday wear. They are pocket-friendly and great as stocking stuffers, best friends’ gifts and / or wedding entourages. These round studs are currently available in the above colours but are customisable in just about every shade imaginable. Great fun!

Aren’t these the sweetest stars? *swoons*

Now available in store.

Paying by Paypal and don’t quite know how? Here’s a quick walkthrough for Paypal newbies.

Imagine you got something in your Paypal cart. You click through and you should see this screen. If you have a Paypal account log in and proceed. (You don’t really need this tutorial do you?) If you don’t have a Paypal account, you can choose to create one or to pay with a credit card WITHOUT starting an account.

Select ‘Don’t have a PayPal account?’ ~ You should get to this page. Be sure to select ‘Singapore’ (or whatever country your credit card is from). Input your data correctly. Double check. As you do not have an account, the vendor and yourself, will be relying on whatever information you enter, and have no way of verifying.

Proceed to the next page and you should get this :-

You should be presented with this page. Check details again and PAY NOW. You should receive an email confirming your order/purchase. Do not delete as it contains about all the data you need should there be any dispute with the merchant.

If you have a Paypal account already and are having issues with sending/withdrawing funds, chances are you’d need to verify your account. And / or verify your credit cards. If you are verifying your cards, log in to your Paypal account.

You should see this screen. Hover over PROFILE, select add/edit credit cards. If you haven’t added any credit cards, add one. Follow the details onscreen. If you want to verify the card, select it and confirm verification request. You should see the following screens.

Wait for your credit card statement. If you have online access to your statements, you can get the code within the day or two. Meantime, log out go do your stuff and return back to Paypal with the code.

When you do have the code, it’s simple step of logging in, selecting add/edit cards.You’d see this :-

Enter your Paypal code and you should be set. Paypal will then reverse the charges and refund the payment. The transaction details can be seen on your homepage/account overview. Screenshot as seen in Pic 4 above.

** Verifying your account would allow you to remove your limit on sending/receiving funds. However, you might have individual limits imposed on your credit cards for security purposes. Confirming your credit card removes this second level of limitation.

Hope this helps.

It’s about time for a change! After more than 3 years of the same old design, Sparkle Thots’ blog has gotten a major revamp. With a fresh landing page that showcases the latest going-ons, you’d find the news faster. Our blog has been shifted over to the ‘updates‘ tab and is still going to be loaded with favourite finds, new items and DIY crafts.

Come visit!

** our RSS feed remains the same! Our shop is still redirected to Etsy so that we can concentrate on what matters. Crafting new pieces!

One year ago, the devastating tsunami hit Japan. One year on, they are still hard at work recovering. Thank you all who supported our donation efforts in aid of the tsunami victims.

Click through to see, Japan Tsunami, Then and Now.

The teeniest heart we have in stock!

It’s an overcast weather kind of Valentine’s. Terrible for photoshoot so I’d just leave it as that. A sneak peek into the latest offering we have been meaning to share. A dainty, teeny tiny heart strung on a delicate rope chain. Perfect for layering, suitable for personalisation, great for everyday wear. A barely there kind of piece that you don’t want to remove.

Anyhow, enough of jewelry. Since I can’t offer it today, I’ve ruffled hearts to share instead. Those on my twitter and instagram (sparklethots) feed would have seen the ruffled hearts from last week. I finally got the elusive last piece to complete the project. A shadowbox styled photoframe. I got this as a nesting set of 4 at Typo (Singapore seems to only have the turquoise and brown wood versions). Anyone know where else to get these sort of frames, tell me.

A pretty easy craft, you’d need approximately 1 hour to complete. Less if you work fast and don’t try to multi-task (*sheepish*).

You’d need :-

1. cloth remmants
2. heart shaped template
3. scissors
4. needle and thread (doesn’t matter what colour, cannot be seen)
5. shadowbox frame

What to do :-

1. cut out your heart base, doesn’t need to be perfect
2. cut the cloth remmants into approximately 2cm squares (again doesn’t need to be accurate)
3. pinch the square at the middle, and sew it onto the heart (I like to start at the centre tip)
4. sew as many or as few as you like, the more you sew the denser the heart
5. occasionally pause to ‘ruffle’ the sewn squares to see how it is coming along
6. trim the heart to shape (if it goes ‘off’)
7. fit it into the shadowbox

Re the shadowbox… while the stock picture of the Eiffel tower is pretty and all, it just doesn’t go with the heart. I lined the frame with some pretty scrapbook paper instead. Scarilege maybe but so much nicer!

Some tips to note :-

Keep an inch around the heart and frame. It works much better this way. Any fabric can be used, I used tee-shirt scraps.

Been a while I know. A full month in fact. Since we last ‘met’, we celebrated CNY, I started on yet another photo a day competition (the instagram one! pretty awesome stuff) and of course, we have been busy crafting new items. The shop has taken on a dreamy mood with pearls and Swarovski bling. Quite the impression I have of Sparkle Thots.

But besides that, we have gotten our hands busy too. The son is down with fever so we crafted. Paper roses, ruffled hearts. Very ‘Valentine’. And for those who are interested, hopefully the pictures help. Pretty simple. Just time-consuming. The perfect thing to keep the kids at bay. Hah.

** What you’d need :- any 6 petaled flower, craft white glue, floral tape (the sticky green ones), chopsticks or dowels

• Step 1 : Cut or punch out at least 3 flowers for each flower. (I used 5. Basically the more you use, the fuller the flower will be)
• Step 2 : Fold each flower in half (3 times) so that you get each petal nicely sectioned out
• Step 3 : Cut a split in 1, a petal out of another and 2 petals out of the last (for my 5 piece I did 2, 2 and 1). Keep the cut outs aside
• Step 4 : Glue the flowers together
• Step 5 : Notch the points off the smaller ‘blooms’. Nestle them, one in each other, glue in place
• Step 6 : Curl the petals to form the bud, notch the tips and glue in place
• Step 7 : Skewer the chopstick through the centre of the blooms and tap down with floral tape

Hope it makes sense. If not, ask away!

Till next time… (hopefully sooner than last!)

** for a limited time, packages are shipping out either in a lovely maroon red pouch or tied with a reddish pink bow. Sweet

Edit to add :- here’s how they look bunched together! A cost free upcycled project. Use old magazines, newspapers (unwanted books) or papers for the flowers. ‘Vase’ is an old reed diffuser that’s emptied out.