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.

Easter is coming ~ Multiplication, the Bunny Hop Way

Uncovered some treasures in my stash, namely these awesome cuteness-to-goodness wooden bunny charms and could not help aww-ing at them. They made a good template for this quick and easy garland.

Did this for the fun of it, and for a craft session with the kids. If your kids are younger, maybe choose a basic repeating shape. It doesn’t have to be bunnies, perhaps eggs? Whatever works. I’ve a short ‘how to’ below but really, you don’t need it right? It’s a kindergarten craft!

Simple painless fun. Unless you cut yourself. Then, all bets are off.

Gather your materials. Paper, scissors, pencil. If you can draw freehand, go ahead. Otherwise find a template. If you like, fold it accordion style before you begin drawing. It helps you know just how much space you got to work with, and where you should have ‘joining’ parts.

As you trace your design or draw it freehand, make sure that there are parts of the design that touch the edges. If you have a sharp craft knife, use it. It makes cutting so much easier. Especially for the tight corners, the cuts turn out so much more crisp.

** I washed the paper over with a pale pink watercolour. Hence the pink shade. This craft, simple (to do and to find materials) works well in almost any situation. Print the child’s name on the individual pages, have the party’s theme, make a mini cake bunting (ok, you really need precision cutting… oh silhouette!)… you get the hint.

Our Christmas deals are here! Starting today, we’d offer a selection of over 50 different items for your Christmas shopping. All will have discounts up to 30% off AND come with free (normal) international shipping. So why wait? Now’s the best time to gather your presents!

** All Christmas deals will come shipped and ready for gifting. If you’d like to have your packages shipped via registered post, drop us an email or leave us a comment on the sale post and we’d invoice you separately.

** Limited quantities available. Only applicable for items purchased through our blog.

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Rockabye Baby on a Horse

The charm of a rocking horse never grows old. Kids clamber on, and rock away. Their imagination takes them off to far off lands and imaginary scapes. Adventures untold. The mystery, the charm, the beauty of childhood days.

A charming white enamel rocking horse with sweet detailing and diamante studs embedded in the frame is a sweet testament to the good old days. Of fleeting days of yore, spent on warm summer days. Often with best friends of course.

Makes a perfect gift for the BFF you grew up with, for yourself, just because. A dainty Christmas gift and great stocking stuffer.

Charm pendant measures an approximate 20MM drop from the 16 inch chain. All findings used are gold plated. Necklace closes at back with a lobster clasp. Chain measures approximately 16 inches in length.

Usual Price : SGD 25.50
Sale Price : SGD 20, including postage

see the how to at dottie angel

It’d make a sweet rainy day activity for the kids. Simple enough for them to do. With adult supervision of course! Enjoy the upcoming weekend.

❤ simply bloom photography

If you have cake decorating skills that are like my kids’, cake bunting is probably the easiest and nicest way to personalise your cake without destroying it. A simple idea, you can either purchase the bunting or make it yourself. And to get you inspired, here are some images of real cakes.

If you’re buying, perhaps the most famous Etsy seller is Kiki La Rue. Right now though, she’s put her shop on vacay (she’s on maternity leave).

❤ project wedding

❤ kikilaru

❤ seen via luna and chloe weddings

❤ my sweet and saucy

❤ callaloo soup

❤ carli’s clan

❤ jamiemancilla

❤ jamosiesweet

Seen via WIP Blog, I think I should get the kids to make some. You know, keep them occupied and stuff like that.

We didn’t quite have any agenda last weekend, and obviously lacked the courage seeing we somehow managed to feast the two days away. All very yummy, all not too good for the waistline. We started of with a Saturday brunch at Little Part 1 Cafe. A lovely respite in Thomson, and one we had been meaning to go for the longest time. We were headed for dimsum at Thomson Plaza but the full carpark and empty tummies led us down this path.

nacho chips served with salsa

chicken schnitzel

A wonderful stop. Perhaps due to the rain (it had thankfully, dwindled down to a drizzle by the time we arrived), there weren’t any others except a couple. Our apologies to them because, well, their peace was wrecked by our two terrors. The food was yums… In addition to the nachos and the chicken, we had their meatball spaghetti and brown cow (old school root beer float) and strawberry lemonade soda for drinks. Well worth another visit.

Our kids enjoyed themselves. Clamouring all over. The books were an interesting mix. I was rather surprised to find ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’ thrown into the pile. We dug it out and settled in for some noisy reading. The kids tried their hand at twisting (and messing) the rubic cube, hemmed and hawed at the old school chess set and the clumsy tv set (Jayden declared it an oven?! but Kath got it right).

It was a nice start to the weekend. I hope we’d be back!

Little Part 1 Cafe
15 Jasmine Road
http://www.littlepart1cafe.com.sg/home.htm

Seems like there’s a day for just about anything and everything. International Museum Day fell on 29th May and we trooped over to the National Museum of Singapore to check out the Playdome. I love how the museums have reinvented themselves. They used to be the old stuffy sort of places that bored you to death. And where you went only on school field trips.

Nowadays, they are more upbeat, and well, focused. Singapore for the small island that she is, has 5 national museums and a whole list of ‘other’ museums. And with the school holidays now on, they have brought back Children Season. It was a hard fight between the Singapore Philatelic Museum and this. But we tossed a coin (no, not really!) and went off to the main one.

busy colouring a drawing to form his own pin badge

guess who wasn’t quite paying attention to the story (ok, I must say that the person wasn’t quite engaging)

The kids had fun. It is all very hands on. Loads of activities to occupy those little fingers. At 2 and 4, I don’t think the learning element really registered but it was still a good day out.

Another section I had time to photograph. Also a hit with the kids… spin the wheels, create different effects as you spray squirts of water through and watch the mist.

And, if nothing else, the decorations are amusing. If your inner child still hasn’t emerged, head on over to the rest of the museum and avoid level 3. Oh, maybe make a pit stop at the entrance to Playdome on Level 2. There was a Milo truck waiting there that day. You just might catch it again. I miss those trucks!

Children Season is on till 31st Jul 2011.

** Family Fridays is a new feature documenting our outings with the children. We try to keep one day of the weekend free to bring the kids out around Singapore And because it’s our family time, you’d see more photos of our kids than the environment. Or even none at all. Because well, life with kids leaves you with no free hands!

Easier than you think! I first saw this idea on Ambrosia Girl (who adapted the idea from How About Orange) and thought these made a fun and easy craft. So whilst printing photos the other day, I threw together a collage of selected shots on polaroid frames and got to work.

So from this …

to this … (I cut up the magnet and upcycled it)

to these (trust me, the magnets are glued on at back)

A quick and easy job! If you want to involve the kids, swap the xacto knife for a pair of scissors. Or get them to select the images. I think these make lovely gifts for Christmas (amongst other occasions).

❤ country living

Well, life kind of snug up on me. I was nursing a very bad throat when I returned from my holiday. I totally lost my voice. Not a peep. The kids were happy I’m sure. As it came back, I tried to manage them. It never quite got the chance to recover. It’s still somewhat there but much much better. And hey, look, tomorrow’s Good Friday?! Perhaps these DIY crafts will come in handy for next year. On the positive note, you’d have an entire year to prepare. Or, hmm, perhaps some afternoon activity to entertain the kids this long weekend!

Have fun!

ps: don’t those bunny ears look adorable?!

❤ martha stewart

❤ by Craig & Whitney with tutorial via Modern Parents Messy Kids

❤ retro mama

❤ stylizimo blog (these would look amazing at a wedding too!)

❤ Auntie Lolo Crafts

❤ kiki creates

❤ martha stewart

Happy Easter