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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Crafts: My First Handmade Tote Bag

I attended my second sewing class tonight for 3 hours and I am so happy I took it! I am so proud of what I made:
ain't it pretty?
 The fabrics I got spontaneously. I arrived on time but they forgot to give me the list of supplies, so it took me 30 minutes to buy all the materials needed! What a waste of time. I was in a hurry to get all the materials,  I just took the first fabric that I saw. I hate it when I feel like I'm in a panic mode! It felt like I'm on Project Runway and I'm running out of time! 
with 2 inner pockets!
 I'm happy with the color combinations and this surprise me! The first thing that come to mind while running down the textile aisle was "I want something for Spring..." This fabric caught my eye among all other fabrics (a lot of them are so pretty darn cute) because of the butterflies.
finished!
I was opting for more pink. But I already have a lot of pink fabric, white gets dirty easily, and brown is just...too much already. So I got the orange one instead for contrast (inner lining). My instructor helped me look for the straps because I couldn't find it! Good thing I spotted the brown one! Lucky!

We weren't able to finish on time so we took it home to finish it by ourselves. I'm so glad on how it turned out! I will definitely make more of these!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Recipe: Homemade Sugar Cubes

Okay, so I plan this originally to give out during the Holidays last year (in different designs and colors) but I wasn't able to do it. Luckily, I needed something to give out on Valentine's Day and figured to practice doing it before that day comes. I'm happy with the outcome and already given out a few to those who saw in on my Facebook and wanted to try it.

my homemade sugar cubes
Since Heart's Day is over. I'm getting ready for another 2 Holidays! I will do a red white and blue for President's Day, and all green for St. Patrick's Day! How lovely! I was happy I picked this kind of silicone mold because it's so versatile. All I need is to buy more color varieties for different occasions. 

I will show you the easy steps to make it. You'll need:
silicone mold (candy molds are harder to work with and may cause cubes to break)
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. cold water
12 drops of food coloring

Mix them together. Pour on the molds and leave overnight. The next day, carefully pop them out! Done! You can use this on any beverage you like. 

Enjoy making them and giving out to family and friends! Let me know how you did. :)

Friday, February 10, 2012

Crafts: Valentine Pouch


Whew! I finally finished a zippered coin purse! Just in time for Valentine's Day!

This was my first trial making a pouch and attaching a zipper. Self-taught, just browsing youtube for tutorials and found out that it's not that easy!!! 

Of course, I made a couple of booboos before I got the hang of it:
~ what the what?? ~
~ driving me nuts!  ~
And finally was able to do it properly this time. I wish they can show a detailed tutorials, I can't afford to take more sewing classes! Sorry for being poor. Haha. Here's what I got:
~ yay ~
I added a zipper pull-up, so it looks nicer and  more personalized. I made it with beads:
~ finished product ~
Now, I just need to do 3 or more to give out for Heart's Day <3

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Recipe: Honey Walnut Shrimp

My husband and I love this! We always order this whenever we go to Chinese Restaurants, and figured why not make our own since we love it so much, and we can have it anytime we want! I want to share you how I make it:
~ MY HONEY WALNUT SHRIMP ~

Ingredients:
1 cup water
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup walnuts
4 egg whites
2/3 cup mochiko (glutinous rice flour) - optional, you can use any breading you want
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. condensed milk
1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Directions:
1. Stir together the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and add the walnuts. Boils for 2 minutes, then drain & place walnuts on a paper towel to dry.
2. Whip egg whites in a medium bowl until foamy. Stir in the mochiko until pasty.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy deep skillet over medium-high heat. Dip shrimp into the mochiko batter & then fry in the hot oil until golden brown, about 5 mins. Remove & drain on paper towels.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together the mayo, honey and condensed milk. Add shrimp and toss to coat with the sauce. Sprinkle the walnuts on top and serve.

* best serve over cooked rice :)
* You can find mochiko flour on Asian groceries.

ENJOY!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Food: Soy Pudding

We went to Santa Ana for my interview. Then we went to Westminster next. We haven't been here for 2 years now, and it's exciting to see different Asian delicacies! We got a bunch of fruits and condiments that you only see on Asian groceries. 

I finally able to find my favorite food on earth! Soy Pudding! We call it, Taho in Tagalog. It comes in different flavors: Pandan, Coconut, Almond, etc. I got 2 of them, but I'm only showing the flavored one right now, since it's the first one I opened:
~ pandan flavored soy pudding ~
 It comes with coconut milk (left) and sugar syrup (right). You mix an equal amount or you can add more, depends on your taste. I like it a bit sweet. It's kind of similar to the Filipino Taho, only we use the sugar syrup and no coconut milk. We also add  tiny bobas (we call it sago).
~ coconut milk and sugar syrup ~
I store it inside the fridge after I bought it. It usually comes warm or hot. So anyway, after mixing the coconut and sugar in, I heat this up in the microwave.
~ mixed together ~
It may look gross in the picture, but it's so yummy!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Felt Project: Finn the Human

Hello everyone! I'm going to tell you another felt project. I don't have enough threads to match the felt to make at least a 6" plushie for Finn, so I've decided to make do of what I have:

Tada!
~ Finn the Human Pin ~

~ yay for Finn! ~

~ close up Finn ~
It's around 2 x 2 inches, made with felt and polyester filling (the kind you put inside stuff toys), attached with a safety pin behind, I was able to match the threads I have with the felt, so I'm happy about it.

I love how it turned out, it's so cute and I can pin it anywhere! <3 I can say that my workmanship here is better than my other hand-sewn felt projects. Hehe.

FANCL Kale Drink

I bought this on a whim. There are having a sale on Mitsuwa during Thanksgiving last year and got lured by this item. It's all in Japanese so I'm not sure about what it's for or the ingredients. I was able to ask an associate and told me that it's for good skin and diet, it's all natural kale and you drink it with hot or cold water by itself or mixed with your favorite drink. So I said, why not?

Kale drink
They have it in a box or packets, got this in the 10-pack just to try. I tried it with only hot water, like how you'll drink a powdered-form juice. It taste funny at first, but you'll get use to it. I also tried mixing it with coffee...it's a bad idea. It taste awful. So it's better if you drink it by itself, I always prefer hot water with this than cold.

So far, I tried 6 packets out of 10, the only thing I notice is that the first few days, I poop after drinking this, like having a teenny tiny diarrhea. LOL. Sort of a very mild laxative? I think it's for cleaning out your system, and you need to drink more of these to really see a difference. I don't drink this everyday and I don't think I'll be buying again anytime soon. I'm still on the look out for other drink supplements to help skin and / or diet :)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Felt Project: Jake the Dog

Hello! I just started sewing and I'm having fun so far! 

For my first felt project, I was inspired by a cartoon show: Adventure Time - one of my favorite cartoons. I also remember Lisa mentioned that her brother watches that cartoon, it motivated me to do this project. I actually made a small Jake the Dog, by hand, and gave it to my friend's little brother :) I wasn't able to take a picture though. 

So, this is my second felt project, but my first 6" plushie. I'm happy how it turned out. Considering this was my first time to make plushes, I'm so proud of it. I kinda wish I've given this one to Shawn instead, because it looks better and it's bigger!

Here it is:
~ jake the dog ~
I made this entirely from felt and also some polyester filling, the kind you use inside stuff animals. I hand sewn it, because I don't know how to use a sewing machine yet, and I don't want to mess it up - I still have a sewing class to attend to. Haha.

My DH (darling husband), brought this to work and showed it to his friends, they said, I did pretty well for a first timer, but I could use a little more practice. LOL. I take criticisms very well, so it's okay, and I understand, because I'm a beginner and gave me more reason to go on and do better.

Next time, hopefully, I will have the time and guts to make video tutorials on crafts or maybe a step by step picture.