Progress update: The beginning of my quiet book

I was very tempted to make a quiet book and of course it meant a lot of planning and making.

Months back.. I made a start for page one. Here is the little rabbit in bed and it has been left like this since then.. I did not even sew it onto the first cloth page and it ended up as a soft toy for lil Joy for the time being.

Really looking forward to more quiet time to make my quiet book and the day when I complete it for lil Joy to have some quiet time of her own.

Here is my bunny all stuffed. I have added velcro onto the pillow and snap buttons on the blanket for fine motor skills training. Yes, my rabbit has no clothes at the moment and I am planning a wardrobe for her.

Here is the little bunny sleeping in her cozy bed.

Really looking forward to more quiet time to make my quiet book and the day when I complete it for lil Joy to have some quiet time of her own.

A not-so-bright morning with a Sunny Outlook

It is not a bright sunny happy morning.. it's a cloudy morning and I am woken up by my girl forcefully. I did not get a good sleep the night before as lil Joy had a slight cold and she could not sleep well with her blocked nose and ended up crying a lot in the middle of the night.

Anyway, I woke up and started my day.. cloudy day always make my heart sink a bit. The thoughts of not having happy sunlight throughout the day and clothes will take ages to dry dreads my heart. While I continue to reorganise the toys of lil Joy because it has hit my limits of seeing toys piling up on her desk.

After gulping down my morning coffee.. I happily retreat into my office and is still contemplating if I should start my work, blog or laminate the new flashcards that I have gotten for lil Joy. It did not take long for me to glance at the clock to see how much time I have before lunch time and realised that I am out of ingredients and I MUST go marketing NOW.

Suddenly all the thoughts in my mind has to give way to meal planning IMMEDIATELY because the sky is threatening to rain any minute. It is really not fun to bring a toddler out in the rain. 

All these happened within the first waking hour of my day and it makes me a very unhappy person. I cannot understand why there are so many things that need my immediate attention. I start to think if there are anyone else who is in the same boat as me. 

After my marketing, on the way back in the drizzling rain, I met a friend who is back from her marketing too. She was cheery to see me and my girl, we continued our way home separately after a quick chitchat. 

My thoughts starts to brighten up after seeing my friend. She was like the sun on this gloomy day because she is doing the same thing as me for a even longer period of time. She works from home, nurture her kids, cook for the family and do all the marketing and most importantly, live her life happily. She once told me, do not fret when your family needs your attention, it's a blessing to be wanted by your family.

I am so thankful to have met her on this cloudy morning because she had turned it into a sunny day for me. 

Today has been a good reminder for me to manage my thoughts more positively so that I can live my live fuller and have a more positive impact on others. I should also spend more time on planning my time better and have more discipline to avoid this kinda of last minute marketing incident from happening again.

Birth rates of umbrellas

When I first moved into my house, I was very cautious with inviting umbrellas into my home because I do not want an army of them. It seems unavoidable that they will multiply...

2 of them were free gifts and 1 of the was adopted from my mom's home as backup umbrella when there was only 1 umbrella in my house then.

The latest umbrella was store bought because it had rained on the day when I bring lil Joy out. The greatest joke after the purchase of the umbrella is, the place that I was going to was fully sheltered.

I could not help but wonder if umbrellas have the mystical power to multiply when ever I see them.

Here is the growing army of umbrellas at my house, there are still some fold up umbrellas which are kept out of sight in the shoe cabinets.

Washi Tape Paper Clips Tutorial

When I saw Washi Tapes in Daiso Store, I could not help but grab a whole bunch of them. Before long, I have a small collection of the Washi Tapes and of course I must find a practical use for them.

So I made them into Washi Tape paper clip. They are such quick and fun projects with practical use to color up my life.

Things you need:

1. Washi Tapes
2. Paper Clips
3. Scissors
4. 5 mins of your time

Cut your washi tape to the length of about 4 inch (10 cm) long. It's your own personal preference how long you want the washi tab to be on your clip.

Pinch slightly at the sides of the tape at centre of the washi tape.

Then loop the washi tape onto the paper clip and arrange all the sticky side to be facing up. The washi tape has to be placed at the top end of the clip when you clip it on to the paper. It will be shown in the next few pictures.

Now you fold the washi tape into half. Do you see the tapered ends of the tape near the clips that we have pinched earlier on. This will help to prevent the sticky side of the washi tape to be exposed.

Finally, snip the ends of the washi tape and your washi paper clip is done!!

You can use them as bookmarks, page markers for your planner or just clip this happy colored tapes around your desk.

My thoughts on the Washi Tape Paper Clips

They are fun and colorful and very useful when I need to mark my documents. It is easier to spot where I have stopped because of the tape sticking out instead of the usual rulers that I have been using. Give it a try if you have Washi tapes in your drawers :D

Key holder frame tutorial

Keys finding has been taking up my time.. to the extend that I have guests and delivery men standing at my door for minutes while I look like a fool searching for my keys.

So a key holder becomes a wanted item in my house and I still have tons of painted frames left over so a key holder frame it shall be.

Items needed

1. Photo frame ( I have used an IKEA frame painted in black)

2. Photos or picture of your choice ( I have chosen printed a quote on plain paper)

3. Adhesive or nails to put up your frame

4. Screw hooks

5. An hour or less of your time

And you will need tools like scissor, pencils, pliers and such to screw in the hooks.

 Here is a close up of the quote that I have decided on.

And I trace the size of the photo frame out and cut the paper to size.

Next, I marked the place that I want to place the screws.. I have divided the bottom of the frame to fit the 5 hooks.

Then it's alot of screwing.. this is the first time I am using screw hooks and I tried to screw them in with my hands.. and by the third hook, my fingers are starting to hurt a bit. I realised.. using an awl to push a hole in the frame helps to kick start the installation process easier and using this monkey wrench makes the turning much easier. Only note.. be cautious not to over screw which seems like common sense but for a woodwork newbie like me, I made this mistake which results in cracks on my frame.. I hope this key holder can endure at least a year of key holding with those cracks.

Then I stick my trusty double sided tape to the frame and find the perfect spot for my keys home.

And here it is, my DIY key holder in less than an hour. It and quick and and practical project.

My thoughts on the key holder

It's a quick and fuss free project and for the price of less than $3, I have my own personalised key holder which makes my heart warmer. 

Toddler Activities: Bubbles Play

It is our decision not to send lil joy to school until she is 3 years old. In the meanwhile, I try to incorporate different kind of activities that help her to explore her tiny world.

Part of our weekend morning routine is tending to the potted plants at our corridor. This weekend, hub wanted to add new soil to the pots which made quite a mess and so I took a pail of water out to wash the floor.

It did not take lil Joy very long to discover the pail of water. 

And she found her own form of entertainment but chucking her new sandals in for a wash.

Nothing beats a pair of clean sandals while daddy does his gardening works.

While everyone was out at the corridor, I took out the bubble gun for some bubble fun. It was months since I last took the gun out. I recalled lil Joy being hesitant about the bubbles then. Now she runs after them gleefully. 

She also discovered that bubbles bursted when her fingers touched them. So it is another round of fun to be poking around.

It is really amazing to see how children grow up. I love this precious moment when lil Joy and I play with the bubbles together.

Play date at National Museum - Masak Masak 2014

We had a playdate with Cayce on a weekend at National Museum of Singapore. It had been a long time since we visit the Museum. This trip reminds me to make more trips like this.

There is a Masak Masak: My Childhood exhibition going on till 3 Aug 2014 and we are bringing our 1 year olds.

We are greeted by the joyful bouncy playgrounds which are inspired by the old playground that the older Singaporeans are familiar with. But it rained at the earlier part of the day so the bouncy playgrounds are wet which dampens the mood a bit. There are 2 playgrounds, one for the younger kids and the other for the older kids.

Lil Joy checking out the small kids bouncy playground.

And she decided that she prefers the big kids playground which is too tough for her to climb. So her dad plonk her up the slide instead. Only allowed because she cant climb the 'stairs' and there are very few people at that time. There are very nice coordinators manning the playground who let lil joy 'jump' the queue so she will not miss out the fun.

Next we go indoors to those childhood games inspired exhibitions. Again.. all the exhibitions are manned by friendly coordinators. Here is the marble throwing game.. Imagine many kids throwing plastic balls around. We met a very helpful boy who kept getting balls for the kids around. So sweet of him.

Here is lil Joy concentrating with ball throwing.

And she soon realised that the balls will come out at the bottom and decided to check that out.

During the playdate, we ask her to give her 'boy friend' a kiss.

Next station is the 'pick up sticks' which is velcro on felt sticks. It seems like a very safe and fun game for toddlers.. And it inspires me to make some at home too.. So the game turn into.. baby L tearing down all the sticks, parents sticking it back and lil Joy picking them up.

Next station is the massive Five Stones area. They are too big for lil joy but again a reminder for me to make big bean bags at home for lil Joy.

Then we move upstairs to find a cardboard tube art exhibition. I was real excited to see these in life. How imaginative and patient the artist is. I have snapped almost all cardboard tube arts but shall not bore you with all of them. These is one of my fav.

At the same place, there is a color and craft area.

2 levels up, there is this light and sound exhibition where u can 'draw' on the screen with a touch light and random music will be played according to your 'drawings'. I find this exhibition a bit eerie though.

Finally we visit this room that is like a house. There are different activities in the different rooms of the house. So here is a giant puzzle which is just nice for lil Joy.

And some pretend cooking at the kitchen area.

My thoughts on the Masak Masak exhibition

I am surprised that the exhibition is free of charge. The activities are fun for young children and reminds parents about play. The exhibitions are well managed and interactive. I feel it is worth a trip down for those with young children.