DIY No Sew Felt Bow Ties

My nephew Armaan (big bro's son) turned 1 year old on 18 December 2013 and they had his birthday party on 22 December 2013. The theme for the party is Little Man. Sil contacted me and asked me where to find bow ties other than Daiso. Daiso is selling at RM5 per piece and she needs at least 30 pieces or more. I then told her I will sponsor the bow ties, whether I make them myself or purchase them. I then started to search online and found numerous sites on tutorials for bow ties. It got me excited because they looked so easy and it is something I can definitely do. There are two versions to make the bow ties, either to sew them or the no sew ones. I opted for the latter because hello, I ain't gonna sew!

I head over to Daiso and instead of buying handkerchiefs which are light, soft and thin, I found felt material and I thought it would be perfect. A packet consists of 5 pieces felt in different colours so I bought 2 packets. I do not have a glue gun so I bought a white glue, RM2.50 from Times Bookstore. I also bought a pair of scissors from Daiso. 

I started working on making the first bow ties. One piece of felt can yield 1 large and 2 small bow ties. 

I then started mixing the colours and made two-toned bow ties. Some are big and some are small. It really depends on how big or small you want your bow ties to be. I did not follow any measurements in the tutorials. I just used the directions as a basis. The first batch I made 19 pieces of bow ties.

I made a second trip to Daiso and bought two more packets of felt and a box of safety pins (40 pieces per box). This is the second batch of the bow ties. In total I managed to make 42 pieces colourful felt bow ties.

 I simply looped the safety pin at the back of the bow tie.

 The bow ties on the table at the party. Each guest can pick one and attach it to their top. It was so nice to see people wearing my handmade crafts. :)

 

I was going matchy matchy with Babycakes with our black tutu. Babycakes was wearing a white butterfly sleeved top with black lace and black polka dots while I wore an off white top with black hearts print. When I asked Babycakes to pick one bow tie, she picked a bright pink bow tie so I picked one myself too, but mine has two colours, red and bright pink.

 

 

Babycakes having fun with the props at the photo booth. She was so sporting and had so much fun taking pictures. :)

Some links for the tutorial, in case you're too lazy to google yourself.

http://www.stylemepretty.com/living/2011/05/30/diy-no-sew-bow-ties/

http://www.weddingwindow.com/blog/no-sew-diy-clip-on-bow-ties/

http://crafts.tutsplus.com/tutorials/make-your-own-diy-bow-tie--craft-15098

Review: Trendz Salon, Hilton PJ

I bought a deal from Groupon for a hair treatment package for RM45. I took leave on Friday just to have some me-time and I made an appointment at 11am. If you are buying or plan to buy a package like this, I would advise you to call the place beforehand and ask if the schedule time you intend to go is available. I called in to check if they are available on 21 December 2013 at 11 am. After I received the confirmation, then only I proceed to buy the Groupon. No point in buying the voucher only to find out the intended slot is already filled in. There are two options in package A, namely the hair protein package and the scalp treatment package.

The salon is located at Trendz Salon, Hilton PJ. Parking is RM5 for the first hour and RM5 for subsequent hours but maximum rate per day is RM15 so no matter how long you spend at the salon, it will still be RM15. A bit on the expensive side but then again it is a hotel. The salon is spacious and they also have a section for spa treatments.

I was contemplating between doing a hair protein treatment or scalp treatment. My hair is dry and damaged and it could really use some hair protein treatment but at the same time, my scalp is also itchy and very sensitive. In the end, I opted for the scalp treatment. This was before the treatment started and before I bid goodbye to my long hair.

The treatment started by applying some sort of liquid onto my scalp for 5 minutes to clean the scalp and rid of any flakes and build up. After that, off to hair wash and an application of another ointment all over the scalp. The hairstylist, Michelle applied the ointment all over my scalp and massaged my head for a while. I wished she massaged my head a bit more longer though because it felt so good especially with the cooling and tingling sensation from the ointment. She then wrapped my head and steamed it for about 15minutes before washing. Of course at the same time she promoted the scalp treatment to me and suggested that I do the treatment more often to see the results. She asked me to purchase 3 treatments for RM900. 0__o However I will get another 3 sessions for 'free', which means RM900 for 6 sessions / RM150 per session, which is slightly cheaper than outside.

The good thing is, the package comes together with a cut, wash and blow. You know how sometimes salons 'trick' you by promoting a certain deal for XX price, but if you want to cut, wash and blow, you have to pay an additional sum? That is why you must know what you purchased/signed up for so as not to fall victim to such tricks. I decided to chop off a significant amount of my hair because my hair is just too hard to manage and my hair falls a lot. I decided to opt for shoulder length. Before Michelle blew my hair, she applied another tonic/serum on my scalp. It stings for a while then it cools down. In case you are wondering, I did not purchase the treatment as suggested simply because I don't want to fork out RM900 in one go. I've got better things to do with such amount of money. Besides, location-wise is not that strategic for me because it is all the way in PJ. There are a lot other salons nearby and I might just check them out.

weekend project part 35

I present to you my butter cake with strawberry jam swirl which I made over the weekend. I was excited to try out the heart shape silicon mould I bought at IKEA. It was only RM25 and the size is perfect. While Babycakes and hubby were napping on Saturday afternoon, I baked this cake.

 

 I used the recipe from the Victoria Sponge Cake which I learned earlier, which was basically a spongy, fluffy butter cake. I don't have enough butter to make the cream so I decided to finish up the strawberry jam in my fridge and swirled it inside the batter just before I bake. I wanted to finish the jam which was already at the bottom of the bottle because I can't wait to open my new Bonne Maman raspberry jam I bought at the Food Bazaar at Publika. When using a silicon mould, especially ones with nooks and cranny, you must make sure the mould is greased evenly to ensure easy cake release.

The mould has some dots on it and when the cake is baked, I turned it over and it came out perfect. Clearly I did not swirl the jam properly, thus the random spots on the cake. The cake was delicious, fluffy and moist and when Babycakes and hubby woke up, I presented it to them and we sang a Happy Birthday song for my hubby, minus the candles. His birthday was actually on 9 December and I didn't bake a cake for him because we went out to dinner so this was my birthday cake for him, made with love. :)

Avent Feeding Set

Remember this post? Today I finally received the gifts.

Babycakes already has her feeding set so I am going to keep these for future use, Insyaallah.

Breakfast Treat for Babycakes

Getting a toddler to eat is a pretty tricky task. Alhamdulillah Babycakes is not really a picky eater except when it comes to certain vegetables. She loves to eat so it isn't really hard to get her to eat. However, she has her good days and bad days. Sometimes I would make her a cheese sandwich using a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter and she would either just eat the cheese or eat Mickey's ears. Sometimes she would just drink the milk from the cereal and sometimes she would ask for a second helping of a half-boiled egg.

Last Saturday, instead of making the usual french toast, I decided to tweak the recipe a bit and instead of frying, I baked some egg toast for her.

 I cut 2 slices of bread into 4 small squares and put them in muffin tin greased with butter. Yeah, I didn't bother to cut the crusts off because it'll be such a waste. Besides, I don't want Babycakes to grow up not eating the crusts. I mean, I (had to) eat them when I was a kid so now I don't mind eating them.

I cut a few pieces of chicken pepperoni and mixed them with 2 eggs, a tsp of mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste.

 I poured the egg mixture onto the bread and put a some cheddar cheese on top of it.

 I baked them until they are golden brown.

 Cool before serving to your little one. I cut the egg toast into small pieces so it is easier for Babycakes to eat.

There you go. Simple and hearty breakfast treat for my Babycakes (and her Cat). I would have put some chopped onions but Babycakes won't like it. You can always add some mixed vegetables, mushrooms or anything that you like. I don't want to open a can of button mushroom only to use a few pieces so this will do. Be sure to watch the salt that you put in because the chicken pepperoni and cheese have enough cheese.