Pink Balloon Skirt and Blue Plain Tutu

These are two of my latest projects. The balloon skirt was inspired by SM's balloon skirts for girls and toddlers from their holiday collection. They look so cute but a little expensive, so I decided to DIY one for my daughter.

I used the excess fabric from her "dress up princess gown" and pink bow headband.She might be wearing this to a Vintage Barbie party that we are attending soon.
Materials Used:-half yard of pink silk fabric-8 inches thick black garter-half yard of black soft tulle for lining-pink and black threads
Total Cost = more or less P150

This no-sew tutu skirt is simple, no flowers nor beads, just the way I planned it.I thought I will not embellish this time and leave it plain like that.This is going to be her skirt for the New Year.
Materials Used:-half yard of pink tulle fabric-8 inches thin white garter-white thread
Total Cost = more or less P60

The Day Called Christmas

Here in the Philippines, people traditionally feast not on Christmas Eve, but in noche buena or the midnight before Christmas. To start our Christmas celebration, I cooked a humble amount of food the eve before Christmas. There were cheese sticks, fish fillet, buttered garlic shrimp, chicken roast, and chop suey. For dessert, I got panna cotta and chocolate cake. Everything in small servings so that we won't have too much of a leftover.

I bought this plain chocolate cake from Red Ribbon.Shhh.. I got the toppers from BreadTalk's Snowy Mountain and Hazelnut Story.What can I do? No more Christmas cakes when I visited the nearby BreadTalk store.People pre-ordered them so they were gone even the first hour.

We went to church and attended the usual morning service.She wore this cute Christmas dress, red headband and gold sandals.
Of course, mama has to wear something red too.And some gold accessories.
I bought this dress 2 years ago and this is just the second time I'm wearing it.Can you believe that? Haha. I just realized!
We saw Santa hanging in a neighbor's doorway.Hurry up Santa! It's almost Christmas Eve!!

After church, I directed the little one under the tree.She has the most gifts in the family.
Money, toys, clothes.. she got them all!


How was your Christmas celebration dearies?Hope you guys had a blast.

Birthday Gifts and My Daughter's Pink Room

My daughter received the most gifts on her 3rd birthday. The most beautiful gift she received was her pink room. Like I told you, I did the painting of the room and all furniture therein. I also did the design of her furniture. I drawn the look of the bed, cabinet, and tables that we wanted for our daughter and brought them for customization to a furniture-maker in Tagaytay a month prior her birthday.

Pink and purple cabinet and bookshelf rolled into one.I used butterfly wall stickers to make it look more beautiful.No carpet yet. I am still looking for a flower carpet that will fit the room.

Lots of birthday gifts. Check the pink electric fan that her uncle gave her!
I told her to pick one gift to open for the camera.
She picked the one right at her front.
Again, butterfly stickers on the wall.
Flower curtains and flower pinwheel.The heart blanket used as bed sheet doesn't match the theme.Update: I already bought a flower blanket a week ago.
Wow, it is a play set!

Trying to master her new pink cellphone.
And, her magic fairy wand.
Books, toys, clothes, shoes, towels, electric fan, play sets, etc.


Note: This is a long overdue post. I just thought of posting everything in my "Drafts" before the year ends.

This Christmas party is for kids too!

This party happened last weekend. Mommy Joy originally organized this party for us mommy bloggers only, but later included the kiddos. It was a fun event because all the mommies (together with some daddies) and kids enjoyed. The venue was Legend Villas and everybody was required to wear red and to bring an exchange gift. On the other hand, other than exchange gift, the mommies were also asked to bring items for swapping, gift tokens and food to share.

The kids :)
She loves Santa!
Exchanging gift with her monita.
The first gift she received for Christmas.
Me and Mommy Jing a.k.a. Mrs. Claus!

The gifts we took home from the party.

Thank you so much to Mommy Joy for always creating a fun party for us.Hope we continue our friendship with the years to come.You are the best dear!
Thank you Jing, Bedai, Honey, Lyn, Nora, and Jenny.You ladies are awesome.Let us to this again next year.

Merry Christmas!
More photos HERE.

Bread Talk's Snowy Mountain Cake

It's Christmas day in 9 days! What's in you Christmas dinner menu's list? Did you include a Christmas cake? As for me, it is a very big YES! Hubby loves cakes so much as well as the little one. We found this great-tasting cake from BreadTalk. Actually, I believe, it is their newest. It is called the Snowy Mountain Cake, sold at P600 or less than $14.


yummy fresh white frosting..
green tea macaroons and walnuts..

layers of yellow cake..
with strawberry and blueberry cream fillings..
my daughter's plate..
The little one did not eat the cake. She just licked on the frosting and ate the strips of chocolate. Haha! Anyway, I am planning to have the same cake served for my family on Christmas eve. Hope to be able to get one on the 24th. People get crazy the day before Christmas you know. We might just ran out of cakes in the metro.

Also available:Merry Mango P600Hazelnut Story P600Starry Night P600

Note: This is not a paid post.

A New Set of DIY Headbands

If you are an old follower of this blog, I think you know how fond I am of making headbands for my daughter. Check my old post HERE and HERE and see what I mean. Lately, I fell in love with one specific headband from an album of Charlotte Vicatoria's Collection in Facebook. It's a red headband with big double bow design. My friend was selling a limited stock of them while she has a lot of interested customers, so I did not bother buying anymore. Again, my stingy self decided to DIY it for the little one. I am so happy that I was able to pull it. Below is the finish product.

pink headband with big double bow

brown headband with brown and striped double bow

blue headband with pink tiny bows
The first design was inspired by my friend's collection but those last two are mine. I made the brown headband for myself. The blue and purple one was made for a little girl called Anzy, my daughter's Japanese friend. I also did a couple of skirts for my daughter to be worn this coming holidays. The first one is a tutu skirt while the second one is a balloon skirt which is similar to the ones we see from SM Kid's Holiday Collection. Watch out 'cause I'm going to post them soon!

Quick & Easy Moist Chocolate Muffins

Hello mommies! I am sharing this recipe today to those of you who want to surprise the whole family this holiday season with this very easy and quick recipe of chocolate muffins. I bake these whenever my husband and daughter crave for something sweet and chocolatey.

I used pink cupcake liners.

Ingredients:

200 grams chocolate hotcake mix

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 egg

2 tbsp. oil

Procedure:

-Beat the egg.

-Add oil and milk then beat again.

-Gradually pour in the hotcake mix.

-Mix until smooth.

-Fill up to 2/3 part of cupcake liners.

-Bake for 20 minutes.

You can modify this recipe by folding nuts into the batter before pouring into your liners. For a sweeter taste, you might want to sprinkle powdered sugar into them too. Do whatever you think will improve the taste and the looks of your muffins. Enjoy!

Painting Furniture and Decorating My Daughter's Room

A few months before my daughter's birthday, I was busy painting and decorating her room. I bought new curtains, wall stickers, paints, etc. all in pink and purple color and with flowers and butterflies design. There are just a few things that I missed which I am planning to complete next year. In the meantime, I am happy to see the fruits of my labor. Here is my photo story.


The color I used to paint the furniture. I also used purple but sorry no photo.
Allowing the lamp table and study table to dry.


The princess bed in pink.


The little one helped me with the wall stickers. She likes her new room a lot.


My daughter doesn't sleep in her room at night. She only uses her bedroom at daytime for playing and napping. I hope to completely transfer her there next year. So, to complete her pink room, I need to buy carpets, lampshade, pink chair and new beds sheets and curtains. I already spotted some of the items that I want for her room in SM. Still looking for the rest. I really want to stick with the flowers and butterflies theme, so hope to achieve everything I have in mind.




NOTE: This is a long overdue post. I just thought of posting everything in my "Drafts" before the year ends.

DIY Project: Gift-Wrapping with Flower Design

I know everyone is busy Christmas shopping and then gift-wrapping these days. You go to the mall, buy some gift items and smiled when the cashier told you that you get a free gift-wrapping with the amount you just purchased. You gracefully walked to the gift-wrapping section but to your dismay, the queue is longer than the one you saw at the washroom. So, you decided to go home and do-it-yourself.. and here I am wanting to help you make your gifts look a little better!



This is a simple gift design which I made recently. I chose a red Christmas wrapper with a touch of gold and gold ribbon to match. The flower looks like a butterfly. Just spread the petals a little more then you get the perfect flower design below.

I wrapped this gift for baby boy on his baptism. I took photos of every step while doing this, so I was able to use them for the tutorial. Please watch the video.

Missing Red Ribbon's Dulce de Leche Cake

I had a taste of this cake twice. Yes, only twice and I am missing it. For me, this is the best-tasting cake that Red Ribbon ever had. I know their triple chocolate cake is a winner but I like milk better. that's why why this cake became my instant favorite when I first tasted it.


I am forgetting my diet when I see this.
That caramel and frosting make me literally drool.
A slice is enough for me.
My daughter loves it too.

I passed by a Red Ribbon store last week and I saw no dulce de leche on display. I think they stopped baking them. It could be a perfect Christmas cake with its milky taste. I can definitely go for it instead of getting a BreadTalk Snowy Mountain Cake. Hayyyy.. wishes!

It's Cool to be a Top Mom!

Do you think you deserved to be called as a top mom? If yes, wait for December 9, 2011 to sign up for Top Moms membership. Be a part of the community of top moms in the world wide web. Remember, being a mom is an awesome job, but being a top mom is the best.



Last November 26, 2011, Top Moms was introduced in an OFF! Tea Party at Lemuria Restaurant in Horseshoe Village, Quezon City. I was invited to this event by Miss Thei Palijo, Nuffnang Community Manager of Nuffnang Philippines. OFF! brand ambassador Suzi Entrata-Abrera hosted the event. Here in the photo with Dr. Empress Carlos-Villapando and Dr. Anna Vazquez, both writers for Top Moms.

Top Moms by OFF! is a website that features mommy stuff. They have weekly blog post on mommy matters, quiz, photo of the week, and Q & A regarding parenting and motherhood. Since Top Moms is an online community, you can join us wherever you are in the world.

The people behind Top Moms. Notice the button pin that Suzi Entrata-Abrera is wearing, Dr. Empress Villapando and Dr. Anna Vasquez and all the top mommy bloggers wear the same thing. Sorry no photo, but we had something like an oath-taking and pinning ceremony during the tea party. It was all fun!


My daughter and I after the party at Lemuria Restaurant. Ooopppss blurry! Please check HERE for more photos.