handmade bow brooch

This is not a baking related post, but I am quite fond of the result, so just decided to share it here.

I like browsing the web for handmade item ideas (other than baking recipes :) ), esp those done using recycled items and are simple enough for someone without much DIY skills. I always think that turning something old or unusable into something beautiful and useful again is a cool and responsible act, which we busy concrete jungle dwellers on this island state have almost no time for. It is more time efficient to just pack up those unusable/unwanted stuff, toss them down the chute and go shopping again. No?

I personally find a beautiful mess a gem, a full of interesting ideas and most are practical too. Plus point, her blog is so pretty to look at.This bow brooch is adapted from her bow tie idea.

To make the bow brooch, I used a top which doesn't fit me anymore but I kept all these while bcoz I like the colours and the fabric. Instead of a blow clip, I used a small safety pin since I didn't want to purposely go shopping for a brooch pin for this purpose.

The step-to-step photo explanation of a beautiful mess's blog is easy to follow but I have to make some simple adjustment along the process due the fact that the fabric I used is quite thick and the thread from the fabric kept falling off. I couldn't just iron and hand fold it for the bow to take shape but have to sew it from step to step. But all in all, it took me less than 45 mins to finish the job.

This is how it looks on me, and I wore it to work that particular week right after I finished it. Of course, some colleagues noticed it and commented how unique it is :).

3-tier cake stand

It looks pretty.. it looks cute.. it looks feminine... when I saw it for sale at singapore motherhood forum, I thought 'I am just gonna buy it', even though I have never baked 3 different types of baked stuff at one go, let alone hold any tea party before.

It is a 3-tier Ashdene fine bone china cake stand in lovely pink colour, adorned with cherry blossoms...

Maybe I shall try inviting some friends over for tea in near future because of it :).

Colours of Spring

With Xmas just passed and the calendar just flipped to 2012, another festive occasion is already waiting around the corner ... It's less than a month to Chinese New Year !!

I am all excited about this Chinese New Year. It will be the first time we are introducing our little one to families in Penang & Alor Setar :). At the same time, it is quite nerve wracking too, considering that we are really not sure how he will respond to those new environments for 10 days!!

Part of CNY is about the preparation: spring cleaning, cookies making, food buying.. and of course, house decoration too!

This year.. I stir away from the traditional RED and made some colourful pastel origami cherry blossom flowers. I know, cherry blossom is not exactly Chinese but .. hey.. who says these aren't plum blossom? Further more, they make such wonderful addition to the window/wall and they exude such happy vides. Isn't CNY about celebrating cheerfulness and looking forward to the brand new year??

These are the individual petals, stacked and waiting to be glued together. The steps to make these can be found here.

These are the completed flowers, waiting to be put up.

This is how the finished window/wall looks like. Some of the items look familiar? Yes, the balls and the glittery loops are recycled from Xmas deco :).

DIY Xmas home deco

I have not been doing much baking lately, mainly bcoz baby's sleeping time has been quite erratic, and I can't be sure I have enough time on hand to finish one round of baking while he sleeps. So, I tried doing something that can be put away immediately once my dear baby starts to stir.. I did some DIY deco for Xmas.. :)

All I needed was some white papers, some origami papers, scissors and glue, and I was good to start. Btw, Daiso sells some interesting origami papers. I bought all of mine from there.

Xmas tree is a must for this festive season and I think these trees are adorable. They are relatively easy to make and you can add as many layers of tree canopy as you want depending how big and tall you would like the tree to be. I made mine with only 3 layers since I was limited by the origami paper size and they are absolutely prefect for table or counter top. You can use scrapbooking paper or even wrapping paper for bigger tree. I learned the steps from this video.

Xmas won't be complete without some glitters and shines, right? I used some really sparkly papers to make these origami balls and joined them together to make 2 glitter loops. Some of the sparkly papers went into making a 5-pointed star. I learned the steps to make the balls from here and the 5-pointed star here.

To top things off, what else but some beautiful snowflakes to make our tropical Xmas an extra special one. These snowflakes are really fun to make and the possibilities are endless - depending on how you cut/create them, each one is unique. I learned the steps from here.

This is how the final put-together of the origami window/wall looks like.

Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a MERRY MERRY XMAS and a very HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR ...

*****************************************************************************

Btw, for anyone who is interested in origami and paper art, paperkawaii has some really kawaii works, free interesting info and tutorials.

cauliflower popcorn

Well, these treats are not bake goods but they tasted so good and at the same time so healthy compared to other snacks, that I think I must post it here to share.

I saw this recipe on Cold Storage's bi-monthly magazine couple of weeks ago. Yes, Cold Storage has their own magazine called Savour the Good Life. The recipe seems interesting and relatively easy to make, so I made a mental note to try it when the opportunity arises.

Last week, I happened to have some leftover fried rice from dinner which I intended to reheat for lunch the next day. I was searching for extra stuffs to make the fried rice more appetising when I saw that we have half a head of cauliflower left in the fridge. To put all of the cauliflower into the fried rice would be too much. So I chopped up the cauliflower, core and stem went into the fried rice and the rest went into making these interesting popcorn.

Cauliflower Popcorn

1 head cauliflower
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 220 degree C
2. Cut out and discard cauliflower core and thick stem. Trim the rest into florets the size of golf balls.
3. In a bowl, add cauliflower, olive oil and salt. Toss thoroughly.
4. Spread cauliflower on baking sheet. Roast until florets become golden brown. Turn 3-4 times during roasting.
5. Serve immediately.

Few tips from my experience:

1. The original recipe calls for 1 tbsp of salt but I think they were on the salty side so I change it to 1 tsp here, but if you like salty popcorn, go ahead and add more salt.

2. DO watch out for the roasting. The original recipe states roast for an hour but mine was done at 30 mins and as you can see from the picture, certain parts were already slightly charred.

3. Make sure the florets are of similar sizes, some of my smaller florets were completely charred.

4. Lastly, if you have only half a head of cauliflower (like me), adjust the olive oil and salt accordingly :)

Writing this makes me salivate, I think I will be buying more cauliflowers soon. The article in the magazine says the cauliflower popcorn is addictive, I definitely agree.