• Jan
  • 27
  • 2014

laundry > love or loath?

Hello & Happy Monday all!

Its hot here in Melbourne with temperatures soaring up to 35 degrees celcius today so lets do the laundry…yea? I for one absolutely loathe doing the laundry! I dislike anything to do with clothes: washing, scrubbing (especially when you have toddlers), folding, ironing etc…Ironing is probably the most hated chore lol, and I’m sure you ladies agree with me on this one. Anyhow, we recently renovated the laundry…yes after I gave birth! I seem to love renovating during/after birth. When I had my firstborn, we renovated our kitchen. When I had my second, we renovated the bathroom. Now with number 3, we’ve just finished doing the laundry. Reason being: hubby gets a lot of time off-supposedly ‘paternal leave’ to look after his child & I…and since he just stays home, might as well be productive! Although the renovating part is finished, the decorating part is still in progress, so once its all completed I’ll snap photos and share it with you guys.

So hopefully by having a new laundry, I would enjoy doing it more…especially ironing (we bought a second hand wall mount ironing board/centre so it makes ironing a lotttt more convenient) Anyway the reason for this post is to share with you lovely readers a fabulous funny freebie I came across on Facebook. I extracted the quote and designed one to match my laundry decor. Click the link below to download the PDF, print and put it up in your laundry. Happy washing ya’ll!

*Printable is in A4/8×12″

 


  • Nov
  • 17
  • 2013

{collaboration} DIY Candle tutorial & a fabulous FREEBIE!

When my friend Pik from Sakina Design emailed me a month ago to do a free monthly collaboration for our fans, I was so excited to get right in as I was already planning to do DIY soy candles for myself! I told Pik I was giving birth early December so I could only do 1 collaboration (instead of monthly) before I my due date and then perhaps next year, I’ll jump back again on the bandwagon! Pik was excited about my idea of DIY soy candles and we decided that I’d do the tutorial step by step whilst she designs the labels and these labels are very customisable and will be FREE PRINTABLES for all you lovely fans. The download link is at the bottom of this post!

I have always been a soy candle lover! I love the smell, the sight and the whole ambience it creates. I light up my candles mainly at night, after cooking- to neutralise the house from any food smell and just to relax and wind down whilst the kids are in bed. The important thing about candles for me are 1- natural and 2-the smell… and probably cost as well lol!

So after years of buying candles, I thought, hey maybe its time I explore my other creative side and start making my own DIY homemade soy wax candles! I started just by googling ‘natural soy wax candle supplies’ and after a few Youtube videos, here I am to show you how I made mine. All you need is a beginners kit. My kit comes with everything you need to make your own candles, along with 6 glass jars (so they will keep you lighting for a while!) and with 3 choice of fragrance that you can choose from hundreds of scents, so I chose my favourite top 3.

1. Coconut & Lime

2. Sweet Pea & Vanilla

3. Lychee & Black Tea

I do love other scents too, but for now this will suffice. But I know what I want next time, strawberry, watermelon…mmm…basically anything fruity!

 

STEP BY STEP DIY NATURAL SOY WAX CANDLE MAKING TUTORIAL

 

Items you will need (all included in this beginners kit)

*the image above just shows half of the beginners kit.

First, place the wick stickums (these are adhesive double sided) on one end of the wick.

Just before placing them in the glass jar, remove the other end sticker and firmly press it down the middle of the jar.

Place the wick holders (wooden stick) in between the wicks.

And now, peg each wick carefully positioning them in the middle of the glass on top of the wick holders.

In a double boiler, put the 100gram soy wax in and let it melt slowly. You can also do this in a microwave, but I’m not a fan of microwaves, so double boiler it is! Ensure that the wax reaches a temperature of around 80 to 85 degree Celsius – use the thermometer for this.

Once melted, pour the wax into the pouring jug and mix the whole bottle of fragrance in, stirring quickly but carefully with the bamboo stick. Note: You can also add colouring in this stage but since the beginners kit did not come with colouring, I didn’t bother. To me, smell is more important than colour, don’t you think? :)

Once mixed, pour the contents into each glass jar. This mixture will be enough to make 2 medium oxford candle jars. (remember, if you bought the beginners kit from this supplier, you still have 4 more glass candles and enough candle making supplies to fill up the rest of the 4 jars)

Now, leave it in a secure place and let it cool overnight before burning.

Your candles should look like this once cooled. Yay, we’re nearly there, just need to dress up these babies with Pik’s amazing labels!

Now, print off the labels here. But wait, before you do that, Pik has so kindly made these labels customisable just for you. You can write your own short text or quote on them via your PDF reader, how amazing is that? So even if you don’t wish to use them for candles, you can use these labels as gift tags, or gift cards, or anything you want! Simply write your desired text in the textline box and print! *You can only do this through a computer/laptop-not compatible with mobile phones*

And now stick the label on your candle. These labels are really adorable!

 


  • Nov
  • 11
  • 2013

the day i will cherish forever…

This was what I walked into on Saturday afternoon, thinking it was just a casual lunch at my auntys! Oh My God– was my first reaction. I was definitely surprised and shocked but absolutely blown away! Only God knows how I felt inside, I was left speechless…even until today as I type this. Alhamdulillah I am so grateful to Allah, having bless me with such a beautiful sister (my one and only sister) and amazing relatives and friends who worked tremendously hard making this garden tea party a huge success.

As I walked in, I wasn’t quite sure what this party was for lol! It took me a good few seconds to sink in, and realise what is it that we are celebrating? ‘is this my almost there party? or a baby shower? Don’t think it would be a baby shower since I’m expecting my 3rd, so I’ll take the former :)

Very cute vintage party props, I cant believe my sister who has 1 year old twin boys managed to organise all this for me, Mashallah! Of course with lots of help from relatives and friends-you know who you are and I am forever grateful to have you all in my life :)

Its ‘Spring’ season here in Melbourne and the table setting was reflecting just that- spring colours! I absolutely love the table decor setting. Its so pastelly cute and girly. My Auntys house was the perfect location, whoever thought of it was a genius! Thanks Aunty Nola for being the words bestest host!

And of course, my talented and amazing friend Eda from Plaited Heart made this fondant cake. Did I mention she is super amazing? Mashallah, everyone was not only impressed by the look of this cake but also tasted delicious, soft and moist :)

This is absolutely brilliant! There were a few flavours of tea in here and the caption was “Find your Flavour”. I wonder how long it took to cut, and paste them onto each tea bag. Again, I’m just so grateful for everyones help in putting this party together :)

Last but not least, we all had lots of fun taking silly photos at the photo booth. I wont be uploading any photos, its just too embarassing lol. Alhamdulillah I enjoyed heaps myself despite my condition, and it was really good to get together and see familiar faces and of course, being kid free (thank you hubby for babysitting!).I can never repay those who have sacrificed their time and love into this, but you guys will be in my prayers. Thank you to everyone who helped, who came and to those who wanted but couldn’t make it, I love you all for the sake of Allah!

*Photographs by Eda from Plaited Heart

*Event styling and props by Elcin from Jellybean in my closet, and of course not forgetting the master of this event: my sister and relatives!


  • Oct
  • 11
  • 2013

{Freebie Friday} FREE DIY Eid Gift Tag Printables

{EID AL ADHA}

FREE  DIY Gift Tag Printables in assorted designs & colours!
*You may download this printable at the end of post*

This is a freebie Friday, because why not?!  The weekend is coming up, so its the perfect day to launch my FREE DIY PRINTABLES just in time for Eid. I’m sure many of you will be busy this weekend wrapping up gifts for Eid. Consider this my little Eid gift to you, fellow fans :)

To be honest, I wasn’t really planning to do printables this Eid, as my FREE EID printables are only an annual thing. But, as I was shopping one day to look for supplies for my personal Eid gifts, I fell in love with these paper strings and washi tapes! So I thought, since I’m doing it for myself, why don’t I share them with you?

Materials needed for this project:

1. This A4 (8×12″) printed template. Print as many as you wish
2. Ruler
3. Scissors and/or cutter
4. String or ribbon
5. Hole puncher

I love gift wrapping. I can unleash my creative side and go wild, there are so many options. Though, I only like to use kraft paper (brown paper) as the base, and then decorate it with different coloured strings, ribbons, washi tapes, flowers, doilies, pom poms etc…ahh your imagination runs wild. A quick search on Pinterest will get you quite excited about gift wrapping.

Once you’ve cut them out, use a hole puncher and punch some holes as shown.

Now you’re ready to wrap, decorate and thread your gift tags. Its superrrrr simple! And go crazy wrapping, you can find lots of ideas on Pinterest if you do a search for ‘Gift Wrapping’ and lots of inspirations will come up. There are so many ways you can wrap a present, so mix and match!

This one is for the males! Don’t be scared to use black wrapping paper, often, black makes a present look outstanding and unique, especially when combined with one of this black and white gift tag ;)

This gift tag was inspired by washi tape! I absolutely love them. This particular one, was inspired by the ‘Coloured airmail’ washi tape. I love the vibrancy of the colours in it!

And of course, teal is my favourite new colour. Inspired by the washi tape (sitting above it).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


  • Aug
  • 06
  • 2013

scones for eid breakfast anyone?

Eid is tomorrow In Sha Allah! As we say goodbye to Ramadan (In Sha Allah, this wont be our last Ramadan) we say hello again to Eid. As sad as I am to leave the holy month of Ramadan, I am also equally excited to welcome Eid. I have everything ready, from kids dresses to shoes, to presents and the list goes on!

Do you tend to cook/bake on the morning of Eid? What is your typical Eid breakfast? Being a malay, in my culture, we’d wake up with a feast. Usually there’s rendang, lontong and sooooo many kuih raya (Eid cookies) to choose from. But since I’m a busy wife and mother, living abroad + my small little family is not used to eating a huge breakfast, I’d choose scones as the next best thing! These babies are done and dusted in under 30minutes (from start to finish) so you know you wont be late for your Eid prayers.

These scones are extremely soft! Thanks to my Italian brother in law for recommending the recipe to us.

Scones are best served warm straight out of the oven with strawberry jam and cream…mmm yum!

 

 

RECIPE FOR SOFT PLAIN SCONES
Adapted from Cooking from the heart

Serves: 12
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 10-12 mins

 

Ingredients

3 cups self-raising flour
4 tsp icing sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ cup single cream
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cup hot water
Whipped cream (simply whip thickened cream)
Strawberry Jam

 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 230°C.

2. Sift all dry ingredients into a bowl 6 times to aerate.

3. Make a well in the centre and add the cream, milk and water. Mix with a knife. The ingredients should come together easily without too much effort. If the mixture is too stiff add more milk, but don’t overwork or the scones will be tough.

4. Turn the dough out on a well-floured surface. Flour your hands lightly and shape the dough into a ball before patting down gently to a height of 3cm. Cut with a 6cm pastry cutter, being careful not to twist the cutter, and place each scone barely touching one another onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.

5. Place in the oven for 10-12 minutes until risen and just browned on top. Serve warm with whipped cream and strawberry jam!

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