Bento Gear Organizer

I have somewhat acquired a significant amount of bento gear and accessories and discovered I have nowhere to put them since i have a small kitchen and a limited ammount of space. So most of my things went onto one shelf and in two bags, which does not inspire anyone at all to pack lunch in a more appealing and tasty looking way.

I needed a solution. And I needed it fast. Google image and searched for clear shoe door hanging organizer. There were so many door organizers and they look so fab. But do i buy one? the cheapest i found was US$15 and to ship it here add $17. Thats $32 total and knowing how postal works around here, it'll arrive in 30days. Nuh-uh! I'm not paying that price nor am I waiting that long.

The alternative! I went to soon lee and had a looksie around the plastic table mats they have in rolls. Picked one that I felt would not kill my machine. @ $1.90 per meter, and I got 3m, I spent less than $6. Wicked!!

Brought it home and did not touch it for a few days. I was trying to get my head around to what I need to do. More like a breakdown of process before I start and regret something.

First things first. Measure and cut!

I measured according to the kitchen door and how long i'd like it to be. Then I taped it to the floor and i used the tiles as my guide lines.

Cut and measure the pocket pieces and sewed at one edge. Made six pieces of these.

Measuring and drawing lines everywhere, so the pockets look uniform. and i have a straight line to follow when i sew this thing together.

Sewing ribbon onto the edges of the plastic pockets, so i know where the pockets are. I used whatever ribbon i have in my stash.

Mr Bear took pictures while i was on the sewing machine and on the floor. All of the plastic. Every fold, every edge, every piece was held together by packing tape. It was the easiest way for me at the time, for the damn thing to hold together while I sew everything down.

4 button holes and 4 hooks to hold it up

Taa-Daaaa!!

My bento door organizer! where i can see everything and within reach!

Took me two and a half weeks. I did not sew everyday. I sew a piece at a time. slowly. And its crooked like everywhere. ROFL!

Pillowcase Dress By Rozi

I went over to my cousin Rozi's house today to start prepping up for the 20 books order for JIS. So while I was cutting boards and paper and gluing, I was also teaching Rozi how to make a pillowcase dress for Baby D.

Luckily, in one of the donated stash I have received were two pillowcases. One was blue and one was more in green moss brown flowery print. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of that.

Rozi cleared up a table and got the sewing machine that her mother gave her out. A few tests and it's working great after not in use for a decade? I think.

I taught her how to measure up for the arm holes using a sleeveless top Dyanna has.

Mark and Cut

Hemming

Ironing

And how to hem the neck for the ribbon to go through

We ran through a few machine techie glitches, like the thread snapped, the bobbin got tangled, usual stuff. Rozi was feeling rather "what i have to sew it all over again?" hehehe

Very determined to get it done.

Ribbon in, one edge was sewn nicely until I told her that I shortcut queen suggest using glue.

When all was done. we tried to get the toddler to wear it and keep it on and pause long enough for a decent picture. Unfortunately.

Ran and climbed the bench while i was chasing her and trying to get a photo op and making sure she doesn't fall.

Those ruffles were already on the pillowcase and were too cute to remove.

Trying out to see what she can pull off her

Pulled the ribbon already after 2 minutes

I think all in all, it was a very productive afternoon.

We have another pillowcase to transform.

St Patrick's Day

I initially wanted to spend some time in front of the telly. Unfortunately Mr Bear has to finish a couple more assignments and told me to watch my shows from my computer in the room. So since I cant bring my wip carpet because it takes up some floor space and I don't have enough light to go around too, so I opted to do something else.

Then I remembered that Tuesday is St Paddy's run at the ladies hash.

I found this while googling. And loved it!

You can check out her website. She makes beautiful stuff. There is a tutorial too for this flower.

Its made out of scrapbook paper and she used a cricut? I think so.

Time to use up some stash. Green fabric ... sure i have those but not the ones i needed. So I couldn't make a necklace because I wanted it to last longer. Next option, green paper. Why not. I've made paper flowers before. Channeling my uber fab cousins, Zida and Rozi, with the help of my fantastic glue gun, I came up with this green flower on a stretchy band. Flower a tad on the big side, but who cares. I've something green for the run.

My sister FF is modelling the flower. And she even said that it's big. She only agreed to model for me if she's allowed to have access to my internet and telly while Mr Bear and I go to kiddy hash. The center of the flower is those big stone sparkly beads and some smaller beads. I have some glitter but thought that it would be too messy to use in the bedroom.

Lookie you can see me reflected off her sunnies. Check out my big ass. Shake it yeahhh shake it.

My other sister ZZ modeled my hat. I thought I still have some black ribbon in the stash, but didn't. I have black paper. so it'll have to do. Fantastic glue gun came to the rescue when wet glue just did not want to work with me. The buckle is also made out of paper and the yellow bits are yellow sequins. Because I did not have yellow paper or yellow glitter. And i wanted it to sparkle a bit since its a buckle. A real buckle would have worked better but I doubt Mr Bear would like me much if I mauled his belt for it.

This picture is different. I took it at night (they came over the night before too) and you can see the sparkliness of the hat. The yellow sequins. and the black paper.

Not my best work. Again who cares. I'm gonna rock em and place them in my dress up box with the rest of the costumes I've accumulated over the years. Yes, I go to a lot of costume parties. Good thing I'm crafty and thrifty to boot. Almost.

And the time it took me to make these 2 items was under 1 hr. Cut paper, fold paper, cut paper, glue gun, place stones, scatter beads, glue sequins. Easy Peasy.

Fresh Eggs

Behind my parents kitchen co-habitats the chicken and birds. if I'm lucky and the hens are not sulking, lucky lucky me gets fresh local eggs on a biweekly basis.

I grow up around a lot of different types of animals. Chickens, pigeons, goats ... and we had the variety of pets, cats, hamsters, mice, snake (didnt stay long), turtles, rabbits, an owl and tons of birds and a baby monkey. The occasional monitor lizard would show up now and again and is not a pet at all.

Chickens ; sometimes the dinner of pythons and monitor lizards.

Pigeons ; found their way into the chicken palace and refused to leave

Goats ; committed suicide and scared the shit out of our neighbour, coz they were hanging on the side facing the neighbour's kitchen. it was hilarious.

Cats ; we probably had a 100 of them over the last 30 yrs, found homes for them, stolen or died or ranaway.

Those i remember ; Lucy (Dad's) , Booties I (mine) Percy (Mom's) Spotty (mine) Pancake and Maple (Brother's) Ginger (Sister's) Booties II (mine) Spunky - knows how to roll over and play dead (mine) Max (Joey's) No2 - Max's twin brother (Mom's), Max and No2 died within 3 days due to pneumonia. Snowball (Spoiled Brat)

Now we have Chloe Heng & Pirate Heng (Babies of Mr & Mrs Bear)

Hamsters ; had plenty of them coz they wouldn't stop breeding, so had to give them away

Mice ; cats ate them, smart cats found a way to open the latch

Snake ; which Dad caught and gave away day after, coz we all hates snakes

Turtles ; One big turtle decided to be overlord and drowned the rest, now there is just one turtle living in the platypus tub

Rabbits ; Named Dolce and Gabanna. Yes my sister Diyana named them that. Gabanna got eaten by a snake and Dolce thought that after living for 2 yrs with cats and seeing them land on their feet, thought that he too would land the same way. Broke his neck jumping from the first floor roof.

Owl ; Fell from a tree, we saved him and nursed him and then he flew away.

Baby Monkey ; Dad named him King Kong. He wore infant size diapers and my mommy was his mommy and no one is allowed to love his mommy other than him. We gave him away due to demonic possessions.

This is the Chicken Palace where the best eggs came from. They are small and half the size of regular eggs. Did I mention healthier and FOC. My favourite abbreviation. Love me free eggs.

Now there is only one hen and one rooster. another hen decided to do a houdini.

Can you see them birds?? they're noisy and they smell. I can handle chicken shit anytime but birds just stinks.

Nobody, no one not even Dad can explain how the birds got in there in the first place. Mom has a theory that they squeezed in through the food hole-thingy so they can eat the food only to find out they're stuck. And whenever Dad opens the gate, they refused to fly out. Go figure.

Wanted: Fairy Godmother or Elves

What I love most about Brunei is the sun that we get. Especially more so since I've discovered baking in the car. There is also the ever lovely and feel of laundry drying in the sun. I normally do laundry once every week or 2 weeks, depending on how busy we are. This helps save water and detergent due to the big loads. And we have the rollies clothes line, so its fairly easy to just roll them in for the night and roll them out for the day

Another Eco project that I'm slowly starting is my indoor/outdoor edible plants/garden. I'm starting slowly and one pot at a time. This is due to the fact that the first time we tried to have a plant, it decided it didnt like us very much and died.

This is my rosemary. My friends Harold and Mathilde gave it to me as a present. Lovely couple. It seems that rosemary requires little water, lots of sun and is perfect for me.

This was our first plant. Yes I still keep it as a reminder that i killed it and also because i like the pot it came in. Hopefully the sight of it is enough to scare the rosemary to thrive.

And as promised. This is why I have been sewing by hand instead of my sewing machine. This is my crafting table/dining table which we only used twice. We prefer having out meals in front of the telly in the family room. more comfortable. Its a mess I know. It looks easy enough to sort and clean, however I assure you it is not.

This is my little corner, where I am the google princess and where I spend 80% of my time when I'm home.

Hemming by hand

My yo-yo maker :) I love my yo-yo maker. Remember I'm the short cut queen. So this was how I made them yo-yos. It only took me 5 minutes.

What I learned through this post; Short cuts will make your life easier for you to spend that extra time to do other stuff

Chap Goh Meh

Mr Bear and I went home to Seria for family dinner. Now for those of you who don't know it, Chap Goh Meh is the 15th day of chinese new year and marks the end of festivities and life gets back to being normal, and its usually a nice big dinner with families, lots of fireworks and firecrackers.

I always enjoy these trips, its a nice hour drive and you get to see lots of green jungle, new development being built etc. These drives always mean we get to talk in the car and have really great discussions, watch a movie (yes we're one of those people who has a tv in their car) or deep in thought and just enjoying the silence.

This is Alex (1yr) Our only nephew. He doesnt like being touched by other people

Alex and his mummy (my sister-in-law)

Alex and YeYe (translate: Grandfather, my father-in-law)

The dinner that Mother-in-law cooks

Its a feast! My favourite; satay, kailan, chicken feet, sweet sour fish, tomato chicken, peking duck, fried chicken nom nom nom nom. As there is always leftovers, mummy happily puts them in tupperware for me to bring home. yes! this weeks shopping budget is saved. leftovers for lunch and dinner for a week.

I was a happy sleepy duck when we went back home. I so can't wait for new year again.

The Perfect Supergirl Dress

They're here! They're here! My books have finally arrived. I've waited for a whole month for them. 2 weeks delivery my ass. Nevertheless I'm a happy duck (see pic). I've picked them up bright and early this morning and will drool over them tonight. Will post pictures next post.

Friday is always the day to look forward to as its a day off for me. However instead of doing laundry, vacuuming and such, I went into the jungle for a recce with my hash mate Squeak. Had a great 1hr walk in the jungle of diplo. Usually by lunch, Im off to my cousin's Rozi to spend the afternoon in her studio and spend some quality time with Rozi, Sab (my sister) and Dyanna (my niece-Rozi's baby). And I have come with a gift!

She wouldn't let it go

We did a before photo. Now for a little background story. The "dress" is actually a boys singlet for 6yrs old (Rozi checked tonight and it says 8-9yrs old. my bad). Since Daddy is very into superman, this was the perfect gift for baby. I bought it when she was 2 weeks old (it'll come in handy in the future I said), it came in a pack of 2 for $10. Good bargain. A few weeks ago we were hanging out in the dining room and Sab found it among the piles of everything that we tend to pile with the intention of putting them in their proper place. And Rozi said, hey how about turning it into a dress? Great idea. had the baby try it on to see where it needs to be adjusted. And here is the result. She's almost 2yrs old now.

Posing for the camera.

Cheeky face!

My sister diverting attention to the birds outside the window so I can get a close up of the yo-yo and flowers.

And did I spend a single cent on this?

Absolutely not. I used up everything I had in my sewing stash and scrap box.

Did I use my sewing machine?

Absolutely not. I sewed everything by hand. Everything is hemmed by hand. Ruffles made by running stitch and pinned on one layer at a time and sewed by hand by backstitch using embroidery threads.

Why didn't I use my sewing machine?

Will post photos of why

How long did this take me to sew?

2 weeks, sewn a little bit at a time each night while I watch project runway and masterchef australia.

Would I do this again?

Definitely!