How To Make A Magnetic Refrigerator Grocery List Board

This is one of my most useful handmade goodie so I'll share it here.

What you need:
Cardboard large enough for a small 50-sheets memopad. (Very thick memopads will cause the fabric pocket to stretch over time and become a little loose)

Straw to fit the pen. Choose the bigger straws usually provided when you drink pearl tea.

Magnetic tape from Daiso. Or old magnets with flat surfaces.

3 fabric designs or as you wish. One to cover the cardboard piece, one 5cm shorter as a front pocket, and one to wrap the straw with.

Fabric glue.

What to do:

1. Fold the top edge of the fabric for pocket down and sew across it.

2. Place cardboard on top of the fabric (wrong side of fabric) and glue the sides over, to wrap the cardboard. The fabric I'm using here is double-sided so it looks as if I'm gluing the pattern side wrongly.

All sides glued.

3. Place the pocket fabric on top of the wrapped cardboard, adjust the height and then turn back and glue the sides as well.

Front view when it is done.

4. Cut the straw at the length you prefer for your pen or pencil. Mine is about 10cm.

5. Rub glue all over the straw and place it in the middle of the fabric, with 1cm allowance at the top.

6. At the top, fold the fabric inside and glue it in.

7. Do this for the bottom. I suck at giving origami instructions but it is similar to wrapping presents where you fold it down and unite the flaps.

Flaps glued together, securing the bottom.

8. Glue the flap onto the back of the cardboard.

9. Paste a paper card onto the back to cover the mess.

10. Glue the magnetic tape onto the back.

Ta-da!!

I gave this to my mom :)

I made one for myself and I find that it has helped me shop more efficiently. I'd only buy things ON my list and not by suka-suka. I used to buy what I needed AND 100 other things I didn't know why I bought. Because I'm a woman la that's why! Heehee...

Angry Children Angry Mother

Contrary to popular beliefs, I do get mad at my boys and I do yell at them. Those who know me always says "Lei Yin can scold people wan meh?" or "Ally can get angry wan meh?"
I was a mouse back then.

I am different now. You know, all grown-up and capable of getting pissed off. Being mid-thirties has something to do with it, and also having children. My nerves get stepped on almost everyday. Yes there are precious moments everyday but there are also fire moments, mostly small fires, but once in a while you get those big fire moments especially during PMS. On times I lose it, I glare and I speak angrily. I have never hit them ( I pray I will never do) but I have done some pretty harsh things and most of it were on Daniel because he is the first child, the trial-and-error-child.

When he was around one, he got into a crying fit and I plonked him on the bed, but I felt like I threw him on the bed. Then his cry became different. It was the what-the-hell-happened kind of cry. I let him cry but my heart was wrenched but on fire at the same time. I couldn't understand and accept his crying fit. I think all mothers go through this phase with the firstborn. The stress, the uncertainties, the misunderstandings, the frustration.

I thought those days will end when he becomes older. Apparently children don't stop driving you up the wall. Last year, Daniel pushed some really wrong buttons and I lost it. I dragged him by his t-shirt collar (he was walking along, not dramatically dragged on the floor) and put him outside my front door, closed it and let him wail. I didn't care about disturbing my neighbours because I've heard wails coming from their houses as well, maybe same punishment method. Angry mothers unite! Heh heh.. And so I let him cry it out and then when he more or less settles down, I ask him some questions and by then he'd be ready to explain why he cried or why he did what he did.

Cuddles.

Last night, I yelled at Darren. I was cranky, he was demanding. And the cutest thing happened. In his scrunched up face, he cried, "Mummy angry! Mummy shouting! UAAAAAAAAA" running off to Daniel who quickly ushered him away in the hush-hush-don't-provoke-mom manner. Oh my heart. I feel bad after getting angry at them. But sometimes they really deserve some black face. And studies have shown that children actually loves to be disciplined. They feel loved! I think deep down they feel that if you get so mad at them, it means you really care about them. Like getting fueled-up attention 100 fold. Hahaha.

I am still learning how to control my anger, because there are just so many types, on different levels. But what scares me is that Daniel mimics me when Darren pisses him off. The same brows, the same lips, the same glare and same tone! Aaarrrghh. I have to really brush up on controlling my outbursts. I don't want to teach them that it's ok to lose your temper whenever you feel like it. But at the same time I want to teach them how to express their feelings and not bottle it up inside. Oh why is this so difficult.

It is a long and arduous journey, but filled with joy, pride and many magical moments.

Since we're on the topic of anger...

1. Children's book on anger. I've read it once to Daniel during our bedtime story session. I think I should read this more often.

2. What To Do When You Made Someone Angry

Smile!

My NEON Weekend

I literally had a neon weekend. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday holiday yabadabadoo! So what did I do? 

Besides harassing my boys, I stole some hours neon-ing around. Have you ever entered Forever 21 and got blinded by the recent neon trend? Uh-huh.

All it takes are a piece of canvas fabric, masking tape, your favourite acrylic paint colour and a stencil brush.

Taped, 1cm apart.

Brush generously.

Peel!

Ta-da!

Neon Darren. I KNOW, he's the best.

The pouches.

SO simple. And so neon.

Giveaway Thoughts

I've been thinking. I get obsessed with making crafty knick-knacks when the mojo hits. And I don't want to sell them on my etsy shop because I want to give someone I know who will love it. Or give it to my blog readers, whoever and wherever you are. Giving it to my friends who are 'forced' to receive it or who doesn't quite like my kind of magic, doesn't sound too nice.

SO. I've been thinking. What if I do a weekly giveaway on my blog? Readers can leave a comment and I'd pick a random winner, or winners. It's a win-win happiness, because I get to make more crafty goodies feeding my inner core purpose in life, while the winners get to receive it to use/keep/give away.

Just a thought...

ps. If you think it's an awesome thing to do, or not, commento? Gracias.

My New Craft Station

A little work done everyday for a week. 

BEFORE. 

That chest of drawers were from IKEA Children's cardboard chest of 4 drawers which I combined 4 of them and pasted kraft brown paper and whatnots. It has served me very well for the past 5 years because of its roomy drawers. 

The shelves above it were for favourite decorative items.

That little compartmentalized storage frame holds the McDonald's Teddy Bear collection from 1999(?) which my husband, well, then-boyfriend, got for me after eating the meal every week (or was it everyday). He knows I'd appreciate these better than Hello Kitty or Minions. Ha.

At the side, sits my old storage organizer made of hard paper board. It has also served me well for many years and looks old now.

But acrylic paints do wonders.

See? My favourite colour of late.

AFTER.
Ta-da!

My shelves now holds my craft nuggets, from seashells, ribbons, lace trims, twills, beads, buttons to wooden knick-knacks. I now keep them in glass jars that I've collected over the years, and some in new jars ( the bigger ones from IKEA and Daiso). It's so refreshing displaying all of them after having them hidden in drawers all these while. It's nice to look at it everyday for inspiration.

The main change is this wooden chest of drawers, also from IKEA. What a find! The drawers are a lot of smaller but it's good that I can organize my stuff more specifically.

Jars of goodies.

Happy as a bird!

My Book Collection

Sorry, no Harry Porters, Twilight or 50 Shades. I DON'T READ BOOKS WITH NO PICTURES.

I devour these instead.. with gusto and accelerated heartbeat.


Home decor/styling books. In these, you will NOT see homes with the typical PU/fauz leather 3 seater sofa, huge LCD TV along with ASTRO decoder, DVD player and their visibly complicated network of entwined cables. No, no, no. Oh wait, that looks like my living room.

Embroidery books. Bought from dangdang, the Amazon of China with very affordable price. Control yourselves!

Aranzi Aronzo. Who can resist.

Sock Toys books.

A book on different methods of printing. LOVE.
A book on making different types of bags. LOVE but complicated ones make my head hurt.

Oh, this one is different. I chanced upon it in Popular bookstore. If it looks vintage, I get it.

I'm still a bookworm!

Absorbing All The Cuteness

That's what I've been doing all these while. I've become so lazy it hurts. But, everybody gets lazy once in a while yes? It's healthy. I get to stop and smell the roses and I could just look at my boys all day long (if I'm not working). Darren is at the maximum cuteness age, just like Daniel before, and I can't help but feel sad that he's going to grow up so fast and he'll lose the babyness. Forget that, I'm just going soak up all the babyness NOW and not worry about the future. Oh. My. Last. Baby. Ohm nom nom nom nom nom.

I haven't been sewing because Mr Flying Man has been sick. Stitches became ugly, and I tried two things to fix it but failed. So I called the doctor who turned out to be a young chap (mid thirties my age) who brought his Mother of All Toolbox which had stuff I've never seen before. I was expecting an uncle in late 40s! Talk about dying trade. He did his magic and my beloved sewing machine is back!! (touch wood, I haven't done a test run) He even taught me how to use a hemming foot and a free-motion foot. How about that! This guy's a keeper I tell ya.

OK. More fab posts coming up!

Hiatus

I sincerely apologize for the long hiatus of posts. It's not that I abandoned you. I've always been here, staring at an empty template. It's just a digital traffic block, ya'know. Sometimes, I go away and hide in my cave for a while. They say men do this. So that means I have enough testosterone, yes? Anyhoo... I'll be back I promise. In the meantime, here's some tips to survive the haze...

1. Stay indoors as much as possible, preferably air-conditioned and with... see No.2.
2. Air purifiers. Trust me, it helps.
3. N95 masks. Yes, the bra type. Are you still using that dentist type? It's not good enough anymore.
4. Spider plants in da house. They are known as air detoxifiers.

Stay safe!

Post-Election Fever

I voted, I polling agent-ed, I wept.

But slowly, I'm feeling happy and hopeful again.

Arrows

Geometric tribal arrows have been my obsession lately.

Other arrow stamps I find irresistible:

from HuntersHideaway

from talktothesun

by scrapbooking company Glitz Design.