Chicago-Tribune-kisich

Even during the very first discussion with my pretty decorator, I told her I will take care of the “Angpao Box” myself because we (as in Bobby and I) already had an idea what we wanted.

We didn’t want bird cage (eventhough it is beautiful) because people told us that it’s a total b* to put in and take out. I don’t even want to start with those mainstream expensive angpao boxes sold in the internet that are basically boxes decorated with ribbons and cutesy couple plushies.

I love the Raving Rabbids angpao box I saw from the internet so much that I told Bobby that I wanted something like that, but not with the Rabbids lah.. though I also love those menacing rabbits!

Source from here.

Then Bobby thought, why don’t we use Yip Yips? If you follow my blog long enough, I hope you remember we once joined the HSBC Run and we dressed as Yip-Yips!

Once upon a time in May 2011….

It’s an awesome way to recycle the fabric.
We didn’t even need to redo it!

And so we bought two plastic cylindrical containers as above…

Took out the fabric out and taped them properly to the container and stick those white styrofoam balls and then black cut-out circles for the pupils.

As easy as pie.

And then I made the speech balloons and ta-da!

 
Our one of a kind angpao box!

Note: Sorry for the lack of updates, it’s CNY and though I’m not celebrating, I still have tons of friends who do. And for the past week, all I want to do was to stick with 48 and PSL (though, doing nothing fruitful at all…)

So, it was nian-chu-2 (second day of CNY), while everyone still meriah celebrating and my mom and I totally had no idea what to do and feeling very sien.

 
Had breakfast at Sutera Biru with momsy, watching those sifu from China making lamee and *tink* (light bulb), my mom thought since we super eng (free), why don’t we go make some noodles, since she had not done that for a freaking long time.

My mom used to make noodles for sale like… 25 years ago when I was still a toddler. But since we moved out from the house, the machine had not been in used and rosak then kana buang. Of course there’s those tiny pasta/noodle maker but really.. super no feel lah.

Nevermind lah, no fish got prawn also can.

Ingredients – Flour, egg, water and… what my mother call “gan-shui” 碱水

Mix mix mix, knead knead knead. All human labour.

My mom insisted in not putting in more water because it will lose the chewy texture. But then, I think inside got sweat also. Hahhahahahaaa.

Then we split job. My mom continued mixing the raw dough and as for me,

I used the machine to flatten the dough until it’s thin enough to be cut.

Like this

Sprinkled some more flour so that it wouldn’t stick, while waiting for the water to boil to cook it.


Boiled, drained and add some oil and wait for it to be cool. Then can make into smaller packets and put into the fridge for later consumption..


Or, force your best buddies to eat when they come over.

Hehheheeee. Not bad right, got potential to be a good housewife right? Hahahhahaha.

I don’t know why but it seems that, I tend to D.I.Y a bank bag for myself every year without failing. Like this one I did in 2008. My current one looks like this now…

Another hamtam-hamtam DIY project, wrapped coloured paper around envelope and also another plastic cover then bundle with my cute Minnie Mouse band. Totally looks like salted veggies now.

So I came up with a new one today.

It’s really easy to make. I finished this in about an hour.

All you need is just some envelopes (again) and a piece of paper (as the cover), double tapes and scissors. No sewing or stitching needed. I used like, 10 envelopes.

First of all, cut off the sealing part of the envelope. Actually, I have no idea what is it called but you get the point.

Get some double tape and attach them all together,

like this.

Get your card stock/paper out. Measure the size of the base and also the cover.
(You saw that 4 creases on the card stock? That’s what I’m talking about)

Cut away the extras again.

Stick your bundle of envelope to the card stock.

You can now slot in your bank books and whatnots.

Labeling! I wish I have nicer handwritings.

Almost done~

Now, you can either use ribbons, buttons and threads, velcro or anything to stick them together.

I picked velcro but it was a major fail. Apparently, the velcro sticks better than double tape.
-___-“

Decorate it.

*ta da*

Think this is like the most beautiful bank bag / accordion folder I’ve ever made. And it’s going to be so easy to find my bank books and slips without tugging it all out and later struggle to put it back.

Bobby and I had taken our SUNDIY (Sunday + DIY) to a whole new level. It started off with cooking, then crafting and now.. guess what, HOME IMPROVEMENT!

I saw the bookshelves that my cousin was selling and I really liked it. I turned to Bobby and gave him a challenging wink, asking..

“You think you can fix this?”

“Well… I can try?”

“And we’ll see how it turns out!”

And last Sunday, we went to Chemiland to get some wall plugs but because he started really late (4.30pm), he only managed to drill 2 lousy holes with lots of trial-and-error.

Urmm.. my boyfriend is not much of a “D.I.Y” person when it comes to hammer, screwdrivers and hand drills but hey, at least he tried. Debut okay. Must give chance one.

And, he left one metallic support (for the 2 holes he drilled) for one week until he retuned to his unfinished project today.

Buckets of sweats later……*tada* my new shelf!

With my Hotel Maya f.o.c moisturizer supporting it just in case. And yeah, we should probably install the L-shaped support.

There, Mr. Pui and my Hermes with his not-so-proud debut shelf.

I asked if I can get him to make me a stool next time. Or maybe a cabinet? Hhehehehe. I like my man 文武双全 like that can or not?

Sunday + Bobby = DIY / Cooking Day

Bought this from Taiwan.. again.. where else.

Seriously, it’s like a heaven for people like me. So many lame “ojipala” to buy! Hehehehe.

Well, I think there’s a typo for the name.. Paper Paly?

So.. this is a set of Chinese deities paper dolls, no need to cut, glue or tape! And how much for a set? NT99 (BND 4.50) !

So I picked the God of Fortune (also known as Earth Lord) and God of Marriage for Bobby.

Popped it out.

And start folding and inserting accordingly.

10 minutes later….

Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah nah nah, getting jiggy with it

Today Bobby and I decided to make something crafty with our hands.
Plushies! Bought them when I was in Taiwan (I bought like… 8 of them!)

Think you can order from their websites too.

http://monkey-design.com.tw

Bobby, picked dung-dung and I heart giraffe!

End product,

And.. you know what.. rupanya Bobby really did it wrong. It’s suppose to be more 3D and a bit of cone shape like this I found from the webpage.

But sokay, still cute nonetheless.

There, my boyfriend sewing for the first time.

Yesterday we spent the whole afternoon searching for the right things in order to build a puppet stand. Being hopelessly inexperienced shopping in a goldsmith, we finally found what’s good and cheap to build. Water pipes, 2 elbows and 2 t-joints! Man, I feel so macho mentioning those jargons! And also 4 pieces of styrofoam boards. A puppet stand for less than $30 and no knowledge of carpentry needed~

So, the stand part is solved. Next, puppets!

The main character in my upcoming puppet show is a crocodile, but… we can’t seem to find a crocodile hand puppet.. not even plushies! And other crocodile toys that we found seemed a little expensive too. Hence, we decided to make one ourselves, out of sock!

(FYI, buying green color socks is not an easy task too!)

  

There, “Adidas” socks selling for $2.90 a pair, with the green colour I want!

After 4 hours of cutting, sewing and gluing…

(Mind you, we have no instructions nor any craft books to follow. And, no internet to search for ideas too because Mabel’s wifi at home hated my lappie!)

So, waddaya think?

Yes, I know it looks a little “dinosaur-ish” and “dragon-ish” and “lizard-ish”… but I think this is the best crocodile puppet ever! One and only in the world okay~

p/s: Most work were done by Mabel, I only cut and glued the teeth and the scaly back (which.. you can’t really see from the above photos)