Curtain Rod Canopy

I surprised Isha today by making her a bed canopy. She has been wanting to have one in her bedroom (I remember her suggesting it while we were still in the planning stage of the new house). When she got home from school, I got a big kiss and a big hug from her, thanking me for what I did. I asked her if she wants me to add some ruffles so it would look more "girlie", to which she declined. But I think I'm gonna add, maybe to spice it up a lil bit.

Here's how I did it: (with the help of the book, Creative Bedroom Decorating)
1. you will need a curtain rod trimmed to 20 inches, mounted centrally above the bed, 6 ft. above the top of the mattress.

2. After the rod was mounted, I hang the cloth on the rod, and let it drape down to the floor, adding about 10 inches more (to the actual measurement) for the top seam and the base hem.

I was able to save a lot of time in cutting, coz I took the measurement first before buying the materials (bought lace curtain material at a very cheap price...yay!). Instead I just folded the cloth into half, left an inch and a half for the frilled casing, and another inch and a half for the rod. It's very easy, you will just stitch the side and the base hems and tada...A BED CANOPY!

**After seeing what I did for his sister's room, I heard my son say "Oh im gonna check my room!" to which I answered, hey! bed canopies are girly stuff...I'm gonna make you another set of curtains instead...sometimes my lil boy gets jealous you know...still my "grown up" baby...

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Just Plain Happy

I tried my hand at sewing curtains today and YES I was able to do one, with the help of some books, and some ideas from the net. I still need to learn how to sew valances though, to make the window look more beautiful. I was like thinking of using a gingham valance, to go with the flimsy white curtain. I was really excited to see the outcome, since I'm a novice at making curtains, and not bad eh for a first timer. I'm all the more encouraged...hhhmmmm...looking forward to do more curtain projects, and that's gonna make me one busy hipMoMMa...yay!



N wanted to get me a gift either from Mango or Zara on our 14th year wedding anniversary (aug. 22), but instead I opted to have this beautiful floral arrangement. I asked the lady manning the section if she can come up with the idea I had in mind. We started putting the flowers together, and I thought of putting this thingy that looked like a "beetlenut" (sorry I don't know what it's called), and she suggested that we add some barks so the stems of the flowers won't be seen. And this is it, beautiful, isn't it? It sure turned a lot of heads while I was carrying it out of the mall.




It's fun to think of ways on how to make your home look cozy and homey, and at the same time it gives you a lot of headaches too. I spend countless hours in front of the computer just to be able to get ideas, and sometimes I don't know what kind of look I want anymore, coz there's so much. I know I should be getting an interior decorator, well that's beyond our budget, so for now I just have to deal with the headaches and all...one at a time...soon...soon, I'll be satisfied with all my work, and that's enough consolation.

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Dark Elbows

Do you have problems with dark elbows? Elbows that looked like it was dipped in a pool of mud? Ok, I'm quite exaggerating here...but I found some remedies for it, this product isn't really made to solve dark elbow problems, just figured it out that yeah maybe, it could after all...it's not an overnight thingy huh...



WHY IT WORKS: This one receives a lot of fan-mail. While lemon oil softens your cuticles and strengthens your nails, vitamin E helps heal, sweet almond oil moisturizes, and beeswax seals in moisture. Your cuticles will be softer and your nails will be stronger. You’ll feel results immediately. You can use it on your toes, too. Toe cuticles. That sounds funny.

HOW IT WORKS: Massage a small amount into cuticle and nail (or other areas) one or more times a day. For an intensive overnight treatment, apply generously to hands and nails before retiring.

WHY IT WORKS: The perfect moisturizer for hard working hands: everyone loves it from farmers to people who gesticulate. It’s our most intensive hand treatment with ingredients that offer healing benefits. Almond oil moisturizes. Rosemary stimulates circulation and lavandin helps prevent scarring. What hands wouldn’t love it?

HOW IT WORKS: Apply our healing salve to hands as often as needed.

Really I swear it works...I am a fan of Burt's Bees ...they have a wide variety of products to choose from...go ahead, click away, you might find something suitable for your needs.

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A Fun Saturday

For Josh, this is his kind of fun...he spent about an hour enjoying his bubble bath...he's still a kid at heart really...with the funny faces, funny poses and all...




And for me and my daughter...oh well, it's a non-stop til you drop kind of pictorial...nah...it was only one shot followed by another and another to the nth power. Twas fun, but Ish never dared touch the tree coz according to her, there was "kapre" (a ghost or something)...we were again at UP, of course at our favorite spot. Oh no! my lil girl is growing up too fast, in fact she'll be a "teenager" in a few days. See? She is almost as tall as me, and can you see why she can ransack my closet anytime? She can't have the kid's price for buffet, airline tickets, etc. anymore.








N wouldn't want to be left behind...after his pre-nuptial shoot with one of our clients, he too had his share of fun...photography is his greatest passion and therapy...but this time he was in front of the camera, which rarely happens...Ish is the girl version of N...they're very much the same in sooooo many ways, not only do they look alike...

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Not Again

Just as I am ready to talk about my father's death, another sad news reaches me. I got a friendster message from one of the cousins of a dear friend of mine, telling me that she passed away. I remember featuring her in this blog, i guess last year, because I so envied her body (a body to die for), and now she's gone, gone to be with her Lord and Saviour in heaven. I came to know her when my family moved to Manila and they were our neighbors. She was barely six then...I saw her grow up, blossoming into a pretty teener. We used to sleep, eat, hang out at each other's house. Then she left for the States when she was about 15, coming home to the Philippines only once in the late 90s. We only communicate thru emails and sms, but used to chat a lot...Noems until now I still cannot believe that you are gone, you may be gone but you will stay in my heart forever. To the family that she has left behind, my sincerest sympathy and condolences...we will all miss her, but she is now with our Lord in that perfect place called HEAVEN.


Read her story here. For some reasons, when you click on the link, the page redirects to the current date's news...just click on the local news archives, then click "Officials: woman, 33 dies before fire" or something like that.

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Success...YES!!!

Whoa! I look like a professional dressmaker...nope, I'm not sewing a dress yet (i still don't know how), but I'm turning a handwoven blanket to a bedspread. How? Well, I bought that roll of embroidered cloth at Divisoria a few days back, made a skirt, attached it to the blanket...and tada! I now have a bed spread.



It turned out really beautiful, even N liked it a lot. So far i've made three already, one for our bed, another for Josh's bed and the last one for the guest room. I haven't made one for Isha yet coz I ran out of cloth, need to go back to Divisoria to buy another roll.

As promised, I'm sharing pictures of Joshua's room...





When we were still talking about building this house, Josh goes "Mom, can i have a tub in my bathroom? He was the only one who requested for a tub, he's really fond of soaking in water, he does it now once a week, stays in the tub for an hour, just relaxing, and a lot of splashing. I still haven't installed the shower curtain rods in all the bathroom that needs one, I still have to install the curtain rods...aahhhh, still a lot of work to do. Meanwhile, I have to put everything aside, need to teach/help (tutor) the kids...it's their exam week! Pfffft!

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How A French Guy Haggles

The French guy and his Pinay wife

The french guy(FG) together with his pinay wife(PW) went shopping in Greenhills. FG asks how much is the price for the item he liked, and the saleslady goes six hundred and fifty pesos. PW says four hundred eighty pesos...and here's the drama of FG to the saleslady..."I am not a "KANO" (american)...I am a poor guy...My wife took all my money...I have a family to feed..." With so much hesitation, the girl agreed to give it at P480 but with a face you'll take pity on, and when she started waving the 500 peso bill at the goods they we're selling(a custom here in the Philippines if it's your first sale for the day), the PW was moved and just asked the FG to return the 20 peso change. The scene was really hilarious...with the drama and all...lol...nobody was asked to hide to be able to get that discount compared to Pinay wife haggling at Boracay asking her french hubby to hide, and got a discount of just P10...lol...



Here's the couple I was talking about, Michel and Francesca
, together with Justice (from Singapore) who came to be with her Mom, Cuz and me, having coffee at Starbucks in Theatermall, Greenhills. It was nice spending the afternoon with you guys as usual, everyone had a good laugh, and looking forward to another coffee and shopping experience with you...and we hope it's soon.

**Thanks Michel and Amy for the foodie(pasalubong) you shared with us**

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Sushi Not =)

Have you ever thought that this (a plate for sushi/sashimi and it's matching saucer) could be used in the bathroom? Nope, this is not an original idea of mine, I just copied it from Edsa Shangri-la Hotel...it's pretty cool right? Whenever we stay at hotels, I really observe a lot and try to copy their ideas, from the way they fix the bed, the way the tissue rolls are being done (yeah even that), the way towels are being folded, etc., I just want our home to have that kind of look.



Thanks to the recent travel of my PIL to China, I have a whole new stock of soaps. Cheap you might say, but what the heck...it's so hard to find a round soap in the local grocery if you notice, I usually buy mine at Crabtree & Evelyn and I find it expensive...so here, I got some for free...yehey!




If you guys wanna take a peek at my closet, tada! It took me a day to organize everything, and my FIL even commented when he visited us one time, no wonder it took you a day, everything is nicely put/folded. Nope, I'm not addicted to jeans (can you tell?), hehe...I always have my daughter Isha as an excuse, but really, whenever we go out, she ransacks my closet to find something to wear especially the jeans department and shoes and shirts...hahaha!


This lil brat kept me company while I was at my "cinderella mode".




With everthing expensive nowadays, well I'm still lucky to find this carpet for Isha's room, would you believe I got it only for P1,750? And I bought one for Josh's room too...will have to post pictures of his room soon.

Still a long way to go, we still haven't put the mirrors in the toilet and bath, no hangings on the walls, no curtains, and the lists continues...oh well!

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A Connection Finally

Yehey! Finally the internet guy came over today to install the DSL...everyone is indeed HAPPY! And yeah if you're wondering why we didn't have connection for a long time, we have moved to our new place. Everything is still a mess...i'm always in awe whenever I see all our things(clutters) piling up, waiting to be put away. Whenever I start fixing, I would always turn my back coz I feel like vomitting seeing all those stuffs waiting for me...arrrggghhhh. So far I've thrown and given away about 20 garbage liners already, mostly toys, Isha's paper stuffs which she can't part with, etc.

So far, I have fixed the master's bedroom...it still looks so bare...no moolah yet to buy things that would make the room look beautiful, hotel style...







I wonder when we can fill up the whole house with nice things...

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