My job updates

This year has a lot of things that was unexpected in my job situation. My previous updates were this post and this.

I know it sounds very promising, but turned out it was just an ideal situation I was hoping for (sort of too good to be true). So I was supposedly to start my new job on Feb 15th, but it was pushed back to March 15th and again to April 4th. And my so called part time job (supposedly to keep me busy till my new job start on Feb 15th), that didn't work either. That is sucks. I can't do anything about it.

I tried looking for other job but the job market seem to slowdown and all I heard were more and more of retrenchment and paycuts. That was not good at all. I keep praying to God and hope that this is what was meant to be from the beginning. I know I can only wait and see what's His plan as there's nothing I can do about this situation. I am really on His mercy now.

Last year, I thought all that I wanted was to be able to stay at home and spend more time with my daughter. But this past few months made me realized otherwise. I love spending time with Chloe, but I also like to be able to go to work and earn my own money. My dissatisfaction in my previous job and the feeling of unappreciated by my boss were the ones that made me quit my job and its nothing to do with my desire to stay at home at all. God really knows what is best for me and He uses this situation to make me realize what I really want in my life.

Now, I just take in one day at a time and be grateful of what that I have now in my life. I will rest and put all my trust in Him and let Him do the work. Thank You, Lord. Can't wait to see what's in store for me.

Onesies Cupcakes - DIY

My sister's friend is having a baby girl, and my sister would like to give her something special. With a budget of $20-$25 dollars, you probably end up with something quite ordinary... like the picture below.

So, I have an idea. With some tools, time and help from my best buddies, Pinterest and Youtube, I finally able to make the gift to look lovely and a little bit unique. I know some of you might think I can just buy it at the gift shop but of course it would cost way more than $25 dollars. Anyway, who doesn't love something DIY...:P

Here are samples of video/blog/pinterest that I browse online on how to make onesies cupcakes :

https://snapguide.com/guides/make-cupcake-onesies-for-baby-shower-gift/

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/onesie-cupcakes/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS9oz9ZQlYU

So all you need to make this is some cupcake wrappers/liners, cupcake box (in my case I made it out myself by using the original box of the gift set that my sis bought), scissors and onesies/ baby bibs/ hand towels/ baby socks.

Below are how my onesies cupcakes turn out...

 

As you see here, I made the cupcake box by myself using some clear sheet and the original box of the onesies gift set that I measured and cut accordingly to fit my cupcakes.

Put some little bows to make it lovelier...

Tadaaa...!

What do you think? Much nicer than the previous one in the rectangle box right? hehe

By the way, don't forget to put in some cards to pen down your wishes for the baby.. :) 

Passport Photo Attempt

My husband reminded me a few weeks ago to extend Chloe's passport. So, I was thinking to get her passport photo taken by myself. It should be easy right? White wall for the background, a nice tidy hair, decent outfit and a chair for Chloe to sit. An Iphone and a few clicks away... that's it.
The photo will be ready to be submitted via online application.

But turn out, it is not as easy as I thought.

Here they are....

 So what do you think? Any photo that you think can be used for her passport? 

In the end I gave up trying to figure out which one is good enough to be sent and so I went to ICA the next day with Chloe, waited for 2 hours for the whole process and got it done. 

Maybe I'll give it a try 5 years later. Wish me luck :)

Decorate the Pen Holder

There are so many things that can make a room or a drawer or a desk looks beautiful. But most of the time, it's the little things that will makes the different. So today I want to share to you what I've done to make my desk a little bit brighter. Just by tidying up a little bit and decorating my pen holder.

Here we go :

I gather my supplies : scissors, roller blinds' samples (I collect weird stuffs around my house), wooden magnet and glue gun. If you don't have roller blind samples you can use other materials like thick colored paper, etc. By the way, I decided not to use the white nylon rope because I don't think it will stick well with the blinds.

                        

 Cut and paste the blinds to match the height of the pen holder. Because of the limited size that I have with the blinds, I stick 2 different colors to cover the entire surface of the pen holder.

Next, time to decorate the surface with colorful wooden magnet that I have.

Tada! 

Here's how it looks like from a distance. 

Only 3 steps. Cut the blind's sample to fit the pen holder, glue it, and stick the magnet. That's it

So simple. Yet it gives much colors to my desk now.

Love it :P

Rainbow Cakes Attempt

We just celebrated my daughter's birthday last week and she asked for a rainbow cake for her birthday this time round. Well to be exact, she asked for my little pony rainbow cake. I promised her I will bake the cake for her but I know my limit (I cannot do the little pony part) so I decided a rainbow cake will do :P

I've tried making a black forest cake and cheesecake before, but never a rainbow cake. So to make sure I make it right, I practice first. For my first attempt, I used recipe that I saw online. Youtube to be exact.
Here's the link
And here's my cake...

(I can't find the original photo :( so I took this from my instagram)

I supposed the star shaped rainbow marshmellows really helped in making the cake looks really fabulous hehe...
But taste wise, it was very very very sweet... . Like eating sugar... :( So not really a success here.

My 2nd attempt....
This time round I choose rainbow sprinklers to decorate the cake. Recipe wise, well I use cake mix for a shortcut. Baking time was lesser in half from the first time round. Taste wise, it is better than the first one, although I think could be much better off :).

 the tools...

 the cake mix and 3 pans... 

  the batter..

almost done... 

 decorating time 

 let's cut the cake!

 

 tadaaa!

the picture I post on my instagram (with some color enhancement :P )

So, for the 3rd time round, which was the real birthday cake... please stay tuned... :)

On Saving Electricity...

Last October, we decided to change the water heater from electricity to gas type. According to the seller and what I (assumed) know of, we are going to save about 1/3 of the bills from the electricity used.

So we spent $1450 on the whole things. New gas water heater $300, 2 new shower heads + 1 water tap (mixer) for the kitchen sink for a total $350, and the installation costs $800.

A big spent, hoping to get a nice rewards in terms of longtime savings in the electricity bills.

But it doesn't turn out well. First month, instead of going down in the bills, it spiked. A bit higher than usual. I blamed it to the usage of air-conditioners (which I think maybe we used it a bit more than the other months)

But December came, it still doesn't show any changes. I am pissed. Something's wrong here. And I just found out the culprit. My mother in-law. Yeah, she used the gas water heater without knowing that she was using it all the time. How? you might ask.

Here's how. The water heater will on when you didn't turn the tap to the most right position (first mistake, believing what she told me that she knows how to use the tap). And she always on the tap to the max/ high pressure whenever she washes clothes, which makes the water out still cold even though the heater is on.

What a waste of money...

Now, I have shown her how to 'operate' the tap properly and hopefully the bills will go down.

Remember friends, if you are changing any water heater from electricity to gas or whatever upgrade you make to save electricity, just make sure everybody in your house knows how to do the things right... Otherwise you just ended up paying more instead of less. (in my case, we assumed my inlaw knew how, and we, I mean I, had a passive aggresive attitude here)

But to be honest, although without my inlaw problem above I don't think I save a lot. Just for information the electric water heater consumption is 2300 Kw/h and compared to the gas water heater consumption is 8000 Kw/h. I am wondering why people always said gas heater is paying lesser bill.

Any thoughts??

DIY - Cardboard parking garage and roads

This time I made cardboard parking garage and roads, using a wafer box (similar to cereal boxes). It is very easy and simple to make. You only need scissors, glue, colored papers (black or grey or white will do) and some imaginations.

I got the idea from pinterest.. something like this below picture.

And this is my version. :)

What do you guys think? I know my daughter loves it. :P

Have a nice day crafting everyone!  

New Year, new shoe storage..

I have this shoe storage from IKEA the beginning of 2010 (when I first bought my house). And I have done quite a few changes to it. Start from painting it white... then put chevron white, yellow and blue striped on it...

But after a few months of neglection and all sort of things, it didn't stay pretty as I wanted too. And painting it again will take too much time and hassle for me. So I ended up with a quick and cheap fix.

 Using gift wrappers and clear plastics to cover the top of the shoe storage. It took half hour for me to do it and I know it won't last long but it really elevated the mood that I had at that moment (Christmas mood). I did this in November.

So now fast forward a month later, I am ready to change it again.
Before photo :

 as I expected  you can see the discolorations of the wrapper due to sun and rain.

 
After changing the wrapper:

 and the final result :

 Aaah.. neat and tidy.

Surely a good way to welcome the new year with a good nice looking entrance. Very neat indeed!
Even my daughter loves it.