So, I tried the Bento Box mania that is so big in Japan and here's what I came up with...



I just found out about this craze from a friend of mine who started a few weeks before I did. And as I've been doing my research, I learned that there are a lot of tools which can be bought for this kind of food prep. I just wish I can find some here in Doha. I'm planning a trip to Daiso soon and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. For now, I just use cling-wrap for molding the rice into shapes and manually cutting dried seaweed for the eyes/face of my rice.

I enjoyed making these and I plan to continue. It takes about 30 minutes to prep if you have your veggies, rice and proteins ready beforehand. The only downside to this (and my husband agrees with me) is that you wouldn't know where to begin eating, especially the rice.

I know this is perfect for making lunchboxes for toddlers and kids going to school, but hey, I believe there's a kid in each one of us.

I have always wanted to try to make these little things ever since I saw them on Instagram. I even bought the carving tool and a bunch of plain erasers a couple of months back but I guess I was too busy with whatever else that I only got to it a few days ago.

It was actually planning on doing it on plain erasers but I found these erasers with animal faces in them, so I cheated a little, shoot me. Haha.

So here's what you'll need:

• cutting mat
• a pre-designed eraser. It's good to start with something that you can easily work around.
• a carving tool. I used a Speedball Linoleum Cutter, it has 5 different steel cutting edges:
• Small V (1)
• Large V (2)
• Small U gouge (3)
• Large U gouge (5)
• Knife (6)
• a black pen. Any pen will do.
• a stamp pad.

If you notice, I had to cut off the center of her pink cheeks, it looked like she had 4 eyes. And yes, I'm calling her a "she". Haha.

Here's what it looked like afterwards and on paper.


I really had fun doing this, especially since my husband was right beside me painting his Gundam models. Yes, we're weird like that. We're like children playing with small things. Maybe I can convince him to post something about his toys once he finishes one of them.

If anyone of you is even following me on Instagram, you might be a little bit tired of me posting my amateur calligraphy attempts. I'm so sorry for that, and I also apologize for crossing over and even posting it here.

It's been a week since I bought a set of nibs and a bottle of ink and I have been self-teaching myself with the help of Youtube, of course. I think I might be getting the hang of it. I was very frustrated the first couple of days but here's what I've made so far,


Please keep in mind that I am still learning and not a pro at this. This is like page 11 of my graphing pad, the other pages are not post-worthy, I'm afraid.

Here's what I've learned so far:

• Practice really does make perfect
• If you really want to produce something beautiful, you have to work hard for it (proof is my first 10 pages)
• Start with the basics, start learning each alphabet first before you go into phrases
• Choose one type of font first and move on to the next afterwards
• Invest in good ink and paper (I'm afraid I'm still on the search of a good paper. The ink just keeps blotting out of my letters)

For the hubster's birthday, I wanted to surprise him with something personal and made by my own hands. I've been planning this since last month, and as I was browsing through instagram, I came upon Ge Mapa's account. She is a Filipino artist who makes artworks from Washi Tape. Of course, during this time, I did not know who she was so I did a little research and found her little niche in the web: Washi Machine and her Washi Tape Portraits.

Anyway, I tried to make my own version but it does not even come close to her works. But my husband loved it, nonetheless.

Materials you'll need:

• Acrylic sheet or Acrylic Clipboard
• Washi Tapes (the more the merrier)
• Exacto Knife

So here's how I did it:

First, a little photoshop to edit his picture. You'd want to use the stamp effect, you can adjust its smoothness and lightness. Print it out and attach it to the back of your acrylic sheet or, in my case, an acrylic clipboard.


And then, start sticking washi tape and cutting along the edges of the photo.


And wallah!


I'm so glad he loved it, even though I still need a lot of practice. Some edges were not properly filled with washi, but hey, it's my first time. Here's to more washi portraits!

Aside from the Christmas gifts we handed out last week to our friends during the thanksgiving celebration at Church, we also had to anticipate the unexpected. As of last year (2013), Raymond and I had prepared ourselves with goodie bags for those unexpected attendees at Church.

This year, we bought chocolate bars for the oldies;

We wanted to make it a little personal but since I am not one to cook or bake or do anything in the kitchen, I just downloaded some printable chocolate wrappers online.

You can browse different designs from the internet. I chose these simple ones from Intimate Weddings.



Of course, you can edit the text through PDF.

You can download the printable wrappers here:
Chocolate Wrapper Printable

They also have a tutorial on how to change the wrapper of your chocolate bar. I love this site, they have lots of free printables and tutorials you can use for any occasion, not just weddings.

And then there are the loot bags for the kiddos;

I got the bags from Crazy Party at Villagio Mall and just filled them up with chocolates and candies.

I am so looking forward to next year, until then, I'll be busy doing other projects that I hope I can share with you guys.