Picture Perfect Thursday: At 29...

How nice that my birthday falls on a Picture Perfect day. Made me think of things I'd like to do or accomplish this year. People who know me well enough know that I'm a list person. I love making lists of everything I can make lists of!

So for this list, here are my "must-dos" as I turn 29...

Sleep early.

Build a vintage books collection.

Learn to bake fresh bread.

Stop and smell the roses (This was much easier to do in Cebu, believe me.).

Hoard beautiful fabrics.

Read loads and loads of books.

Be chic even as I do something ridiculous.

Live life gracefully.

Get married to my best friend.

Appreciate the details.

Own a vintage bike (complete with a wicker basket).

*All pictures are from Patterson Maker.

Picture Perfect Thursday: Random Thoughts

Today, why don't you...

...sink your teeth into something sweet
(from Skiptomylou)



...hang onto something that inspires you
(from Black Eiffel)



...or hang onto all of them
(from Black Eiffel)

...climb a rainbow
(from Black Eiffel)

...and eat it too!
(from Skiptomylou)

Have a great day! :)

P.S. As always, click on the pictures to view them more clearly.

The One About the Valentine Lollipops

To add to their candy overload, I made Valentine lollipops for my students.

I found these darling teddy bear lollipop covers here and printed them out.

This is how it looks at the back.

I used tape to seal the edges. If your lollipop is small, using a ribbon to close the edges would look really lovely.

There goes the surprise inside!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Picture Perfect Thursday: Audrey Hepburn

I'm one day late for posting this. I twisted my ankle yesterday and spent the whole day limping and attending to it. Anyway, I found these really nice Audrey Hepburn wall decals on Etsy. Click on the images to get bigger and clearer pictures.

From touchofbeautydesigns

From twiceasnicelettering

From itswrittenonthewall

This is my favorite! From urbanexpressions

That's it for now! Gotta go craft some Valentine gifts for my students. Enjoy the weekend! :)

The One About Chinese New Year

In one of our mall trips to check out wedding invitations, TB (or Hon-some as I am wont to call him soon enough -- haha!) and I stumbled upon this wasteland-looking store. A "wasteland" is what a store is called when it entices you to buy loads of stuff you don't really need but you just find them irresistibly cute. A great example is Saizen (or Daiso in Japan).

So anyway, TB and I went in this store that appeared to be nameless and I looked around their stuff and I found myself standing in front of a shelf filled with Wilton products. I excitedly called TB and said, "Look! Just like the stuff in Gourdo's!"

Then TB pulled me to where there were plates, glasses, and other tableware and I realized how strangely similar the plates were to those in Gourdo's. That's when it struck me: we were in the outlet store of Gourdo's!

I couldn't believe our luck! Wilton stuff at discounted prices/buy-one-take-one offers! Party knickknacks at half the price! Pretty, pretty tableware at a fraction of the cost!

Anyhoo, I found these Chinese takeout boxes in their party section and I thought they would be perfect favors for Chinese New Year.

I printed out these "I'm so fortunate to have you tags" here.

I printed them out on sticker paper and then Mod Podge-d them for a shiny finish.

Sorry for the bad pictures. Our house has bad lighting. *sheesh*

I found this darling picture of TB's nephew dressed in Chinese wear and I stuck that one onto the back of one of the boxes.

The idea behind the tag was to put in some fortune cookies but our local grocery ran out and the kids I was going to give these favors to weren't really fond of fortune cookies so instead, I placed rice crackers (more Japanese than Chinese, I know) and gold chocolate coins.

They turned out fine. TB's nephew loved the chocolate and so did the other kid -- TB himself. Hahaha!

Happy crafting! :)

Picture Perfect Thursday: Craft Materials

I love going through other people's blogs. I never let a day pass without reading the newest entries in my Google Reader. Aside from really unique craft ideas, I especially look forward to blogs that feature pretty, pretty, photographs that serve as inspiration for future craft projects.

The photographs I love are too pretty not to share. Having said that, I will be featuring these beautiful photos every Thursday so that others will get to have a generous helping of craft inspiration as well.

To start off, here are photographs from A Creative Mint of some of the things that define who I am (and this blog)...

Aren't they pretty? :)