Growing Crystals at Home

I have a few packets of borax sitting in my drawer. I bought them after Missy requested me to make her slime after watching them on Youtube channel. My colleague suggested me to use laundry detergent (Dynamo for blueish hue) but I was not very keen towards the idea of using liquid detergent for a kid to play with. Clear glue seemed to be a great option but this promise was still kept pending as I got out a little of hand for the past few months before we wrapped up for year-end holidays.

When I googled on other usages of borax for kids, I stumbled upon growing borax crystal and I thought it was great for Missy to somehow know what crystallization is about. Since it requires boiling water, most of the steps were managed by myself including the shaping of pipe cleaners into the shapes and initial of the names mentioned by little lady boss which she wanted to present her crystal to from grandparents, grandaunts, aunts and her little baby cousin Issac.

What will be needed:

Pipe cleaners

Boiling water: Borax (I used a ratio of 2 cups to 9 tbs borax as per recommended from the sources I visited)

String (I used ordinary sewing thread)

Stick (I used lidi sticks)

Glass jar/bottle (heatproof)

Pegs/clips (to fasten the thread onto the stick) - not necessarily needed

  

Diluting the boiling water with the borax is not difficult, totally contrary to what I have thought earlier. Next, the pipe cleaners will be immersed in the water-borax solution with the aid of a string and stick. Provide some gap in between of the pipe cleaners in case you are immersing more than one, and avoid the pipe cleaner to touch the base of the solution in the jar. Come back the next morning and you will be able to see beautiful crystals. In fact, crystals can be seen gradually forming within a couple of hours. It is as easy as it sounds. 

Missy was very happy with her 3 crystal hearts and decided to give 2 of them to grandma (on top of a baby breath bouquet on the exact day - 051017) and yi-yi as birthday gifts because coincidentally October is their birth month and another coincidence, daddy willingly agrees to be her messenger since he will be flying over for work the following day (231017) :). 

First Sewing Project: Sewing Machine Cover

Lately, I have fallen in love with sewing. My mom had gotten me a new Singer electric sewing machine sometime early 2013 but the machine had been serving as a white elephant all these years. I have once lent it to my aunt and sis-in-law. But, back it went to the shelf and remained as a display item.  The sudden urge to pick up sewing came about when the boss suddenly required me to thread the machine for him to alter the length of his new trousers a night before going outstation for a conference the next morning. With a surprised and skeptical look whether my boss can actually  sew, I was guilt-ridden and ashamed of myself too :P In fact, we have been asking for AIL’s help all these while and since she is currently working on her daughter’s wedding gown, we didn't want to bother her this round. I was feeling so culpable  for not knowing how to thread a machine despite owning it for almost a good 4 years! So, i ended up offering the boss to hand sew instead.

Over a casual conversation with AIL (mentioned above) whom inspired me to bake before this about my intention to learn sewing from her, she dropped by our place the following afternoon and taught me how to thread upper and lower thread. The following day, I went through my Pinterest album again and went through all the sewing projects i have once admired and pinned with my wishful thinking of producing them myself.  When mojo kicked it, I rummaged into my stash of sewing materials (I have been hoarding these stuff all these while despite I did not sew) and made my maiden attempt to produce a sewing machine cover simply because it appeared to be among the simpler one, and partly because I don't have an easy-to-access cover for my machine (except the waterproof cover and a travelling bag that came along with the machine, which are perfect for machine storage).

This is my first sewing project with my machine :)  It may not be my first time sewing lines with a machine, but definitely my first time handling a bias tape and sponge and not to mention threading a machine (like a pro now? LOL). The output was a far from perfect one. The seams and bias tape are messy, lines are crooked, and may be countless to be mentioned one by one. But, guess what? My all-time-fan, my girl decided to trade her favorite traveling blanket with this ‘mini comforter’ and refused to return it to me when I was half way through the project :D.  

Her choice of books

Recently, Missy has developed a liking toward books and has been requesting me to read them fo her. She will shove me a book and say “ah-mi read”. Upon seeing her interest and the ability to divert (partly or sometimes, totally) from the tablet, I am more than being pleased to spend more on her books these days. I have been having fun shopping for children books from the virtual and online bookstores, both new and preloved ones. Most of the time, I would be bringing Missy and the boss along. I was the one who usually get over excited seeing and selecting colorful, bright colored books, with flip ups or musical buttons and so forth. There was once after the boss picked a handful of children books for Missy, we headed to the counter for payment with a pile of 20+ books. When we were about to leave, Missy resisted and she was grabbing and insisted to leave with the book of her choice. We relented and detoured to the counter for payment. One thing I have noticed with my girl, she is rather firm and determined with her choice - a classical story dated back in 1981 entitled "Alfie gets in first". 

Her all time favourite 

Unlike her mommy, she would say ‘No’ to books she does not fancy but grabbing one tight and hard to those she really loves. True enough, the books of her choice are among those she wanted me to read repetitively before bed every other night.  Since then, I have made it a point to involve her in the selection of her books. Nevertheless, I am still buying her those I like with a convenient excuse “she will love them when she’s older” :P

Another favourite of hers - Playtime Teddy puppet book

It is interesting to see what books that tickled her fancy at the bookstores and I am glad that she doesn’t just go for videos all the time. The boss and I are currently in the midst of planning in setting up a mini library in one of the corners of our living room. Although I am not very much a book person but book shopping has become my new found hobby :)

Busy like a bee

The peak season has dawn. I was kept busy since last two weeks and I foresee this to subside until early of next year. I was literally caught in the quicksand and desperately grasping onto the life line. It has been a non-stop whirlwind of activities both from the domestic and professional front. Tired and feeling so overwhelmed but I am constantly reminding myself to be grateful. I seldom feel this ‘productive’ and I am trying hard to stay ahead of deadlines. At the moment, I have to prioritize my to-do-list. I have kept aside my ‘Racing Car’ and long overdue photo-book project, missed out a few of Missy’s milestone updates, slowing down with my baking experiments and not to mention, trying to do less online shopping these days (easier said than done) :P

A sneak peek into tomorrow's celebration

TGIF! Throughout this week, I was working on a mini animal themed birthday celebration for Missy. My preparation was mainly on the table, deco and maybe a couple of simple menu. Food and cake were sweetly delegated and well taken care of by the family members. It was simply therapeutic after a busy day at work :) I couldn't believe tomorrow is the day! Unlike last year, we had a ‘girly themed’ DIY party but the adults had more fun compared to the birthday girl since she was the one and only 4th Pang generation in the house. This year, also surrounded by all adults but I bet she would enjoy better since she had so much fun blowing off candles last week and all these while, she loved being sung ‘Happy Birthday’ song – during her deh-deh, yeh-yeh and ah-mee's birthday :) Next, the boss and I must make the effort to go for our annual check up, I will busy planning, researching, emailing, frequenting several agencies/institutions/sites and sorting out our itinerary for this coming working holidays in September whilst the boss is making preparation for his upcoming conference to China next month. On another note, we are still contemplating if we should bite the bullet whether we should be driving back to my hometown for the first time instead of flying home this coming Raya Haji's holiday. 

Famous Car (Part 2)

I have abandoned my project for almost a month now as I have been overwhelmed with work and the moment I got home, I have barely a few minutes to shower before heading out for dinner again. At this moment, I am so thankful that Missy was taken care by the in-laws and I have not much worries in case I get home late from work. The moment I see her welcoming me back home made me to brush off any of my plan nor any projects at home. I would like to spend as much time as possible with her although our routine revolves around dinner, and then getting ready for bed during every weekday nights :)

This is my (not-so) current progress. I am currently installing its rack & pinion gear set (Step 15) assembling the car’s piston (Step 18). Activity like this is extremely therapeutic after a long and tiring weekdays and how I wish moment like this could last a little longer :)

Piston parts

 Gear set parts

Famous Car (Part 1)

My progress earlier was documented here. This is how I organize my parts in a Tupperware candy tray and certainly helps me to look up for those teeny weeny intricate parts better :) 

While I have just gotten my engine started (currently at Stage 14) as of 240216, the boss has completed in assembling his project and is working on his plan to (further) mobilize his already mobile crane.

Stage 14 

LEGO fever is back!

This week had been a stressful and challenging one. Finally, I am glad that weekdays had come to a dawn and I finally wave Hi to weekend days where I can spend a little bit more time to work on this, my new project :)

Both the boss and I (Missy too with her LEGO Duplo sets!) are LEGO fans. During our recent trip back to KK for CNY, the boss had itchy hands when we came across with a third party set, Decool Famous Car which was sold with just a fraction of an original LEGO Technic set. Out of curiosity, we grabbed the biggest set available on the shelf.  But, in order to keep himself as a true blue original LEGO fan, he presented the set to me instead and challenged me to assemble them while in the meantime, he is diligently working on his LEGO technic Crawler Crane, a new addition to his LEGO Technic family. Being a newbie to Technic series, my progress was started more than a week ago but was lackadaisically surpassed by the boss in less than an hour span :P

I am currently sparing a few minutes of time on a day (if possible) and usually manage to complete a maximum of a couple of steps before heading to meet up Missy and for dinner at Ah Tai’s. I am reminding myself not to compare myself with the boss’ progress instead giving myself a year time span and we’ll see how far I can go. Shall time permits, I will keep my progress documented from time to time :)

Hairdresser Wannabe

When I was in my highschool era, I used to cut/trim my own hair in layer style. Besides, I have been receiving numerous of compliments for that too. Oh well, a little self-narcissism is allowed I guess (this lass has thick-skin you may say :P), but I was and am certain that those were genuine compliments from my close peers and good friends, some known since kindergarten. Mom and sis had been asking for my ‘service’ for a few numbers of times back then. I was flattered into pieces :) Nevertheless, these days; I no longer able to muster up enough courage to give myself another haircut these days and besides, they no longer wanted to place themselves in the position of a ‘guinea pig’ with my self-claimed new hairstyle too :P

One blue afternoon, after our ritual morning Sabbath service; my brother along with my mom decided to hunt for an electronic haircut kit from the nearby mall. Out of curiosity, I asked ‘who is going to do the haircut for you?’. Mom quipped ‘you’ll be the one bestowed to take up this important task’. My brother then reassured me ‘I have faith in you and I am confident that you could do better than the barber I used to frequent’. Whoa, how flattering! :P That was about 2 months back, but I had no time to blog and claim my two-seconds of fame here :P The outcome wasn't a "whoa" though, nevertheless it was far better than what I have expected *grin*.

Upon touching home, we quickly dismantle the newly acquired haircut kit, whipped up two hand mirrors, wielded the electronic razor in one hand and comb on the other, and hey presto! I was fumbled and panic at the same time secretly feeling very exited too! Lol :) Knowing zero about male’s hairstyle, I just know what we couldn’t be wrong going for the old-school style. So, basically, I did as per requested by my brother. He requested for the side way and rear side to be trimmed short, whilst the top part was simply layered whilst the front hair to be chopped off by a couple of centimeters. Thus far, we already had two sessions of haircut in a span of one month and we are looking forward for our third session soon. So, that spells satisfaction from my 'customer' and at the same time I am a happy bunny :P. 

Little Darlings

It had been quite some time since I last made konnyaku jelly. It was because it requires high meticulous effort with my previous moulds. I have quite a collection of trays/pans for jellies but have never been really happy with them. Some were either too small in size. I have to pop in two cubes into my mouth to get the satisfaction (read: gluttony) out of it and down through my throat within a couple time of chewing, a couple of trays have narrow bottom and the jelly were unable to penetrate thoroughly to the bottom after small fruit cubes were placed, those mould with silicone push-able bottom somehow yielded a plasticy-stink (despite soaking it with water overnight). I have only used them once, prolly the stink will diminish after a couple of usage but I don’t think I’ll be using them anymore for this purpose.

But, I am one happy konnyaku-maker now and am so glad that I have finally found the purr-fect mould (I just can't love them enough!). I have been seeing almost everyone (literally) using this kind of mould but have never took the effort to search nor ask around for it. I am so pleased with the reasonable size for each jelly. I stumbled upon them by chance from the bake shop nearby my house (which only operates during weekday office hour) during one my impromptu trip to a bookstore which is located at the same row :).

I regained my mojo for konnyaku making and pronto fetch home a packet of local strawberries when we were dining at the nearby restaurant few nights after that (Not easy, I only know one store selling these fruit on a constant basis throughout our humble city). Personally, I would always prefer a fresh approach rather than having canned fruits for its filling. I am one hardcore fan of strawberries. How I wish I could grow these little darlings right at my own yard :P The sour-ish taste resulted from the berries complement so well with the sweetness of the mango-flavored konnyaku =). 

Mr. Teddy

I may be a jigsaw puzzle girl. Give me a set of 2D puzzles comprising of thousands of tiny weeny pieces, I wouldn’t mind sitting on the working desk hours after another. But, I am a real noobie when it comes to a 3D puzzle. This is my maiden masterpiece, and boy, it wasn’t easy at all when I first laid my hands on it. But, once you get the hang out of it, you will L.U.R.V.E it and this is not that hard afterall, this I assure you :) On one of our outing, the boss stumbled upon and decided to get the 3-d green apple that comes in 44 pieces, to which he already had a red apple earlier from Play n Learn. He gotten another one for me, so that I have at least something new to keep me busy apart from the lappy and mr. telly, according to him. 

This 3D teddy puzzles set came with 41 separate pieces of a set and was supposed to be an 1.5hr challenge. I spent my first hour on the first night dismantling the components and managed to joint 4 pieces of them. Yes, 4 pathetic pieces :). Comes the second day, I spent 2 hours while watching the telly just in getting around with the no.4 element. Going over and over again, I suspected no.4 was not placed correctly, despite it was intact perfectly because I couldn't figure out the subsequent piece.

I was getting a little impatient when I started to gather and recount all the components. All my calculation ended up with either 39 or 40, never 41 as stated on the box packaging. I started to belief that the missing part could be the subsequent piece. Boy oh boy, I was panicked and yes, a little upset too but I was pretty sure that I have taken the highest pre-caution when I was dismantling it on the bed despite with my eyes half-opened the night before. Still, I went to my bed, fluttered my blanket, checking inside of my pillow, side desk, under the bed as well as the narrowest part near to the headboard. So, there goes my two-hours without progress except for two episodes of Chinese drama series. 

On the third day, I was determined to finish the whole thing up and was mentally prepared shall there be any missing element, I will make do with anything plastic-ey and let painting do wonders. I sat down and went round with it, rotating the teddy’s two legs around, trying to squint my eyes as much as I could to scrutinize the groove of each and every element, one by one, over and over again. I finally proceeded and managed to slowly fix one piece, and slowly proceeded to another. I was pleased and was determined to finish up the whole thing the same night (read: morning) and I finally managed it with a faster pace and voila! My 3-d teddy was done the next hour, without a single missing element. The missing piece(s) remained a mystery. Lol, I am not sure if the packaging was written wrongly, or they included the stickers (for the eyes and nose) to come out as 41 components or blame it to my lousy numbers :P

If you squint hard enough, you'll notice that teddy's right ear wasn't intact properly. It was wobbly when I fixed it into its designated space, thus I twist it a little backwards in order to keep it intact for the time being as I ran out of uhu-glue :). Looks like ear-twisting is an art to learn too :P I am always inspired by many little things around me. Even the littlest thing in life worth noting and they can be the reason to celebrate. This time, I am again inspired. La-di-da-di-daa :D On a side note, today marks 111111, the triple convergence of the 11 is a once-in-a-century cycle :)

Revamping Old Blouse

The other day, I was in the mood of second round of wardrobe decluttering. I managed to make up some space during my previous session yet there are still a lot of my stuffs mainly cloths are stashed inside a basket and left homeless. While I was going through one rack after another, I found some clothes that still leave sentimental value to me without any specific reasons. Sentimentality can be such a burden at times, don't you think? I stumbled upon this polka dot blouse which I owned for at least 7 years now, but had been sitting inside the closet for more than 6 years. I remembered that I have only worn that for a couple of times because of its broad shoulder width. Besides, I was too skinny back then thus the blouse look a bit oversized on me.

Upon seeing it, I decided to do something to it instead of giving it away. Topped up with a slight confidence that I am no longer the once skinny teenage girl (well, a few reckoned that I am round on the face i.e chubby cheeks) and was last complimented by Ben, whom I have not seen for goodness knows how long last two days :P Boo hoo hoo, what to expect from someone who have been staying home for the longest period of time :P

So, what did I do with the blouse was narrowing the shoulder width, which I did with rough approximation. To cover the area which I have newly altered, I moved the two baby pink 1” dia buttons taken off from its stretchable waistline to cover the newly altered spot. So simple and fast, and I am proud to announce that I have been wearing my old-turned-new blouse for few times now :)