DIY Rapunzel Costume

After completing the Flynn Rider's costume, I set to work on the Rapunzel's dress next.  One of my girl will dress up as Rapunzel while my boy will be Flynn Rider this Halloween. 

The Rapunzel's costume consists of a purple dress, complete with the lace at the neckline, puffy sleeves and pink lace in front.  The white lacey petticoat shows from the hem of the dress but instead of wearing a petticoat, I just sewn the lace to the hem.  Attaching the grommets to the bodice was a bit of a challenge though.    After much difficulties,  I managed to finally sourced for the grommets and the tools to attach them in the right size.  I didn't know how to attach them and had to Googled for the instructions.  Didn't know that hammer goes along with dresses!

The dress was done in a day and it is a beautiful one.  I worked on the wig next.  The wig was fairly easy to make.  First, I cut the yarn of desired length, attached them to another piece of yarn and braided them in place.  I attached several flowers to the braids next and it is done!

The girls were delighted with the dress and wig!  I personally feel that the dress is beautiful and it has since become my favourite piece of work.  :)

DIY Flynn Rider Costume

I had an 'Oh my God!' moment when I received the notification from the kids kindergarten on the Halloween party that is to be held in one week's time.  Didn't know that the kindergarten will be having a celebration and I have let out all the costumes that I have.  Thus, I have to quickly sew another three costumes, in addition to the two that I planned to let the girls wear to the Disney Live show.  All in one week!

I have chosen the Flynn Rider from Tangled costume for my little boy.  The color of Flynn's vest is supposed to be of a green hue but since I have lots of blue fabric, I decided to give it a little twist.

It was fun sewing this costume though I wish I am not so pressed for time.  Anyway, it was done in just one night of labour.  Also sewn a leather-like bag as well as attach a pan and knife to go with the costume, just like Flynn in the movie.   The little Flynn is very curious of his pan and knife  :)

Savoury Sour Noodles

This is a recipe that I came across from the show 'Easy Chinese', hosted by Ching-He Huang.    Ching prepared this dish using the noodles handmade by the sifu.  I used hokkien noodles instead :


Serves 2 :

Ingredients :

1 tbsp      oil
4 cm        ginger (sliced)
1/2           medium chinese cabbage (chopped, with whites and greens separated)
3              shiitake mushroom (stemmed and sliced)
2 blocks   extra firm tofu (cut into long strips)
220g         hokkien noodles
3 cups       water
1 tsp          chicken stock paste
1 tbsp        light soy sauce
1 tbsp        black vinegar
1 tbsp        chinese cooking wine


Method :


1) Put oil and ginger in TMX bowl.  Set to 100 deg C,  1min, speed 2.
2) Add in chicken.  Set to 100 deg C, 2 mins, reversed gentle stir
3) At the last 1 min, add the chinese cooking wine.
4) Add the white part of chinese cabbage, tofu and mushrooms. Set to 100deg C, 2 mins, reversed gentle stir.
5) Add in water and the rest of the seasonings.  Set to 100 deg C, 7 mins, reversed gentle stir.
6) At the last 2 mins, add in the green part of chinese cabbage and noodles.
7) Garnish with scallions and serve.


The broth is so delightfully warm.   I imagine adding fresh cilantro will give it better taste, only that I did not have any at home and my planted cilantro is still in the sprouting process.  Well, maybe next time..

DIY Princess Anna's Party Gown

The movie 'Frozen' has been released for almost one year and yet, the craze just goes on and on.   Merchandise bearing the pictures and the words 'Frozen' takes form of everything imaginable : clothes, water bottles, eating utensils, bags, pencils, and even, swimwear!

I have sewn a 'mini' Princess Anna's party dress months ago, the green dress that Anna wore when she met Prince Hahn's for the first time. It is also the same dress that she wore to her sister, Queen Elsa's coronation ceremony and ball.  It is a beautiful and elegant gown, adorned with motif at the bodice and thoughout the dress.  And to go with it, a beautiful braided head of hair.

So many moons have passed since I feel like sewing the same dress in bigger size for my 5 years old daughters.  It was done with a little modification : the motif at the dress is sewn on using gauze ribbons, rather than drawn.   The motif at the bodice, however, were drawn using cloth dyes and heat treated. 

It looked doomed to fail at first and I nearly gave up half way. The skirt just wouldn't straightened, probably due to all the tugging and pulling when I sew the ribbons on.  However, after some 'serious' ironing, the gown started to fall in place.  Once the motif at the bodice is drawn, I fell in love with it.

And.. when my girl wore it for the first time, I fell in love with it all over again....

There are many similar 'Princess Anna's dress' out there in the market.  But nothing beats the DIY.

DIY - Transformation of T-Shirts

There is a picture of the kids wearing Frozen costumes which I particularly.  It was a very simple picture taken at the garden of my house.  Then, a friend changed the background and the effect is just... WOW!!

I like the picture a lot and had it printed on T-shirts for the kids.  The T-shirts turned out to be quite large, which looked untidy for the girls. So I sewn a skirt at the hem and turned it into a T-shirt dress.

Original T-Shirt

 

 

 

T-Shirt with skirt attached

Finished dress

The girls wearing the Shirt Dress

 

 

 

 

The girls wearing the Shirt Dress

Kids Craft : Felt Bag

A lazy Sunday afternoon is filled with coaching the girls on making a felt bag. 

 

This is the first time they do some sewing and to start with, I felt that it is best to let them handle a blunt needle.  They can work using the usual, sharp needles when they have some experience in sewing and able to handle a needle better later.  The DIY kits were obtained from Mr. DIY for RM2.50 each.  There is a variety of kids crafts available in Mr. DIY for very reasonable prices.  These felt sewing kits is one of them.  Also available are EVA foam crafts in the form of crown, spectacles, pencil holders, etc.  Each of the girls worked on a bag on their own.

 

 

 

DIY Kit from Mr. DIY

 

 

 

 

Sewing in progress


 

Sewing in progress

 

 

 

 

It took some time for the girls to grasp the idea of the kind of stitches that are able to hold 2 pieces together.  Nevertheless, it was a breeze after they have worked it out.  The girls were excited once the bags are done and couldn't wait to show it to their daddy and grandmother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finished products

Another Frozen 5th Birthday

Upon request to have all the main characters of Frozen on the cake for the girls' birthday celebration at the kindergarten, I finally came out with a new design. 

 

The cake décor was fairly simple and not as time consuming.  I just had to roll the fondant and put those figurines in place and finished it off with some snowflakes.  The girls were thrilled with the cake.

 

 

 

 

 

Upon finishing the cake, I worked on the packing the party packs next.  The party packs consist of set of stationeries, Frozen stamps (chops), jigsaw puzzle and the cookies that I baked earlier, which I packed in separate paper bags.  The paper and party packs were adorned with the girls' pictures in their Elsa and Anna costume.

Party packs

 

 

 

 

The girls were very excited on the morning of their birthday, reminding me to reach their kindergarten by 10am, which is their recess time.  I brought over the box filled with party packs when I sent them off to school early in the morning and drove to the kindergarten again at 9am, driving very slowly to not damage the cake.  Gosh!  It was so stressful!

 

 

The teachers at the kindergarten have become so used to Frozen themed parties by now but nevertheless, were impressed with the cake.  The children like it too and 'fought' for the tiara and the figurines.  Finally the teacher put the tiara on the elder birthday girl and returned those figurines to me at the end of the day.

The birthday girls with their teacher and classmates
 

 

The birthday girls cutting the cake

 

 

 

 

I used to think that parents spoil kids too much by throwing themed birthday parties for them.  But having gone through it myself now, I understand that seeing the smiles and happiness at their eyes make all the effort worth.

 

A Frozen 5th Birthday

It is the girls' birthday, finally!  And the Frozen fever continues......

The girls requested for a Frozen theme birthday cake and I came with this idea, a Queen Elsa cake with a long, flowy gown and train.

Couldn't find the original Elsa doll by Mattel locally and I had to make do with the Rapunzel.  Elsa is regal and cool while Rapunzel looks a bit too sweet as Elsa.  But at least she has the long straight hair which I could braid it up easily. 

 

 

 

The cake that I made is not the usual princess gown cake with the doll in the middle.  The doll is in front instead.  The cake is at the back, covered with fondant 'train'.  This is the first time I make cake of this style.  There is lot to improve but overall I am pleased with the result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Elsa and Anna plush dolls that I ordered online arrived just the day before.  Just in time for the birthday celebration.

The girls are thrilled with the cake, exclaiming it is very pretty.  But to my dismay, they requested a cake of another style for the celebration at the kindergarten, consisting of the whole Frozen gang, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven and Hahn.  With just days to the celebration at the kindergarten, I will have to crack my head to come out with a brand new cake design.

DIY Children's Belts

My daughters' swimming class is cancelled today due to the rain.  So I decided to stay at home and do some sewing. 

Got some webbings and rings from the local Daiso yesterday and decided to make some belts for the children.  Btw, isn't Daiso a magical place?  You can find almost anything there.

First, measure how long do you want the belt to be.  The webbing is enough to make 2 belts, just perfect for my 2 girls, so I cut it into two. As easy as that.  Then run through both ends of the webbings through fire to seal the ends, preventing them from fraying.



Next, take 2 rings and insert them into one end of the webbing. 

 

 

 

 

Fold over and sew across it.  Sew through the webbings at least twice to secure them.  As the webbings are thick, I used needle number 14 for this purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

And voila!  The belts are done!  Easy isn't it? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Showing off the belt

There are many beautiful webbings available in Daiso.  A packet of the rings can be made into seven such belts.  Nice, easy and cheap. 

Happy sewing!

My Happy (Frozen) Kids

Seems like I am on a 'Frozen' craze lately.   And so are my kids.  They happily donned on the costumes despite the tropical heat.  I felt sweaty just looking at their long sleeves, cape, gloves and boots.  But then, who cares?  As long as they are happy.

A friend who saw the pictures commented that I will just need Sven to complete the picture.  Oh dear!  Where do I find a reindeer?

DIY Kristoff Costume

Nowadays my girls enjoy ransacking the costumes wardrobe and put on the Elsa and Anna's costumes (from Frozen) and sing 'Let it Go' to their hearts' desire.   There is just something in this movie that captured the hearts of folks of all ages.

It is not fair for the girls to have all the fun though.  My little boy who has yet to speak a full sentence follows his che che and went 'let go...let go...'   It wouldn't be a bad idea to let him dress up as Kristoff and join the girls in their 'concert'.

The boy Kristoff is really cute.  I love my boy and I like the boy Kristoff.  Now I can have both. 

Boy Kristoff