some polka dots i spotted...

Pat of 101gramsofeyecandy sent me a goodie bag of her printed items way back in August. The label plates were so pretty...

... that I couldn't bring myself to waste use them. Until her Candy Shop opened and I realized I could get new ones anytime I wanted (and at affordable prices at that!). I started with organizing Noah's activity books. They used to be bunched together on a shelf with a bookend. But since they were mostly thin books (spines weren't thick enough to have a title), Noah couldn't tell them apart and was never enticed to use them. So I segregated them like this...

And he now picks out the books according to the activity he wants to do!

Using these materials...

... and by placing the nylon cable ties (which I got from Japan Home Store) on just one side of the labels, I turned the label plates into a sort of door on my silver magazine file rack. So Noah just opens the "door" to pull out his activity book.

After Noah's label plates were done, I (took a deep breath and) used one of the non-kiddie pretty, patterned label plates from Pat for my things. And of course, the first one I picked was the pretty polka-dotted one!

Love how our shelves look now with these pretty label plates! Thanks Pat!  

To get your own pretty label plates and browse other printed eye candy via The Candy Shop's online catalog, just email:

Photos are my own.

Click here for previous posts from the Some Polka Dots I Spotted... series. Watch for tomorrow's post here on what's inside my box of photos.

P.S. Someday, I'll tell you more about where that Matroyshka doll set came from. :)

Mommy Mondays: things I would have missed

When I was working, I didn't think I was missing much. I figured the kids were in school anyway when I was at the office. By the time I got home, they had already done the "chores" - homework, dinner, baths. And I was left with the moments that mattered - the "quality" fun bonding moments with them before bed. I thought I wasn't missing much.

But now that I'm on sabbatical and am around all day, everyday, I discovered there are things I would have missed, had I been at work.

Like seeing Noah enjoy his after-school karate class. Had I been at work, I would not have seen how much he was smiling through the session. Sure, my mom would likely have told me that his stance was really good for a beginner. She'd probably have told me that he learned to block or kick that day. But I would not have seen him beam with pride at the punch he just blocked. How his eyes danced with delight at each stance. How the corners of his mouth would turn up ever so slightly when he was pleased with his move. These things I would have missed had I been at work.

Last week was no exception. I picked up 15-year-old Isabella from school and I had to wait awhile because, as the guards had explained, "Napasarap sa paglaro!" (She was having so much fun playing!). Turns out, Isabella had been busy chasing a friend around the waiting area. I loved that that incident showed me she was still a kid. It was a side of her - that child-like side - I would have missed completely because she would be her quiet, glued-to-her-iTouch teenage self again at the house.

Had I been at work, I would have missed these subtle little things that speak volumes about my kids. Big realizations about their character from tiny observations that only a mother will notice. Yes, there are many things I would have missed had I been at work. So I am ever so grateful I am not missing them these days.

Working moms, don't fret. It isn't necessary for you to be there every minute. What I realized is the importance of observing an everyday, mundane moment. So make sure to reserve one or two of your VL (vacation leave) days for following them around on a normal day. The rest can be used for actual vacations or family trips or the necessary PTC (parent-teacher conference) or school program. But make it a point to take a day off to do nothing special and just observe your kids go through their usual day. I am certain you will witness those subtle little things that mean so, so much.

Photo from pinkwallpaper.

Click here for previous posts from the Mommy Mondays series. Watch for the downinthedots version of this post here tomorrow. 

Color Obsession: rainbow row of colors

I love this Kate Spade board covering up the store renovations in Shangrila Mall! With the purses, shoes & clothes lined up according to color - in rows resembling a rainbow!

It reminded me of other everyday things I've seen lined up according to the colors of the rainbow. Like books...

More books... This time on a bookshelf...

Pencils... Yes, my colored pencils are always arranged this way.

Bridesmaid dresses (which you might remember from here)...

Rainboots...

Stilettos...

This growing trend of pretty rainbow cakes...

And even people! Haha!

Isn't it so much fun?

Photos are my own and from sparklesandpretending, pinkwallpaper, blackeiffel & annnniegirl.

Click here for previous posts from the Color Obsession series. Click here for previous posts on rainbows (of which, my fave is Windshield Art). Click here for the downinthedots version of this post.

P.S. Like I warned you here, this is one of those long overdue posts. So by now, the Kate Spade store in Shangri-la Mall might already be open!

Today, I am loving...

Can you believe it's December already? Are you done with your Christmas shopping?

Today, I am smitten... with this precious gift idea from goop: a collection of books with titles that contain the names of each family member. The set above is for a family made up of George, Heidi, Stuart & Sky.

Ooh, I can't wait to go to a Fully Booked's Customer Service counter to ask them to check their computer for books with our names (and friends' families' names) in the titles! Wouldn't this stack of books be perfect to adorn a family's coffeetable?

Today, I am loving... the idea of a collection of books with titles containing the names of every family member.

Photo from goop.

Click here for the rest of goop's fabulous gift ideas. Click here for previous posts from the Today, I am loving... series. Click here for a previous post about how the hubby wants our things to have a story.

Simple Trick: Magazine Christmas Trees

Is it okay that I still haven't put up our Christmas tree if I made this one out of an old magazine?

It's actually quite easy to make. In fact, I did it while watching a DVD. :)

I started out with an old Preview mag. A 200-page magazine will make a tree as fat as mine. So pick a thicker magazine if you want a fatter tree (but I read here to not go over 250 pages. Not sure why.).

I folded the upper-right corner of the first page so it meets the inside seam and makes a fat triangle like this...

Then I folded the page again to form a thinner triangle...

Then I flipped the page so the back of the thin triangle page is facing me...

Then made a crease with the bottom flap like so...

Then inserted the flap inside the triangle...

... to make my first Christmas tree page...

I repeated these steps for a couple of pages, then realized there was an easier way to get the excess flap inside the triangle!

I "opened" the thin triangle and folded the flap before "closing" the thin triangle again...

And voila! A new Christmas tree page!

Around halfway through the magazine, this how it looked...

And once all the pages were done, I did the same to the cover pages. But to "seal" the tree, I tucked the flap of the back cover inside the front cover's triangle.

Learned this simple trick from my DIY-expert friend C (who got this idea from the Martha Stewart). C used one of her son's activity books and I think plans to spraypaint it in gold or silver. Pretty, right? 

But if you are like me, who can't reach spraypaint levels, I suggest you pick a magazine with more brightly-colored pages than white ones with text. Or pick a completely white book for a white Christmas tree like this. 

Oh, and one important thing you need to do before you start folding is to break the spine. I didn't do this so my magazine's spine is visible on the backside of my tree. To break the spine, open the magazine out fully, fold it back so the covers touch and crease the spine. Do this at different parts of the magazine. Then... fold away!

Photos are my own, edited via my iPhone's pixlr app, and from here and here.

Click here for incredibly amazing artistry created out of also folding pages of a book. Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series.

Eeep!

I know, (Mom and my handful of friends who graciously follow my blogs, I know), I've been deliquent... Neglecting to post anything since... gosh, Halloween!

It's been pretty hectic. 

Am still trying to get used to juggling (surprisingly) so many balls and a little boy (Seriously, I don't know how I got by with all these non-work to-do's when I was working 14-hour days!). I haven't even put up our Christmas tree (Next week, I promise!).

But I've been bursting with blogpost topics the whole time.

Just haven't gotten the chance to sit down and actually write them. Soon... Slowly... Will catch up on my many overdue posts... So please keep checking for new posts, okay? And forgive me if my posts are no longer current nor life-changing & brilliant. :)

Photos from heritage & nyctaughtme.

halloween hangover

Isabella wasn't with me when I discovered Made In Candy in Powerplant Mall here. So I brought her there last weekend to replenish our stash of literal eye candy and let her watch the candy artisans work their magic.

And they did! They had just started working on a customized design when we arrived. Here's the sketch they had up on their glass wall.

They stuck strips of black & orange candy together to make the jack-o-lantern's mouth. Three triangular black rods formed the eyes & nose.

See the jack-o-lantern starting to form?

Then they added the green strip to form the stalk & a lot of white candy for the background.

They then wrapped it with a mat made out of orange (& dark orange) candy strips.

And voila! The jack-o-lantern in a huge cylinder!

The candy makers then pulled & tugged with all their might on one end of the huge roll until it stretched out into a thin tube.

Which they sliced into the finished product...

Isabella loooooved it! She had track & field practice that day but gave it up to watch the candy being made. She kept gushing, "I want to work here! I really do Mommy!" So much that she even asked one of the owners about the possibility of a summer internship.

Look how happy she was, finally tasting the candy we had watched being made for close to an hour!

Really love that 15-year-old Isabella is still a kid! :)

Now what's with the title of this post? I guess the halloween part is self-explanatory. Hangover, on the other hand, has to do with how delayed this Halloween post is (I mean, it's already November!). And the delightful surprise of this new candy design in our new stash of candy (the first batch I bought didn't have this particular design)... A tiny pink martini!

The best part is it tasted sooooo good! Like pink grapefruit martini or maybe pink lemonade. Certainly the kind of candy I can be drunk on! :)

Photos are my own and from Made In Candy's facebook page.