an afternoon with play-doh!

i wrote this post in february but couldn't upload the pics at that time so i saved it as a draft. it completely slipped my mind until yesterday, when ilaika asked for her play-doh...

....d'oh!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

after writing the previous post on my countdown to ilaika's 3rd birthday, i was reminded of the many lovely presents she received from our family & friends for her 2nd birthday. i wanted her to appreciate each and every one, so i didn't allow her to play with them all at once...

hence, every few weekends for the past few months, she's been allowed one new gift. there were a few however, which i kept aside as i felt she was still too young to play with them. some of these were play-doh sets. i think she had three in total!

as a child, i loved playing with plasticine and play-doh but now that i've a child of my own, i dread the mess it would leave behind! nevertheless, i reminded myself today that i shouldn't let this selfishness deny her of some play-doh fun.

much to her delight, i finally opened the huge set that she's been eyeing since her 2nd birthday...

...i was amazed at how complete the set was...

...i don't recall having these fancy schmancy "play-doh gadgets" when i was growing up!

...ta-daaa! ice-cream for mummy, apparently...

...from ice-cream to brolly...

...hard at work...

...i made her scrape every lil bit out ;p

...the lil artist contemplating what to do next...

i'm glad i took the play-doh out for ilaika to play with cos she loves it SO much. now, if only i can figure out how too keep all the different colours apart....

d.i.y. butterfly frames...up close & personal...

i shared some of these pics in my previous post but they were kinda small there. i'm posting  them again so you can see a close up of the personalised frames. this was the first time i tried out d.i.y. gifts and they were so pretty, they do deserve a post just on them ;)

i originally wanted to frame a 3-D butterfly cut out which meant the frame needed depth. this is the one i made for the cake table decor:

unfortunately, this frame was a lil too pricey as i had to buy and make sixty frames for the sixty kids that were coming to the party so i had to settle for a simpler frame...

these plain solid pine frames from ikea were perfect as they came with durable plastic instead of glass - definitely more child friendly!

i love the antique white stain effect that gives wood a really romantic look so i decided to have these frames stained white. i chose white stain instead of paint so that the stain dries clear and the wood grains can still be seen. you may have read about my "staining" work-in-progress here but in case you missed it, here's a pic of the frames drying after the second coat of stain.

i would really have preferred having done an extra coat or two but after the second coat, i thought they were pretty as is and i had to wait 4 - 5 hours between each coat so you can imagine, it was time consuming to add on more coats. and really, the kids might not be able to tell the difference between two or three coats anyways! 

then i printed their names in a pretty font. for the girls, it was their full first name and the boys, their name without the first letter. here's why:

- for the girls -

 

- for the boys -

as you can see, the girls' frames had a larger butterfly cut out so it looked more girly and the boys' ones had a tiny butterfly but their first initial was a huge cut out letter which looked less girly and way cooler ;) 

i made a special one for ilaika too without the plastic cover so the butterfly had the 3-D effect...(i didn't want to do this for the other girls cos i was worried they'd tear off the butterfly!)...

i fell in love with this idea and felt it was perfect for gifts*. i figured the kids may not cherish it so much right now but i'd like to think they might when they're a little older. i also imagined the parents hanging these on the wall of the hallway and for the ones with siblings, they'd have a few frames in a row with all their names. how absolutely lovely!

* p.s. - they're also perfect cos they're so simple to make and won't burn a hole in your pocket ;) let me know if you try this d.i.y....would love to see how it turns out...

party fluff presents....butterflies...everywhere!

 

last weekend, my social butterfly turned three and as you may have read here and here, i'd spent the last couple of weeks just focused on getting her butterfly-themed party together. despite the last minute planning*, i had SO much fun ;) butterflies are a lovely theme to work with as the possibilities are endless...

*as always...! this seems to be the story of my personal life...i so need to shift and get organised...

unfortunately, i was so tied up and didn't take any pics with my own camera so i had to wait a week to get the pics from shafiq, our photographer. i was so excited to share with you details of the party but it was pointless sharing without the pics. so i could hardly contain my excitement this past week and had to refrain from blogging but it was well worth the wait. do give shafiq a tinkle or check out his site if you're in kl and looking for a photographer who's reliable and doesn't overcharge. aaaanyways,  how easily i digress....so back to the party ;) 

i'll let the pics tell you the story...

- the garage entrance leading to the garden & patio -

top row from L to R : 

1. signages were placed along the road leading to the house with a background to match the invites; 2. butterfly cut outs were placed at nearly every corner. 

bottom row from L to R :

1. more butterfly cut outs; 2. the garage entrance.

- garden fun...reminiscent of my childhood parties -

top row from L to R :

1. toys for the toddlers to play "house" in the garden; 2. pin wheels decorated the "field"; 3. a colourful pin wheel upclose. 

middle row from L to R :

1. old fashioned "pop pops" for the mischievious boys; 2. bubbles galore; 3. bottles of bubble potion with butterfly caps.

bottom row from L to R :

1. old fashioned propeller toys; 2. bubble machine for added oomph; 3. simple glider planes.

- the patio set up -

top row from L to R :

1. butterfly lanterns and balloons; 2. grown up dining tables.

bottom row from L to R:

1. mini dining; 2. more lanterns.

- all around -

 top row from L to R :

1. butterfly banner with ilaika's name; 2. butterflies on sheer curtain drapes; 3. a framed butterfly cut out with ilaika's name.

middle row from L to R :

1. butterfly lantern upclose; 2. the cut outs for the banner; 3. butterfly banner with cut outs held to a ribbon using mini clothes pegs.

bottom row from L to R :

1. a d.i.y. of a framed butterfly cut out for table decor; 2. more butterfly banners; 3. lil gifts (glow-in-the-dark butterflies & tattoos) for the games.

- the topsy turvy butterfly cake & the table decor -

- more cake * -

* sorry for the overdose of cake pics...this was my first attempt at a topsy turvy cake & i had spent 8 hours with just the cake decor, so i just can't get enough of it ;p

- part of the kiddies' buffet line with a "sweet stuff" display -

- the invites & thank you butterfly bollipops for the parents -

- the party packs -

top row :

white stained wooden frames personalised with each child's name.

middle row from L to R :

1. water fun for the older boys; 2. thank you tags; 3. caterpillar soft toys for the younger boys.

bottom row from L to R :

1. a vanity kit consisting of a fluffy fan, butterfly embossed pink mirror and butterfly hair ties for the older girls; 2. butterfly soft toys for the younger girls; 3. the fluffy feathery fan.

i saved the best for last - for the cake cutting, we decided to take the cake out into the garden. i love how pretty it looks here...

i'm extremely pleased with how everything came together and i'm thankful for all our family and friends that came to help out. at the end of the party, i was quite hesitant to tear down the decor and a part of me wished i could throw exactly the same pretty party just for myself ;)

almost three going on thirty...

i first used a lilypie ticker when i was expecting ilaika. it was exciting to keep track of the pregnancy  and the lil quotes indicating development stages were fun to read. i remember eagerly looking forward to each weekly quote (or was it daily? i can't quite recall now...) and counting down to the day when our little angel would bless our lives. 

a few years on and i'm still using lilypie as a milestone of our daughter's life. however, it's been sometime since i actually took notice of it...until this morning, when i briefly glanced at it and realised how quickly the days and months have gone by...

my baby is 2 years, 11 months and a day old...which means she'll be three in less than a month!

- look at how "grown up" my baby looks here -

oh dear. 

oh dearie me indeed. i have less than a month to plan her birthday party. somehow, she's already talking about it and yet, i haven't gotten around to planning anything. so i thought...no problem - just choose a theme and then i can go about with the invites etc. as simple as that...

on the contrary, it was far from simple as i couldn't even come up with a theme. so i started putting together a list of things she loves which led to this post. here's some sharing on ilaika's recent and current obsessions...

- her picture phone...inherited when mummy dearest upgraded to the 3GS -

- her battered crocs -

* picture courtesy of sandra.

 

- dora...the "flavour of the day" changes between dora, princesses, hi-five, barney & hello kitty -

* picture courtesy of sandra.

- her daddy's xbox guitar...inherited when mummy bought daddy a logitech guitar for xmas -

* picture courtesy of sandra.

- her mini drum set...my musically inclined baby takes after daddy & also loves singing & dancing -

* picture courtesy of sandra.

- bubbles -

* picture courtesy of sandra.

 

- more bubbles! and of course, swimming in our lovely pool...or any pool for that matter -

* picture courtesy of sandra.

 - jungle gym -

- play-doh -

- biscuits & baking with mummy -

when i asked her what theme she wanted for her birthday, she said dora.

and then the day after that, it was princess.

and then fairies.

and then swimming.

and then dora-turns-princess-goes-swimming!

oh-em-gee...help...!

as i'm editing this post, i realise how very lucky we are to be a part of ilaika's life. of course at times, she may be a spoilt annoying monster and lil cheeky monkey but she's also a very good girl, who's loving, chirpy, hilarious and  smart. i'm proud of the milestones she has reached thus far and even though i think of her as my baby, there are times i forget that she's barely three...for she's very independent and just cannot stop talking...her nanny commented just the other day that ilaika's three going on 30 ;)

- her love for princesses, balloons & anything pink -

bubble, bubble, toil & trouble...and a wee bit of park babble...

* interesting fact to share: did you know that the quote "bubble, bubble, toil & trouble" is actually from duck tales, and not macbeth? the original quote from macbeth is "double, double toil and trouble!"

i'm not really a nature-loving person in the sense that i hate to be out in the sun and usually try to stay away from situations where i'm most likely to break into sweat! this sunday morning, however, was an exception. it was a lovely morning and the weather was absolutely gorgeous with clear blue skies made even brighter by warm rays of the morning sun.

in the spirit of christmas and the holiday season, i decided to join my aunt who had planned to take her kids and ilaika out to the park. i was also curious to see this park in particular as i'd driven past the area once and was very impressed with the development in general. 

Desa ParkCity is a beautiful development with picturesque landscapes and broad, tree-lined pedestrian walkways; a simple luxury that is unfortunately rare in KL. each small "township" (residential neighbourhood) is a gated community of its own and in the heart of these townships is The Waterfront, the "town centre". it's not quite the town centre  that onewould imagine by the given term. it's more of a small community shopping block which brought to mind the community areas found in smaller towns outside of Central London. 

The Waterfront is complete with ample parking spaces, grocery store, atm facilities, pet shop, restaurants, cafes and some interesting looking shops. it even has a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf outlet and a branch of one of my favourite japanese restaurants, Rakuzen - both of these overlook The Central Park which lies just behind the shopping block.

and this was where we spent a good part of the morning. The Central Park was not like any other park i've seen in KL. there were no  brightly coloured slides and swings normally found at other playgrounds. instead, there were odd minimalist steel contraptions which looked futuristic and did not  appear very inviting at first glance. of course, it didn't help that all the contraptions were of dull greys  and blues. thankfully, looks can be deceiving...somehow the kids figured out how to use these contraptions; some were pretty straightforward and loads of fun...

...but others involved a little bit more trial and error!

this being said, i would assume that the target audience would be slightly older kids for ilaika wasn't too impress with the whole minimalist concept...

...and she was much happier playing with her bubbles...

our sunday park adventure was unfortunately cut short by some bubble trouble...ilaika, in her excitement, fell on her knees whilst trying to catch a bubble. lots of sad tears  accompanied by shrieks of pain (mostly drama at the sight of a teeny weeny drop of blood) and a few cuts and bruises later, the poor thing didn't even squeak a protest when we decided to call it a day. all tired out, she fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the van! honestly, i did too, as soon as we got home!

...more on princess d.i.y...

...a few more pics to share from the superheroes & princesses d.i.y....

these were ilaika's "masterpieces" from the party & i found them in her princess bag. she had saved them to bring to school!

superheroes & princesses d.i.y.

i usually bake my biscuits & decorate them in the comfort of my mum's large kitchen. however, a friend of mine had a special request for her kids' birthday party; it was her son's 4th & her daughter's 2nd. as she wanted something more interactive for the lil superheroes & princesses, i pre-baked the biscuits, packed my decorating kit & anxiously brought them over to her house. we set up a table amidst the party chaos and let the kids have a go at decorating their own biscuits.

we filled up squeezy plastic bottles with icing, gave them the "stickers" which i designed & printed the week before...all edible of course ;) and also provided them with colourful sprinkles.

my own princess ilaika was of course, the most excited of them all. having seen me prepare these at home, she's been itching for a whole week to get her hands on these tempting goodies! unsurprisingly, she was the first guest at the sweet stuff booth...

the other pretty princesses & handsome heroes churned out real works of art too ;) unfortunately, i was so tied up with managing the booth and making sure the kids peeled off the plastic sheet behind the stickers (!) that i didn't get to take many pics of their masterpieces. here are a couple i managed to snap...

quite a few of the kids weren't interested in decorating the biscuits, especially the older boys...and it was a shame to have them go to waste, so i decided to decorate all the biscuits i had brought. mini me & i had a blast with this but the poor thing konked out at the party, before all the biscuits were completed!

luckily for me, i had other ever willing helpers who were oh-so-excited to be allowed to decorate more than just one biscuit!

before i end this post, i have to thank aida for  her support and for insisting i bake the biscuits even though she's an even more talented chef than me. i really enjoyed myself & hope super-idris & princess qaisara did too!