Philippine Flag on New Year's day / Photo: Manila Bulletin
And just like that, Christmas is done and over with. If I were in the Philippines right now, I probably would be beyond giddy like a little girl who can't wait for New Year to get here - soon and quick! If you were from the Philippines, guaranteed, you would be too! Well, it's no secret that New Year in the Philippines is like the equivalent of July 4th in the intensity of fireworks and over the top celebrations. It surpasses every major holiday celebrated in the country. New Year is the biggest bang bar none. It is afterall, the "last" hurrah for the current year and the first for the incoming year!
However, it's not just all about the fireworks that makes New Year in the Philippines the most anticipated party of the year. There's more to it than meets the eye...
Traditional Filipino Parol with lights / Photo source: AMS Daily
Christmas is about done in the Philippines as I write this. For us, it's today. During this time, I time travel - back into those days when I was young, in the country where I was born and raised, enjoying the days and nights with my brothers and sisters and friends leading to Christmas day.
Or that my birthday is three days before Christmas. Actually, it leaves much to be desired if you were born in this most-celebrated season. December birthday celebrant will agree that your birthday gets overshadowed by Christmas itself. Truth. So, yes, not that too. But don't get me wrong. I don't hate my birthday either. But now, on to why I love the season. Want to take a shot at guessing?
July 4th is right on the corner. I bet you my bottom dollar that you and your family is looking to watch a good fireworks show just like everyone else. Well, we scoured the land and found these places just for you so you know where to go and when to watch, right where you are! Or nearby.
Father's day is just around the corner. Have you gotten your gifts for that best dad in your life yet? No clue what to buy? Out of ideas? Well, we've curated this no-brainer guide to help you out. Pick your choice. The best thing about this collection? They're all under $50!
Holidays are coming up and you know what that means, cards and tons of cards to buy and send! With of course an exemption to those who'd rather send e-card - which to my book is cheesy and un-personal...ahem. But if you're one of those traditionalist as moi, don't be quick in spending your hard-earned dollars yet. Let me tell you ways to save some moolah by simply upcycling those cute old cards you have collecting dusts in your shoe box somewhere, into new adorable ones. Yes it can be done. Knowing me, I always find a way.
You can call this a form of "re-gifting", though not quite.
Here are creative ways to give your old cards new life:
Materials
Paper Edger Scissors
Border Punch
Corner Punch
Double-sided tape
Paper cutter
Colored Card stock Paper
Old greeting cards Your creativity and imagination
Instructions
Border punch and corner punch
Upcycling two-fold cards without paper insert.
Using the paper cutter, separate the front cover from the other half of card with dedication. Cut just before fold to make a clean cut. You can save the dedicated portion or recycle, of course. Then, use the border punch to add a decorative touch on the front cover's edges. Finish it off with the corner punch to complete the design as shown above. Use your creative imagination to create your preferred trim.
Once satisfied with your creation, fold a card stock paper in half. Lay the redesigned front cover on top of the front of the card and trim its edges, leaving minimum margins on all sides to ensure your front cover will be centered. Using double-sided tape, stick your cover permanently on the front side of your new card and you're done!
For two-fold cards with paper insert.
Using paper edger scissor of your own preferred design, cut the bottom half of insert to remove "dedicated" portion (shown on photo below). Set flap in place with a double-sided tape. Voila! New card to re-use and send.
Count your savings.
By recycling and upcycling old cards, you save a minimum of $1.00 a piece to $2.50, depending on the brand and size of cards when bought new. That's a saving of approximately $50 if you're planning on sending 20 cards!
Don't throw those old cards away. Upcycle. And save money!
Your Question:
I have no border punch or paper edger scissor, what are my options?
My Answer:
No worries. Plain edges are OK too. You can also opt on trimming their edges with ribbons all around or just part of it like a frame. Or if you love glitters, sprinkle the margins with them. Whatever you do with your card, give it your personal touch and make it your own, unique creation!
I dunno about you but it seem like our Valentine's day celebration is either cancelled or postponed in my side of town. Thanks to #snOMG! Oh, please I'm not complaining. I love snow days like these as much as I love to craft. You should have seen me rolling off the snow like a happy Polar Bear. But in honor of the (totally postponed) Valentine's day, here is a very last-minute gift/craft idea that you can whip up in a jiffy! I promise!
Though if you're in Charlotte, I can't really promise you wouldn't need to brave the snow-ridden winter wonderland out there to get your supplies or the candies... but go watch the tutorial and have fun anyway!
Wishing y'all a prosperous new year! And for my Filipino friends - Manigong Bagong Taon (Tagalog), Naimbag nga baro na taw-en (Ilokano), Masagana ya balon taon (Pangasinan)!
If you like our fireplace decor, we'll be posting the #diy project soon. Stay tuned. For now, enjoy the new year. Cheers!
In 14 hours (as I write this), Philippines will be celebrating New Year - the biggest holiday celebration the country ever do every year! To give you an idea how big of a deal this holiday is, a tongue in cheek remark from this blogger says it best:
"For those of you that love homemade fireworks displays, the kind that are sure to blow off a few fingers, the Philippines sets off an inferno every NYE. While we hoard holiday hams and champagne, Filipinos ready themselves for the fiery celebration by stocking their homes with explosives..."
We are hosting our first New Year's party in our new house and I'm in a DIY-ing mode to come up with a unique, new year-ish centerpiece for our humble dining table. I came up with a design that incorporates my love for snowflakes, which is simple yet attractive. Best of all, it is people-approved! Initial design variations were initially posted for critiquing and tons of thumbs ups were given to final design. So, here I am sharing the goodie in case you're in the same party boat as we.
All these Holidays flying by is making my head spin. It's dizzying as a roller coaster ride with tons of loop-de-loops! But I'm happy to welcome new year with open arms (or legs even) because it's one of my favorite holidays. It's the biggest and most celebrated holidays in the Philippines and one, as a child, we totally love growing up! It's noisy, loud, alive and smokin' with firecrackers of all shapes and sizes and a day of jubilant celebration! But it's also a day filled with superstitions - especially with food!
To celebrate New Year right, the way we Filipinos do it, you should start with the right food.
Here are the top 5 Must-Have foods at Media Noche:
1. Pancit- All-time favorite. This is our traditional noodle dish. Noodles with their lengthy strings represents long life. Thus, if you have noodles and eat them on New Year, it is believed to guarantee that you will be blessed with long life for the upcoming years. Imagine the life span you'll gain every year just by eating noodles!
Another Christmas have come and here at Zensible Mama, we are blessed to have you share the holidays, our journeys and adventures with us each year. From our family to yours, our sincerest gratitude and merriest of wishes that may you have a very merry Christmas today, as we ourselves celebrate this joyous season!
And so it is! We're celebrating our first not-so-white Christmas in our grande nuevo la casa today! Our home. Our sanctuary. It's a long time coming but so worth it! Now, decorating it was a bit of a challenge but I think we managed to pull off a good one. Compared to the smaller house we've lived in for 10 years, this house is definitely bigger and thus far, requires more decorating!
I've always been fascinated with Snowflakes and a big fan of them as well. They adorn my Christmas tree each year and they're always a part of my holiday decor. It will be our first Christmas in our new house so, I have tons of opportunity to get my creative home decor ideas to work! And for a last-minute additional holiday decor idea, I'm thinking pretty, colorful and glittery snowflakes!
And that's exactly what I did! I placed cascading snowflakes on my wall by my stairs. Thanks to Crayola* for sending me my crafting essentials, I was able to pull-off these home decor idea successfully! Now my bare wall looks totally rockin' and the snowflakes are simply ah-mazing!
And in true snowflakes fashion, each one is not like the other. Below you'll find the basics on how to create your own snowflake. All you need is a piece of paper, scissor and lots of imagination!
Instructions
1. Fold the paper into a triangle. Cut the excess.
2. If you unfold it, you should have a perfect square.
3. Fold the triangle in half to make a smaller triangle.
4. Fold one side halfway into the middle.
5. Fold the other remaining side on top of the folded one. Make adjustment to make sure fold is of equal size.
6. Cut the excess along straight line.
7. Start cutting your shape from bottom up.
8. Cut straight up until your final shape is in place.
9. Unfold and reveal your snowflake.
Note: small snowflakes follow the same procedure as above.
Now for the exciting part. Bling-ing and accessorizing the snowflakes!
In this project, I used the Glitter Glue and the Twistable Slick Stix. First, lightly color the entire snowflakes with your preferred color. To achieve an attractive contrast, put more color on the center of the snowflakes then choose a part of the edges that would get more color. Once that's done, start outlining certain areas of the snowflakes with glitter glue. More glitter, the better!
Let the glue dry then stick them on your preferred canvas and arrange them accordingly. The snowflakes I used in this project are huge in person and they look best on a huge blank wall. They also look good with smaller-sized snowflakes. So, make several sizes to complete your ensemble.
Personal note on Crayola products used.
I love the Twistable Slick Stix. It's easy to use, glides very smoothly and the colors are very vibrant and solid. It makes coloring quick and fast, and the color covers the surface evenly! Now that is very impressive. The only thing you need to watch out for is to make sure you have a protective paper underneath or you'll have crayon smudges everywhere. As for the Glitter glue, it simply works!
Now the fun giveaway!
One lucky winner will win a Crayola Holiday Crafting Essentials gift pack which includes:
Crayola Washable Markers
Crayola Colored Pencils
Crayola Glitter Glue
Crayola Model Magic
Crayola Slick Sticks
$25 gift card
Qualifying Entry: Complete mandatory entry requirements then tell us which Crayola product is your favorite in the comments section. Additional ways for extra entries available below.
To know more about Crayola and their products, Follow them on:
Pinterest - Crayola
Facebook - Crayola
Twitter - @Crayola
*Crayola provided the products used in this craft project, gift card and sponsored the giveaway. Craft idea and all opinions are mine unless otherwise stated.
It's that time of the year again where we all go gaga over our trees! I'm sure you are proud of your trees and have put your own creative twist to it. But around the inernetz, there are pretty mighty cool trees out there that are out-of-this-world, unusual yet unique and creative! One of them captured my heart and will be the reason I'm going after-Christmas-sales shopping this year for! Can I say, Bah-humbug!? There goes my Christmas money! But first here are the not-your-typical trees.
The thing about home decorating especially during the holidays is that, it never ends (to me at least). My creative brain keeps coming up with ingenious ideas. So here's another idea for a Christmas card holder - inspired by a tree! Your very own Christmas Card Tree. And it's easy to make too!
I just received my first Christmas card in the mail and I'm ecstatic! In this age of email and digital technology, a physical card seem to be vanishing in the holiday equation each year. But always the optimistic believer on things great and unique, I'm confident that I will still get some, if not many, cards this year. With this assumption, I better have a nice place to display them. Last year, I "wedged" them in the Christmas tree. This year, I've got something nicer and quite simple to make!
It's been years since the last time we visited the Southern Christmas Show. If it wasn't for free tickets - thanks to my husband - we probably wouldn't bother going again this year. Now, don't get me wrong. The place is great for early Christmas shopping, bar none, but it's just one of those busy, crazy places that you'd rather avoid. Unless of course, you are a brave soul and are determined to shop till you drop while fending off other holiday-crazed shoppers! Thankfully, going at the last day of the event was a good choice. The place wasn't as crowded and it made for a good (window and non-window) shopping experience somehow.
