Meijo's Joy

Minutes DIY : Old jeans to Pencilcase roll (No sew project)

2015-11-03T22:26:00.000+08:00

It's close to the end of school season.

Mei Mei turns "Grumpy" today because she have some trouble

with her coloring pencils.

Well, the original paper case for the color pencil got wore off.

I offer her a small plastic drinking bottle to keep

all her color pencils but her still not happy.

The color pencils are all in various length and size.

However, Mei Mei still prefer to have her color pencil 'display'

in a proper manner when she used them.

Well, just my luck.

I saw a piece of old corduroy laying nearby,

(actually I plan to reused it for something else)

I cut a piece of fabric from the pants.

cut 2 row of tiny holes along the length

Now, everyone is lining up like a rainbow

Hope you like this impromptu DIY.

Have a nice day and thanks for drop by.

Love

PC & Mei Mei

TP rolls toy Binoculars - easy n cute

2015-10-15T10:47:00.001+08:00

Today is Mei Mei arts class again

This week her homework is TP rolls binoculars...

After browsing through Pinterest...

She still not happy with the samples she found...

So, this is her creations after some 'upgrade' from

what she learn from the internets...

She did it within an hour.

Yes, she is very proud of her works

and so am I.

She used some old strings which I salvaged earlier from

old drinking bottle (the green and blue ones)

Cut some flower shape cardboard...for the 'lens'

wrap the lens with large roll of sticky tape / cellophane tapes

to make an 'easy instant ' lens' glass.

Connect the tp rolls with a empty staples bullets box.

wrap with color paper and decor with washi tapes.

Add to little cute eraser owls to enhance the 'watch out' level.

Love it!

How to keep your cabbage fresh and crunchy for months without fridge!

2015-09-04T15:35:00.000+08:00

I love to prepare veggies for dinner.

And weather in fresh market or shopping mall

veggies is always cheaper when you bought in whole or per package quantity.

My family love veggies...but we certainly unable to

finish on whole cabbage in a day.

And when I stored the leftover cabbage in fridge.... it always turn 'soft' and 'sleepy'!

So, this is my solution

In this way, some say by this method, the cabbage can last for 3 months...

I'm not sure about that...but I'm certainly sure it would last for 1 month...because mine did!!!!

(pic source)

What you need to do is clear away few outer layer leaves, and let the stem exposed.

Dip the stem in water. The roots will started to grow is day 2...make sure

you change the water everyday. I use mineral water.

Cheers

Trash to sewing tool - Plastics bottle sewing hoop

2015-09-01T16:40:00.001+08:00

I don't prefer using plastic bottle...

but sometimes my hubby would bring a few from office.

Today, I found a new way to 'reuse' the bottle

I cut it cross way into circles

And when I combine two circles together....

Voila!!! I have a small little sewing hoop!

Thanks for drop by

Must do back to school tools - ..Drinking bottle + Sharpener

2015-09-01T16:40:00.000+08:00

As a mom, I always have to choose between..

A) A clean house

B) Happy kids

And of course... I believe (B) is a a better choice.

But I can't stand 'messy' house.

So...today...while the little one is doing her favourite pass time activity...coloring

Yes...the little girl understand how her mom would react when seeing

the sharpener waste 'fly' and ' landed' on the freshly mopped floor.

She really did try very hard by holding the sharpening 'inside' the rubbish bin.

Poor thing...she more concentrate in the sharpening process then enjoying the coloring process.

So... something suddenly comes into my mind....

I'm too busy to write down the tutorial...(need to do cleaning....)

hope the pictures flow above helps.

Have a nice day!

Love

PC & Mei Mei

Bringing this to party at

Tutorial - Easy Kids Craft - "Tie" Sponge Cat / Bear?

2015-08-21T11:28:00.002+08:00

Evey Wednesday, Mei Mei's school have art class.

This morning, her teacher asked the class to bring a list of material to for the art class...

Some rubber bands

A ractangular sponge of any color

some ribbon or lace,

buttons, stickers, anything for decoration

She ran through my stash and took whatever

that interest her.

So, this is what she bought back from school.

It's a 'tie' bear!

(Oops...sorry..Mei Mei said this is Hello Kitty!)

The material are simple and

easy to make too...

but the result is quite impressive I would say.

According to Mei Mei...some of the students

make 'bear', 'dog', 'monster', 'tiger'...instead of cat.

The 'ears' of the kitty are made by tying the rubber band on both corner of the sponge.

After that, creat a 'neckline' by simply wrap a rubber band around the middle of the sponge

This is how the 'kitty' looks from the back

And you make decorate it as you wish with your imagination.

I think this is a very fun craft project for little one

It's fun, easy and full of possibility.

Thanks for drop by.

Love

PC * Mei Mei * Jojo

How to help your children find they talent?

2015-08-20T16:55:00.003+08:00

I know this is a very serious question

This are one of the many questions that running through my mind

whenever I unable to sleep at night

Laying on my bed...having my kids in my arms

Looking at the stars and wondering

how to make my kids as bright as the star when they grow up one day!

And of course...I never have a satisfied answer or solution

As a mom...I teach, I guide, I supervise, I pray for them.

And finally...something happened!

Last year... close to the year end school holiday...

When I was driving Mei Mei back from school...

she told me that she won the first place in the school high jump tornament.

She was so excited and so am I...but I was more curious at that moment...

because...

I never coach her about high jump

We don't have the particular sport facilities at home

I never knew she 'can high jump'

I have no clue at all. I started to ask about

"Is it a really tornement?"

"Is it a race within your class"

"Is it just a P.E. lesson activities?"

"Is it a REAL tornament?"

She was so excited and saying that she will received the medal

on stage during the school assembly on the following week.

I was so happy for her but at the same time I still found it hard to believe.

I just hope it's not one of those 'made up' stories or imagination things.

(Yes, I know...I'm a bad mom)

But the week later...she bought home these...

She got a gold medal for high jump event and

a bronze for long jump.

My hubby and me were really overjoyed. We had a big celebration fir her.

The next day, I visit Mei Mei sport's coach...

She told me that Mei Mei is very good in both events and the events is actually

for the 3rd grade...(Mei Mei was 2nd grade at that moment) but she encourage

Mei Mei to join the event since she showed interest during her PE class trainings.

Here is Mei Mei represented her school in the regional match this year

There are about 45 schools joining in the match...

Honestly I don't expect her beat all the competitors especially

she is the youngest one there ...

(she is the only 3rd grade competing with all the 4th grade)

But she looks very confident...

And this is her result...

Yes, she beat them all and this is the gold medal for the hight jump event she took.

So, now if someone ask me "How to help my children find they talent?"

I would say...

"They all have great talent since the day they born...

The talent is 'inside' them...they will "show" you they talent when the time is right!"

What you need to do is ..... never underestimate them!

Love

PC * Mei Mei * Jojo

Jojo's art class homework - Making Art from Nature

2015-08-19T15:12:00.000+08:00

Hi! 2015 is full of suprise...

good and bad

Well, today I would like to share

Jojo's recent art class homework

"Making Art from Nature"

The class is asked to produce an art piece

with natural material.

With only 1 night lead time

we have limited material on hands

and here is what she came out with

We manage to get some dry coconut branch for the 'roof'

The 'wall' and 'door' 'sponsored' from mom's kitchen...

some dried grain and beans

Here you can found the 'bogainville petals' and egg shell mosaic walkways

Just love the little 'cottages' the coconut braches are very 'handy'.

Jojo spends hours arranging the beans with twizer...

I love my girls when they show patient in their works.

The egg shells mosaic is amazing too!

I'm impressed with her work, and the best joy of all

is to appreciate what nature gives us for free!

Love you

Regards

PC * Mei Mei * Jojo

Paper Model - Sheep - Free Template and Instruction

2015-02-05T13:59:00.001+08:00

http://papermodel.jp/eto.html

New Year Inspiration - Keep on reuse

2015-02-05T11:49:00.005+08:00

Drinking bottle to Thread Storage....

Brilliant!!!

source : blogland

2015 Chinese New Year Goat Lantern

2015-02-05T11:47:00.001+08:00

Every pre-Chinese New Year,

Jojo's school will ask each student to submit a lantern

made of red packets to hang in the school hall.

As this year is the year of goat / sheep...

we thought we should try something

more fun than making the ordinary Chinese lantern.

Jojo found a very interesting website from Japan which

have tutorial and PDF template to make

a paper model Sheep

here is the link

http://papermodel.jp/eto.html

With some modification

this is what she came out at last.

After finish the paper model sheep

she added some red packets which pre-cut into

round shape and pasted on the sheep'body'

She also added a pair of 'horn' for the sheep.

So, if you get bored of the old fashion Chinese Lantern

maybe this can be a fun diy project for you and the kids at home.

Have a nice day

and thanks for drop by.

Love

PC * Jojo * Mei Mei

10 tips to save your money and time when travel to Hat Yai, South Thailand (Part 1)

2015-02-01T23:39:00.000+08:00

Penang is quite close to Thailand.

And I've to admit...it's the CHEAPEST place for an OVERSEA vacation.

BUT...

You NEED to PLAN WELL

and

FOLLOW below advice.

(These are my personal recommendation...

after numerous times visited Hat Yai)

pls don't hesitate to CORRECT me if you have a better OPTIONs

WHERE to STAY?

#1 - Get Some Help for AGODA, Hotelcombine

The first time I went to Hat Yai ...

I googgled for AGODA...

most of the time AGODA wouldn't failed me.

Sometimes I went for Hotelcombine to check the price

offer by AGODA

But if you are not traveling during peak season

(Malaysia's holidays, Thailand' holidays)

You can always check at Hotelcombine for last minutes booking.

Once I got a room in Tune Hotel, Hatyai for only RM50++

(standard room with Queen bed or 2 single bed)

I booked the room during midnight on the day before of my depart.

#2 - Stay in the Happenings Area

The most happening area in Hat Yai is around the Lee Garden Plaza.

Just make sure the accommodation you picked is within the "circle" area

Staying around this area so you can walk to most intersting places

around Hat Yai town. That will alsa save you a lot of transport fee and waiting time.

#3 - Stay close to 7-eleven convenient shop

7 eleven is a very popular 24 hours convenient shop in Thailand.

It offer almost everything in rather cheap price...most of the time...

the food and snacks are cheaper that the food court, supermarket and stalls

in coffee shop.

#4 - Stay at place where you have free supplier of drinking water

Weather in Hat Yai is hot most of the time, there may be rain...but

rather hot most of the day. If your hotel supply free drinking water to you

that can save a lot. You may need 2 big bottle per person per day,

So, if you are traveling with family members like me...

plain mineral water may cost up to RM10 per day.

During my travel, I stay in a motel...it's not too fancy but

clean, with attached bathroom, fridge, LED TV, air con...close to the happenings area

and have a 7 eleven at the side...

and of course, free drinking water at the lobby...and hot water too!

It only cost me 700bath per room of 2 double bed (family room)

I tell you more about the motel in my next post

HOW to GET THERE?

You can get to Hat Yai by air, by train , bus, van or car.

If you are from Malaysia, or going there from Penang,

You can buy van ticket from tour agencies around KOMTAR. it less

than RM100 for a return trip by bus or van.

I prefer drive from Penang to the Malaysia-Thai boader - Danok

I parked my car in a Duty Free Complex for RM15 per day.

Walk through the immigration

(Get the arrival and departure white card from the immigration office)

After get the passport stampped...Walk straight into the town

until you reached a 7 eleven shop...

There is a 'counter' a lady or man with books of tickets on a small desk.

Tell them you want to go Hadyai and your hotel / motel name.

about RM5.70 per person for a trip. Never listen to the taxi driver..

They will tell you that there have no van service and you must travel with taxi...

They will charge you RM100+++ for a trip from the boader to Hat Yai!

HOW TO TRAVEL AROUND HAT YAI

Hat Yai is not a very big city...you can always walk. But if

you are too tired to walk, you can always get a motor taxi or a tuk-tuk.

When getting a tuk-tuk...always tell them clearly where you want to go

and bargain the price first before you hired them. In most place

they will charge 20baht per person.

So, if you are traveling in group of 4... the tuk-tuk driver will say

120 baht...and later 100 baht....You need to keep insisting

"NO, 80baht for 4 persons, 80baht for 4 persons..."

Most tuk-tuk driver will accept the bargain.

If you travel a few places and need the tuk-tuk to wait for you

you can hired the tuk-tuk for about 40~60baht for half day tour around the city.

WHERE TO EAT

I love Thai food...whether its fast food or traditional TOM YAM.

But some times, the local stalls may charges tourist extra or most expensive

than the locals.

If you have friends or yourself able to speak Siamese if the best, you can get

cheaper price. But if you are like me, the only thing I know is

"Cup..Cup..Cup..""So deep Cup"...

I prefer to have my meal in food court where they have clear indication of the meal's price.

The meal price is Hat Yai is about 50~65baht per meal of rice, noodles or etc.

Snacks and fruits is about 20~30baht.

My favorite dinning place is the food court on the 5th floor of Ocean Supermarket
the food is cheap, nice and free cold water too!

coming soon...

MUST EAT in Hat Yai

WHERE to Shop

till then...

bye - bye

I love you!

PC

DY hand corsage for sister wedding day!

2014-11-26T15:37:00.001+08:00

Received a request from my sister

to prepare some wrist corsage for her bridesmaids

on her wedding day!

So glad to have a good reason to craft again!

Congrats to my sister wedding

and Hooray for me!

I spend days browsing Pinterest for ideas...

but my sister prefer some simple and retro one...

I absolutely have no idea.

These are some of my "works" today...

What do you think?

Check out my tutorial on the

ladybug here

bear here
ribbon roses here

Gotta get back to 'work'

BYE

LOVE

...

3 old T-shirts = one new tops

2014-10-10T21:35:00.001+08:00

Just sharing - Never fried your OREO if you really LOVE them!

2014-10-10T21:26:00.000+08:00

Last weekend, my lovely niece told me that

she tasted a new snack when she visited

a snack bar after a movie with her friends.

It's "Deep fried Oreo" and according to her

it's absolutely amazing!

My kids love Oreo and I love to try new stuff...

So, this afternoon we tried out that "recipe"

I goggled a little about the how to...

Sound super simple and easy

After few minutes...

The warm crunchy pieces are in front of the kids...

Excited with full 'expectation'!!!

The verdict...

Mom!!!! You SPOIL the our OREO!!!

It taste sweet but it LOOKS SAD!!!

Conclusion

No more Oreo frying!

THE END!

love from me....

the Oreo's 'killer'

Good night.

My 42 birthday!

2014-09-14T22:24:00.001+08:00

This morning when I checked Google

saw the Google home page greeted me with so many cakes...

so, I clicked on it...and only did I found out...

It's my birthday, today!

I've so many plans going on in my mind

days before...or months before the date come...

but I totally forgot about it recently...

until this morning....

2014 started on well....

but after my first diy post...

the days turn so short...

from months to weeks,,,

from weeks to days..

from days to hours...

from hours...to seconds.

Times passed by so fast..

This year...Jojo is in Year 4. Her school starts at 7.30am to 1.25pm.

And Mei Mei's school starts at 1.30pm to 6.30p.m.

And I'm fully occupied by both.

My free time only starts after dinner and after finished every thing in the laundry.

That's about 9 something at night.

I flipped through Pinterest, my blog, other's blog...email...

Facebook...and it's already getting 11p.m.

There are so much to do but so little time.

So, be patient for me.

I'll be back. I promised.

but now... I need to go...

The girls are waiting for me downstairs.

We are heading to the beach today!

Love

Make your hip look thinner with one simple easy trick!

2014-07-12T23:12:00.001+08:00

Yup!

No kidding!

With one simple easy trick!

Just add a split at one side of your long tee...

Like this!

and remember to match it with dark color tights!

Hope this tip helps.

Love

Trip to Finland ...experienced my first 24 hours of sunlight!

2014-07-01T17:01:00.002+08:00

Sorry,

I've been away...

My hubby company send him to a short business trip to Oulu, Finland recently.

Never in my life would I thought of going to this beautiful land.

I was just showing my hubby regarding an igloo hotel in north part of Finland

where you can lay down on your bed and watch the Aurora during the winter.
(saw it in Pinterest)

The hotel rates is not to expensive...but travelling from Penang Island to Finland

may takes about 24 hours ++ and 3 transit in the airport.

These will 'kill' any holiday mood!

And suddenly... My hubby replied

"Dear, the company wants me to visit a plant there this Monday!'

So...here we go...

Share with you some pictures that we took during the short stay there...

My opinion about Finland? Clean, Beautiful, Love the fresh air...

but...everything is soooooo expensive!

Please forgive me for not accepting reindeer for my dinner.

(It's the Santa's helpers...I just can't eat them!!!)

I hope one day
I will return to this wonderful place again
during the winter
The 'aurora' is too good to miss!

Love
PC

sharing this trip with

The best and cheapest therapy for pressure ...

2014-04-15T17:41:00.002+08:00

As you can see...

I 'lost' and 'loose' again...

(lost from blogging...loose , get beaten by pressure from life)

Life is so blue and the pressure is

getting from bad to worst.

The problem I have is nothing different from any

mom and wife and daughter in the world...

As a mom... there are so many things I want to teach my kids,

but sometimes... they have to make they own mistakes...

which repeated my mistake...in order to grow and understand.

and I can only “wait and see"

This is pretty sad!

As a wife

We must always give and take

and most of the time

We just keep giving and

forgot about our worth.

As a daughter...

We started to feel and see

what our mom told us when we were young

but we are too busy to bother...

Now, we are old...and our parents even older...

We turn into them and they turn into..."someone else"!

Today

I have a small chat with Jojo's classmate's mom...

We don't really know each other

and we never talk before

It's all started with a weak smile

and within seconds

we talked like we have known for years...

Telling each others our frustration and problems

begin with the kids and their school works

and soon into family and life.

The chat last for 20 minutes

but

after that

It's seem "lift away" my frustration and problems...

I feel so "light" in my heart like never before

All my "heart weight" seems gone...

Not because I figure out how to solve my problems...

But sometimes

It just "delightful"...

just to find out...

there are someone just like yourself...

out there...

or every where...

not too far...

by your side...

Don't you think?

When you are blue...

Just talk to someone!

It's really work!

Love

MH 370...

2014-03-24T23:26:00.000+08:00

I believe in miracle...

I believe in God...

and I choose to believe...

you are out there somewhere...

safe in God's hands.

No matters what the news said...

I will continue to pray and believe

you are out there...

and you will come back!

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pray...Pray...Pray...

Mini 5 minutes project - Bread Tag reuse

2014-02-07T16:29:00.000+08:00

Wow! 2014 is such a busy year...

My new year resolution is to blog more this year...

but hardly have the time to sit down...

But no matter how busy...

My urge to 'play' with 'trash' is never stop.

This is what I did today!

My hubby always get the wrong sauce during his meal time,

even though I have use the 'color' system...red for hot sauce and yellow for tomato...

So, this is my new attempt to make the kitchen more friendly to him!

See you,

Love

Step by step from stone to gem!!! Shocking truth! Deadly fake gem!

2014-01-10T10:30:00.000+08:00

My close friend forward this message to me!

So shocking but true.

Never buy gem stones / jade when you are on tour in Chixx
This is how they turn ordinary priceless stones into valuables jades and emeralds
by using some unknown hazardous chemical!

See for yourself!

#1 Plain natural stone

Soak in unknown hazardous chemical for 6 months!

#3 After 6 months,

the stones are taken out from the chemical and washed

"Hand painted"
In order every piece with different 'pattern'

Placed into high pressure machine to stabilized the 'gem' color and painted pattern!

The result

Ready for sold!
This 'gem' bangles are sold for RMB70,000 ~ 80,000!!!

Some people really 'professional' when comes to making 'faux' items!

Take care

xoxo
PC

Old Plastic Pot to Sea Stone Covered Pot!!! Tutorial

2014-01-04T16:55:00.003+08:00

Yeah! My first DIY on 2014.

I've lots of plastic pot in my garden...

Most of them came from my purchase of plants from the nursery...

Plastic pots are nice and cheap...but they don't stand long in

a hot and wet weather here...and they turn brittle very fast.

But...I don't give up or throw away things easily...

So, I turn them into these ...

I made this pot with some leftover grout and sea stone/sand I collected

during my visit at the beach.

This is how I begin.

#1 Mix the grout with some water...

the mixture need to be thick and sticky.

Spread the grout onto the pot....I've mine about 1cm thick!

(take note...the grout may fall off if the thickness is too thin!)

Hold the pot upside down when you do this,

it will be lot easier.

Move the pot side to side and spreading the grout as you go.

#2 - Pour the sand stone over the grout.

Press them firmly into the grout.

#3 - Dry them under the sun

DONE!

Cost ...

Old plastic pot from plants purchase - $0

Leftover grout - $0 ~ 0.50

Sand stone - Free

Hope you like it!

xoxo

Yeah! First party for this year at...

Melaka River Cruise

2014-01-03T23:46:00.000+08:00

My trips to Melaka only last 2 days...

but the pictures I tooks is most than hundreds.

The town is too pretty...

Here are some of my favorite shoots during taking a river cruise

on my second day there.

The hotel in day time.

This is me!

This giant ship is actually a museum

The huge anchor caught Mei Mei attention!

The river cruise along the Melaka river

The boat for the cruise

Most building were artfully painted which make the river cruise

more worthy to ride.

Those hanging there are the orchid plants.

There is a fun park by the river...The Pirate Park if not mistaken...

Unfortunately the park was closed for renovation when we were there.

xoxo

Melaka River Side - Night view

2014-01-03T23:35:00.000+08:00

This post is part 2 of my recent trip to Melaka during Christmas Holiday.

While my girls enjoy their bedtimes stories....actually is my parents in law 'old times' stories,

me and my hubby sneak out to have a walk by the Melaka river bank.

Melaka is a small place...not in measurement...but all the excitement

of sight seeing, food, leisure, shopping are all closely situated side by side...

What I mean is all the 'happenings' are just side by side the Melaka river.

So, never worry about renting a car while travelling in Melaka...

most of the exciting places can be reach by walking...or you may consider bicycle.

There are lots of guest house which offer bicycles renting service.

Here are some photos I managed to take during the walk.

The hotel by the river side

The hotel pool side

The hotel's fountain

The rotating tower.

You may take a ride up the tower for city view.

Yup..Hard Rock cafe is just beside.

Most of the building beside the river were converting into

guest house, pub and cafe.

You can enjoy a romantic candle light dinner here.

These are trishaw...(tricycle) can be rent by hourly...

but rather costly...RM20/ hour. max passenger 2 pax.

I'll be posting the day view of the river side view when

the whole family taking a river cruise trip on the next morning.

Cheers