[Diaper Cakes] Fast and the Furry Friends Motorcycle Diaper Cake

I would like to introduce you to these three adorable furry friends who are out to go on a bike.

There was a baby shower for 3 mothers in church today and I made these as gifts.  They are  a new twist to the diaper cake.

motorcycle diaper cake

This is "not-so-curious Jorge."  LOL. There are many tutorials on how to make these diaper motorcycles  such as this.  You just need diapers, receiving blankets, socks or mittens, washcloths, a bottle or sippy cup, rubberbands, ribbon or paper and a stuffed toy.  The instructions are simple, it's the shopping that could be a little challenging but fun.

Motorcycle diaper cake

The emblem says: 

"Hello Baby!"

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. - James 1:17"

These mothers are blessed to have children.  I don't have children of my own but I know that I have the responsibility to make a positive influence on them.  

motorcycle diaper cake

Off we go!  Weeeeeee!!!!!

Have a wonderful week!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Food] Zongzi & Dragon Boat Festival

My co-worker from China gave us some Zongzi.  Zong... What? 

"Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or other large flat leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling."

These sticky rice treats are traditionally prepared and eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival where they commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet.  The one she gave us were wrapped in bamboo leaves and tied with kitchen twine.  One had meat and the other with sweet dates.  We don't have a microwave at home so I steamed it for about 15 minutes.

Meat Zongzi

Sweetened Dates Zongzi

We have a similar type of food in the Philippines, the "suman" which is sweetened glutinous rice wrapped in banana or coconut leaves (called "ibos"  in the Hiligaynon dialect).  I preferably eat it with ripe mango... oh my.. yummy!  Zongzi is also called as "Chinese tamales" - probably because of the similarity of the cooking process.

We enjoyed eating it, dipped the meat in soy sauce and the one with dates in sugar.  Mouthwatering.

Isn't it nice to try food from other cultures?  Try it sometime.  Explore.  Make friends with someone with another culture.  Enjoy!

Blessings,

♥  michelle  ♥

[Crafts] Traditional Filipino-themed banquet: "Bahay Kubo"

Our church is hosting Filipino Pastor's from all over the US today and I wanted to share the work of the team - Team "Bahay Kubo."  The Bahay kubo or Nipa hut is a native house in the Philippines in which the walls are made from bamboo tied together walls and the roof is of the nipa/anahaw leaves.  The photo below is a small nipa hut in my Mom's ancestral home in the province.  It's a nice place to cool off while sipping the juice of a freshly harvested coconut or savoring the juice of a ripe yellow mango.  Ohhh, delicious!

There is a song on the "Bahay Kubo."  You can do a youtube search to hear how it sounds - it's one of the songs that in my opinion every Filipino toddler (whether pure or inter-racial) should be able to sing.  The song describes the bahay kubo as despite being small, is full of different local fruits and vegetables which are then enumerated.  

We decorated the buffet table with various fruits and vegetables in season and placed them in different kinds of baskets.  The baskets and the woven fabric came from the private collection of the ladies and they were very nice.  I'm not even sure if they still make this good quality products.  The banana leaves are fresh from the garden.  We love how it turned out.  

We also prepared welcome kits that included a directory of local Filipino restaurants and a couple of pastries among others.

I had several empty starbucks coffee bottles which we made into table centerpieces.  We added decorated sticks and greens then placed it on top of a square green burlap.  I will take a better photo and re-post it.

To make it more festive, we added large buntings that ran across the width of the gym.  I used construction paper, jewelry hemp cord and glue... ohhh.. it was tedious but I love how it turned out.    

We spent about 3 hours from start to finish, that's pretty fast considering we had to steam iron the table cloths, etc.  It helped that some of the items where prepared beforehand.  It was a group effort - blending of minds, skills and talents.  

It's amazing how we can glorify God in simple ways such as this.  It's always fun serving with people who love God as well.

This afternoon, I will be cooking beefsteak for them... and that's another story.

Have a blessed day!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Gifts] Charming Charlie Graduation Gifts, Handmade packaging and Dayspring Cards

It's Graduation time here in the States and we got several friends whose children are graduating from kindergarten, high school and college.  Wow, such a fun and exciting time for the graduates and their families.  Today, we are attending the graduation parties of 2 ladies (one of them is also celebrating her debut).

I wanted to make them something but it's been a hectic weekend so I bought them these pretty necklaces from Charming Charlie.  I love going to their store because it so full of eye candy, beautifully arranged by color scheme.  Their designs are nice but definitely not one-of-a-kind.  

Charming Charlie Blue

Charming Charlie Purple

I packaged the necklaces in a black box and added an embossed card that I colored using Tombow ABT markers and Tim Holtz's distress inks.  I added dimensional magic over the birds and tied a light blue ribbon around the box.  Simple but pretty.  The blank cards are from Daysrping Blank Notecards - I prefer blank notecards because I like writing personalized messages.

I remember by HS graduation which we are celebrating 25 years of in December.  Yay!  It's Silver Jubilee and it's a big celebration.  I wish I can go home to Manila and be there.  

Oh my gosh!  I couldn't imagine bow fast time flies.  When I was younger, I would watch my mom and her classmates laugh their hearts out while reminiscing their days in HS and Nursing school and now... it's my turn.  Good thing, I don't have kids who'd laugh at how funny we are.

There are times when I wish I was still young - with money regularly being given to me and who's responsibility was just to study.  I have to give all credit to my Dad and Mom for working hard to send me and my 2 siblings to school.  I was in Med school so they had to spend more money on me - time, love, effort and money that I can never repay them back.  Thanks, Daddy and Mommy!

Do you have children who are graduating soon or are you an empty-nester already?

Have a great and blessed week, my friend!

♥  Michelle  ♥

Give Thanks [Thanksgiving 2011]

What does this photo remind you of?

Yes, the colors of Autumn / Fall and Thanksgiving.  

Table arrangement by my talented sis-in-law

Today is Thanksgiving Day in America and there is truly a lot to be grateful for.

You may want to read a BLOG that I wrote in 2010 when I celebrated my very first Thanksgiving in the U.S.

As of this writing, we are busy with preparations for dinner.  Being Filipinos, we have a wide varitety of food... such a gastronomic feast!  There will be turkey, fish, chicken, beef, vegies and a wide selection of desserts.  We will be singing songs and share about God's faithfulness.  To burn the calories, we will have a wii sportsfest and play mind games, probably cranium or scrabble.

I made these chocolate dipped peanut butter filled vanilla wafers for our giveaways. 

Yummy!

From our family to yours,

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Enjoy!

"Thank You" [Cards for California]

My 2 weeks of sunny, cool, California weather is over and I am back in Chicago's winter wonderland!  I had a great time in San Jose and San Diego, particularly babysitting my 18 month old nephew. 

I was also able to meet our former Pastor in Manila and his family, my good friend and colleague, and other relatives and friends.

In appreciation for all their kindness and generosity, I made "Thank You" cards today.

I used Inkadinkado's "Thank You Clear Stamp" 39-252868.

I stamped it using Versafine in Black Onyx and colored using Tombo ABT markers.

I matted the stamped images on olive green and blue cardstock and then added them to the DCWV background paper from their "The Green Stack" collection.  Finally, I used dark blue and yellow cardbase.

It's great to be home, making cards again for all the wonderful people in my life.

These will all be mailed tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday!

To Hubby, With Love [Valentine's Day 2011]

 Today is Valentine's day and being apart from hubby makes me miss him so much... so much that I just had to recall the happiest time of our life.

It's been 2 years and a month since that special day but since I wasn't into blogging then, allow me to share it with you now.

We are grateful that we had a team of wonderful wedding coordinators turned friends who helped us with the more important matters.  Nevertheless, my then fiancee and I personalized and handcrafted many of our wedding essentials.

The printed card fold invitations came from the U.S. but because we wanted to include the names of all the wedding participants on the inside, we printed them ourselves.

Next, we printed the church program on light green cardstock, added dried flowers and ribbon that had our color motif.  The wedding souvenirs (right and left sides of the photo above) were made out of small towels that we rolled into cake slices and muffins and topped with a cherry and packaged in clear plastic cases.



  We had a candlelight ceremony that symbolized the blessing of both our parents (and family) and being united as one by God.  The candles were plain so I decorated them with ribbon and dried flowers.

I wanted to have a garden themed wedding so together with our florist, we used an assortment of brightly colored flowers.  Our 2 adorable flower girls carried a small pink pail with spring flowers and was decorated with pearls.

Our 2 adorable flower girls carried this small pail with spring flowers and was decorated with pearls.

Our wedding charge was given by my Uncle Sam who gave us a very beautiful devotion about God, Love and Marriage.  The ceremony was wonderful, with a laughter and tears of joy here and there.  Oh, we had a boys choir... such angelic voices!

In weddings held in the U.S., I noticed that the newly married couple would leave the church ahead of their guests so that they could thank each for coming. However, in Manila, the guests go out of the church first so that they could welcome the newly married couple. Here, we were showered with love and confetti.  We also personalized our wedding bubbles that we distributed at church and the reception venue.

The wedding reception was at the EDSA Shangri-la hotel whose wedding team is the best!  We had a long table in the center of the ballroom for us, our parents and godparents. It is Filipino tradition to have principal sponsors who serve as "godparents" and are tasked to keep us together forever ♥.  

We had 12 pairs of married couples whose lives have touched and blessed us (yes, a dozen ☺).





Our wedding cake was a 3-tier fondant cake that had a lacy design, bouquet of white roses and a Wilton cake topper. 

 The buffet spread was awesome and delicious especially the desserts.  Too bad... we weren't able to savor it all because we were in absolute euphoria and cloud 9.

There was so much love in the air from family, friends and lovedones.  We had so much fun 

especially when we had our choreographed foxtrot/hiphop first dance to the tune of "The way you look tonight" mixed with a hip hop song... geeez, I'm not sure I can do that again. 

Ahhhh.... such precious memories.

You ask what makes our journey as husband and wife fun?

It's the LOVE and GRACE that comes from above.  Thank you God!

Deus nos iunxit

(God has joined us together)

Happy Valentine's Day, Hubby!

I LOVE YOU, FOREVER AND A DAY!

Valentine's Day [FCCC Building fund raiser]

Happy Sunday! 

Are you all set for Valentine's Day?

I went to church today with a majority of Filipino congregation.  Their Pastor and family spent several years of service in our church in Manila and it was nice to see them again.  Their children have grown-up but it seemed as if Pastor and his wife didn't age too much ☺ - they have the same zeal and passion for God. 

They had a Valentine's Day fundraiser and wow, the ladies had a lot of cool ideas.

Take a look at these goodies.

Pardon my ugly camera angle and poor lighting but this centerpiece is made of all sugar goodness!  She used lollipops, chocolates and candies.

This topiary was made of pink heart chocolates and white silk flowers that she placed on a white pot accented with white hearts and red lollipops.

Oh, I love these cupcakes!  They just don't look nice and pretty, they tasted so good too. 

 "Valentine greetings to those who are taken, not yet taken, about to be taken, assumed to be taken and including those who are taken for granted."

Here's a big HUG from me to you!

Cabby Crafter's Happy Feet! [S:C:F Stylish Blogger Award]

Cabby Crafter is in blog heaven for receiving its first award.

I am humbled by this very special recognition and I am encouraged to blog more and better.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH to Lili of swanky::chic::fete. 

I love her blog and have been following it regularly.  I like her articles, party links, features and gorgeous photos. Click on her link and I know you would love it too.

Lili of swanky::chic::fete

Here are 7 random facts me, the Cabby Crafter.

1.  I have been married to my dear husband for 2 years and 11 days today.  It has been a fun and exciting journey together.

2.  I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, saved and sustained by His grace.  I am the pianist and I used to sing in our choir during my youth days.

4.  I am a Medical Doctor, a Pediatrician and Certified Medical Acupuncturist in my native land.  Caring for infants and children are my life!  We are praying that God will bless us with our own.

5.  I studied piano, Japenese cooking, chocolate molding and baking.  Little did I know that these skills would help me later in life. 

6.  I love to travel with family and friends and I never thought that I would be relocated to a foreign land.  It's been 8 months since I came here and I miss my parents and family every day.

7.  I love to craft:  papercrafting, mod podge and crochet.  At present, my passion is to learn to make jewelry.

There are so many great blogs out there and my own list is getting longer everyday.  I would like to mention a few of them here.  These blogs, among many others, have influenced me and my blog life (in no particular order). 

(drumroll and marjorettes dancing please...)

The Blog Guidebook

Craftaholics Anonymous

Beadwright

Diva, Baby Bows and Then Some...

Planner Perfect

Lucy's Cards

Simply Crafty

Triz Designs

The Style Spy

Inspired By

Thank you all for your creative ideas, tutorials and amazing articles!  I am so glad to get to come across you in blogland.  All the best!

First Cake Pops [A&S Birthday]

A couple of weeks ago, I made a blog on Bakerella and her book Cake Pops.  She was so creative and ingenious to have come up with such a concept that has and is still sweeping the world of desserts.  There are many blog sites raving about cake pops so I thought of trying it out.
Most of the instructions call for a boxed cake:  I chose Duncan Hines Red Velvet and made Cream cheese frosting to bind it.  After the crumbling, mixing, rolling and chilling, it was time for the fun part... coating with chocolate!  I took chocolate molding lessons several years ago and I never thought I will be able to use it again.

Steps to making Cake Pops

It was my first time to use Wilton candy melts and it was relatively easy: it melted easily and the consistency was just right.  I used Wilton decorations as well.  Here it is:

My first Cake Pops Creation
Decors:  Wilton
Letters:  Cricut -  Basic George

Making cake pops is therapeutic and tedious, requiring lots of sterility, patience and creativity.  It is great making people smile and be happy. 

Overall, I guess one should skip drinking soda during a party and reserve the sugar high for 2 cake pops which would be enough to satisfy their craving.

Have fun!

. 

  

MyHub's Vday card [HA January 2011B]

It's Thursday Card Day here at Cabby Crafter's corner ☺. 
I had fun shopping today with my sis--law.  We went to a local craft store where I was able to buy my new HA Clear Stamp.  Yay!  As soon as I got home, I made a card for my hubby.  We recently celebrated our 2nd year wedding anniversary and this is an advanced V-day card - the card says it all about us... "You had me at 'Hello.'"
Likewise, it is an entry for HA ongoing contest for January 2011:  Inspired by the 2011 Catalog & Card Insides.  Technique:  Masking.  Why don't you check it out HERE join the fun!
Stamps:  HA CL483 TYPE, HA Alphabet set
Base card:  Cream cardstock
Mat:  chocolate brown, white, and DCWV pp, yellow pp
Inks:  Memento Rich cocoa, Versafine Onyx black, Colorbox pigment ink Scarlet, Ranger's Distress Ink Walnut Stain, Antique Linen
Adhesives:  Tombow mono adhesive, Dimensionals
Here is what I made:

HA V-Day Card

Ha V-Day Card Inside

Birthday cupcake [HA January 2011A]

Yay! I was able to make a card for Hero Arts in time for todays deadline. Whew! This months theme is: Inspired by the 2011 Catalog and Card Insides.
The new catalog is full of beautiful designs, from background stamps, floral themes, sentiments, quirky themes, etc - check it out HERE. 
Here are the HA stamps that I used:  CL158 sprinkles and LP133 Ink n' stamp: Sweets
Materials:
Paper:  brown card base; yellow designer paper, metallic brown paper
Ink:  Versamark, Ranger's bundled sage distress ink, Memento Rich cocoa
Embossing powder:  Judikins black
Color:  Derwent watercolor pencils
Punch:  Martha Stewart bubble punch
Glossy accents (applied to the 'cake' of the cupcake)
Adhesive:  Tombow monoadhesive, dimensional adhesive

HA January 2011A

Goodbye... Hello! [2010 - 2011 New Year's Eve]

Hello friends!  What can you say about the year 2010?  It was a pretty awesome and creative year for me.  I was able to explore the little crafty side of me ☺.

Thanks to all you creative people, I was inspired to write and start this blog in June -  I'm thankful for my 2 wonderful followers.  It felt good to share my projects with you and at the same time learn from all of you too.  You have inspired me to be more creative and resourceful.

Here's to the year 2011!  Looking forward to new things to do:  more crafts to make, more blogs to make; many blogs to read to meet my needs.  Time to go to the store and explore more.

Have a blessed new year, my friend!  May the good Lord pour out His abundant blessing and grace upon you and our family. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! ♥☺♥

Christmas for Denami [DeNami Sketch challenge #5]

Where did the time go?  I guess most of us have been thinking of the same question nowadays.  Would you believe that it's the last day of November already?  Soon, we will be very busy for Christmas.  Have you prepared all your christmas cards?  Here's one Christmas card that I would like to share, as an entry to the DeNami sketch Challenge #05 by Ayana.  I love the detail of the design at the bottom so I thought I'd give it a try.

I used the very cute and adorable Christmas Tweetings stamp from DeNami - I stamped the image using Versafine ink in black onyx and colored them with Tombo ABT markers.  I embossed their hats and sock using versamark and white embossing powder to add dimension.   I added blue sparklets using sakura glue pen.  I added color on the background to highlight the "tweets."

I matted the image on a Christmas PP; added scalloped edges with the vine background stamp, a yellow paper quilled flower and accents at the bottom.  I placed the matted PP on a dark green card base.  Tadaaaaa!

Thanks for looking and have a Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2010 [Handmade Cards]

We don't have an official "Thanskgiving Day" in Manila so this would be my first one in the US.  I have always wondered why Americans, in particular, look forward to celebrating it.  What is it all about? 

I found a very interesting Thanksgiving website that you might want to check out.  Here are some portions of their article.

'"Thanksgiving is America's preeminent day. It is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday in the month of November. It has a very interesting history. Its origin can be traced back to the 16th century when the first thanksgiving dinner is said to have taken place.

Journey of the Pilgrims
The legendary pilgrims, crossed the Atlantic in the year 1620 in Mayflower-A 17th Century sailing vessel. About 102 people traveled for nearly two months with extreme difficulty. This was so because they were kept in the cargo space of the sailing vessel. No one was allowed to go on the deck due to terrible storms. The pilgrims comforted themselves by singing Psalms- a sacred song.

Arrival in Plymouth
The pilgrims reached Plymouth rock on December 11th 1620, after a sea journey of 66 days. Though the original destination was somewhere in the northern part of Virginia, they could not reach the place owing to winds blowing them off course. Nearly46 pilgrims died due to extreme cold in winter. However, in the spring of 1621, Squanto, a native Indian taught the pilgrims to survive by growing food.

Day of Fasting and Prayer
In the summer of 1621, owing to severe drought, pilgrims called for a day of fasting and prayer to please God and ask for a bountiful harvest in the coming season. God answered their prayers and it rained at the end of the day. It saved the corn crops.

First Thanksgiving Feast
It is said that Pilgrims learnt to grow corn, beans and pumpkins from the Indians, which helped all of them survive . In the autumn of 1621, they held a grand celebration where 90 people were invited including Indians. The grand feast was organized to thank god for his favors. This communal dinner is popularly known as “The first thanksgiving feast”. There is however, no evidence to prove if the dinner actually took place.

While some historians believe pilgrims were quite religious so, their thanksgiving would've included a day of fasting and praying, others say that the Thanksgiving dinner did take place.

Turkey and First Thanksgiving Feast
There is no evidence to prove if the customary turkey was a part of the initial feast. According to the first hand account written by the leader of the colony, the food included, ducks, geese, venison, fish, berries etc.

Pumpkin and Thanksgiving Feast
Pumpkin pie, a modern staple adorning every dinner table, is unlikely to have been a part of the first thanksgiving feast. Pilgrims however, did have boiled pumpkin. Diminishing supply of flour led to the absence of any kind of bread.

The feast continued for three days and was eaten outside due to lack of space. It was not repeated till 1623, which again witnessed a severe drought. Governor Bradford proclaimed another day of thanksgiving in the year 1676. October of 1777 witnessed a time when all the 13 colonies joined in a communal celebration. It also marked the victory over the British.

After a number of events and changes, President Lincoln proclaimed last Thursday in November of thanksgiving in the year 1863. This was due to the continuous efforts of Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor. She wrote a number of articles for the cause."

Each one of us have our own reasons to give thanks for:  family and friends good health, provision, work, blessings, etc.  Everyday is a day to thank God for all His blessings and this special holiday makes it even better.  I made and mailed my first thanksgiving day cards today.  I had fun creating these cards. 

I used HeroArts rubber stamps (F3585, F3586, F3587, F3590), HA clear pumpkin stamp, falling leaves and sentiment.  My SIL had a nice rubber stamp block with sunflowers and a table spread of fruits - i colored them with Derwent watercolor pencils and burnished it to give texture and definition. 

I love all of them and hope that it brings the reader a warm smile as well.  The inside of the card reads: 

"For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations." - Psalm 100:5

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!