[Tutorial] DIY Happy Birthday Banner

Wow, today is April Fools Day and it marks the start of my birth month.  Yipee!  Oh yeah...  

Happy Birthday to Me!

DIY Birthday Banner

This is a handmade banner that I recently made for a friend while watching "Castle."  Yes, I usually make crafts while listening to music, watching a tv series or a movie.  Don't you?  Tell me about it.  

So, let's start!  Here are the materials and tools that you will need:

Cardstock - I used 2 shades of Teal and Kraft cardstock, 3 pcs

Glue, Tape

Twine

Tools:

Cricut machine and a font (Cricut Base Camp) cartridge

Martha Stewart scoring board

Martha Stewart centering ruler

Fiskars rotary cutter

Steps:

1.  Determine the size of the letters that you want for your banner - I used 4 inches in this particular project.  You may print the letters manually or use a cricut or a similar machine - I used cricuts' Base Camp font here. 

 2.  Prepare the banner by cutting cardstock into 3.5 x 8 inches.

3.  Adhere the letter, making sure it is centered.

 

4.  I measured 1.5 inches from the bottom of the banner, got the center and cut one corner to the center, creating an inverted "V" shape.  You may adjust the height according to your preference, that is, depending on how long you want the tail to be.  I love using my MS centering ruler because it makes it so much easier,

 5.   To make the top flat for the string, measure 0.5 inches.  Score and fold.

6.  Fold the top flap and secure it with an adhesive or tape.  I used hemp cord because the party theme for this project was kinda rustic.

That's all, folks!  It didn't take long to make and wasn't costly at all.  Come back soon to see how we made used of this.  Enjoy!

Happy crafting!

♥ michelle

[Tea Party] Polymer Clay Floral Heart Pendant and Caramel Cupcakes

One Sunday, one of my little friends invited me to her 

Afternoon Tea Party to celebrate her birthday.  

She said "I'm gonna have a tea party and I'm inviting 8 of my friends.. and I'm gonna invite you!"  Awwww... I was happy that she did and I went all out in preparing for it.  LOL. 

Oh, it was fun to be around little friends who have very high-energy.  It was fun hearing their giggles and see their wacky ways. 

She has a beautiful and unique name so I made her a personalized floral heart pendant inspired by RockyBeads.  She is into the color "pink" these days so I made a pink ombre pendant that had her name on the back.

Polymer Clay Floral heart necklace and Caramel Cupcakes
♥  Doesn't the butler on the background look so handsome?  ♥

A "modern" tea party is not complete without cake so I made these caramel cupcakes with pink (naturally) flowers.  The cupcakes were soft and light with the right amount of sweetness.

Happy birthday, my dear little friend!  

I pray that you would grow to be a woman that is 

loved and blessed by God.

Have a wonderful day!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Baking] Star Wars Cake and Polymer Clay Personalized Topper

We celebrated a dear friends 16th birthday and it was inspired by Star Wars.  I made the green cake which is "Pandan cake."  The cake is made using the extract of Pandan leaves.  It is very common in Asian cuisine, mostly used in desserts.  It is very aromatic and makes desserts tasty.  However, I think it is an acquired taste because I know some Asians are not too fond of it.  I called it "Yoda Pandan Cake."

"Youda Pandan Cake" and "Red Velvet Star Wars Cake"

The personalized cake topper is made from polymer clay.  It incorporates some of our birthday celebrants' things:  longboard, violin, red chucks and her red backpack.  It was my first time to make such and it was challenging.

The blue Star Wars cake was made by Jane&Jill cakes.  The cake was red velvet - delicious!  I added the topper which was pretty cool too because the light saber lit up!

I helped out with the table decorations as well.  I printed out the images from MeckMom and added them to chocolate and white chocolate peanut butter Reese's mini cups.

I love helping out in themed parties.  It's fun brainstorming and making the most of available resources.

Cheers!

♥  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  ♥

It's ParTea Time! [Afternoon Tea Party ala Pinoy Style]

Hello friends!  I have been on a hiatus for the past couple of weeks but I got a lot to share with you

for the next coming days. 

My trip to the Philippines was great!  It's always nice to come home and spend time with family and friends. 

We had a couple of celebrations that stuffed meewith so much food and memories to last a lifetime.

To celebrate the birthdays of my mom and sis, we had an intimate Afternoon Tea Party.

We all love color - bold and bright so with our crafty hands, we made pompoms out of bright colored tissue and Japanese paper (yes, there is such a thing) and hung it on the branches of our avocado tree.

The setting was almost perfect but we had to move the party indoors as it started to rain that afternoon. 

Showers of blessing, so to speak. 

We ordered the merienda (afternoon snack) from Conti's  

It is custom for us to serve a  long noodle dish (such as pancit) during birthdays and special occasions as it connotes long life and when there is pancit, there is lumpia or fried spring rolls.  

There was also beef tapa (beef strips) and mini sandwiches. 

I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and decorated them with Wilton gumpaste flowers.  I placed them on Marth Stewarts cupcake holder and topped it with a boquet of fresh astromeria flowers.

It was a rainy summer day, just right to sip hot tea. 

We had English breakfast tea, Jasmine, Green tea, and an assortment of other teas that we brewed in these cute teapots.



Their birthday cake is from Estrel's bakeshop.  It was a caramel cake with butter icing and flowers. 

I love their cake for it's dainty look, fluffy cake and just-the-right sweetness caramel. 

I added the birthday greeting using Cricut's Beyond Birthdays font.

The guests were asked to wear their Sunday best dress and it was a delight to see them so beautiful. 

My sister hosted the games that included the "Teapot Song" of course and Tea trivia. 

A week later, we had another celebration at Kangaroo Jack restaurant.  Aha, more eating!  This time, we had lechon (roasted pig) that was flown in from the province (Cagayan de Oro).  Cholesterol, baby!

Oh, what a wonderful time it was!

Now that I'm back to my other home with dear husband, I have but memories and photos to remind me of it.

I am so looking forward to my next homecoming.

Blessings to you, my friend!

♥ Michelle ♥

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!

Cake Pops & Paper Straws [Bakerella]

Happy Monday! 
What can you say about this photo?  Are real cupcakes or what?  Look delicous, huh?

Photo from Bakerella

Two weeks ago, I came across Bakerella - more about them HERE.  Angie Dudley is a genius for coming up with the now very popular 'cake pops!'  I spent several hours browsing through her website, watching her on The Martha Stewart show , looking at all the cute photos and recipes.  Aren't the paper straws lovely?  Bakerella has an ongoing contest - click HERE if you want to join.
Her website encouraged me so much that I decided to buy my own "Cake Pops" book.  


My Own CAKE POPS book

It was the last copy at the store where I bought it.  Yay!  All the photos and ideas were great!    So what are cake pops?  They are "tiny candy-covered confections made of crumbled cake mixed with frosting that you can mold into different shapes and decorate for any occasion.  They are super-sweet, extremely moist and completely covered in candy coating."  There is no limit to the designs that one can create with it.
I am pretty excited to make a design for our upcoming reunion and birthday celebrations in April.
Your dessert table would surely impress your guests with your personally created treats.  Happy creating!

Party Ideas [Sweet Designs]

Party planning is a booming thing nowadays.  There are many beautiful party blogs out there such as THIS.  I recently saw the The Today's Show's feature on Amy Atlas and I just love her ideas!  She had a nice feature in her Sweet designs blog today that made me want to have a baby or a toddler at that.  Amy featured Stephanie of Spaceships and Laser Beams - check out their Etsy shop. 


Dessert table



I especially love these snowflake rice pudding containers.  Isn't that adorable?!

Snoflake pudding containers

Ohhhh... I love parties and I can't wait to make something as creative as these wonderful and uber talented ladies.