Halloween Costume DIY

I've never experienced halloween when I was a kid. But now, it's like everyone is celebrating it, even the small barangays. It's another opportunity for kids to dress up in costumes and who doesn't think dressing up is fun? 

I go online and in the mall to search for the best costume for my son, and to be honest the prices aren't cheap. I found the pikachu costume that I wanted but my husband pointed out that if Leon doen't like it, I'd be wasting P1,500 and I think he's right. My search is not over though, everyone will be in costumes and I'd like my son to be wearing one too.

The gods must have heard my search which led me to a Toys 'R Us pop-up shop in Shangri-La Plaza (beside Kidzoona). They were selling old costumes of okd popular characters like Teletubbies and Sesame Street. I was browing the display and found the yellow teletubbies costume, Tinky Winky. I suddenly have an idea to just rework the costume into a Pikachu! 

Tinky Winky's costume for only P150!

Remember the teletubbies? 

Removed the silver square in the middle portion.

Sewed the details, which was 4 brown patches on the sides and the tail.

And with a Pikachu hat, I think we nailed it! Everyone loved the costume and was following my son around the mall yesterday. But he was running around and enjoying the treats . He was a bit oblivious of him wearing a popular character. I am just happy he enjoyed the party.

Another photo of him, enjoying the carpet in one of the shops. 

After going around though, he wanted to remove his costume to enjoy his treats. Happy Halloween everyone!

Happy 2nd birthday, Leon!

I have conquered my fear of heat and fire and can now whip up a dish or two. I am probably living my childhood dream, I sleep in a bed filled with stickers and toy blocks and little cars. I buy a toy everytime I go to a toy store and have a reason to buy those kinder eggs that I see on tv. I blow bubbles almost everyday and has discovered the joy of swim balls and slides. I have welcomed in my life Mickey Mouse and the Sesame Street gang again. The song that keeps running in my head is The Wheels on the Bus, this is our jam. My arms hurt most of the time, but my spirits are always on high. I am excited to explore and discover things with you. I love that I can see things with your eyes, as if I also see things again for the first time. I feel stronger and so much happier. And everyday I thank the universe for sending you to me and your tatay. I love you, Leon. Go and see the world, anak. 

Mini Scrapbooks

I am guilty of over spending this year on craft supplies. It was like Pandora's box when I discovered Project Life, May of this year and it has rekindled my love for papers, stickers and other things. 

But being a mother now means my priorities have also changed, and to save up on my excess spending, I have decided to make DIY Christmas gifts. I want to make a mini scrapbook set for my closest friends and here's a tutorial that you might me able to use also 😊

I used a 12x12 scrapbook paper stock.

Then I cut it into 3 strips, with the size of 4x12 inches.

Then I used a peg board to put a folding mark on the sheets.

It looks like this when you fold the sheets. Just arrange the pages in alternate to give the inside page a variation.

Then you staple the sheets. I got this long stapler from National Bookstore long before because I had a dream of creating my own zine.

Just embellish the front and you can also personalize with stickers and ephemeras.

Here are samples of my other creations :)

Project Life

I discovered Project Life this May, hen we were organizing a craft fair for the mall where I work. I just googled the word "PL" and it was love at first sight. Since the kits are not available in malls I mustered enough courage to message one of my PL inspirations, ocdscrapper in instagram. She kindly told me where to get the materials locally. 

My search for the materials is on, and because I am a nanay, my budget didn't permit me to splurge on buying these new scrapbook materials. The albums and page protectors aren't cheap, and let's not even start with the journal cards. So I started small, I didn't buy the album yet which was already more than one thousand pesos. I just bought the page protectors, bought some paper at National bookstore and the single paper cards at Bee Happy Crafts and I started working. 

I was already making pages for my son's album (about 6 already) when the opportunity came for me and to buy online bacause we had a friend who was coming home from the States. Now, I already have my album (the cheapest one I can buy online) which holds all my creations and my son's photos. I have been hooked because working on the pages also takes me back to happy moments with my family and friends.

My first PL kit. Bought the wrong journal cards, the theme was zoo and have not used it yet. I have to print our visit to the zoo photos soon! 

My first DIY journal card which I placed at the beginning of my set.

My Bee Happy Craft haul. Cutting these was a challenge but it was fun. And such pretty papers.

Another DIY journal card for my mag ama.

Sharing some of my pages :)

I will shar ewith you useful links on my next post. Follow me on instagram: @nanaydiy

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Craft Project: Personalize my planner

These past few weeks, I have discovered a lot of things. How planners have evolved and a surge of crafters around the world are doing it. Also, snail mail is back and penpals but in a more creative way and it makes me more excited to be a "newbie" in this community. 

And my blog is about these discoveries, learning, creativity, trials and errors of my diy projects and friends who visit my blog, I'm sure share the same passion.

But my recent discovery of beautiful planners and nice embelishments came with a price, so I decided to try and make myself a decent one. I went to National bookstore and found me a green planner (i told myself if my plan doesn't work at least I like the color) for P270 (about $5.50) used up my points so I only paid P70 for my new planner. 

These were my fabric options for the project but chose the one on the right because it's less likely to look dirty that the lighter colored fabric.

My weapon of choice is this Modge podge for fabric. This is also my first time to use this kind of glue so I didn't know what to expect.

Just spread the glue evenly. You have to do it in parts so the glue won't stick on different surfaces.

I started on the cover.

After the cover has dried, I started with riing on the inside which was challenging because of the pockets.

I just used a regular cutter and scissors to cut those pockets.

And I finally covered everything! It took me two days to dry the whole planner, because I also glazed the cover and inside pages with Modge podge.

And now I'm excited to place the personalized inside pages that I also worked on.

Missing Pieces

I have been moving things for the past couple of years. From my parents house, to my own studio, to an apartment with my son and my partner. In the process of these transfers I learned how to let go of objects that mean something ro me, because it is inevitable. It was after Ondoy (a strong typhoon that struck Manila), where I lost a lot of my treasures (books, photos and trinkets from way back), I have learned to un-attach myself these things, to slowly let go. 

I am currently working on some pieces for an art exhibit and started looking for objects that I know I have can't seem to find in our studio. So I went to my parents house to check my stuff that has already been boxed, no, I didn't find what I was looking for but I found these objects that somehow made me happy.

Brush pens that I only used for maybe three times. I am so happy to find these because I'm planning attend a caligraphy workshop next week :D this is a sign!

My graffitti mask. No, I don't do graf but I use this whenever I spray paint on my artworks. I got them from carrotbombing.com which is owned by my friend Trip.

These miniature toys that I got in Japan. These will be for my little boy when he's old enough to play with tiny toys.

Paints are always a happy find.

This craft book that I got for only P20.00 at National Bookstore.

And these stamps! ❤️

By the way, I had a solo exhibition last year about these "missing pieces" and you can check the works here: http://mimitecson.com/Missing-Pieces

Paper Roses

My friend G is getting married soon and I'm helping her make some of the decorations. 

This is the first one I'm working on. I'm so excited for her. Weddings are always fun and so full of love.