Sacs A Tout

A few weeks ago, I saw a blog post on Non-Dairy Milk showing her 'les sacs a tout' and this got me really inspired to make one for my twins. It so happen I was reading on 'Creative Family' about creating some 'sleeping bags' which the kids can put pajamas in along with books and whatever they want to take to bed with them. So I merged these 2 concepts together and this is what came out of it.


I had loads of fabric that I bought almost 4 years ago and never managed to get anything made out of them. Okay, the background story is, when we moved to Shanghai about 9 years ago, I couldn't find clothes that fits because most Shanghainese women are very small and thin. Hence I discovered how cheap it was to just buy the fabric at the market and getting a tailor to do it. Of course there were the good and bad experiences in between. So when I had my twins, I've stopped buying fabrics and getting clothes made. Recently I decided to dig up these and found a lot of 'treasures' I had already forgotten I had. Years ago when I purchased fabrics, most of them were 'girly' ones and none suitable for a boy so had to buy the blue aquatic one for a mere US$1.00 per metre.

Last weekend, I started with my bag (the brown one) to try out the pattern and instructions (which was only in French) from Guirlande. Made mistakes along the way but overall, was happy with it and it is quite roomy and big enough to put my knitting/crochet projects in.

Then during the weekend when I finished my bag, I started cutting up the pieces for my kids' bags. They were eagerly anticipating their 'sleeping bags' and kept coming into my new craft room to check on the progress! Last night I decided to stay up until 3am to finish both bags. I was inspired to finish these and trying out different ways of making it.

The kids were very happy to wake up this morning and seeing their finished bags on the coffee table. Audrey filled hers with a couple books and her current favourite teddy. Samuel immediately emptied some mini figurines of Disney characters into his bag along with a couple of his current favourite books.



The one major thing I changed was the handles as well as adding some extra stitching on the edge of the bag esp near the handles for durability. If I were to make this again, I will still use cotton canvas fabric and not soft ones like linen and they don't hold their shapes well.

Anyways, so happy with how they turned out and I might make some more for some kids we know for Christmas. Never too early to start. This is a good way to use up my stash of fabrics.

Cardboard Box Projects Completed

Finally, after a few weeks of delay and interruptions, I have managed to finish my kids cardboard toys.

Added finished touches to Samuel's spaceship. Yogurt and milk caps were used as knobs and buttons. Soda can ring was used as fuel gauge indicator. Added old Hard Rock Cafe keyrings as his keys (he loves music and guitars). Used old discs as headlights. Adding the straps was the trickiest part. To be honest, I did this project without a lot of plan except that I envisioned how I can cut the cardboard box and make the shape. A lot of details were just sudden inspirations and found items around the apartment.

Now, he's asked me to make a space helmet to match his spaceship... hhhmmmm


The other project we started was also finally finished. Audrey's dolly house is all done except Samuel decided it was a great 'garage' for his Mac truck and other cars.
Mod podged the 'ground area' with print outs of green patterns. For the roof, decided at the last minute to make 'shingles' rather than mod podge it with the pattern I printed out weeks ago. Got my new Creative Memories circular cutter to good use. The kids also helped cut up the 'shingles'. Just used double-sided tape to attach the discs one over the other starting from the bottom area.

The tricky part was cutting thru the mod podged walls. Simon had already cut windows and doors before I covered the walls with paper printed with wood pattern. So I had to make sure that I cut thru the same area. Unfortunately some of the mod podge did not seal the paper and cardboard together so had to improvide and used kraft tape around the edges.

Audrey loves the little wooden beads I used as knobs on the doors and windows.

Overall, I am still feeling quite proud to have finally finished these 2 projects and that the kids are still playing with their toys.

Documenting and Decluttering

The past few weekends, I've taken a more 'aggressive' stand with trying to declutter our apartment. So far, it has left me with a big sense of pride and accomplishment esp. with managing to have rather productive weekends.

A couple weekends ago, I decided to let go with a heavy heart my kids' art from the workshops they've been taking for a year now since last summer and on Sundays after that. Took photos of all their art and the kids decided to 'help' out and play with their stuff before they head into the bin. It was great fun for them as I think seeing these art stuff they made sort of brought back memories.

They asked to keep some of them and I went soft and decided to let them choose 2 pcs of art and let hang on to these for a bit longer.

Hopefully I remember which art was whose so I can label the pictures I took properly.

Still working on scanning other doodles and significant milestone drawings they've done. Still undecided whether I should go all out and chuck all these away after I scan them or keep a couple...

I will definitely make an album of these to show them later on. I wish my parents have kept some of my artwork... oh well...

Upcycled Magazines = 'New' Book

After I've torn out the pictures I needed for the matching card, I also tore out the story and comic pages. We've inserted the pages into a a clear file folder which is the perfect solution esp. for those pages with stories continuing to the back side.

Managed to fill 2 clear file folders and now have 2 'new books'.

Summer Sandals

One of my favourite thing about summer is wearing shorts, Tees, and sandals. Kids feet seem to constantly change so had to buy a new pair of sandals for kids. And our biggest cheap find for the summer are these Birkenstock look-alike sandals for kids which are Japanese brand for only U$7.50!

These are so cool as they have the same comfy footbed and cork cushiony soles as real Birks. The kids also love their new sandals to which they can easily put on and off because the back strap uses velcro closure rather than buckles. The strap on top is made of cotton madras and lined underneath with synthetic leather.

I've had my Milano Birks since 1993 so naturally I wanted my kids to also have the same comfortable sandals I love. Except I cannot afford to shell out US$50 for a pair of kids' version which they will outgrow after this summer.

I've learned a lesson about buying kids shoes when a couple years ago we got them some Camper shoes (see above) that were on sale during one of our trips to Hong Kong. They were still pricey but hey, they were comfortable as I've also been wearing them for years. Unfortunately they didn't even get to wear these for long before we have to give them away. A bit heart-wrenching as it was a bit like throwing away money. So now, we're all happy with my cheaper alternatives.

The Barbie Shop Experience

After several delays, The Barbie Shop finally opened a couple months ago. Both my husband and I are not big fans of Barbie but my daughter, Audrey, has seen other kids around our neighbourhood whose had a few Barbies. So of course, she's been asking for one. After a few months of deliberation, I gave in and finally gave her one as she has accomplished a couple big goals I've laid down for her. So it was her reward.

Anyways, when we heard that a new Barbie Shop will open in Shanghai, my husband and I groaned at the thought of a whole building dedicated to Barbie. We just thought it would be rather tacky to say the least and all too girly.

So today, on our way home after spending hours walking around Shanghai, we decided to stop by the much-talked about Barbie Shop. And both my husband and I were rather impressed at what they've done in terms of decor and the atmosphere. There are a total of 6 floors! The top one is our favourite, The Barbie Cafe. Interestingly the decor was more chic than girly. They served gelato and lots of fresh shakes and cupcakes. We treated ourselves a bit to see if it was as good as it looked. Not disappointed at all. Coffee was nice.

There were a lot of interesting bits in the few floors below and a couple that we liked were the big stairwell mural housing rows and rows of Barbies wearing different costumes and all in the same shade of hot pink as on the brochure.

The other one was the wall that had a few of the bowl-shaped polished metal which had some amusing reflections. The kids just totally loved this. We couldn't pry them off these 'mirror bowls', as you can see from the photo.

All-in-all it was rather interesting and we might visit it again when it's not packed...

Upcycled Magazines = Matching Cards

So happy that my kids are happy with the matching cards from upcycled magazines. We've brought these with us to restaurants to fill in the time that it takes for our food to get to our table. And we've had a lot of fun with these.

Making these cards have been rather gratifying and now I want to do more crafts for and with my kids! :-)