this year, we decided to actually have a christmas tree. last year we were in the middle of closing on our house (celebrating 1 year as homeowners on the 19th!) and getting a tree just didn’t make sense.  we’d have only seen it in the new house for 4 days before we traveled to be with family for the holidays, so we decided that we’d forgo until this year!

after shopping around a bit, we settled on a “just cut fraiser fir” artificial, pre-lit christmas tree! originally we were planning on purchasing the 7 foot-ish version, but when we finally decided to go for the purchase, they were sold out of that size!!! we have very high (11 feet) ceilings in our “great room”/living room area, so we decided to get the 9 foot version.  not exactly the cheapest purchase this season, but since it’s re-usable, we’ll save money in future years.

it went together pretty well and quite easily.  here are some shots.

before decorating (naked):

all done up with bulbs, animals, a shower loofie (hey, we were despirate!) and more!

the only bad thing about the tree we chose are these ugly tags that tell you which section to put on first.  they’re very helpful for assembly, but just plain ugly when you’re decorating.  there’s an “A”, “B”, and “C” tag, each just a bit of paper and string tied onto one of the branches.  if you look closely at that first picture, you can almost see the white ugliness about halfway between where my hand is hugging the tree and the bottom of the tree.

they’re not exactly the ideal ornaments for a christmas tree.  we tried our hardest to cover them up. in this picture you can see how we used a christmas card from our friends to block the view (for the most part):

with this being our first married christmas, we didn’t expect the tree to be perfect.  but c’mon! those tags are horrible!

so i came up with a plan.  i had some scraps of fabric leftover from one of my favorite projects ever: flannel pajama pants!  it was a white background with little rolling duck toys and the letters “A”, “B”, and “C” scattered all over it in a soft blue.  pair that fabric with some wonderful star prints and some December themed flannel (all leftovers from previous projects) and viola! you’ve got some home-made christmas ornaments!

the extra pizazz of these ornaments (other than being home-made) is the fact that i was able to put a little emphasis on the various letters of the alphabet on that first fabric swatch to denote which section of tree was which.  then we permanently attached them to the tree by twisting some wire around the fake branches and here’s the result for layer “B”:

they’re cube-shaped with 3 different prints, each on opposing faces of the cube.  you can just barely see the beige and gold stars to the lower left and upper right of the “B” side, with the blue stars on blue backdrop to the lower right.  i like them; they’re soft, but cute; simple, but practical; and of course, pretty!

what do you think?

one of the only major changes we’ve made to our house since moving in is inching closer to completion: the renovation of the stand-up shower in the master bathroom.

this past summer, we found out that our shower had a leak!  luckily, we got a house warranty when we bought it in Dec ‘08.  we called up the warranty company and said we’ll send someone out, but you have to pay for the house call.  we debated, and finally said sure.  when the plumber (who was also an HVAC guy, odd combo) came in, he checked everything and said our fiberglass shower pan had a crack and that was the source of the leak.  of course, the warranty that came with our mortgage did NOT cover shower pans.  imagine the joyful looks on our faces when we found that out: wahoo.

we debated what to do about it, continued to use the shower even after we knew the problem (probably not the best idea!).  and finally decided to rip it out.  we weren’t huge fans of the completely plain, boring, no pizzaz shower that was in there.  and being game for a challenge, we decided to take a whack at demo (pun intended) and reno ourselves.

we (and here i mean my husband) did a lot of research on how best to reno a shower, what types of shower pans are available, methods of installation of various shower pans and tile, and options that could work best for us.

eventually he found Schluter-Kerdi, well known for their bright orange waterproof membrane used by many contractors (i see it all over on HGTV and TLC bathroom reno shows).  they offer a complete shower kit that comes with a pan, a threshold, enough membrane to seal the entire shower, and a drain that comes in various finishes to match your shower hardware!  it’s not cheap, but when comparing it to other options, it was DEFINITELY the way to go for us.

so we ordered the kit! good thing too, because we had already started demo.  the walls ended up being easier to demo by removing the entire sheet of green board with the tiles still attached to it.  the pan broke further upon removal.  we took care to keep the shower door in decent shape though, since we plan to re-use that.  when we were looking at pricing alternatives for that, we decided we’d rather put in the elbow grease to clean the one we’ve got than spend unnecessary funds to buy a new one.

when the kit arrived, we finally started the rebuild.  following the instructions that came with it, we first put up new green board/cement board on the walls.  we also sized the floor and threshold rigid styrofoam pieces that came in the schluter-kerdi kit.

after finding tiles, changing our mind, finding more possibilities, and then finally nailing down the selections for the floor and wall, we started laying them.

originally we were thinking of something like this picture, with the tiles on the right for the floor, the middle tile for the wall in a brick pattern, and an accent row about eye-level of the tile strip on the left. two of the three choices here were returned.  the middle tile for the walls we decided was too dark and made the walls look dirty.  and the accent tile was returned because it was just plain too expensive.

next we picked up these two tiles that have a slight variation in color.  the bottom one is beige, and the top one’s white.   we placed them next to the floor tile that we decided to keep.  too bad we compared them on this cheap green bathroom mat.  try to ignore that…

and instead of buying a whole separate tile style for the accent row, we decided to use the blue floor tiles as accents.  we felt that would make it more cohesive.  also, since the floor wasn’t perfectly squared off, we knew we’d have to cut some off of the 1′ by 1′ sections, so we decided to use those instead of just leaving them laying around.  this way there’s less waste!  and after looking at the beige and white tiles for a bit, we decided to use the white ones.

before we could put up ANY tiles, though, we had to continue reading the instructions for our schluter-kerdi kit.  next up: lining the walls and floor with the orange waterproofing membrane.

i’ll detail more progress in another post later today or tomorrow.  but what do you think of our progress so far?

earlier this week, my husband bought some zucchini to make a side dish for his salmon dinner.  he needed 1 small zucchini and the package came with 2 more.  what’d i do? what any rational Minnesotan would do: make zucchini bread!

i made a twist out of it though cuz i don’t have bread pans: i made zucchini bread muffins!   so far they smell amazing and look great.  i’m waiting for them to cool before i dig in.

after taking a sneak peak at one of my favorite recipe sites, allrecipes.com, i found that my mom’s recipe is almost exactly what the most popular recipe calls for!  it was interesting to read the comments too.  that site has helped me learn a lot about substitutions in cooking (applesauce is a common substitution for oil or similar) and healthier ways to eat the same great foods we all know and love!

and after taking a look at the family expenses for the past month (WAY too much spent on going out to eat!), we’re planning on making dinner at home as tasty and marvelous as it would be if we were paying at a restaurant. can’t wait to make the most of all that nice cookwear we received for our wedding earlier this year!

update: the muffins were a smash hit both at home and at work! even my father-in-law liked them and asked for the recipe! (i consider that high praise since he’s kind of a foodie.  he could be a gourmet chef if he enjoyed cooking for people he didn’t know!)

time for more creative ways to have a wonderful winter holiday!

(1) make your holiday decorating budget stretch further than santa’s waistband!

• instead of buying those big bows pre-made, buy the ribbon for a fraction of the cost of ONE bow, then make 3 or 4 of your own!

so turn this:                                                      into this:

• make your own ornaments!  all those little scraps of paper or fabric from your other crafting projects can make some quick and cute ornaments for your tree!  plus, it has the added bonus of reminding us of those who received the items we made out of the fabrics that are used.  now, those of you with kids probably dont’ have a bare branch for another ornament thanks to their crafting; but for those of us who are fresh out of college, on our own, or have a sparsely decorated tree: it’s easy!

just turn this:

into this:                        or this:

there are more ideas to come! along with pictures of some finished products!

on a recent trip to the mall, my husband, his parents, and i all were walking through Pottery Barn to get decorating ideas.  at that store it’s way easier [read "cheaper"] to use them as inspiration than it is to use them to actually furnish your house!

since it’s coming up on the holiday season, there were many cosy corners and warm wood tones mixed in with the beautiful hurricane glass pieces and sparkly snowflake motifs.  one thing in particular seemed to draw in both myself and my husband’s mother: a warm and inviting throw blanket made of faux sheepshear and faux suede! for more details, here’s the Pottery Barn link.

well, rather than pay $100 for a blanket which would rarely be used [they reside in South Florida, no need for blankets there!], i suggested that i could make something similar for a fraction of the price and give it to my husband’s parents as a Christmas gift! after all, ’tis the season to give!

so today, i’m starting on my cuts to make my very first rag quilt.  from all the “how-to” websites i’ve been to, it seems like this will be a faster and easier way to finish a quilt compared to the classic quilting methodology.  here’s a quick picture of the fabrics and our cat Bentley, who thoroughly approves!

now, i’m not copying verbatum from the Pottery Barn shearling/suede blanket.  the plan is to use some creamy fleece to act as the sheepshear replacement with two tones of brown flannel to checkerboard the topside of the quilt instead of the far more expensive suede material.

hopefully the blanket turns out as awesome in person as it is in my head right now!  and hopefully i can post the big reveal of the final product soon!

more to come!

one of my recent handmade projects was inspired by the fabric that made it.

i had some scraps leftover from a quilt i recently made.  the quilt went to my favorite cousin in honor of her firstborn son, Gabe (first of the next generation on that side of the family!).  unfortunately, i didn’t take a picture of the quilt once it was all completed, but here’s a picture taken during development:

fortunately, the scraps of fabric that remained were so awesome, that the fabric was it’s own inspiration!  it was the creamy fabric i had scraps of, the one with the airplanes littered on it in the image above.  so, i made a stuffed airplane!

it was actually rather easy, especially with all the long and narrow strips which were the leftover scraps from the quilt.  i did a couple quick sketches on the wrong side of the fabric, then just started sewing!  i’m so happy with how it turned out!  i showed it to a few people at work, and may have a buyer for a couple more if i’m willing to make them!  wahoo!

the most awesome part: Gabe get’s a personalized, very unique stuffed toy which matches his personalized baby quilt!  hope he likes it!

so check it out and i hope you enjoy it as much as i do!

creating anything from an idea always generates some quirky situations too, as there were a couple things that i would definitely try to tweak on the next iteration.  still looks pretty awesome though, right?

SILVERSEA

Rising from a lush landscape of coastal greenery, Silversea is an architectural expression of the silvery horizon where sky meets sea. Accentuated by balconies that twist skyward, the towers make a bold statement in the form of a graceful sculptural wave. On the 11th floor of each residential tower, a sky promenade, designed to complement magnificent unobstructed sea views, stretches across to link 2 buildings.

- Located at Marine Parade Rd
- 99yrs leasehold
- TOP: estimated end of 2012
- Site area: 218,435 sqft
- Total unit: 383 units in 4 towers
- Unit available: 2bd (980 sqft), 3bd (1500 sqft), 3+1 (1700 sqft), 4bd (2500 sqft)
- Price starts from $1400 psf onwards

FACILITIES
. Alfresco dining pavilion with cooking facilities and outdoor lounge
. Poolside dining deck
. Leisure Pool with water deck
. Hot water Jacuzzi
. Lagoon Pool with beachfront edge
. Day Cabanas with Barbeque facilities
. Poolside Sun Deck
. Lap Pool with lap markings
. Hydro-jets seats
. Wading and Fun Pool
. Water Play area
. Game Pavilion with service/bar counter and table tennis table
. Children play area
. Tennis Pavilion with bar counter
. Outdoor Fitness area
. Tennis Court
. Wellness Pavilion with service counter, hot tub, message deck and rain shower
. Foot Reflexology path
. Tropical Coastal Garden
. Eco-pond with aquatic plants
. Dining Cabanas with Barbeque facilities
. Tea Cabana with service counter
. Lounge
. Gymnasium
. Steam room
. Indoor Dining with bar and kitchen

AMENITIES
. East Coast Parkway, highway that connects city and airport
. Nearest MRT Station: Aljunied MRT Station
. East Coast Park
. Marine Parade Town Centre
. Parkway Parade Shopping Centre
. Marine Parade Community Club
. Marine Parade Community Library
. Near CHIJ (Katong) Primary
. Near Ngee Ann Primary School
. Near Tao Nan School
. Near CHIJ Katong Convent
. Near St. Patrick’s School
. Near Chung Cheng High School (Main)
. Near Tanjong Katong Secondary School
. Near Tanjong Katong Girls’ School
. Near Victoria School
. Near Victoria Junior College

For viewing the showflat is by appointment ONLY!!!

Please do not hesitate to contact John @ 90277705 for appointments.