Take-a-Break Keychains!

My princess was very happy about the penguin and koala bear which I made for her as her birthday presents and she brought them to school to show her friends and teachers. Her teacher asked if I can make a panda for her (Princess's class is divided into panda and bear group, and she is in panda group) and she'll pay me. I told princess that I'll make a panda and a bear for the teacher in-charge of the other group, and the teachers do not need to pay me. They'll be a small token of our appreciation for their patience and kindness in teaching our children.

A few days later, both panda and bear were done. But before I could take a picture of them, princess was so excited to give to her teachers, she brought them to school immediately on the next day... So there's no pictures for me to post here... I'll make more to be put for sale and will post pictures when they're done.

So princess's teachers were both really happy and wrote small notes to thank me and I was glad that they like my crafts. Then my eldest prince - Prince J, wanted me to make something for his teachers too! And he has 4 of them - 2 ladies and 2 gentlemen!
So I suggested to make them the "Take-a-Break" keychains. And here they are:

For the lady teachers: A chocolate cake and a strawberry cake with chocolate ganache!



And for the male teachers: A donut and cinnamon bun and Swedish punchroll.



And they're all served with a nice cup of coffee, hmmmm....

I hope Prince J's teachers will enjoy their keychains!

Baby's Booties

After confirmation that the gifts have arrived, I can finally post this! I was surfing around for a nice pattern for baby's booties to make for my best friend's "soon-to-arrive" baby boy and finally found it at Mamachee! Her Buccaneer booties in different colors were just so cute!

Looking at the pattern, I found out that I need a larger size crochet needle and new yarns to make these cuties. So without any hesitation, I went online and shop! Found the needle I need, bought some new yarns and, oh well, might as well throw in another new needle! *satisfied grin*

Finally my order arrived and I was very eager to start on this project. But I realised that the yarn I bought was too thin for the gauge! Well then, I'll just have to increase the stitch counts myself and try to increase them at the right places too! The first bootie I made was ugly and nothing like those cuties Tara (the creative mind of mamachee) made... I threw that away and gave it another go. The second one turned out slightly better but I didn't like the "line" which formed when I joined the rounds. (I still need to improve on my crocheting skills, there is nothing wrong with Tara's pattern, problem lies with me...) So I put that aside and did a third version but this time, instead of joining the rounds, I continued crocheting, amigurumi-style and I like the result better.



So finally the booties were done and I was looking around for small and pretty wooden buttons to go with them, to give them a zakka-look. After searching around for about 1 week, I gave up. I was planning to use just plain brown buttons on them when I discovered these wonderful "almost vintage" looking buttons lying in the bottom of my sewing supplies.




I bought these buttons when we were back in Singapore on holiday about 2 years ago. At that time, I was confident that I can make my princess a pretty skirt and these buttons would be the perfect embellishment. However, as it turns out, my sewing skill is still limited to just patching up torn jeans and sewing buttons...

The result is not perfect like Tara's (but hey, she's the professional, I'm not!), but I think they still look quite sweet.
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I've also made 2 mobile phone pouches and a teddy keychain to be sent together with these booties.


I hope D will look behind my less-than-perfect craftsmanship and see the thoughts behind!

Julie Cuffs

My princess came home sometime last week and showed me a necklace which her best friend had given to her. It's one half of a heart which says "Best Friends". That was really nice of her! Princess asked if I can make something for both of them, so after looking through my list of projects which I would like to try, princess and I chose this Julie Cuff.




This is a quick and really easy project to do. I did both cuffs within 2 hours (and taking some time off now and then to fiddle around with Mr. Mighty 2 and my 5-month old baby) and the girls like them. Happy kids, yeah!

My New Mobile Phone Pouch

I made myself a mobile phone pouch earlier for my "Hero" to help her stay clean and white!

I've also crocheted a small flower to be attached to the flap. Don't you think it's sweet?


I've put in lining to make it look tidier inside. I think putting in quilt padding will be great but too bad I don't have any on hand. I have also added a small ring at the side so I can clip on a lanyard or keys or even small accessories, well, whatever I want really! I should probably iron it though, to get a better-looking shape but it is late and I'm tired, so it's good enough!


My "Hero" is safe at home now! *wink*