Category Archives: Things Around the Home

Sacred simplicity

What’s a chore you love to hate? If I could hire someone to organize our closet, I’d totally go for that. Putting freshly cleaned laundry back in the closet is a chore I don’t look forward to. The act of having to put them back into piles inside our closet brings out the best procrastinator in me. It’s not like I hate laundry. I just dislike our super messy closet.

However, there are times when turning chaos into calm is the way to go. Recently, I’ve been learning that fixing fresh laundry calms me down.

Maybe the mechanical coordination from laundry bag to closet cubicles and its repetitive movements puts me in robot mode, and later on, in zen mode. It’s as if nothing exists but me, the laundry, and the messy closet that begins to make sense when whites are with whites, shirts are with shirts, and there are no pressed jeans between fluffy towels, or mismatched socks stuffed in the underwear drawer.

Fixing laundry. It’s a chore I love to hate, but when I’m in the zone, I love it. The resistance is strong, but it’s actually one of the more peaceful activities I have at home. Husband and kid know not to bug me when I’m fixing the laundry otherwise a mountain of shirts and shorts will come a-tumbling when they open the closet door.

There’s a sacred simplicity in fixing the laundry. It’s through putting clean sheets back in the closet that I’m encouraged (ok, semi-forced) to fix the messy closet. Who doesn’t feel good when more floor space appears and when you discover the cute black shirt you thought had gotten lost in laundromat oblivion? (Voila, I found my missing top squashed under two bags of laundry).

It’s a weekly fight. Our closet gets messed up on a weekly basis, with Sunday night as the last, last night for me to get into the fix-it zone, otherwise we’d have to deal with an even messier closet for the new week. Then again, once I’m in the zen zone, I feel more peaceful, calm and sometimes, even ready to attack the messy bathroom (but that’s another story).

What chore do you love to hate? What chore do you actually enjoy? Do any of your household chores bring you a certain kind of calm? Share your stories!

Bringing emerald into your home

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How do you incorporate Pantone’s color of the year into your home? Through lots of gorgeous ways! Emerald is such a refined color. My grandmother once had a set of emerald green glass figures and they all looked so delicately exquisite. Makes me wonder where they are now; they sure would make a great addition to our home.

Emerald is such a polished color it can heighten the elegance quotient of any room. Here are some of my favorite finds online. C’mon Dorothy, let’s head down the yellow brick road and see how emerald can rock our homes.

Source: Uploaded by user via PANTONE COLOR on Pinterest

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Have Yourself a Bookish Little Christmas Tree

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Every Christmas we go for themed decorations at home. They’ve mostly centered around colors, and once we went Victorian. We wanted something different this year though without having to spend on new decorations. One thing our family enjoys doing (individually and together) is read. And so the theme “Bookish Christmas” was born! Here’s our Christmas tree decorated by our family of bibliophiles.

What’s so bookworm-y about it you ask? The crafts on this tree are made from recycled book pages. We house a lot of really old books, the type whose pages have foxing. What better way to give them a new life than to be the first generation of DIY family decorations?

These birds were the first decorations. They’re pretty easy to make! I’ll post instructions on how to do these bookish separately. Or you can head over to the blog that served as our inspiration: Under The Table and Dreaming. (Thank you Stephanie Lynn for these super friendly DIY instructions!)

We also have some pretty cranes nestled in the tree branches made by my other sister, the expert cranes maker.

The following flowers also created from book pages. Each family member has his/her initial up on the tree. We also put up flowers that have the initials of our relatives who are coming over for Noche Buena. They can take home their own personalized flowers after the party.

We had a bunch of extra book flowers, so my sister thought of putting pictures of our favorite reader. Here’s Timmy with a bunch of his reading pictures at the center of all the bookish flowers.

You can find instructions on how to make these paper star ornaments (or flowers as we call them) over at That’s My Letter. (Thank you Jamie, for this awesome tutorial!)

But where are the books, you may ask. Continue reading →

How to relax using your toddler’s toys

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A quiet cup of java in a coffee shop. A relaxing massage at a spa. A fabulous mani-pedi. These are three things that relax me completely, yet these are three things I have not done in ages. Does that mean I’m not relaxed? Hell, no! There are a bunch of things at home that have helped me achieve a zen kind of state. They can all be found in my toddler’s play area!

Achieve peace of mind with Play-doh.

Molding clay is so stress-relieving! Long after Timmy asks me to make animals, I’d still find myself creating little creatures with various clumps of Play-Doh. The act of molding, unmolding, rolling the dough between your palms and fingers, creating art (mostly abstract for me) –this gives me peace of mind indeed!

Block out stress with building blocks.

Build the tallest tower you can and knock it down! Then go and put the pieces together to build a tower again. Thanks to the little boy for re-teaching me this fun activity. It does help me relieve some stress!

Let your troubles float away with bubbles.

From dipping the bubble wand in soapy solution to blowing gently to release a stream of pretty bubbles, this exercise can’t help but make you smile. Dip, blow, smile. Repeat. Then watch the bubbles float around the room and up in the air, far far away from you. Let your troubles float away with them!

Catch your breath with children’s books.

Park those novels for adults and pick up an ABC book. Get lost in the colorful illustrations and simple rhymes. The short and sweet stories will calm you down and even help re-energize you.

Shoo stress away by shooting hoops.

Gather all your kids’ toy balls and shoot them one by one through the kiddie basketball hoop. (Added bonus: Your tot may even enjoy picking the balls up and handing them back to you!) This physical activity helps release tension. You can even sneak in a little exercise if you want to practice your court moves (if the play space is big enough, that is.)

Coffee shop breaks, salon and spa escapes? I still definitely look forward to those! But the home is filled with sources of relaxation too, the toddler’s play area being a haven for those after all. Which relaxation toy technique would you like to try?

Shellane is now Solane

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Heads up! This guy here:

…is now this guy here:

Yup, Shellane is now Solane. No worries, it’s the same trusted product you learned about from your Lola, and it still has the same trusted quality. It has the same trusted tanks and the same safety features, the same product reliability and inspection procedures. The legacy of Shellane lives on – only now it has a brand new name and a new look. How do you like it?

Another new thing about Solane is that their home delivery comes with a Weight Check service. Upon delivery, Solane’s Hatid-Bahay riders perform a Weight Check right before your eyes using calibrated portable weighing scales to assure you that you’re getting what you paid for. Note that Solane is the only company that performs this service. Nice to have transparent partners for the household, don’t you think? While this service is available nationwide, it’s only available if you order through the Hatid-Bahay outline (02-887-5555 or +63918-887555 outside Metro Manila) or from authorized distributors in your area. Note that their mobile number only accepts orders through SMS.

You can also order online! Click on this direct link to take you to the order site: Solane Online Ordering. How convenient is that? Learn more about Solane at www.solane.com.ph.

What else is new? Continue reading →

A Stuffed Toy You

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Here’s a cute holiday gift idea: a customized 3D photo doll. Look at my own little Timmy frog!

We were walking around the mall when we stumbled upon Animaland. We already knew this was a cute build-a-stuffed-toy kind of shop, but learning about these cute “I Dolls” made my husband and I go “Awwww!”. It was pretty easy to get. Here’s what happens when you want to get one of these dolls:

The shop merchant takes a picture of your kid (or you if you want!) using their store camera. The tough part was getting the toddler to stand still to get a cute smile! Oh, you precious little active toddler you. If you want to use your own picture, you can save it on a USB drive and share it with the shop. The shop merchant then prints it on some kind of nifty 3D paper, then slides the picture in to your choice of stuffed toy. There are a lot to choose from.

There are stuffed animals such as frogs, pandas, lions, bears, rabbits, tigers, dogs, cats, and more. There are character toys such as Angry Birds, Elmo, and others. They come in different sizes too. The one we got is about five inches tall. It cost Php385.

The shop merchant told us that it’s one of the most popular items in the store. He shared that it’s a popular item for party giveaways. I think it’d be more special if they had this service AT a party, sort of like those popular pop-up photo booths.

Here are the branches of Animaland if you want your own personalized doll:

Whoops, the picture’s too small. Here’s the list: Bonifacio High Street, Festival Mall, Mall of Asia, Robinson’s Manila, Trinoma Mall, Shangri-la Edsa Mall, Marquee Mall – Pampanga, Ayala Center Cebu, Park Mall Cebu.

We were so charmed by the dolls that H and I got one each — a frog for me (since Timmy’s into Leapfrog now) and a panda for H (since Timmy’s a huge Kung Fu Panda fan). The frog now sits on my work desk at home, and the panda is on H’s desk at his office. Cuteness for inspiration!

Inspiration Sunday: Bedrooms

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These bedrooms just make me want to climb back into bed. Which ones do you want to get cozy in?

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Fun Time Wall Clock

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Fun Time Wall Clock. You can arrange the colorful wooden disks any way you like! Have a different layout everyday. This would look great in any modern room, or even a kid’s playroom. (via MoMA Store)

Kid O’Clock

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What time is it? It’s kid o’clock! This clock hangs in Timmy’s play area. So cute, right?

The idea is you replace the images with your own. We’ve been planning to put in Timmy’s pictures in place of these stock images, but obviously haven’t gotten around to it. The babies are cute anyway, so no rush!

Where did we get this? I’ll let you do the guessing by sharing my conversation with my Dad:

Me: “Daddy, where did you get the clock again?”
My Dad: “In Trinoma. Near the food court. At the store where they sell Beatles stuff.”

Do you know what that store is? If you know the store my Dad’s referring to, leave a comment please in case anyone wants to purchase a clock like this.

Reusing crib comforters

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What can you do with crib comforters when baby’s outgrown his crib? Turn them into your own chair comforters.

My favorite baby comforter turned chair comforter

This has GOT to me by favorite area at home. Right smack in front of the computer. Seated on a cozy, cozy, cozy baby comforter.

Most crib comforters are the perfect size for an office chair. Just throw one over that plain ol’ chair and you’ve got yourself some happy seating. The baby designs add a little whimsy to the room too, don’t you think?

What do you do with those old comforters? Share, share!

Deck the outdoors with shiny balls

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With Timmy’s toys now decking our Christmas tree, last year’s shiny balls now spruce up the outdoors.

Sometimes a little red is all you need to make natural greens become even more vibrant.

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A Toast to the Optimist

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If you need to remember that the glass is always half full, here’s a literal reminder:

“HALF FULL: Drink Positively”

Cool, isn’t it? Think you need one? I sure would appreciate having this on my work desk!

A is for Alice, B is for Bella, C is for Cullens

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The Twilight Alphabet Poster! Perfect for the Twi-Mom. OME.

I’d love this for our library. It won’t be for the baby. It’d be for ME!

Cute and Kooky Stuff for the Home

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Some are a little kooky, but they’re all darn amusing. Come on, admit it. You want a guitar spatula, don’t you? You’d pretend you were a rock star flipping pancakes. Hey, I’d do that!

Peeler Gloves. The rough surface actually cleans and skins vegetables with your hand motions. They look like gloves that have scrubbed too many dishes though. Or monster hands. (via)

Guitar Spatula. Air-guitar while you wait for your omelette to cook. Are you on lead, rhythm or bass? Flip those pancakes in rock ‘n roll style! (via)

Cloud Chair. Anyone would look angelic curled up on this heavenly chair. (via)

Ice Ice Baby. All right stop! Collaborate and listen! What a cool way to LSS on this song! (via)

The Dunk Mug. You’ve got your coffee on one hand, your books on the other… how are you gonna take your cookies to your reading corner? Why with this one-of-a-kind mug of course! (via)

The Map Hanky. Trying to find your way around Tokyo? Take this out of your pocket and never get lost! Just don’t go blowing your nose otherwise snot marks the spot! (via)

Bathtub Couch. Got an extra tub in the house? Turn it into a chair. Duh. Then if someone you don’t like calls, simply say “Can I call you later? I’m in the tub. Kthnxbye.”(via)

Star Wars Pancake Molds A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Yoda pancakes! Stormtrooper pancakes! Darth Vader pancakes! Methinks Sheldon Cooper needs to see this. It’d match his Darth Vader toaster very well. (via)

Cute and kooky, right? Which ones do you want for your home? And are you LSS’ing on Ice Ice Baby? I am. *Vanilla Ice Ice Baby…*

Blue Skies Umbrella

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“Blue skies, smiling at me… nothing but blue skies, do I see,” sings Ella Fitzgerald. I’m sure she wasn’t singing about this umbrella, but she might as well be!