Playing with Air Dry Clay

Hello lovelies!

Last Christmas, Santa gave my sons this cute kitchen play set that Perry has requested. The play set is not just for play cooking. It has tubs of clay and some molds to encourage the child to play with clay and develop creativity. Now that those tubs of clay were gone, I bought an air dry clay from the market. I had the chance of knowing this type of clay when I looked for some party loots for Perry's 7th birthday. The clay used to be in small tubs but when i came back to buy again this year, it was just packaged in resealable plastic bags. It is very cheap but it is perfect when making toys or miniatures from clay. No baking is needed.

Last night, I decided to play with the air dry clay and the kitchen set. Ivy joined me and we created a lot of food stuff for Lincoln to play with!

I started making sunny side up because my son like it and he always use that mold when playing.

Then Ivy made an apple. It's the biggest one in the picture. I made the rest. There's no mold for that so we sculpt it ourselves.

I also made bananas without any mold while Ivy was making carrots.

Aside from those, I made fried chicken legs and Ivy made lettuce and colorful seafood (crabs, lobsters, fishes, and shells).

We had fun playing with clay but our joy was doubled when we see how much Lincoln enjoyed our creation in the morning. 

The clay dries up fast. It is still soft when dry but it retains its shape even if you press it. But it can be torn apart or gets easily destroyed if you intend to. It is not like the baked clay which turns hard and plastic-like. But still, I want to create more miniature stuff from it for my dolls soon. Also, I will try painting some of what we made to see how it will react to acrylic paint.

How about you? How did you enjoy your weekend? :)

Laguna's Anilag Festival 2019

Hello lovelies!

Our province of Laguna recently celebrated its annual Anilag Festival last March 2-9, 2019. Anilag is from the words "Ani ng Laguna" if I am not mistaken. It showcased the products and landmarks of all the towns in Laguna. It also celebrates the talents and skills of its people.

I went there after office hours on March 6, 2019 with my dear husband, my Lincoln, and Ivy. Perry had a fever that afternoon. I wanted to cancel our date but Lincoln was crying "Go! Go!" He can already understand what we were saying or planning to do. So we pushed through with our plan and left Perry and Lola Linda at home.

The first thing we saw when we enter the Provincial Capitol grounds were the landscapes and plants of various organizations. I like this Bonsai Village so much! I dream of having some Bonsai plants in my garden. 

We also enjoyed visiting the town booths. I admire the artistry and craftsmanship of  the people behind the booths. I have limited pictures taken but I will share it here.

Paete, Laguna is known for its wood carvings and paper mache products. Lincoln got 1 of these paper mache horses that i also enjoyed when I was a kid.

Siniloan, Laguna featured a painting of its famous Buruwisan Falls. It is my home town and I have been to the falls 3 times when I was young. I will share about it more next time.

Famy, Laguna featured their famous 'salakot' or wide-brimmed hat. They also have this cute bamboo miniature house! I love it! If I could only buy that for my dolls. haha

Mabitac, Laguna featured their church. I really admire how they use the coconut shells and other natural materials in designing their booth.

Victoria, Laguna featured their famous 'itik' or duck. We bought fried itik and salted egg as pasalubong from there. Yummy! We also found my dear friend and Lincoln's Godmother, Dulce there. 

San Pablo City made this realistic giant fish on the other hand probably to represent their seven lakes. 

Magdalena, Laguna also showcased their church. Lincoln wanted to climbed all the stairs he could find! Even with the small house in Famy! 

Lumban, Laguna is known for embroidery and piña fabric used in most Barong Tagalog and other formal wear.

 We also found this house made of recycled plastic bottles. It's cute but I can't remember the town it was from.

We left early after eating dinner there because we want to go back to Perry and check on his condition. We did not see any activity while we were there. My brother's family went on the last night of the festival and they said that it was so full of people. There were live bands playing. The schedule of the festival was available here and here and more photos here. I hope next year, I will be able to share with you all our towns and more. 

xo, Ails

Big Bad Wolf 2019

Hello lovelies!

This post is a tad late but I still want to share my experience. There was this HUGE book sale that comes only ONCE a year in Manila - the Big Bad Wolf at World Trade Center in Pasay City. It offers millions of books at very huge discounts! Plus, the sale was open 24 hours for 10 days! And when you go there at different times in a day or on different days, you'll find different books on display! It will make you want to just stay there!  

On the first day, February 22, 2019, I went there with Laiza, with my dear husband, and my feverish 7-year old son. My son was sick but he insisted on coming with us when I mentioned that we were going to a huge book sale. And since I knew how much he likes books, I brought him with us. It took us 3-4 hours from our home to get to the venue. But we didn't mind the long drive/traffic because we were excited to see what books were waiting for us!

Despite his condition, Perry was excited to see what's inside the hall!

I spent my first couple of hours browsing for Non-Fiction books that I could buy for the LSPU library. Laiza, did the same in the Fiction Section. Then when we met near the cashier area, we browsed together under the Crafts and Hobbies Section. I found a lot of useful books on sewing, technology and livelihood there.

We finished at around 1pm because our stomachs were already growling. There were food stalls just after the cashier area and I enjoyed this delicious Mango Graham float! Yum!

After eating, we decided to call it a day so we could get home early. We were all happy with our loots! Aside from the books we bought for the library, here are the books we bought for ourselves...

Dear Husband's graphic novels! We love Batman, Superman and Wolverine! Who doesn't? And also Neil Gaiman!

- Captain Underpants - Perry's favorite book!
- He also chose the Blue Planet and the Lego I Love that Minifigure books. 

- The Fish Girl is also a graphic novel that my dear husband chose for Perry. 

- For Lincoln, I bought the Snug, Bug, Rug (an activity-sticker book), The Three Little Pigs (with the Hippo App for augmented reality experience), and the On the Go (a search and find book like I Spy).

When we got home, I was still yearning to go back. And I did. I went back there with the Library Committee on the 5th day. There were lots of Harry Potter complete series set which was not available on the first day and even on last year's sale. I was able to grab a set for the library for Php 2,900.00 less 5% discount because I am a Librarian! Yay! For the library, we were able to buy 217 titles from those 2 visits.What a feat! 

Then I bought 3 of the following set (plus the Snug, Bug, Rug). One set for my kids and the other two are for my little bro and little sis' kids.

- The Mindfulness Puzzle Book, I bought for mom because she loves puzzles. 

- The Human Body is a fun book because it was designed in a way that kids will see what's inside the human body when they use a magic torch! How cool is that! 

- The Make Buildings book I bought for Perry is to encourage him to hone his drawing skills. He said, he wanted to be an engineer. Then I influenced him to dream on becoming a doctor. But he still goes back to dreaming on building stuff. I just wish for him the best. :) 

So there. In the end, I realized I wasn't able to buy a book for myself. My time was consumed on looking for stuff to grow the LSPU collection that I forgot mine. Haha All the more reason to go back next year!

xoxo, Ails

Gardening

Hello lovelies!

Have you ever planted a fruit bearing tree in a pot?  I have always marveled at photos I see in facebook of fruit-bearing trees (with LOTS of fruits!) in a pot. So when my son has a tree planting activity, I took the chance to buy one tree for our home. I bought balimbing trees for his school project and then I kept a kamias tree for ourselves.

We had a huge kamias tree at the backyard but it died. It used to bear around 5 baskets of kamias fruits every week. My aunt Bella had a steady stream of income coming from that tree.

I hope that this tree will bear as much fruits as our previous one.

Aside from the tree, I was also able to buy 2 mature strawberry plants with 3 runners. How lucky was that!

Here are the runners...

So we cut it from the main plant and planted it in a pot.

We placed the strawberry plants in the coolest area in our yard. We hope that these plants will bear us sweet and delicious fruits.

What are the plants in your garden? Share the link to your garden in the comment section so we could visit you there!

xo, Ails

Cravings

Hello lovelies!

I have been craving for some Trois Food House's baked mussels and crispy lechon since last night!

Now, tell me that I am not the only one!

XO, Ails

Perks of a Bella

Hello lovelies!

Last January, I bought myself a planner at National Bookstore because I didn't get to complete the "collect stickers for a 2019 planner / travel organizer promo" of Starbucks. Initially, I was looking for a dotted notebook so I could try bullet journaling but as I was browsing through the shelves, I found this cute planner for women!

It is a Belle de Jour (BDJ) Power Planner, which was designed to empower Pinay women to live their lives to the fullest. It has different covers but I chose this leather covered one.

I bought it because it has really cute and engaging pages. 

And on top of that, it also has a booklet containing some "Perks of a Bella." It has a card that you can present to affiliated shops to get discounts.

It also has 60 vouchers from various establishments.

With all these, the Php 680.00 cost of the planner is worth it!

Then yesterday, I was able to use my first voucher at Mc Donald's. It's a free McCafe Iced Coffee when you purchase any Ala Carte meal at any McDonald's store nationwide.

I presented my booklet to the McDo crew at (Hi-Way) Sta. Cruz, Laguna and he told me that he doesn't know about it so he called the floor manager for assistance. The manager told me that they didn't receive any memo regarding that promo so they could not help me. She even told me to try another branch. I pointed out that the promo coupon states that "from ANY McDonald's store nationwide." So I asked her if there's anyone that they could call and ask about the promo. She said "none."

So I told them, "Ok, wait. Let me just take a photo of this (booklet & card) here so that I can report this." Then she said, "Wait." She took the booklet & card and looked for another manager. The other manager knew about it and instructions were given. So they processed my order and my free Iced Coffee. BUT, they took my coupon. They told me that they have to present the coupon at the main office to answer for the free coffee they gave me. I wanted to argue, for the reason that I will tell later, but the free iced coffee (instant gratification) was all i needed at that time. So I just let them take my coupon. 

Here's my free McCafe Iced Coffee with my double cheeseburger.

The reason why I wanted to argue that they should not take my voucher was this. The booklet states that we just have to ask the store representative to write his/her name and signature, branch, total amount, and date of purchase at the back of the coupon. We should attach the receipt to the completed/signed coupon and keep it. Why? Because if I use 30 coupons by September 2019, I get 10% off my next BDJ Power Planner purchase. If I use 35 coupons, it is 20% off. But if I use 40 coupons, I get 1 FREE 2020 Planner! If I use 50 coupons, 2 FREE Planners will be given. I just have to keep all transaction records and send to their office via snail mail before September 30, 2019.

How can I complete at least 40 coupons if 1 was already taken away from me? I hope that this will not happen to any other Bella.

But I was and still am grateful for the free iced coffee. Thank you BDJ #PerksofaBella and #McDonalds! 

XO, Ails

Valentine’s Cards

Hello lovelies!

This afternoon, after work, I helped my son make some Valentine’s cards for his teachers. I opened my stocks of paper flowers for him to use.

He had fun combining petals and choosing micro beads for the center. 

These are his finished cards. The printed “Happy Valentines Day” message was from the Hey Bae - Valentine Collection from the Little Sisters Studio at the Creative Market.

His message for Ms. Jo is just sooo sweet!

How have you been preparing for Valentine's day?

xoxo,
Ails