Paper Dolls - Making connections with my daughter

My daughter is quite upset whenever she loses her baby teeth. To coax her, I invented a reward program that she will get a present for every lost tooth. I feel that this way is better than the tooth fairy story which a little babyish and contradicts to our beliefs.

She lost a tooth last week. Due to my tight schedule, I had not been able to fulfill my promise (she had been bugging me ever since) until today. So We I was excited when I saw paper dolls in Subang Parade flea market. I can't believe they are still around. I told my daughter that I used to play with them a lot when I was little. That was really one of the few treats which my parents could afford for me. I told my daughter that my friends and I used to write a cross (x) behind the dolls' necks as we believed that they would come alive at night if otherwise. 'That's so silly', she said.

The paper was quite thin so after a while the necks would get flimsy and bent. I used to fix them with cellophane tape! The paper doll used to cost about 50 cents each, I think. Today it is sold for RM1 each, which is not bad. I bought 4 pieces for my daughter. That is a really cheap losing tooth present. Daughter and mother are happy. At home, while helping her cutting the dolls out of the paper, my husband said 'you bought that so that you could play, didn't you?'. Nostalgia... de javu...

Vintage paper doll.

I didn't know they have man dolls.

Sources:
Image 2: clinical with a dash of idealism
Image 3: black watch

Porch cum Patio Makeover

We are finally giving our porch / patio a makeover it desperately needs. The space has been untouched since we bought the house. We should have done it earlier when we renovated the house. But we thought we could saved money by doing something with it with my magic wand. Well, the wand didn't work.

This is how the space looks like... well now with a huge pile of red earth on the driveway.  

    

Being an intermediate house, we don't have much planting space. Unlike our previous house which was really a LUXURY with its big garden. This space is really multi-purpose. What I hate the most is there is no division between car porch and the 'garden' (or tanah sekangkang kera).  Car, laundry line, shoes, water filter, cat toilet, etc. all dumped in one place. 

So, it is quite a challenge to design the tiny space which can meet all our (crazy) expectations. My hub designed the space. Mr Yap is the contractor. And me is the client (really). 

This is our design board. 

There will be a pond (filled with blackish stones at the bottom and fat gold fishes) with a fountain. The floor will use black tiles (Niro Granite) for the porch area and darkish wood-grained tiles (Niro Granite) with greyish pebble wash stones as the borders. We are thinking to erect a screen to divide the car porch from the 'garden' area, probably square boxes and painted in black or white. The screen will be planted with ivy. We hope to squeeze in a small, slow-growing tree in the lawn, possibly a guava tree. I love the color and texture of guava tree branches. We are going to put a bench (free from my mom-in-law's house) at the end of the garden. I am also going to revamp my old antique chairs, sew new cushion covers, and fill the chairs up with lots of colorful, fluffy pillows. We wanted to change our sliding door to french door but unfortunately  we don't have the budget for it. That would easily cost us another 8 thousands, I think. As it is, the bill is already piling. And Mr Yap has not yet provided us with the quotation. The most expensive stuff we have bought so far is the tiles for the car porch - they cost us RM1500! But the tiles are really nice and they've got tiny, subtle sparkly bits....  Bloody hell, they will be hidden under the car anyway... 

I am quite worried about how the transformation will turn out because I can't imagine it yet. The renovation is expensive and the scariest part is that all the fixtures are permanent. It is not easy to undo if I don't like it.  Especially the pond. What am I going to do with a huge, 2-foot deep hole in my patio? Turning it into a trench, so that my kids can play soldiers?

Wish me luck! 

What your front door says

I painted my front door blue for a reason. I was actually considering black as well.  But I thought black, although will look well with the rest of my white interiors, would be too boring, too matchy-matchy.  Instead, blue is different and fun. It adds the pop of color which I needed to make my home less clinical. The shade is not any blue, but Greek Blue!. I just made up the name. It was actually glossy Nippon paint. The inspiration came from houses in Santorini island, Greece. The houses are all painted in white which are so striking against the backdrop of the blue sea. The white and blue is a great combo and is all time classic.  

   

Santorini Island

Apparently, the color of your front door says something about the home owners.  

Red door means the home within is a vibrant place, full of life, energy, and excitement.

Purple symbolizes energy and invites good opportunities into your home. . 

Black front door projects strength, sophistication, power, and authority, indicating that the home is a inhabited by a person of substance. Yes, just look at the number.

A brown front door conveys warmth, stability, and reliability and other positive attributes. But darker brown signals a desire for privacy, even isolation.

White represents purity, virtue and serenity. 

Yellow means mental clarity, understanding, wisdom, confidence, humor... 

Green door connotes health, safety, tranquility, and harmony. 

And, my blue door means the homeowner views her home as a place of refuge -- calm, serene, and relaxing. That is so true..

Images: All from Google Image, except blue door.

References:

Five popular front door colors and what they say about you.

What does your front door say? (houzz.com)

Kate Middleton

It is quite hard not to be sucked up into the Kate fashion craze. Especially after watching the royal couple's Malaysian tour on tv.  Not that I know much about her, but I think this is my favorite of all her dresses. Very flow-y and feminine. She's pretty but I think she overdoes her eye make up which only makes her looking older than her real age.


Image: fashion.telegraph.co.uk   

I Love Rainy Days

It is only 6 in the evening. Yet it is so dark outside, a sign that thunderstorm is coming.

I love rains. But only when I am at home.

This is my idea of spending a rainy day....

being a snuggly bug on sofa under a warm, cozy blanket...

a cup of freshly-brewed coffee....

a fireplace making its soothing wood crackling sound....

with this little fur ball (or germ bag, as my hubby calls it) curling on my feet....

a good book in my hand....

or, even better, watching Mr Firth's movies....

A pure BLISS.

Unfortunately I have to return to reality. I need to cook dinner, check my kids' homework, do laundry and sweep the floor... all in an hour. Hmmm....

All images from internet.