Writing Letters and More

In my previous posts, I have shared some of our favorite montessori-inspired toddler activities as well as some of our favorite books for reading. I am big on the fun approach when it comes to teaching your child. And it has proven us that Ava responds to fun learning very well. 

I tried introducing writing to Ava earlier this year but she didn't seem to be interested, not a bit.  We have been enjoying reading, counting and playing (of course!) so I think it's about time we give writing another chance. Two weeks into these sheets/activities and we've made little progress! Lol. Progress is still progress right?

Earlier this year, I was able to get these worksheets from Powerbooks. The overall layout and colors look fun and the size variations are perfect for little tots who are just starting to trace/learn writing. Definitely something I would love to work on if I were a kid, that's why I assumed Ava would love it too. Lol.

Keep Calm and Write On

So I've been MIA, what's new? :)

It has been crazy busy the last couple of months, with my work mostly but I'm grateful that we were still able to keep our work-life balanced. And since it's summer, we made sure we'll have some family fun. There was one weekend when we visited Kidzoona and then for Mother's Day, we went on a road trip to Bataan. I'll save the details for my next posts because what I'll be sharing now is what I was doing in between.

For the month of May, I started a new hobby which is lettering and calligraphy. I've been stalking The Fozzy Book and other calligraphers online but I just couldn't find the right timing to start. Meanwhile on Instagram, I started seeing posts of different people writing the same phrases or quotes in their own styles. Each post was tagged #letteritapril, I got curious and found out later that it's called the Letter It challenge being hosted by @jennymaiedae. For May, I finally decided to join. :)

Easy DIY Washi Tape Organizer

I looove washi tapes! Cute patterns, lovely colors and more. You can use it in so many things like labels, wrappers, accents and more. It's also perfect in keeping a little tot busy even for just a few minutes.

This was posted over a year ago when I finally installed that wooden shelf I got from Papemelroti. If only my main purpose was to display these tapes, then this shelf is perfect as it is. But since I am actually using all these, this shelf turned out to be a bit of a hassle. Since the tapes were stacked, I need to take them the ones on top, even the stack beside, just to get the tape at the bottom. It became a bit of a hassle. So I searched for a washi tape holder/organizer only to find out that the one that I liked will cost me around 2,000Php. Ugh.

If I had the budget, I would've gotten me one of these from Scrappy Manila

Time for some DIY! :)

Small Closet Organization Ideas

I grew up sharing a room with my siblings, and we didn't have a walk-in closet, just a linear set of typical cabinets and drawers. I was initially allotted just a set of drawers since I didn't need a big closet space back when I was just in grade school. Uniforms, a few pieces of panglakad, and house clothes are just what I had back then. When I moved to Manila for high school studies, since we live in a very small apartment, I once again had just a set of cabinet to keep my clothes. Fast-forward to married life, I now share a closet with Mr. T.

When I was studying Architecture in college, I was introduced through drawings to the design ideas of walk-in-closets. It didn't matter much to me then until I actually started working and got to design residential houses with huuuge closet spaces. I really don't want a big walk-in-closet but I got interested with how organized a closet can be. Lol. I always had trouble keeping my closet tidy because they are always piled up, never hanged, because I get annoyed at seeing hangers in different shapes and sizes. So my shallow dream was to have my clothes organized on typical hangers.

That dream finally came true. :)))

Most organized our closet has been! :)))

The Late Loomers

So we finally caught up with the loombandwagon and I know we are pretty much late for it. Lol.

While I was just starting with fishtails and other easy ones, Mr. T jumped straight up to the challenging ones. He actually turned out to be more interested in it than I am. Nuninuninu. :D

My favorite go-to site for tutorials is Loom Love. It is a website of two adorable sisters named Maddie and Emily. They show a lot of pattern tutorials, from charms to bracelets and more. They also share tutorials from other websites. They're super cute. :)

Mr. T just searches videos in Youtube where a lot of tutorials are also available. You can also checkout the Official Rainbow Loom Channel for other instructional videos.

Anyways, we used the cheaper types of rubber bands in majority of these bracelets but we eventually got some original Rainbowloom refills. And I will quickly show you the difference between the two.

Original Rainbow Loom Band vs. Cheaper Version

Original C-clip vs. Cheaper S-clip version

Wrap Baby Wrap

UPDATE: Make sure you do a lot of research first when making a DIY wrap. After this post, I was able to learn more about DIY wraps. You can search Babywearing Philippines in Facebook to learn more.

I've been a baby wearing Mama ever since I became a mother to my beautiful toddler. She's almost 17 months old already, so that's about 16 months of baby wearing. :)

We got our very first baby pouch from the Mommy Mundo Christmas Bazaar back in 2012. Ava was barely a month old then and we braved the Christmas bazaar season in Powerplant. Amongst the baby carriers that we saw, I fell in love with the simplicity of Indigobaby's Baby Pouch. It was also a good decision to get the pouch right after I gave birth instead of ordering online because I was able to check the correct size for me and Ava. Apparently, if I followed the size chart, I would've gotten a wrong size. It is always best to try the (sized) carriers first before getting them because a wrong size can be uncomfortable and can make or break your baby wearing journey. We were yayaless during our first couple of months with Ava and I was doing household chores while attending to my newborn. Those include breastfeeding, cooking, cleaning and washing baby clothes. I don't think I would've survived if not for baby wearing. I guess I rubbed off some of my love for baby wearing to Mr. T because a few months later, we got an Ergo Sport for him thanks to our sponsor (aka Grandpa). It's a Soft Structured Carrier (SSC) with lots of buckles and straps, it was really perfect for him. Then I became a member of the online Facebook community called Filipino Association of Babywearers (FAB) and oh boy! Hahah! Fellow baby wearing parents with different types of carriers sharing tips and helping each other which made me learn a lot. That resulted to me getting another carrier called Saya. It's a hybrid type which is a lot lighter than Ergo since it is only made of very lightweight fabric.

Left to Right: 1 m.o. Ava in our very first Indigobaby Pouch | Ergobaby Sport at 5 mos. |
Our second Indigobaby Pouch at 5 mos. | Happy to be in our Saya at 7 mos.

Recently, I joined an international Babywearing DIY Advice and Support group and was so amazed with all the projects that the other moms were doing. So I decided to try and make our own that both Mr. T and I can use which is the wrap type.

Before I share with you a simple tutorial let me just remind you that you should always consider your baby's safety before making your own baby carrier. I figured a wrap is the safest type to do since it does not consist a lot of straps and buckles that require sewing which, when done incorrectly, can tear and cause accident to you and your baby. So please do your research first.

From the Archive | DIY: Custom Canvas Shoes

Originally posted in June 24, 2012

In the afternoon, I decided to work on a different project - hand-paint a pair of canvas shoes that I don't get to wear much because it's too plain. And I will share how I did it step-by-step.

DIY Custom Canvas Shoes

1. The first thing I did was decide on the design I want. Google images and Pinterest will give you a lot of inspiration photos to choose from. I went for the Aztec print and found this photo thru Pinterest:

Letters for Ava

I like to think of myself as a Martha Stewart lady. :D

I love DIY stuff - sewing, crafting, cooking, baking, you name it. Everything in Martha's website, I'd love to try someday. That's why I know for a fact that I won't get bored nor become a bum should I decide to stop working one day. Lol. Just imagine all the projects I can make! :)

We all know that parties are always the best events where we can go ga-ga over DIY stuff. All the more if it's your little darling's first birthday party. :)

Here's one of the many DIY stuff I've been working on for Little A's simple birthday party celebration.

Letter Paper Mâchés

I already did these huge letter paper mâchés for our wedding but that was before when I still have the time and energy to do every single thing. :D Now, I am excited for the crafting revolution that is happening in the Philippines. Resources are still a bit limited but they're slowly building up, one craft store to another. And then of course we have these online stores offering a wide variety of crafting supplies. Just like ARTees Collection where I got these kraft letter paper mâchés. Definitely saved me from a lot of paper cuts. ;)

So here's how easily I did this project: