Last weekend, I finally took on the challenge to sew myself a Lace fitted skirt!
Lace has always been a favourite for me, even before this recent trendiness surrounding it. Here are just a few examples that I have been gawking at. Of course to purchase one will probably cost me a bomb, and to be honest I have yet to see any in the local stores selling any that looks close to any of these.
Most of those off the racks are of poor quality with fraying lace or lace that looks tired out, and the most popular trend for this style here is the awful shorts version with layering of lace!
No offence to anyone who likes this style but shorts on my wide hips and chunky thighs are a no-no.
Wielding a needle and a scrap left-over satin, I purchased some gorgeous white crochet lace from Chinatown, and took on the challenge to make myself one! Lace, by the way, to buy off a ready made garment out of good lace cost a bomb, and so does it when you buy them raw per yard from the shops! Cost me $17 for half a yard! Which is like 42"... that's pricey for me since I'm always looking for bargain materials only... but if you think about it.. to buy the ready made would be pricier!
And here was how it turned out
Skirt & Blouse - Made by yours truly
Gold gladiator cuff bangle - Aldo [could not help myself when I saw it at the store!]
Red Leather tote - Soon Lee [birthday gift from the BF 2 years ago!]
Shoes - from one of those cheap stores in Far East Plaza
And yes, this clothes are all hand-sewn, the blouse was done ages ago, thought it made a good match with the skirt. Had to keep amending to make the fit for the skirt right, but I think I nailed it!
The blouse I made probably only cost me like $2 or something - it was from some left over cloth from another dress I made. And the total cost of the skirt was only the $17 lace I had to get as the satin lining I made was leftover scrap from somewhere I cannot remember!
It is crazy affordable to make your own clothes, and I hope I've inspired you to try it as well!
Months and months ago, when I naively believed that I will have plenty of free time, I promised S.T. that I will make a sock cat for her. For those who don't know, S.T. loves cats... she not only has her own pet cat, she takes care of all the strays in her neighbourhood too... Yes. She loves Cats.
So she bought me a pair of this cool colourful stripey socks to make the cat out of, and I never got to it till 2 weeks ago when I finally took some time off work!
It turned out pretty awesome! Here's how our cat turned out looking!
The socks S.T. gave me were knee length, so I made its legs as long as the socks were. And gave it shiny black eyes with old buttons from my mom's collection.
So do give it a try, makes a great gift for baby showers!
I've been meaning to post about this but haven't had a chance. My birthday was on 19 Feb and instead of a full day and night of sin and debauchery, I decided to do something equally just as fun. I decided to craft and bake.
On the day before, I spent it with family, and received wonderful presents, and one of my favourites, BUTTONS!
So with my fun stash I made myself a button and charm double necklace
The flower is actually a button, a real find! For the top necklace, I drilled a hole through said button so that I could loop the pearl into it. Both necklaces are seperate so I could wear them on their own or together.
And then, if that wasn't enough, I made myself a ring too
Of course, it wouldn't be a birthday if there was no cake!
This year, I decided to make a
Creme Brulee Cupcake!
It looks ugly but its oh so yummy.
For this recipe, I made everything from scracth, from the caramel sauce that goes into the batter to the creme brulee itself. It was alot of work but it was a success!
Since this wasn't an order and more of an experiment, I first decided to play with my oven settings. I baked different batches at different settings and had the most interesting results:
Left: Over-filled and over-baked. Middle: Standard Perfection Right: Close to perfection
The one on the left was baked at 25 mins, slightly over-filled and was baked with the fan off.
The one in the middle which I find the most perfect) was baked at 15 mins, perfectly filled at slightly under 3/4 of the liner and baked with the fan on.
The one on the right was baked at 20 mins, filled slightly under 3/4 of the liner and baked with no fan on.
Conclusion: The Fan in the oven is important for making cakes rise and giving cupcakes that perfect dome top.
Also, the texture was fluffier, moist and less dense, which is ideal for a cupcake like this, as the creme and caramel topping add alot of heaviness and crunch already.
So, I decided to bake the remaining batches at the ideal setting and got this:
Then of course, once cooled, you have to "core'the cupcakes, which basically means removing the centers so that you have space to fill them out
Save the centres! Use them to make rum truffles and they are absolutely delicious! I'll post about them another time.
Okay, so fill the centers with creme brulee and you get this:
Here is a little video that I created:
The video was filmed by the Gorilla, who ran the Urbanathalon Race on my birthday.
Perhaps the best thing he did was run through the finish line while holding a giant flag that said
Happy Birthday. He coordinated this with his mom so that she could pass it to him once he finished the last obstacle and was on the last leg of the race. Upon seeing this, the Emcee got the whole crowd to sing to me Happy Birthday which was very, very sweet. Okay, okay, I know I'm a lucky girl.
Anyhow, I know everyone just wants the recipe. I modified it from Beantown Baker, Deliah Smith and Simply recipes. Enjoy!
Creme Brulee Cupcakes- Makes 24
Cupcake: Originally Adapted from Beantown Baker. (click here for the original) 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch for the egg whites 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 1-1/2 cups sugar 2 eggs, separated 1 cup milk *3 tablespoons caramel syrup( made from scratch) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius, 160 if you have your fan setting on.
Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together. and set aside. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add caramel syrup and vanilla.
Sift 1/3 of the flour into the batter and fold it into the batter. Fold in 1/2 of the milk. Repeat until all flour and milk have been incorporated into the batter.
Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Gently fold whites into batter.
Spoon batter into cupcake papers, filling cups about 2/3 full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool.
Once cooled, core the cupcakes and fill with it the Creme Brulee custard. Working quickly, create the sugar crust by sprinkling sugar and melting it down with a blow torch. serve immediately. You can keep it in the fridge but it starts to condense after two hours, which is not ideal.
1 Cup of Sugar 6 Tbsp (85 g) butter 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
Place sugar in a heavy bottom pot. On a moderately high heat, melt the sugar until it reaches a deep amber colour. Working quickly, whisk in the butter. Once the butter has fully melted, turn the heat off. Count to three and add in the cream. At this point, the entire mixture will start to foam and bubble so be careful! Set aside to cool. Mixture will thicken.
570ml of Double Cream ( I use Milac, its THE BEST)
6 large egg yolks
4 teaspoons cornflour
a few drops of vanilla extract
Caramel crust:
110g of granulated sugar
Mix the egg yolks, cornflour and vanilla extract together. Set aside.
Heat up the cream till it reaches boiling point. Once boiling, mix in the cream together with the egg yolk mixture, stirring all the time. Return the mixture to the pot and continue to boil, until the mixture thickens( which is very fast, within a minute or two. Take note not to overheat it, it will get lumpy. If it does, just take it off the heat and stir.
Once thickened, take it off the heat, pour it through a sieve and let it set in a bowl to cool. Cover the bowl with a clingfilm, taking note to pat it down so that it covers the surface of the custard( this prevents a skin from forming). Put it in the fridge and let it set overnight.
(you can always pour this into ramekins and just eat it with the caramel crust without the cake.)
Oh dear... I think S.T. and I are just too busy to blog more often these days! Terribly sorry for leaving this site so dead for so many weeks, just that it's been a crazy 2 months at work, and we are expecting this hectic schedule to go on till July! We're losing sleep, losing hair, and whatever that's remaining on our heads are growing gray! Yikes! We're praying desperately just to get through these next few months in one piece!
For those of you curious readers... S.T. and I don't just share this blog, but we are also real-life friends and colleagues. And just a little more information on what we do, we work in a theatre company in the Sales and Marketing team, and so the months prior to our performances is the most crucial and our necks are on the line..
Alright, I shall not bore you any longer with my whining of our jobs! Rather recently, a close friend of mine met a girl... And being completely new at the game of courtship, seeks my help in wooing her! So with her birthday coming up then, he commissions me to make her a unique gift!
He wanted the weave-band watch, and he was willing to splurge on a Fossil watch face as well!
I made it to his liking, and also threw in an extra accessory, one of my Chan-Luu inspired bracelets, this time made out with luxurious Jade beads.
So just thought this could be an inspiring post to you all out there!
As 14th of Feb looms near,
Couples begin to fear,
For many fret,
And oft break sweat,
To give to someone they hold dear.
Ah yes, 14th of Feb, better known as Valentine's Day, is much celebrated and also, much afeared, by couples all around the world, fretting over gifts, dates and budget constraints.
We decided to put together our top 15 ideas for Valetine's Day.
Here are some fun things for inspiration"
DISHES
1) Chocolate dipped strawberries.
They are quick, easy and oh so sexy... Recipe found here
2) Fondue/Both Cheese and Chocolate
Nothing is more intimate than dipping meat into hot, steamy cheese or
lapping up rivers of chocolate with marshmellows and feeding each other. Recipe found here
4) Beer Pancakes
I know this sounds wrong, oh so wrong but oh so good! Beer enables your pancakes to rise and be deliciously fluffy with a malty, sweet after-taste. This recipe is amazing and I have used it many times. Click here for the recipe.
5) HIS/HER's Favourite Dish
This is a cop out, I know, but seriously, this is the best present. It doesn't matter if it sucks, its the thought that counts. :)
6) For those of us who aren't very savvy in the kitchen [This is definitely from E.L.], choose to splurge a little and get a nice jar of cookies! The Grand Hyatt's Mezza9 does these awesome double chocolate cookies that are fudgey-gooey on the inside, which are very popular and not madly expensive.
A jar is currently going for about SGD$28.
7) For those with tight budgets, you can of course craft something for your other half! And what better place to get ideas for this then from us!
I will always remember an advice from one of my guy friends a long time ago, always give a practical gift to a guy because men are not fussed about pretty little things. So do away with that doily-heart buntings, furry teddy bears and frilly little nothings! Make him something useful!
9) Make a photo collage or decorate a plain photo frame and have your photo in it. Much like the ones we did for our flea here..
Or A wonderful project is to do these photo transfers like this fellow craftster has done. check out her blog here.
10) Another crafting project that is inexpensive, unisex and completely original at the same time is to create your own design T-shirt! Get a plain white T-shirt, some fabric paints and let your creative juices flow! Paint a Pollock onto the T-shirt - the easiest technique and it will turn out looking cool no matter how unskilled you are in painting.
I did one for the B.F. last year [E.L.] - but I used fabric crayons, and I replicated one of his own art works onto the T-shirt. Below is him wearing it!
11) We've also got some suggestions on what you can do together that are affordable and really quite romantic. First up... Rent some romantic comedies and stay in! Go on a rom-com movie marathon, and make-out and neck in the cinema or the couch - just like when you were so young once that you just don't care! ;)
12) Go for a massage together! Be it a big splurge in a spa or even an affordable 40 mins foot reflexology massage will do you both alot of good! You get to spend time together and enjoy the healthy benefits of a good massage. A great place to go that is also affordable is
L.C. Fu Li Hua Foot Reflexology. The masseuse really know where the ache is and will help you with it!
13) Go on a picnic! Pack some lunch and head out to the park! The Botanic Gardens will be a lovely place to lie out on a mat or a lazy stroll through the orchid gardens.
14) Visit a Museum... just do it... any of it! The National Museum, The Singapore Art Museum, The Peranakan Museum, the Asian Civilisation Museum, The ArtScience Museum... And most of the time the entrance fees are really affordable!
15) Get active! Put on your sunblock and flip-flops, and go kayaking! In Singapore, there are quite a few places you can go, and it's cheap! At SGD$15 an hour, both you and your dearest can paddle away into the serenity of open waters...
Great! Now you are armed with these invaluable romantic and fun ideas, you have no excuse to not go out there and impress your loved one! If you have more suggestions, put it down in the comment!
And for those singles, don't let the couples have all the fun, do a big group outing with all your friends and exchange gifts as well! Valentine's Day is also known as The International Friendship day after all! [As far as I know anyway.. when I was single, it was what I celebrated with my girlfriends!]
World Nutella Day is Feb 5, and in sunny SG, I'm late by a day but some people out there in this world on the other side of the are still celebrating it!
Bascially, World Nutella Day is this crazy idea started by two Nutella obsessed girls and the world is better for it! You can read more here: http://www.nutelladay.com/participate/
To be honest, I've been sick today and hence, finally have the time to blog. In honour of this tremendous occasion, I would like to share with you my very own take on Pierre Hermes' Nutella Tart. Created for his wife who loves this confection to no end, this tart is simply divine. I posted about this sometime back but never really gave the recipe.
For my version, I used my very own hazelnut shortcrust recipe modified from my mom's shortcrust and used extremely dark chocolate for the base. I also took liberties and decorated with white ganache.
Its absolutely delicious, its soft and creamy inside, almost like a lava cake and the pastry just melts in your mouth.
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1/2cup of butter
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 1/2 cups of plain flour
1/4 cup of self raising flour or ground hazelnuts
(With self-raising flour, you get a puffier crust, ground hazelnuts give a slightly heavier but more flavourful crust )
1 large egg at room temperature, stirred with a fork
3 large egg yolks at room temperature, stirred with a fork
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup hazelnuts toasted, skinned and cut into large pieces (I omitted this and made white chocolate ganache)
For the topping
1/4 cup of cream
1/4 cup of white chocolate
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
For the crust:
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and icing sugar. Stir in sifted flour, ground hazelnuts and beat until mixture comes together to form a dough that will be slightly sticky.
2. Spread the dough into the pan and poke holes in it using a fork.
3. Place a baking sheet over the pie shell and fill with baking beads. You can use green/red/soya beans as well.
4.Place in the oven and bake the crust for 20 minutes. Once done, set aside to cool to room temperature.
P.S This method is called blind baking and for this recipe, you don't want to over bake the crust as it gets baked again with the filling.
For the filling:
1.Spread the Nutella evenly over the bottom of the cooled crust and set aside.
2.Melt the chocolate and butter in separate bowls over simmering water or in the microwave. Allow them to cool until they just feel warm to the touch.
3.Use a small whisk to stir the egg into the chocolate, gently and taking care not to agitate the mixture. You don’t want to beat air into the ganache. Stir in the egg yolks a little at a time, followed by the sugar. Stir in the warm butter. Pour the ganache over the Nutella in the tart shell. At this point, if you opted for putting nuts at the top, scatter the nuts now.
4. Bake the tart for 11 minutes. The center of the tart will still be a little jiggly and the top will be dull, like a cake. Remove the tart from the oven and slide onto a rack. Allow the tart to cool for at least 20 minutes or until it reaches room temperature. Please note that baking time varies, on your oven, the depth of your pie tin and size of your pie tin.
For the topping:
1. Place the cream and white chocolate in a metal bowl.
2. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, careful to not let the water touch the bottom.
3. Gently stir the chocolate and cream mixture till smooth and melted.
I hope you enjoy this and do let me know if you have any queries! This is best eaten on the day, at room temperature. Left overs( which almost never happen) can be placed in the fridge and warmed up the next day!
Its been awhile since I last posted and E.L has been the one doing all the wonderful work, from revamping the look of this site to posting numerous fun posts (despite how crazy busy she is at work!).
So sometime last year, I was in a panic for an accessory to go with a mesh, high neck black evening dress and came up with this really cute multi-strand pearl bracelet.
Isn't it pretty? And you don't really need much, it took me less than 5 minutes to put it together!
Step 1. Gather two necklaces of the same length and one long brooch. For this, I used a dusky pink pearl necklace and a creamy white pearl necklace. I bought these from the $2 Japanese shop on a whim! The brooch I selected is a long one, a vintage 80s cat brooch that I bought from a pet shop!
Step 2. Twist both necklaces to make a figure of eight.
Step 3. Bring one end of the figure of eight and stack it on top of the other end, making a coil. Do the same for the other necklace.
Step 4. Stack both coils on top of the other.
Step 5. Unfasten your brooch and place both coils under it.
Step 6. Fasten the brooch to secure everything.
Step 7. Slip your hand through and you are set to purr-fection.
I hope you found this helpful. I really love this bracelet and have not unfastened it at all. If you find it hard to slip your hand in, try assembling it on your wrist already and get some help fastening your brooch to secure everything. Try experimenting with different necklaces, strings of beads and brooches.
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