Gift Ideas - Fun Packs & Kits

It's been awhile since a new post and this is because I've been lazy and S.T.'s trapped in China which of course blocks out Google.... So till she figures how to manoeuvre round the internet blockages from the chinese government, we will not be receiving any updates from her.... Ah well.... then it is up to me to fill this space!

So in my absence, we've celebrated a couple of occasions that warrant pressies! Who doesn't love presents right? And what's better than just receiving a gift? RECEIVING PLENTY OF GIFTS!

Well that's sorta the idea... so if you can remember from the last post [or so], our colleague S.M. was leaving our company and moving on to another job, so our company gave my other colleague, I.A. and I a budget to get a farewell gift on behalf of the whole company. After much dallying and not knowing what to get, I.A. came up with an idea to put together a Rainy Day Kit for S.M.!

Awesome idea! Because with the small budget we got a variety of fun stuff to put together and made it into a Rainy Day Kit! It consisted of all the fun things a girl needs on a rainy day -

A book to curl up with, facial masks, bath & body lotions, chocolate, fudgey lip balm, mints, a princess pen, and nail polish. We also burned her a CD with all the songs we've shared with her throughout her time with us in the company! That was such a fun and personal bit, but so hard to narrow down the song list!

It was such a hit with S.M. that it gave me brilliant ideas for my cousin R.'s belated birthday pressie. I haven't met her in months and thus missed her birthday in March, so I think she deserves a little luxury. In her pack, it's called the "Self-Indulgent Pack"

In R's 'Self-Indulgent Pack', it has all the stuff a busy modern day woman would need to unwind and relax on a day off. I got her a set of the Japanese Rose bath and body milk with lip balm from Korres, I got her a travel Book about Europe by my favourite author Bill Bryson [R.'s an avid jetsetter who is obsessed with Paris], and I got a nice container and filled it with soothing teas for her and also made a CD compilation of relaxing music. Plus a touch of additional luxury, if she wants to step out, a little sparkle to add on to her party dress - I made her pair of Aventurine Earrings.

The next pack was for D. I also missed her birthday in March, so I made her a pink girl pack!

In her pack, I got her a nice glass bottle and filled it with yummy cookies and tied a pretty pink bow, facial packs with nail polish all in pink, bath and lotion in pink, and a girly pretty romantic novel - all wrapped up in pink!

And last but not the least..... My BF's birthday! Which was just this weekend that passed! I got him a theme of blue accessories.

A pair of Rivieras Leisure Shoes and an AX Pop colour watch - both items he had been eyeing and wanting to get for himself. Of course staying in theme, both were in the shades of blue!

And so with a personal creative touch, I made him a birthday card with quotes from our current favourite TV show - Happy Endings

I created the font from scratch and printed it out to make the card, here is a copy so you guys can use it to if you want ;)

And yes, I am very broke now from all the spending, but so happy to see my loved ones happy with what I got them! This gift pack ideas are wonderful and actually with the right budget and the little effort of shopping wisely while thinking of what the person you are buying for might appreciate - this gift pack ideas make great presents and can save you alot of moolah!

Hope it inspired some of you out there!

Cheers,

E.L.

Korres - Beauty products

Korres' values are about using natural Greek herbs to make up at least 80% of their beauty products. Basically stressing the fact that they are trying to use less of artificial, chemicals that can be harmful to our bodies. You can learn more about their research and motives for their all natural products here.

Before S.T. left the company, she worked with Korres on a marketing tie-up, which resulted in Korres giving us a ton of complimentary samples and cash vouchers for our staff. Awesome!

The samples includes a White Tea Facial Cleanser, Thyme Honey Mask, Showergel Basil Lemon, and Shampoo Aloe and Soapwort.

I've tried the samples and was in all honesty not very impressed with the products.

The White Tea Facial Cleanser was really nothing special, it wasn't drying as the product promises, but it didn't really leave my skin spectacularly soft either. To be honest, it did not lather so well, and at the end I felt like it did not clean as much as it should. So I used more of it, then it felt cleaner. But I washed my face again right after with my Simple facial cleanser. I felt it wasn't spectacular but did its job moderately, and felt my Simple Facial cleanser was actually better.

The Showergel Basil Lemon was also quite average. The smell was nice, and it did lather better than the face cleanser, but overall my skin wasn't buzzing with excitement. I think I felt softer and smoother after the first time I tried my Netrogena Rainbath..

The Shampoo Aloe and Soapwort was actually a disappointment. It did not leave my hair silky and soft at all.. it wasn't drying either, but it just felt like it did the basic minimum of cleaning with some lingering smells of freshness. To be honest my hair is shinier, softer and silkier using my Dove Intense Repair shampoo.

The Thyme Honey Mask was good. I tried it on my arm, it felt more like a moisturiser than a mask. It's supposed to be applied thickly all over the face and left on for like 10-15 mins than rinse - I think - but I wiped mine off and it feels like the softness retained better. Skin did feel softer and moisturised, just that the smell can be quite off putting to those sensitive to weird smells.

All their "soapy" products claim to be "Formulated with vegetable-derived soap substitutes—deeply cleanses and refreshes without dehydrating the skin." And products also claims to be Paraben free - Paraben is a common chemical used as preservatives in beauty products, it became a controversial product when it was found that paraben is present in breast cancer tumors. So I guess for that fact alone, it is quite a good factor to be a Korres convert - but just to note that it is not proven that Paraben is a cause for cancer - not link has ever been found.


I may not be tooting Korres effectiveness in its beauty outcome, but I will give them credit for pulling off the all natural products with their not-horrid results. I guess I had high expectations, considering that they do charge alot of money for their products, with facial creams at $90 over - I thought they would blow me away at their results. But I guess being limited with their all natural ingredients it is rather hard to pull off miracles. After all beauty these days do not come naturally...

I may not have found their showergels and shampoos much to toot about.. but I do have to say their Multi-Vitamin compact powder is really making me contemplate converting from Chanel forever!

 It is apparently loaded with Vitamin C and E, so good for skin, and it has this new skin mimetic ingredient which [I guess] mimics your complexion to have a more natural coverage. It's for oily skin as it is mattifying - I have a problematic T-Zone so I feel this helps! And actually I'm in love with how light-weight it is and how natural it looks! Of course it has no Paraben and artificial dyes or fragrances - so it treats your skin well.

I have not found a compact powder that can compete with Chanel's which are always flawless, but this one can be quite a competitor as it has all its goodness as a factor. Of course Chanel's Natural matte powders or their Lumiere collection is flawless - it literally feels like silk on the skin and so light but full natural coverage. Well... for the price of Korres MVpowder which is $61, it feels more worth it to buy Chanel's refills which are at $60. I got Korres this time round as I had the cash vouchers. So in all fairness, if I did have to purchase a full priced one, I will still go back to Chanel.

Hope this helps you make your decision on Korres!

Cheers,
E.L.

L'Entrecote Singapore

On a recent meet-up with a couple of dear friends, we decided on treating ourselves to dine in L'entrecote.. For those of you unfamiliar with its background, originally a French Bistro based in Paris, it has set out to take the world with restaurants popping around the globe's famous cities like New York, London and here in Singapore as well!

It's famed for it's hearty 2 servings of steak with their secret sauce and a free flow of fries! This is their only main course, so the only choices you need to make are your appetisers and desserts.

L'Entrecote Singapore is beautifully located in one the several old peranakan buildings and amongst the pre-war Shophouses in Duxton Road. With it's European interiors and impeccable service, the entire experience was lovely!

The high glass ceiling of the restaurant [right above our table!] and lightbulbs in whisks lighting adds a whimsical touch.

We picked a couple of appetisers to share... or rather my friends shared the Escargots and I shared the Duck Foie Gras Terrine.

What was the most loveliest touch [in my opinion] was the welcome complimentary drink! I didn't exactly catch what it was - I think it was Vodka something... Although they did charge us an extortionate $9++ for still water.... always feel the charge for water in any place is an arrogant and obnoxious business tactic... but felt like it could be forgiven considering the $29++ for their perfectly  cooked medium rare steaks in large portions with free flow of fries were worth the total expenses.

All in all a wonderful restaurant, good food great service wonderful friends... Check them out!


Cheers,
E.L.

Saying Farewell

I guess it's official, and we should announce it here now... S.T. has left our company [as in our real-life job... not this blog] to embark on a new adventure! She's relocating with her boyfriend! To China! YAY for her!!!

Personally I'm so happy for her, I totally support this huge change because life is too short to hesitate at grand opportunities... And as much as she's whining about how she will not enjoy China, I truly hope she will learn to see how lucky she is!

So not only did S.T. left the company, we've been having big changes in manpower as more colleagues left as well... Including my wonderful Intern-then-became-part-timer-because-she-was-so-awesome colleague... Sam! She finally graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts [I went there too, and was her senior! How cool is that??] and got a full a time job at the Esplanade. She was a great help to us all at the company, and I've watched her grow and learn and totally know that she will rock at her new job!

Of course, this was a cause for a congratulatory celebration! And what other way can I do it but to send them off with a few hand-made goodness...

Farwell Card with hand-embroidered Bookmark with Sam's initials, hung a pretty ballerina charm onto it for the dancer in her...

I also made a her one of my Roman Leaves cuff bracelet - she was admiring it the last time I wore it.

 For S.T. I also made a hand embroidered bookmark with leaf charm hanging off it...

I also made her a pair of dangly earrings with a drawing of Cat Silhouettes! She's been asking for me to draw her a pair since forever and I finally made it! I ran out of those glossy resin-like stuff so I actually used scotch tape here as mod-podge kept bleeding my drawing [I had to redo it a million times because of mod-podge! So not trusting that silly stuff again!]

But of course scotch tape did not last long, water still managed to seep through, thankfully S.T. had resin to lay over it before any horrid damage was done!

The Cat silhouettes were all personally hand drawn, not a stencil, so if you look closely both of them look slightly different!

 Writing my goodbye messages... it was definitely a tear-jerking moment...

 Here are some packaging ideas, used a white paper bag, with paper doileys and silver ribbons... looks gorgeously romantic without the effort!

For our day of farewell, we went out to the ArtScience Museum to catch the Harry Potter and Warhol exhibit, and had an indulgent dessert at Max Brenner's after dinner... Maybe we'll fill you in on it in another post..

For S.T. fans out there, not to worry! She may be in a different part of the world from me now, but she will still be writing in now and then with updates on her new life over in China! That's the beauty of the internet!

[Let's just hope blogger isn't banned in China or something... hmmmm.... ]

 And I will be missing their companionship at work... Truly blessed to have met and made such wonderful friendships...

Cheers,
E.L.

Lace Skirt Obsession! ~ E.L.

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!

Cheers,
E.L.

DIY Sock cat! ~ E.L.

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!

I did not really know how to go about it, so I did a quick search online, and came across this really easy and great tutorial. Check it out here for the full how-to guide on making your own sock cat!

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!

Update: Check out where this sock-cat, Chester, is now! 

Cheers,
E.L.

S.T:Belated Birthday Post - 19 Feb

 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.

Caramel Sauce:
Taken from Simply Recipes, click here for ingredients, steps and super helpful photos!
The caramel somehow tastes more like butterscotch though, and keeps really well. I used leftovers for a pound cake!


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.


Creme Brulee:(to be prepared a day in advance)

Adapted from Delia Smith. Click here for the original

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.)




Have fun!
X.oX.O
S.T