Splendid Spend: I can Ikat!

I've been a big fan of Bungalow 300 on the internet for quite some time now.  I especially loved their Ikat Pillows Collection last year.  Not sure if they are still available at Dimensione if not then you would have to score them their Muntinglupa showroom.  I posted a few of my favorites from their site here but the whole collection can be viewed from this link.

 

 

At Php795.00 each, I had to hold back for a while before grabbing any of these babies.  So when an opportunity came to add a pop of Ikat at home for Php25 per item, I jumped at the chance. So now, spot the Ikat! :)

Foot rugs!!!! Php 100 for 4 pieces!!! From Divilandia Sta. Elena St. vendors.  

Here's a closer shot. :)

Super love! Splendid way to spend Php100. :) Really mababaw post but bear with me.  Standing on these ikat bits gives me a bit of a happy boost when I have to cook, wash the dishes or refill the pitchers with water.

brooch bouquet: summer!

This one is flying to Cebu!!! I love the mix of colors and materials of this bouquet.  Not yet done as I have yet to assemble the handle and the "foliage" or fabric base to cover up all the wires but I am loving it already! 

My vignette below accompanies the Summer bouquet really well!

Lamp and  clear glass jar from Metro Market Market, clock and stripped black and white hand towel turned table cloth from Robinson's Department Store,  green tall jar, beige and pink ceramic flowers from Uniwide, elaphants with intertwined trunks from Mandaue Foam, "You make me happy" by Swerling and Lazar from Booksale and "Happy Chic Colors" by Jonathan Adler from National Bookstore.  All atop the Ikea White Lack table from True Value. :) 

So, I Never Got to Show You the Tree

A week after I took the tree down, I finally got time to post pictures! Hehehe

As I told you before, I was hell bent on getting a while tree...

Tada!  We went aqua and red so that it will go with the rest of the living room.

I had to scour Divi for the most affordable white tree that had leaves that did not look like bottle brushes.  I found one along Soler St. behind the new 168 Soler - Recto wing.  7 ft tall tree set me back for Php 4200

We put in two strings of white LED Christmas lights.  This I bought at SM, I'm a bit wary of buying electrical items at rock bottom divilandia prices as this could be a source fire should there be any faulty wires. :/

We put in the red ornaments first, some of these were from Divi along Tabora and Soler and some from Uniwide.  The balls were all candy apple red but had different finishes.  I also scored a couple of clear balls with gold and silver glitter designs.  

 

Then we started to put in the aqua details, the ones here on the tree came from Uniwide and the aqua gifts and candy ornaments came from 168.  The additional aqua and disco mirror balls that you will see are from my Mom since they went back to green and bronze for their tree.  And I'm pretty much the only one there who wanted that much sparkle in the tree! Hahaha

Last we put in the red ball garland and the wire glitter star topper both of which also came from Divi.  Under the tree I put in a red and white snowflake felt tree skirt, a major score at Php150.00 from Uniwide!!!! :D 

Right before a house party, I put in a DIY sign made from white board, red construction paper, aqua glitter and lace paper liners that can be used on cake plates! :D

Ooohhh honorable mention!  Our mini tree from Gourdo's! :D  Assembled by the boys next door, Miggy, Gabby and Rafa! :)

So in the end we still got a little pop of green. :)  I looooove the white as it makes the ornaments pop like a magic dragon.  But I realized it's still going to take a whole lot of ornaments to cover more of that white and give depth to our tree.  Since the tree is white and it is seriously one solid color.   Unlike the green ones where there happens to be different shades of green in each tree and since green is darker, the mere presence of fairy lights gives it additional dimension.  Oh well there's always next Christmas! :D

Love is the answer

It's been a while since I posted about weddings and went on a Same Day Edit (SDE) marathon.  God knows (and my then fiance knows!) I lost a good amount of sleep watching wedding videos.  And warning, this video made me cry.

I love a good love story but this one told a great love story.  For me this video and this marriage is amazing not because they are different - physically different from other couples, from each other, or that they have problems that are different from other couples.  Their vows unknowingly posed a question from a man and also garnered an answer from a woman.  

Love is a dynamic entity that can serve many different purposes for different people.  This story is amazing because it told a side of what love could be - an answer, a woman who is the answer to a man's life long question to God and a solution that can solve the problems that they encounter every day.

"Why?"
"I believe I am the helpmate God designed especially for you..."

The story of Mara and Elo as told by Jason Magbanua.  Special thanks to weddings @ work, if it wasn't for the 12 top weddings of 2012, I wouldn't have the chance to know about this beautiful story of love and answers.



Love is the answer.



Mara and Elo: Same Day Edit from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

New Year New Life

OK I promise this will be the last title with repeating words. (for now hahaha)

feel free to download this calendar via hello, cuteness!

After one year and five months of wedded bliss.  I know you're probably thinking that I felt my world drastically change last year.  However, since we spent most of these times living at my room at my mom's house and at my in law's place, we felt that we did not have to adjust that much.  There is something about lived in homes.  There is a system to each family, schedules and routines that vary from household to household.  Where you put things, where you get things.  We just had to abide by these systems.  Now that we are together in our own home, it's taking some time for us to adjust and to develop our own system for our home.

That's why I love this list from apartment therapy!  It gives me a sense of control over what to do everyday.  Unlike other people, I actually plan to start January 7, 2013.  Why wait for one more week?  Officially that's when I return to work. And also because my crazy friends are coming on January 5 for our Christmas/New Year party so after all that mayhem that at least I have a clean slate to work with. :)  So here's a 20 minute clean up schedule for 30 days.  They actually recommended that you have a cleaning sound track (this really helps!) and also use a timer so that you can actually see how much time you have left to do a particular task. 

1. Surface clean living room and kitchen (pick up stray items, dust, sweep, vacuum)

2. Clean bathrooms (toilets, showers, floors, walls, mirrors)

3. Surface clean bedrooms (put away toys, clothes, dust)

4. Surface clean "extra" rooms (basement, office, play room)

5. Surface clean living room and kitchen

6. Clean bathrooms

7. Clean all interior windows (white vinegar and newspaper works great and is cheap!)

8. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house (don't forget stairs)

9. Surface clean bedrooms

10. Deep clean living room (mirrors, baseboards, dust artwork)

11. Clean bathrooms

12. Clean out closets (hang up clothes, mittens, jackets, hats)

13. Surface clean "extra" rooms

14. Deep clean bedrooms (organize drawers, check under bed, tidy closet, dust artwork, fans, lights, mop)

15. Surface clean living room and kitchen

16. Deep clean bathrooms (clean inside drawers, inside of trash cans, tops of mirrors, tile, mop)

17. Clean all door knobs, phones, entertainment equipment (remote controls), switch plates, banisters and other things that are repeatedly touched.

18. Clean out the refrigerator, take stock of food, organize pantry

19. Clean entryway, sweep porch (if you have one), clean out car (because they're often our home away from home)

20. Surface clean living room and kitchen

21. Surface clean bathrooms

22. Surface clean bedrooms

23. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house

24. Clean linen closet, straighten towels, sheets or regular closet if not applicable

25. Surface clean living room and kitchen

26. Deep clean kitchen (scrub appliances, wash trash cans, base boards, wipe down and straighten cabinets)

27. Surface clean bathrooms

28. Surfaces clean bedrooms

29. Clean one item you've been meaning to get to and haven't (deep clean your stove, wipe down all light fixtures, tackle a particularly unruly area)

30. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house

In our case, we also have to add a couple of other tasks that we have to do daily.  Laundry was suggested to be done daily but I don't think that's feasible, too much water and energy consumption me thinks.  There are two more chores that we have to do daily which is watering the plants and releasing the Cracken este walking the dog pala.  Will introduce the giant teddy bear to you in a few days.  :)  If you want to see the whole article on cleaning schedules, you can check it here.