Tuesday, January 31, 2012

MeiJo's JOY: Easy Puffy Flower - Tutorial

MeiJo's JOY: Easy Puffy Flower - Tutorial: Hi again! It's soooo good to see you all again ... miss you are sooo much!!! Today is the 8th day of Chinese New Year and guess what.....

Snakey Damask

Wall hanging.

I wanted cheap stuff because I'm not a pro and half the time I end up in disastrous projects!


So I head out one day, get myself a pre-streched canvas board. It was wrapped in plastic. I decided to move on with the project by leaving the packing plastic on there so that just in case I end up in a mess atleast the canvas underneath would be brand new ;)


Printed a damask image from google on A4 sized paper and cut it into random sized stripes. (I used my kitchen knife!! did not have a cutter ! ) Arranged it on top of snake print papier mache paper. The gold card paper was the exact size as the canvas. I used glue to adhere it to the canvas. 

To add a finishing detail I used green ribbon to 'frame' the canvas as it was looking untidy. Just glued the ribbon on the edges.

Red Ambiance

Just adding a bright red sheet on the table brought everything to life. It was one of those disposable sheets you get at the Euro shop. Oh and not to forget the cutlery holder I made out of a can. (Bottom right..wish I had taken better pictures)

Elmo Banners

These were actually cup-cake banners..but while I was preparing the food I omitted the cupcakes as the cake was enough for a few people (intended to be taken to the old-home at first but they refused to accept food items)

I had this pretty blue card paper which I cut into rounds..I printed a sheet full of Elmo faces, used scalloped scissors to trim and pasted each one on the rounds.

Taped them onto toothpicks and done. So much better than those expensive themed party decorations!

Pom-Poms


Tissue paper pom-poms! 
I made these Red and White pom-poms to add to the decor. My son just loved them. The White one is still hanging on the centre light and every morning he wakes up he points his tiny lil finger at it and say pao-pao ! These were so easy-peasy to make.Martha's Stewart's-Pom Pom

Tiered snack stand

I do not have a clear picture of the tiered stand I made..but if you can see it under the sandwiches I used green and Red plastic plates they had at 50% after Christmas. I stacked them using hot glue and candle stands.

Someone is 1

My baby's first Birthday! He was born on 31st December with lots of fireworks in the background. What an entry! We had a small family party but I made sure that I had a theme that my tiny man would notice too. There was just one thing that would work  ELMO theme!
Elmo Cake
I looked up for ideas with Elmo on the web but most of them suggested using the Elmo face cake tin (Wilton's) Those are not locally available here and are too expensive anyway to be ordered on amazon with shipping costs and all. I had to find out an alternative.

I ended up with making my own stencil for Elmo face. Placed it on a square cake that I had baked as a trial for the sheet cake. I cut around the shape with a sharp knife. For the smile I marked it with a toothpick. I forgot to mark the nose!! Had to put orange paper at the end.

Finally I put that cake on top of my 2layers or sheet cake. Iced it with Butter Cream icing. To create the furry effect I used the flower tip of the icing bag and for the smile I spread some icing and then flattened it out with a teaspoon dipped in warm water.

Complementing clutch

I had this black case laying in my cupboard for ages..it was one of those complimentary things that you get with your purchase. It was too thin and lifeless to be carried as a clutch. I saw a simple tutorial somewhere on the web (Sorry I would have given credit, but I did not know this was going on a blog so I forgot where I saw this tutorial)

So one fine day I decided 'enough with the big black baby bag' I want to carrry something to match my dress. I digged into the cupboard and found nothing that matched.


Plugged the glue-gun and started adding these petals on the black case..One hour later I was carrying it at a friends' dinner party!

 
                                                                    Christian Louboutin’s petal Clutch it costs about $1,495

Foot Stool Redo

See this ugly betty? This was lying in our basement..abandoned by its previous owners.

 Tada! My new footstool ! The zebra print was a 1euro cushion cover..I picked out its stitches and hot glued it onto the seat.

On the Street

This is no David Blaine..but he is doing nothing less than street Magic! I stood there wondering...and wondering. We were at the city centre square in Frankfurt..My conclusion was that the stick has an extension going through his sleeve, running down the back and ending up in a seat. What do you say??

Jalebi

Jalebi !

These yummy swirls made with flour and either yellow or orange colour are irresistible! They are quickly dipped into a simmering pot of sugar and cardamom syrup to bring out the taste and the glaze.

  1. 1 cup flour
  2. 1 leveled teaspoon baking powder
  3. 2 pinches yellow/orange food colour
  4. 3 cups sugar
  5. 1 and a half cup water
  • Make sugar syrup. Boil the water with sugar and let it simmer for sometime.
  • Mix flour+colour+COLD water (enough to make a creamy..glue like batter)
  • Use a piping bag or an old ketchup squeezy bottle to make the swirls..you have to be quick in your hand movement to make nice shapes.
  •  Fry in clean oil at medium high until golden
  • When done directly put the Jalebis into the simmering syrup. Let them stay there only for 2 mins. You don't want them to get soggy.
  • DO NOT COVER the warm jalebis after dishing out.
  • Serve warm or at room temperature.Enjoy soft and lightly crisp Jalebis.
  • Traditionally served in a cereal bowl with hot milk.


Just for Fun: There is a saying in Urdu language 'Jalebi ki tarha seedha' which can be translated as 'as ironically simple as the swirls of the Jalebi' ..said when some person is pretending to be innocent when infact they are not as simple as they seem..

Vintage coasters

*The Graphics Fairy LLC*

 Made these simple 1 Euro cork coasters by using these pretty images from the vintage clip art I found at the Graphics Fairy Blog. They made a nice little present.

Jumble Berry

Nigella's Jumble Berry Ice-Cream Cake.
Little Dumbo was on his way and Mama Jumbo was always looking for new and SWEET things to try. I spent the entire 3rd trimester watching Nigella Lawson on Youtube till late beyond midnight. The way she creeped out of her bed to eat the left over double chocolate cake with all the lights turned off..inspired me to do the same! I need to learn that its just a TV show!! Real people can get real fat if they do the same! Too late :(

Schwarzwald Kuchen

Black Forest Cake..Back in the 90's in my home country the ultimate baked luxuries were Pineapple cakes or black forest cakes. If you had to visit somebody's home these two were the only highly valued options one had to buy at a bakery. It was symbolic and meant that the visitor is showing respect to the host. The Germans off course did not intend anything of the sort...So my husband who grew up in the 80s-and the 90s with little interest in baking thought for so many years that the world is divided into just  two types of cakes...you guessed it. I made this for our first Wedding anniversary just last year:)

Fishy Snack

On a cold and frosty day fried fish with some Mint Chutney are the perfect snack/meal.I'm not a great sea-food fan but Fish Pakora as we call these are always nice to have once in a while.

New Comer

Having to write this first ever post in blogland I have a little sinking feeling going on inside me..just like I used to feel whenever I had a new school to go and the teacher would introduce me to the class as 'the new comer' (evil giggles from the class echoing in my mind) Well..l know its not that bad out here! I have made this blog sort of accidentally as I was trying to join a blog and instead I ended up having my own in order to join that blog (makes sense?)

I do not have a stated agenda for creating this blog..It is going to be just whatever I feel is post-worthy and needs sharing!