DIY to Do: Hand Painted Tote Bag

Since "plastic bag free world" gets famous, you can spot tote bags everywhere. You can get it easily, even for free sometimes. I have several plain tote bags and decided to draw something on one of it. Why don't you (or your kids, yes, it's that easy) draw on yours too?

What you need:

• plain tote bag
• pencil and fabricolor pens

Instruction:

Decide what you want to draw on your tote bag. The simpler, the better, unless you're Picasso. I pick black and white Totoro since I only have black pens.

Put a magazine in the tote bag and start drawing. Use pencil for the sketch, and use technicolor pens for the outline & coloring.

Iron the tote bag to make the ink permanent & washable. And voila, it's done!

Life Lately: Doodling, Crocheting, Munching Food

It's been almost 2 months since I bought Samsung Galaxy Note II, and I've made some more drawings using Sketchbook Mobile X.

I posted this on my tumblr about Shinhwa because I talked too much about them on this blog.

Anyone recognize them?

Made this for SHCJ Indonesia's 3rd Anniversary tomorrow

Honestly I made a lot of drawings of Shinhwa...

Jay Chou, as requested by a friend who believes they'll somehow end up together

Cha Seung Won, my all-time-favorite Korean Actor

 

Addicted to this drama, The Master's Sun

I also participated in a drawing contest by Green Tea Graffiti and yesterday I received an email that I'm one of the winners. Yipeeeee! They'll send me the prize from Korea. I think they didn't know that I lived in Indonesia when they chose me, I'm crossing my fingers hoping they won't say, "You're too far come and get your own prize."

I also (finally) finished my second amigurumi.

The most difficult part is finding the suitable pot for the cactus. Accidentally saw this cute little bucket at Opus One and bought it without second thought. Anyone want the pattern for the cactus?

This bunny is my first amigurumi, you can find the pattern here.

And... food.

Full Monty & Thai Lemongrass Beef Salad

I went to Hummingbird Eatery, located at Jl. Progo no. 14, Bandung. It was actually not my first visit, but it was the first time I took some pics of what I ordered there, so as usual I'll share them on my blog.

I went there with my family to have brunch. The breakfast menus are served at 7-11am and we were there at 10.30am. We ordered Full Monty (a complete breakfast set) from the breakfast menus and some drink. Other dishes: crepes, salad, soup, grazing, main course, are served at 10.30am-10.30pm according to their website but the waitress told me that I have to wait until 10.40am to order, so we waited and then ordered Thai Lemongrass Beef Salad, Traditional Rendang Hitam, Tenderloin Steak, and Grilled Creamy Salmon. We left with full and happy stomach heart.

Life Lately

Hello! It's been a while since my last post. There are a lot of things I've been doing:

First, I took a Japanese Cooking Class by Chef Makoto Miyamaguchi from (of course) Japan. There were about 100 participants, and the chef taught us how to make Dragon Roll Sushi, Tempura, Tuna Tataki, and Chicken Katsu. The recipes were printed out before and distributed when we arrived. Then, the chef starts cooking, telling us what to do and not to do in Japanese language, accompanied by a translator, MC, and another Indonesian chef. I was busy writing and scribbling and doodling~

After watching the demonstration, we were divided into smaller groups and we tried to make the dish.

Sorry for the mess. Haha. I need to make them again soon before I forgot what I've learned.

Second, I have a lot of puppy time.

The dog at my workplace got puppies! They're so adorable. Instead of working I spend so much time playing with them. Keke.

Any name ideas for the cute puppies? ^^

Third, I've been making more caricature paintings for my friends...

My desk is such a mess~

And, I've been watching Shinhwa Broadcast and their other videos all the time... I'm not actually into Kpop and boy bands (I love Kdrama and Running Man though), but... it's Shinhwa. Shinhwa is just different. They live up to their name, Shinhwa, meaning Legend. They're the longest running Korean boy band, and I'm pretty sure they will always be because they promised to be together as Shinhwa until for.e.ver. Yes, forever.

It's been 15 years since they debuted in 1998, they never disband and they never change members. You can see how much they value each others, how much they love their fans (Shinhwa Changjo), and moreover, they're hilarious. And the more you know them, the more you'll love them. I really can't wait for their 11th album, The Classic. It's coming SOON! (May 16th)

*update: the teaser is out: watch here!

And this is a random photo of Jco and bunny hanging out in my back yard~

Have a nice weekend!

DIY Project #3: Amigurumi

Easter is coming! I learn to make amigurumi (Japanese crocheted stuffed toy), and for my first one, I decided to make this cute bunny!

Making amigurumi is not difficult. You only need to know these simple stitches: chain stitch (ch), single crochet stitch (sc), slip stitch (for the end of each row), increase & decrease (inc & dec) in single crochet (sc).

Even though the stiches are simple, amigurumi is pretty small, so you need to be careful in order not to miss any stitches. You can turn this doll into a keychain or phone charm, it also makes a cute gift.

You can find a lot of free amigurumi patterns online, and I’ll also share mine in this post. First, these are some things you need to make this bunny:

• White yarn 
• 1.6 mm crochet hook (no. 1), or larger if you want to make larger doll
• Needle 
• Black & white embroidery floss 
• 2 black beads for the eyes 
• Red colored pencil to make the cheek red
• Fiberfill 
• Dog slicker brush, to make the bunny fuzzy (optional). This can help you cover some messy stitches ;) 

Now, let's make each part of the bunny!

Head:
R1: 2 ch, 6 sc in second ch from hook
R2: 2 sc in each stitch around
R3: 1 sc , 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R4: 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R5: 3 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R6: 4 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R7: 5 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R8: 6 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R9-13: sc around, you can add several rows to make the head longer
R14: 1 dec, 6 sc, repeat 6 times
R15: 1 dec, 5 sc, repeat 6 times
R16: 1 dec, 4 sc, repeat 6 times
R17: 1 dec, 3 sc, repeat 6 times

This is the time to brush the head if you want to make a fuzzy bunny.

Attach the eyes and embroider the nose. Stuff fiberfill into the head.

R18: 1 dec, 2 sc, repeat 6 times

R19: 1 dec, 1 sc, repeat 6 times

Continue to stuff the head.
R20: 6 dec

Ears (make 2):

R1: Ch 2, 7sc in second ch from hook.
R2: sc around
R3: 2sc in first stitch, 6sc
R4: 2sc in first stitch, 7sc
R5: 2sc in first stitch, 8sc
R6: 2sc in first stitch, 9sc
R7: 2sc in first stitch, 10sc
R8-13:sc around
R14: 1 dec, 10 sc
R15: 1 dec, 9 sc
R16-...:sc around until desired length
Brush your ears and attach to the head.

Body:
R1: 2 ch, 6 sc in second ch from hook
R2: 2 sc in each stitch around
R3: 1 sc , 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R4: 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R5-9: sc around, you can add several rows to make the head longer
Brush and stuff the fiberfill
R10: 1 dec, 2 sc, repeat 6 times
Continue to stuff the body.
R11: 1 dec, 1 sc, repeat 6 times
R12: 6 dec 

Arms (make 2):
R1: Ch 2, 7sc in second ch from hook.
R2: sc around
R3: 2sc in first stitch, 6sc
R4: 2sc in first stitch, 7sc
R5: 2sc in first stitch, 8sc
R6-8: sc around
R9: 1 dec, 9 sc
R10: 1 dec, 8 sc
R11-...: sc around until desired length. 

Brush and stuff. Attach to the part where the body meets the head.

Legs (make 2):
R1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second ch from hook.
R2: 2 sc in each sc around.
R3: 2 sc, 1 sc inc, in each sc around
R4-6: sc around
R7-...: 1 dec, 1 sc, repeat 6 times, until desired length
Brush and stuff the legs, attach to bottom of body.

Tail: make a small pom-pom and attach to the back of the body.

Sew all part together. Adore your bunny and take some pictures ^^

Good luck!

DIY Project #2: Dog Shirt

Several days ago I welcomed a new dog into my life. Say Hello to JCo, my cute Pomeranian!

His previous owner trimmed his hair. He seems cold, so I tried to make a shirt for him. What do you think?

Making a shirt for your dog is very easy and it takes only about an hour. I didn’t use sewing machine. If you do, I’m sure it’ll be done faster. I’m not really good at sewing, but simple stitches work just fine for this.

I was lazy to measure JCo first, so the shirt is a little too big. If you want to make this, don’t forget to measure your dog first and then scale the pattern.

Good luck!

(Patterns are adapted from here)

*Update: Hello again! I've grown my fur! ^^

DIY Project #1: Hand Painted Mug

About two weeks ago I made a “things-to-do-in-2013” list. I made it to keep me motivated because I’ve been bored with my routine lately. One of the things to do this year is to make 5 things from my “things-to-make” list (Yes, I made a lot of lists). I have saved some picture and DIY projects from a lot of awesome blogs around the world and promised myself to make them when I have the time.

The difficult thing about living in my city is there are a lot of things I need but unavailable. Luckily last week my friend went to Singapore so I asked him to help me buy some things I need.

Actually I wanted to buy a porcelain marker, but he couldn’t find it. It turned out that thing is not only hard to find in Bandung but also in Singapore. But he found this “Uni Super Ink Marker”, which is a permanent marker, and it’s written there: “Writes on all kinds of surface. For use on: fabric, craft tape, plastic, glass, metal, paper, etc.” Close enough. And it's pretty cheap: 1.95 SGD.

And then using this marker, I made a hand painted mug...

Unfortunately, the ink was not permanent on porcelain. I tried to scratch it and the ink came off. I painted it again and put it on my desk…

I think baking the mug for some time in the oven will make the ink more permanent, I should try it soon~ I'll let you know the result! But if you want to make yours I suggest you to use a porcelain marker from Pebeo.

How To Make Nutella at Home

Who loves Nutella? Well, the right question is: who doesn't love Nutella?
Everybody loves Nutella, own Nutella including me. And it turns out that we can make our Nutella at home, and it's pretty easy :)

My friend found the recipe on 9gag (which is a pretty weird site to find recipe) and shared with me..
So, good luck trying!

POP ART

I'm trying to be productive today. Haha. I drew my favorite actors, again. I hope you don't get bored.
Yes, yes, Cha Seung Won and So Ji Sub. But I'm trying something new: POP ART. I never tried this before, so I hope they look okay. (or maybe great? :) Greedy me!)

I made the paintings by looking at these pictures ~

Cha Seung Won for High Cut Magazine

So Ji Sub for VIVIEN

I made them black and white using a black paint on a concord paper ~

After that, I use Corel PhotoPaint to edit the pictures, and TADAAA!!!

Cha Seung Won

So Ji Sub

What do you think? :)

Trying something new is always an exciting experience!

Easy Marshmallow Recipe

This is very easy... and yummy! Try this!

What you need:

crispy rice cereal

semi-sweet or dark choco chips

marshmallow

What you need to do:

• Put a bowl of choco chips in microwave, heat for 1 minute. Stir. Heat again for 2 minutes. Stir again, it should melt completely
• Dip the marshmallow to melted chocolate, and then to a bowl of crispy rice.
• Arrange on a microwavable plate. Heat in the microwave for about 25 - 30 seconds. The marshmallow will get bigger (and believe me, the process is fun to watch)

• Keep in a refrigerator! Enjoy!

 

Hotteok, Korean Stuffed Pancake

Yesterday I tried to make Hotteok, Korean stuffed pancake. Actually I never ate that thing before, so I don’t even know how it really tastes. However, out of curiosity, I bought the pre-mix one in supermarket near my house (it’s Lotte Mart), Beksul Korean Stuffed Pancake Mix. The price is affordable, about IDR 30000. One package makes 10 pancakes.

The instruction is in Korean. I don’t speak nor read Korean language, so I (of course) googled it. Ha.

It’s quite easy to make hotteok. And this one doesn’t need fermentation. The instant yeast does all the magic. Here’s what’s left for you to do:

1.  Dissolve the instant yeast in 250 ml of warm water (45-50^oC) in a bowl.
2. Add the pancake mix. Knead it well until it looks like bread dough.
3.  Divide the dough into 10 smaller portions.
4. Take one, flatten it in your palm, put the filling in the center of the flatten dough, close it up. The dough is a little sticky, so a little vegetable oil may help.

Here they are. After the forth step, they’ll look like this. (Sorry I forgot to take the picture for step 1 to 3 XD)

After that, use a non-sticky pan to fry them. You can add a little vegetable oil or margarine for the first one, but you won’t need it for the next ones because they won’t be as sticky as the first one. Use wooden spatula to flatten the dough while you fry the pancake.

Don’t apply too much power to flatten it, because then it will be like this: (Boo me)

Each side takes about 2 minutes. Done!

Overall it tastes okay, but I think I made it to thick, so it’s a little hard to chew. Ugh. You can try to add more nuts or raisin to the filling, I think it’ll taste better. And don’t eat too much. One makes your stomach full enough. You can put the rest of the dough in the fridge for the next day, or put it in the freezer if you want to keep it longer. You will just need to defroze it later. So, have a better luck trying!