travels ! highlights in Hong Kong

eats ! my 2nd cupcake

 

I guess you can tell i'm really digging the cupcake thing. For my friend's birthday, i decided to make her something with Reese's Pieces since it's one of her favorite... and mine. 

Method for vanilla cupcakes

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line your muffin pan with paper cases.

Step 2:

Mix the caster sugar and eggs. And beat. 

Step 3:

Add the butter, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, flour and sour cream. Beat it all together. 

Step 4:

Spoon the mixture into the prepared paper muffin cases. And add the Reese's Pieces.

Step 5:

Bake for 20 minutes at 170C. When its golden, take it out and let it cool. 

Method for the Nutella icing

Step 1:

Beat butter until its smooth. Add the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until combined, adding however amount of Nutella you'd like.

The best part

When the cupcakes have cooled, spread the icing on top. And sprinkle on some Reese's Pieces. Now, you're done.

There are a lot of different types of ingredients and methods out there but this is the one i was taught...and for someone that doesn't like cupcakes, this one wasn't as sweet as the others i've tasted. So definitely a favorite in my book. Simple and subtle.

eats ! my first cupcake

I've never bothered to bake in the past... and some people find it weird that i'm even taking it up now since i don't even like cupcakes. But there's something satisfying in trying to get the ingredients just right and watching it rise in the oven.

As my last new project of 2012, i decided to finally give it a go. So, i asked my friend to help show me how... and 4 tries later, i'd have to say i'm hooked.

I wanted my first cupcake to be the Nutella Cupcake with Nutella Buttercream.

I won't go into the details and ingredients... mainly because i'm still trying to figure it out. So, here's how mine came along. 

Right out of the oven... i would have loved it if it puffed up a bit more. Oh well, still practicing.

i haven't tried doing any of those fancy decorating techniques just yet.

So, for my first try, i thought it came out prettier and yummier then i expected... coming from me. I have my friend to thank for that. Thanks Nadia.

And as long as he likes it...
then i'm happy.


Needless to say... i'm still trying. And still enjoying trying. So stay tune for the next adventures of this amateur baker.

DIY ! acrylic on canvas

My friend Khaylis had just recently renovated her home. And since it looked like she was spending loads of her time cooking and baking, i wanted to give her a little something for her new kitchen.

Now, i can't draw. Never been that great at it. And when it comes to painting... err, even worse. But i've always wanted to. So, i had to learn to improvise.

This is all you'll need. And a sample of an image you'd like to replicate.

I can't draw... but i'm pretty good at either tracing or copying. So, after you've found an image you like and you've replicated it onto your canvas, just go over it with black acrylic.

As for the painting bit... this was how mine turned out.

See what i did there? If you suck at painting like i do... turn it into an 'abstract art' and just have fun with it.

You can either just splatter it on or make water mark drops.

And since i had made stamps from the previous project ...i thought i'd use it for Khaylis' present too. But this time, as a wrapping paper.

It was a pretty simple project but something that i had always wanted to give a try. I think it makes for a great personalised present and simple enough for just about anybody. Even beginners like me. 

DIY ! printed bow tie for the birthday boy

This printed bow tie had to be one of the most challenging DIY i ever took up. Don't get me wrong... the actual project only takes about 2 days... but with finding the right fabric colour, coming up with the best method for printing, figuring out how to make it adjustable and only working on it after my day job; i realized it was more time consuming than i had imagined in my head.

Phase One | The Idea 

I knew exactly what i wanted to print. The original pattern was suppose to look like this:

Why the three of us? Well, first let me introduce you to the birthday boy. Ahmad has been my dearest friend since high school, ever since i jumped him in the hallways. And Yan, i've known her since we use to play dress up when we were 7. After hours of choir practice together, months of dealing with a mutual unstable friend of ours, and hanging out at countless hip-hop gigs; we three had naturally grew a special bond. Starting out with bitching about our classmates and crazy clubbing days during our uni, to psyching each other out on our first steps into our careers and finally to talks about settling down; we three had managed to survive and been there for one another during our young adulthood... So, it would've only been complete if all three of us were a part of Ahmad's 31st birthday gift.

Now that i had an idea for the print, i needed to learn how to make a bow tie since Ahmad, the daring fashionista among the three of us, had a flair for them. For that, A Beautiful Mess had a really simple tutorial. So, i had the big idea... next, i just had to get started.

Phase Two | Trial & Error

So, i thought i'd give transfer paper a shot. That went horribly wrong because the printed area looked like plastic. Since that didn't work, next i tried the medium gel transfer method. That didn't work either... because only some parts of the area got printed. My last option was to actually get the illustration made into stamps. But i knew there had to be a another DIY method i could use.

After days and weeks... and months of figuring it out, i finally decided to make my own stamps. The only drawback of this was that i couldn't make it as detailed as i wanted to. And so, it ended up looking like this instead:

Now, this is when the project really got started.

Phase Three | Making the Stamps

Phase 4 | Making the Bow

Check out A Beautiful Mess for a more detailed tutorial. I made mine with a hook and adjustable straps. But basically, you can follow these steps.

 

Photo courtesy of A Beautiful Mess

Finally 

And there you have it, i finally had my bow tie.

Made a lil card to go with it.

And after 8 months of waiting, the birthday boy finally got his birthday present.

Sorry for the wait babe. I hope you like it...

It was definitely a fun gift to work on... even with the sleepless nights and nicks from the carving tools. Since Ahmad loves wearing bow ties... and looks awesome wearing them, i knew i definitely had to get it just right.

Give it a shot for that special guy in your life... 

Be free. 

be happy. say good morning. be curious. ask more. listen more. learn. be tolerant. 

be patient. scream. make noise. walk more. don't hate. smile. cry when you have to. 

listen to the sounds of nature. stay healthy. hug people (and trees). fulfill your dreams. 

take care of animals. take a chance. dance more. believe in magic. pay attention . recycle. 

be rebellious (in the good sense). laugh. love. don't waste water. kiss more.

say thanks. say please. 

enjoy music. enjoy silence. 

enjoy life. 

have a wonderful 2013!

- Taken from a far friend of mine. Thanks Maria Eid Ceneviva