a salem-mint reminder.

i usually don't post about weddings. but this time, i just have to. look what i found via once wed, hannah & kyle's wedding.oh, perfection. note to myself: make a similar one for our 10th anniversary, then another one on our 25th. i could never get enough of this!

our new old side lamp.

my husband kept his grandma's side lamps for years now. and just recently, i was inspired to reupholster them!
first, i just had to paint the lamp stands white. then, i used one of my batik fabric to cover the lamp shades.
much more better, or dare i say, amazing.

round paper fan.

i prepared these DIY round paper fans made from pale pink and light grey papers and ice cream sticks to thank the guests for coming. i put them in a box near the entrance so anyone could take one before heading out or in. the guests (mostly the big ones, though) love them!
i promise you this is my last post about yuara's birthday party. oh, surely hope am not boring you! look forward for my other DIY projects starting tomorrow. can't wait, can't wait. see you real soon.

party people.

here are our guests, dear families and close friends. well, some of them anyway. left: my in-law. right: daddy, little bro, and moi.

top: my college girls. bottom: his high school friends.
left: tara and ilen. right: my childhood buddies. i can only assume that everyone was having a good time!

the event.

for yuara's dots party, we had wall drawing, face painting, bubble blowing, and block building. oh, i also prepared kids play dough, board games, and the famous ball pool - i tried to make the little invitees entertained at all times. anyway, this is how the party looked like.
yes, we had balloons floating and chocolate fountain, my best friends lent it to us for the whole day. thanks tia and tobi!
most of the party pictures were taken by my brother, ilen budiristio, and his girlfriend, tara amelz (including the first photo on the left from party snacks, both from thank you, and a couple from party people).

thank you.

for coming to yuara's dots party. for the birthday gifts. for the lovely wishes. for simply remembering. and of course, for enduring my talk about the event :P it was a wonderful experience. thanks again.

flawless.

our family's perfect moment together.

captured by my brother, ilen budiristio.

party snacks.

to match the theme, i tried my best to serve round shaped cakes and snacks (please exclude the brownies, people!). i even had the hydrangeas, see?

ok, now would somebody give me an A for effort, please? ;)

mustache on a stick.

ever since i laid my eyes on smitten sticks' pink mustaches and blue lips, i was... well, smitten.they're just adorable. so i vowed to make some myself.

and tadaa, i did. perfect for photo props or party favors.

photo booth.

i transformed a corner at our house into one self service photo booth.
that was why i put along this printed instruction.
then, we tried it ourselves!

pretty cute, isn't it?

3-D birthday cake.

i found another master of cakes and cupcakes. this time, she's reachable! eventhough vin's cakes is bandung based (2-3 hours from jakarta where i live), the cake came early on D-day. plus, she was also terribly kind to accept my last minute order - my best friend who was supposed to bake yuara's birthday cupcakes had a 'force majeure'. so now it's official, vin's cakes is my new favorite cake maker! here are the before and after pictures of how tasty the mickey mouse clubhouse cake was. when the party ended, this was the leftover! what can i say, yuara's birthday cake was a huge success.

dress code: dots.

i was having a hard time finding some dotted tee for boys. so i made this velcro bib instead. i added number 1 detail to show it's his first birthday :)

how will i be able to say no to this? his ultimate puppy look.

the party is over.

so it's blogging time! am starting with yuara's invitation. i made the concept and tara amelz did the photoshop. i love how it turned out - although the one you see here is slightly different than the actual version.
simple yet fun. the invi for my boy's dots party.

party favors.

thank goodness i never throw away any old food jar and keep them safe in the back of my cupboard. i knew one day they would come in handy. all i needed to do was decorate the lid with some leftover fabric and squeeze in my favorite mint candy sticks.

oh goodie.

Remember the goodie bags that i previously ordered? i wrapped them up in white paper cuppies and jam jar covers.

i also put 'read before you eat' note so no one would miss yuara's personalised M&M's. oh, this is too exciting!

pennant banner.

this is super duper easy! since am such a lazy mom, i didn't even use the sewing machine. i just doubletaped my flags altogether. i think you can't really see the difference ;)paper boat garland? check. pennant banner? check. will take a good photo of the goodies too. so, stay tuned.

yuara's early birthday present.

is from yani (aka my mom). it's this baby pool that we filled with plastic ball from papa ilend (aka my little brother). yuara was (and still is) ecstatic!
just look at him. awww.

paper boat garland.

since both of us come from big families (lots of cousins and a whole lot more of nieces and nephews), the small birthday party we intended to make turns out to be slightly bigger. am not complaining though, but this also means more decoration! so i planned to decorate the house with paper boat garlands. but not the whole house, because i also made some pennant banners (more on that to come) and bought plenty of balloons. effortlessly cute. i think they will go perfectly with all the snacks and kids activities.

custom tees.

i always have a soft spot for customized shirts.
the ones from penampilan are for babies, and they can spell out the parents' names too. wonderful for a narcissist like me :P

what a life.

a girlfriend from my previous workplace buzzed me last night. she and i got close when we were sent to paris for covering some event. anyway, she asked one very interesting question: if you could send a letter to your ten years younger self, what would it say? i thought for a minute then answered: 'dear amesh, life turns out great. never change yourself!'
my life IS great and am thankful for that. i wonder now why i was so worried back then. this photo was taken under the eiffel tower by her, intan iskandar.

one fresh weekend.

needs one fresh flower arrangement. how fresh you ask?
i filled my big glass vase with water and scattered flowers. next, i put one sliced watermelon on top of the vase as a medium to stab some flower stem. niiice! so nice that it was featured in CosmoGIRL! years ago. the photo itself was taken by my good friend Adi Nugroho.

the bath tub chaise.

do i live under a big rock all this time?
i didn't know a bath tub chaise named max exists and he was born in 2007! oh my.

tulle layered necklace.

i ordered this fancy necklace from eclectica (i always wonder when tara will start her own shop at etsy).
wearing it makes me want to do a plie in tutu skirt. after all, am still a little girl in ballet shoes at heart :)

batik cushion covers.

as promised, i turned my batik print fabrics into cushion covers.
don't they look cute?

cable spool table.

last month, my husband and i found this cable spool on a sidewalk in front of some abandoned house. so we took it inside our small car and drove home.

last weekend, i asked our handyman to help us make a new coffee table out of it. at first, he just stood there and looked at me. so i showed him my inspiration, it's a mad mission's work from design*sponge. i assured him that it could be done :)

he gained a bit of confidence, pulled out sharp metal staples, added gypsum boards to cover the spool's top and bottom, painted black the whole thing, and glued on our leftover wallpaper. now here it is, our new cable spool table.

the fabric hunter.

i don't know why i can never resist a good printed fabric. everytime i go to the fabric market for something, i always come home with more! sigh. for the sake of cutting my shopping expenses, i wish i was a textile designer - like these three.

design by umbrella prints.

designs by ink & spindle.

design by skinny laminx.

but for now, i think being a fabric hunter will have to suffice. especially when am always accompanied by my handsome assistant who now knows how to point and ask, "apa itu?" (translation: what's that?). here is a picture of him while we were fabric hunting for his dots birthday party.

three cakestands.

i didn't know where to put yuara's future birthday cupcakes until i came across some lovely recycled cakestand from design*sponge. inspired, i tried to make them over the weekend. but instead of candle holders or thin vases, i use my ice cream glasses. i think they look nicer.
oh wow, love them! simple project, beautiful result, and one very happy crafter.

sunday brunch.

this is how our today's brunch look like.

not that pretty. but it is definitely yummy! mashed potatoes with chicken sandwich filling. the basic ingredients are similar to pasta in chicken cream sauce, only a little bit heavier.

falling for fall.

eventhough we don't have fall season here in indonesia, it's actually my favorite! back when i lived in paris, i always enjoyed the only time of the year when all the leaves turning orange and falling from the trees. hmmm. anyway, these two are my lovely reminder of how much i love autumn.

this autumnal rosette fascinator is from etsy seller giantdwarf and was a part of the anthropologie catalog.

this paper ribcage with heart (perfect as a halloween card) is from etsy seller xlessthan3 and was seen in the new york times.

FIY.

aka fold it yourself. yep, just fold les chaussons pod into your wearable shoes and la chaise pano into your everyday chair.

why didn't i think of this? thank god for studio lo.