Vera's 4th birthday at Abrakadoodle

Vera recently turned 4 year old. This year, we decided to do something special by holding her theme party at her favourite art school, Abrakadoodle.

Vera has been attending Abrakadoodle's art program for the past half year. There are currently 2 branches operating in Singapore - one at Cluny Court @ Bukit Timah and the other at the Playground@Bigsplash (aka former East Coast Big Splash). The school offers an art education program that is regarded to be one of the most popular creativity programs in the world. Its education curriculum was developed by artists and educators that exceeds US National Standards for Visual Arts Education.
Each offers at Abrakadoodle offers a unique experience that often begins with an introduction to a new artist and his technique. The class itself usually takes an hour with the last 15 mins allocated to "Gallery Time" when the kids will have a chance to explain to the class and parents what he/she has done. Having a relatively shy child (especially in front of strangers), I found this to be extremely beneficial in building up Vera's confidence as she learns to speak up in a classroom environment that includes adults. What I also love is the fact that the art work completed in each class is taken home in a frame which allows you to immediately display on your wall as a wonderful showcase of your child's art in different styles.
For Vera's party this year, we invited 15 of her friends to celebrate. It was a drop-off party which meant no adults allowed (good for poor parents needing a break). The kids were treated to two hours worth of fun and games which I cannot describe here because 1. What they were allowed to do in the name of creativity is beyond words and usually not allowed under normal circumstances. 2. Proprietary reasons.
What I am allowed to show you is the end product. Believe it or not, this wall of art was created by kids as young as 2yrs (Nadya's art above) through a series of art techniques employed by artists past and present.
As a party favour, each child brought home their own unique piece of art work which can be hung up at home immediately for all to admire.
For parents wanting to let your child have a taste of this wonderfully creative experience, you will be happy to know that Abrakadoodle is currently running a special promotion. Parents who "like" their page on Facebook will get to enjoy a 25% off trial class fee (usual price: $40). They are also waiving the $50 registration fee and giving a 5% off for camp fees for their Facebook fans.

Have fun and get colourfully creative!

No-Bake 3D cake for less than S$50

Friends and family will know that I recently made a 3D dino cake for Vera's 4th birthday party a week ago. I am not one that bakes much given my crazy schedule and lack of ability to follow cooking instructions. Tell me to add 2 cups of flour with 5 eggs and I will be bound to somehow mess that up in the name of improvisation. How did I manage to make this 3D dino cake you may ask....well I will tell you my secret...Sara Lee!

Yes! my secret is Sara Lee! By gosh I did not even have to switch on the oven to "bake" this cake! I came upon the idea of using Sara Lee cake blocks. I read somewhere that you need a really dense cake to be able to construct a 3-D cake, least it will crumble in your hands and leave you in tears and desperation. I was not sure about being able to "produce" a dense cake so I came up with the idea of using Sara Lee's cakes. (post note...I might have thought about this idea from a friend who casually mentioned this before but I cannot be sure where the original inspiration for this came from. So I will not take 100% credit for coming up with this "Sara Lee" idea.)

Any way, from my own experience with Sara Lee (the plain favour is the densest and easiest to work with), you can easy construct what ever it is you want to make as if you were building with lego. It is really easy....and everyone loves Sara Lee cos it is tasty, rich yet light

For the dino, the first thing I constructed was the body which consisted mainly of 2 cake blocks with the corners rounded off. Then I cut 4 smaller stumps for the legs and begun working down the head and tail. The good thing about buying Sara Lee off the supermarket shelf is you can also mix and match favours for different parts of the cake.

After I was satisfied at what looks like a dinosaur, I began applying whipped cream. You can easily get whipped cream from any regular cake store and all that needs to be done is the whipping and adding of colours. In my case, I chose pink for my girl (what else?). It was fun slapping on the whipped cream which also acted as the "glue" to hold the blocks together. The key here is to have fun with the whipped cream and get a bit of texture out of it instead of trying to achieve a smooth flawless surface. It is a dino after all!

After applying the whipped cream, I decided that what I had originally intended to be the head of the dino looked more like the tail portion so I added a longer tapered portion to complete the body.
Now there it is...body, head tail, legs.....

I completed the finishing touches by cutting up triangular pieces of pink fondant (also available in any regular cake store) for the spikes on the back of the dino. The toe nails ,nostrails, name were also all made from fondant.

Then I sprinkled M&Ms (kids love these) around the base of the dino for some added colour and some chocolates for the dino eggs/poo. and viola! My 3D- dino cake is completed in less than an hour...And the best part is, I spent less than $50 for this cake. Compare this to the hefty $200-900 price tag you would have to cough out if you were to buy a professionally made 3D cake....of course, it may look nicer if you spend more but I think nothing beats letting your child know that you "made" this cake with love (they will probably better appreciate this effort when they are older).Hope you will give this easy no-bake method a try and let me know how it turns out! If this method works for you, it will be nice if you can link back to this tutorial post.

Have fun and be creative!xoxo
Su Ling

Pretty Freebies

If you are fan of all things pretty like us, then you would love these printable wrapping papers and pretty pastel desktop wallpapers with calendars. Free to download from here. All these are designed by Mae, a wonderful brand of wall decal we carry here on Pupsik Studio. Thanks Mae! x

Origami Houses

There are a million things I should be doing at my desk right now and making origami houses was definitely not on the list before I sat down to work. But the urge to make something with my hands was far too great to resist this afternoon as I stumbled upon this wonderful tutorial. Now at last I can add "able to fold tiny houses" to my resume!

Vintage Dollhouse

Isn't this dollhouse absolutely gorgeous? Oh that wooden ladder and dresser!! Wish I could be shrunk right now.

Want to learn how to motivate your child?

I recently found out that a wonderful customer of ours, Hsiao-wei, runs an interesting business in individual and team coaching, training workshops, HR consulting and behaviour profiling.

Called MaDiff (which is the short for Making a positive Difference), Hsiao-wei's business started out targeting companies and professionals but now also reaches out to individuals, especially women and parents.

MaDiff is currently organising a lunch-time workshop September 24 (12:30pm - 2:00pm ) at United Square, #B1-62 (SportBall). Thus workshop will feature a talk by highly sought-after Educational psychologist on "Motivating your child".

During this workshop, participants will learn to

• Understand what motivates your child
• Use a basic reward system to encourage development of good habits
• Develop intrinsic motivation such as pride in what they do
• Think positively about parenting
• Use a powerful experiential tool to encourage your child to express their points of view

This insightful workshop is priced at $80 per person and includes lunch.

For more information or booking, please feel free to contact info@madiff.com.sg or call 96304461/96398065. Limited spaces only. Book early to avoid disappointment.

XYZ vintage blocks

I adore these XYZ vintage blocks by Fred Flare.

Ways to help kids feel special

I stumbled upon these wonderful ideas from Smartmom's blog and thought I would pass some of my favourites along here on this blog....

Smart Mom's Ways to help kids feel special

"Leave "secret messages" in surprise places where you know your kids will find them. Things like "I love you!" or "You're special to me!" left inside a favorite book, in the pocket of a coat, in a lunchbox..."

"Write a special message in birthday cards - maybe a brief anecdote, a memory, something to read and re-read later, when your kids are grown up. (ahh....this is where our Little Milestones come in!)"

"Celebrate your child's half-birthday with half a cake, napkins cut in half, the altered song 'Half-y Birthday""

"Once a month, have "Jane or John Day" - a day that's all about your child. Jane/John gets to pick the day's activities, decide the 'rules' for the day, choose the food, etc. This is especially good when theres more than one child. EACH child gets a special day and it not only makes the child being celebrated feel good, it helps the siblings learn to be happy for others. "

"Surprise your child at school and go on an unplanned adventure"

"When you go shopping, if your child did a really good job (not whining or fussing), make sure to stop after you check out and tell your child what he/she did right, say you appreciate the good behavior, are proud of him/her and then give a hug (maybe get a little treat afterward)"

"Gather things so your child can feel like a useful member of the family--child-size tools like mop, broom, rake etc, and then your child can help you while you work. Praise him/her for helping!"

"Talk to your spouse when your child has done something you were really happy about - when they are within earshot and they can hear the praise "indirectly""

"Don't let a single day go by without a hug!"

Clever ideas by Smart Mom, Inventors of the Teething Bling!

Long Term Part Time Help Required!

We are looking for long term part time help with the online store. The person will mainly be handling email sales enquiries and processing online orders.

You will need to be available to work at our warehouse office (located in the West) 4 hours each day (Mon-Fri), preferably from 9-1pm.

Basic Requirements

- Good writing and email communication skills

- Responsible, independent and organised

Previous Sales or Marketing experience not required but will be a plus. Preferably living near our warehouse office in the West.

If you would like to consider joining us, please send in your resume and pay expectations to pupsikteam(@)gmail.com. We need to consider several factors to assess if the job will suit you too based on your Background, Expertise, Interests, Geographical Location, Pay Expectations, Constraints (if any), so please include ALL this information in your application to help us in our assessment .

Some of you have emailed to asked me for more information such as working hours, location etc . As I will not be able to personally attend to all your emails in a prompt manner, it will be helpful if you can indicate your preference, or any constraints you may have, in your application to help me assess your suitability for this position.

If we feel that this current position may not be suitable for you, we would certainly like to keep your application in view of other potential positions in the future!

I will only be contacting the shortlisted candidates for this current position by email and thank everyone in advance for taking the time to send in your application!

Thanks once again!

Su Ling
Pupsik Studio

Pink Elephant Labs

Here are some lovely photos taken of Eva, one of the winners of our recent "Pupsik in a Pouch" Contest. As our winner, beautiful Eva had won for herself an outdoor photoshoot by Pink Elephant Labs. How adorable is she?!?! I love how natural the pictures are taken and the bright cheerful colours that simply pop! I am sure these would look simply lovely framed up in Eva's nursery.For a limited time only, Pink Elephant Labs will be offering Pupsik Fans a 10% discount for their studio package and a 20% discount for their outdoor package. More details of their packages can be found on their website.

To be eligible for the discount, the session must be booked by July 15, 2010, and the session date must fall before August 15, 2010. A $50 deposit is required to reserve their slot. When booking, they just need to put PUPSIKFAN as their e-mail subject. The first 10 people to book a session will receive a further 20% discount for any additional items (extra prints, a CD of images from the session, coffee table books, etc.) should they decide to purchase.

Thank you Pink Elephant Labs!

A Wedding Engagement - Disclaimer

We love dressing up and being a part of your special day and thank all dear friends and family who have asked us to be a part of your wedding in such a special way...

However, this video serves as a gentle caution to anyone who wishes to engage Vera' Zagorodnova's services (henceforth referred to as "The Flower Girl") and releases Tan Su Ling (henceforth referred to as "The Mom") from any moral or legal obligations whatsoever for any events that may/may not occur during the actual wedding procession.

xoxo
The Mom

Pettitop and Pettiskirt from who else but the gorgeous Princess Ratbag of Australia.

Winner of The Pottywatch Giveaway!

Congratulations to Serene and Yoke Yuen who have each won a potty watch for your child in our FACEBOOK GIVEAWAY last week! Please contact me HERE to claim your prize!

Different parents use different methods of potty training their kids. When adopting the Practice makes Perfect method of potty training, the biggest challenge a parent has is to remind their child that they need to go potty.

The Potty Watch is designed to help with just that challenge! It takes care of the job for you the parent and not only makes it easy for you but fun for your child!

How does the Potty watch work?

The Potty Watch helps children remember to try to go potty by playing music and lighting up at 30, 60, or 90 minute intervals, as set by their parent. Children just starting their potty training will usually start at 30 minute intervals, and increase as they get better at knowing when they need to go.

To help children stay on the potty long enough to really try, the PottyWatch plays songs (see video above) that they can sing along to while they're trying to go.

Features of the Potty Watch:

• 30, 60 and 90 minute modes that will count down to 00:00.
• Song plays and lights flash to remind your child that it is time to go potty
• After song (see song lyrics below), timer automatically resets itself and begins counting down again
• Wristband - kid friendly FDA approved TPR soft rubber
• Comes in 3 colors - Blue for Boys, Pink for Girls
  
• NOTE: This is not a watch - it is timer to remind your child to go potty

Wristband length - 7 1/2 inches. For small wrists can fasten down to 4 3/4 inches

Face dimensions are 1 1/4 inches x 1 1/2 inches

Lyrics of the two songs that the Potty Watch Plays:

Potty Time

(Tune "London Bridge")

Look at me, it's potty time,
Potty time, potty time.
Look at me, it's potty time,
Let's go potty now.

I'm So Happy

(Tune "Oh My Darling")

I'm so happy,
I'm so happy,
I'm so happy, when I'm dry!
So I'm going to the potty,
Every hour, I will try.

Via Pottytrainingconcepts.

Nursery Decals

I came across these gorgeous decals by Australian designer Mae recently. I have seen quite a good deal of wall decals by various designers but you can say it was love at first sight when I saw Mae's fabric decals.

Mae decals are perfect for children as they are removable & completely reusable. The stickers have a premium quality adhesive, so they can be scrunched into a ball and will easily un-scrunch & re-apply to your wall, many times over without damaging it.

(above) Girly Alphabets

(above) Up Up and Away & Summer Doll

Mae is Australian made & owned. What I also love about them is they make a point to keep the environment in mind and their products are sourced from local small businesses. Their packaging is recycled & their stickers use eco inks.

And to add to the list of why I love them, they also produce mini versions of their decals that you can apply on your accessories such as your laptop, books and other personal items. Simply adorable!

Available here.

Choosing the right toy for your child

I am a firm believer that children learn most through play. Giving appropriate toys to a baby stimulates his/ her learning potential. Studies have shown that suitable infant educational toys play an important role in baby's early development. Bright colors, interesting patterns and variety of shapes help stimulate and appeal to the developing senses of your little one.

Here are some pointers, which will help you in knowing and selecting the perfect educational infant toy for your infant.

1. Sight. Research has shown that baby’ eyes are immature at birth and can only focus on contrasting colors like black and white. However, as they grow, they are attracted to bright primary colors. Chose brightly coloured toys such as this and this that are easy to gasp and most importantly safe for your child to chew on.

2. Touch. As your infant grows his/her sense of touch is more developed and this is evident when he starts fiddling with things. When you notice this, it’s important for you to introduce different kinds of textures such as this and this to your baby to stimulate his sense of touch.

3. Hearing. Studies have shown that babies respond well to sounds even before birth. Music can soothe your baby during uncomfortable times. Consider getting a musical toy with a gentle tune to play for your baby even before birth. They will continue to be comforted by the familiar melody they hear from your womb even after they are born. Rattles are also helpful in stimulating baby’s eyes and ears, while at the same time encouraging your little one to lift his/her arms and feet.

4. Taste. You will also notice at one point that your baby will enjoy putting things in their mouths. This is a natural reflex and an important part of their development. Chewing on different materials and shapes stimulates the periodontal membrane under the teeth. This helps promote jaw development which is essential as they start on semi-solid food. It is important to choose teethers that are made from non-toxic materials and are appropriately sized for baby's mouth and hands.

Rice Melamine

While looking for cute, high-quality, melamine dishes to use as toddler tableware, I ran across a range of gorgeous and high quality ones designed by a company in Denmark called Rice.

Recently, Nadya has taken to flinging and throwing her food and dishes on the floor. Vera had gone through this stage when she neared her terrible-twos and we managed then with Ikea children’s dishes. With use however, we found that the Ikea plastics got scratched up and worn looking over time which got me very worried about using them.

I did a little research online and found our about the melamine dishes by RICE. A bit of background on melamine: this material is often used to make children's dishes as they are unbreakable, scratch-resistant, dishwasher-safe. They are generally known to be practical and safe, as far as unbreakable plastics is concerned. The only thing is melamine isn't microwave-safe, but I generally avoid popping any plastic containers in the microwave anyways. RICE produces really good quality melamine and what I really like is that the company take a lot of effort to ensure that their products are produced in a socially responsible way. I have completely ditched all my ikea plastics and porcelains after discovering them. They keep very well with heavy use and the best part is, they are all BPA free! YES!

What I also like about RICE, besides being beautiful eye candy, is that the designs are well thought through. The spoon and fork set for instance are smooth around the edges, unless the Ikea ones that tend to be quite sharp (not great if you have a food-stabbing kiddo like mine).

A limited range of Melamine dishes, cups and utensils specially designed for kids, such as the 2-handle cup, set of 6 baby spoons, Room-4 plates, is now available on Pupsik Studio here.

In addition to the melamine tableware, Rice has a lot of other really well designed products such as fabric banners, storage baskets.

The winner of our 64 pc Plus Plus Maxi is.....

I roped in my 2 little helpers at home to construct a fort from a 64pc Plus Plus Maxi set to defend against a herd of dinosaurs.We stuck the names of all the participants in this giveaway on the fort and randomly selected 20 names to be stuck on a dart board behind to find our winner. Is your name on the dart board?
Vera had the honour of throwing the dart to find our lucky winner....Want to know who won? Watch the video below to find out!


Dear winner, please contact me to claim your prize. If it is unclaimed within 7 days, this prize will roll over to our next giveaway! Thank you to all the 200+ participants for joining the fun!

ps: Don't miss our next 2 giveaway on our facebook when we hit 900 fans!

Cool food portioners

I was recently asked to review a very cool-looking food portioner by Brother Max.

Designed like little ice cubes that click together to attach, all you have to "un-click" a cube from the rest in the freezer, defrost in microwave, serve food straight from the pot and viola! I find this really convenient since I usually freeze concentrated soup stock which I use to add to porridge for that added nutrition and taste for the kids.I love the fact that the little pots click on and off easily. Its "lego-like" design means that you can configure it any way you like and even stack them up to optimise your freezer space. Each blocks is designed with easy open lids that lift up but also close firmly so it is great for travel without having to worry about spilling. Plus there is a pen included for you to write what you have freezed (important cos all frozen food look kinda the same!).

These portioners are wonderful to have when you are weaning as it conveniently stores pre-prepared food purees neatly in the freezer and all you have to do is "unclick" and pop in your diaper bag when you are planning to go out. The lids also keep out potentially unpleasant fridge odour from your precious baby food. Neat!

Featured on My Paper

We were proudly featured in today's issue of My Paper. How exciting!

You can click on the image above for an enlarged version of the article. I am called the "Carrier Woman"(!)

Results of the 2010 "Pupsik in a Pouch" Contest!!

Now the moment that we have all been waiting for! The results of our contest here! After counting over 3000+ votes, we have found 3 winners with the highest number of votes received that will each walk away with a photo package, as well as a gift hamper worth more than $150 from us at Pupsik Studio!

Drumroll please..............!

In no particular order, the first baby to receive the top 3 highest number of votes is.........#37 Baby Ayden, the adorable baby of Mom Yee Lin! Clap clap clap!!!!!

Isn't Ayden with that little cheeky wink in the pouch absolutely adorable? It is no wonder that this pic has captured the hearts of our voters! Congratulations Ayden! I am quite sure you will grow up to be one heartbreaker! For now, your fans have won for you an indoor photo package from Studio Loft, in addition to a gift hamper worth more than $150 from Pupsik Studio!

The second baby with the higest number of votes is....................#2 Baby Eva, the uber cool baby of Mom Mabel! Clap clap clap!!!Don't those shades absolutely match the cool lime green and aqua of the pouch that Mabel is sunbathing in during a trip to the zoo. I am sure that with Mom Mabel's influence, Eva will grow up to be some wardrobe fashionista! Congratulations Baby Eva! Your fans have won for you an outdoor photo package from Pink Elephant Labs, in addition to a gift hamper worth more than $150 from Pupsik Studio!

And the last but definitely no least baby with the most number of votes for our contest this year is #17 Baby Rayanne, baby of Mom Rachel! Clap clap clap!!

The active Mom Rachel apparently slings her baby in a pouch almost wherever she goes and draws stares from adoring passers-by (see that woman peering from behind the pillar in the pic above??) Congratulations Baby Rayanne! Your fans have won for you an indoor photo package from Pink Elephant Labs, in addition to a gift hamper worth more than $150 from Pupsik Studio!

So we have it! Our 3 adorable babies with the highest number of votes this year! I would have to say that this was a very close fight with some of the other contestants that also drew quite a formidable mind-blowing number of votes! Some real fans your babies have! Thank you all for participating and making this contest so exciting for all. I will continue to leave all your pictures in our online photo gallery for all to admire!And a big thank you to our sponsors from Pink Elephant Labs and Studio Loft for partnering us and so generously sponsoring the packages for our contest this year! If you would like to have some memorable pictures taken of your babies or families, I highly recommend that you check out the very reasonable photo packages offered by Pink Elephant Labs and Studio Loft. They specialise in pregnancy and children photography and will be sure to help you capture memories of your journey with your kids that you will treasure for a lifetime.

(above) Gifts for our winners prepared in the gift hamper from Pupsik Studio, Pink Elephant Labs and Studio Loft.

ps: Winners, please drop me an email to claim your prize! x

Recycled Crayons

Give your Crayola a new lease of life with this project. These make the perfect size crayons that are chunky and easy for little ones to grab for a crafty project. And it is not that difficult to do! Perfect as a party project for kids!

Materials Needed:

• Foil cupcake liners or silicone cake molds
• Bits of crayon
• Baking sheet

1. Put the pieces of crayon into cupcake liners or cake molds on a baking sheet. Experiment with different sizes of crayons to get different effects. Little pieces will create a dotted look; large chunks, a bolder look. (And regular crayons tend to run together more than Cray-Pas.)
2. Set the oven to its lowest setting, and put the baking sheet on the middle tray. Leave it in the oven for about 5 minutes, slightly longer if necessary. (Crayons will melt much faster than Cray-Pas.) Take out the tray when the bits are just melted. If they liquefy too much, the disks will come out a dull brown color.
3. Remove the baking tray from the oven, using mitts. Leave the crayons to cool and harden completely, then carefully remove the crayons from the liners or molds.

Via cookiemag.

Facebook Fan Giveaway - Set of Oobi Owl PJs!

There were 77 participants to our recent Facebook giveaway celebrating us crossing our 600th fan mark. In celebration, we are giving away a set of adorable Oobi PJ in their vintage owl print.

Want to know who is the random lucky fan for this giveaway? Take a look at the video below!

Congratulations to the lucky baby with the number above who won our giveaway. Please contact me here and I will follow up with you on your win! =)

Congrats! xoxo