Wednesday, September 28, 2011

225 Inspired Projects for Year-Round Celebrations


If you are in search of new craft ideas and inspiration, you will be delighted to know that the editors of Martha Stewart Living Magazine just launched a new book entitled Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts, 225 Inspired Projects for Year-Round Celebrations. I was lucky enough to get a preview copy of the book sent to me before its release and it was every bit what I imagine it would be - PURE INSPIRATION! 

This book features some of the best holiday crafts from Martha Stewart Living. From New Year's Eve to Valentine's Day to Christmas and every holiday in between, Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts contains page after page of tips, techniques, and inspiring ideas. Craft enthusiasts will love the gorgeous photography combined with the easy-to-follow steps and techniques that only Martha Stewart can deliver. Some of my favourite projects that I think will be fun to do with kids include:
Lace stencils on tags to create the most gorgeous stationery
Transform a sock into a fashion accessory for dad. Perfect project for Father's Day if you have socks with missing pairs at home and not sure what to do with them.
Finger stamping hearts on love notes and tag. Kids will love how fun and simple this is!
Create your own fortune cookie with some felt, craft wire and fabric glue. Perfect for party favours.
My all time favourite project has got to be this DIY snow globe project (see below). All you need are simple materials such as empty glass jars, some figurines, glitter, glycerine (available at most drug stores), silicon glue to create this fun project to give away at Christmas! How fun!!

So if you are in a crafty mood, do check out this book available now HERE!

Friday, September 23, 2011

DIY Sugar cubes - sweet!

Came across this nifty tutorial and thought the kids would have lots of fun making these. It looks fairly easy and fun enough to keep those little hands occupied for at least 30mins. Try it and let me know how it turns out for you! Full tutorial here.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Fun Easter Egg Project for Kids

What a wonderful Easter Egg project. For the full tutorial, click here.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Swimtrainer



The Swimtrainer is specially designed to let babies get acquainted with water and for learning the correct leg movements.

The Swimtrainer offers children:

* An ideal swimming position in the water
* Inflatable pads to prevent slipping through
* Adjustable safety belt to prevent tipping forwards

Suitable for babies and toddlers of an approximate weight from 6kg to 18kg. Now available here!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Work-Life Balance


As a mother of 2 young children who decided to ditch a stable and relatively comfortable corporate career and domestic helper to wash, cook, clean and look after my own family and kids at home, I absolutely agree with Nigel that we should not leave the quality of our life in the hands of incompatible jobs, other people and the government. We should stop looking to others for answers and to look inside for the type of balanced lives we each want to lead that fulfills our spiritual, mental, financial and physical needs.

As Nigel shares, we need to take stock of how much and what we really need rather than "working long hard hours at jobs they (we) hate, to earn enough money to buy things they(we) don't need to impress people that they(we) don't like".

His concluding point that "small things matter" and "approaching balance in a balanced way" is particularly important. Seeking a balance is not about making radical and dramatic changes to our current way of life. It is about making the smallest investments in the right places to improve the quality of our life and transform society's simplistic definition of success that "the person who dies with the most money wins" to a more "balanced definition of what a life well lived looks like".

Monday, December 27, 2010

Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year! x



















This is a little late but I would like to wish everyone a belated blessed Christ-mas with your family and friends and a very wonderful New Year ahead! Looking forward to sharing more inspirations here on the Pupsik Blog in 2011!

xoxo Su Ling
(image above from Martha Stewart Kids. A wonderful idea to put missing socks to good use!)

Monday, November 29, 2010

Finding Sophie

What do you do when your precious giraffe goes missing at a fair? You make a public announcement for it over the PA system like any loving owner would.

Still looking for Sophie? Find yours here at www.pupsikstudio.com.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Christmas with Sophie

Celebrate your child's Christmas with Sophie this year by entering this year's photo contest. Simply snap a Christmas-themed picture of your child with Sophie and send it to contest@sophie.sg with your name and a short caption. Get your friends to "Like" the picture on Sophie's facebook page and you are on your way to win a handful of prizes. Contest ends 24 Dec so don't wait!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

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!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

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

Saturday, October 16, 2010

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.

Monday, September 13, 2010

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.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

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!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

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

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

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!

Monday, June 21, 2010

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.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

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.