Thursday, August 29, 2013

Saying Goodbye is the Hardest Thing

This article is written in memory of my late father-in-law, KK.



Little ones lost their grandpa this week, this is the first time they encountered a loved one passing away. My late father-in-law had been ill for sometimes so his departure did not came as a surprise to the family, but it is definitely not easy for my duo to understand, my elder is not even 5 years old yet. 

My duo were closed to their late grandpa who had always loved them full-heartedly. He used to buy them their favorite snacks and toys just to give them a surprise during the weekend visit; he even bought an Angry Bird cake and a Minion cake each just a week before his departure, just so that they can enjoy singing happy birthday song and blowing the candles over and over again. My little girl had so much fun that night singing happy birthday song with a real cake. He was a fierce father to my big guy but such a loving grandpa who was fondly in love with his grandchildren, he will do anything just to make them laugh.

Hence, making them understand that their favorite grandpa is no longer around, was really quite a challenging task.

I received the news early in morning, big guy and the siblings were in the hospital during the very last moments but the kids and I stayed home after the evening visit to their grandpa. Hospital is not the place for little ones after all. Later in the morning, when my little captain woke up, I broke the news to him. 

"Ko Ko (little brother), gong gong (grandpa) had left us, he has gone to be with God in heaven."

"You mean, gong gong had died?", my little 4.5 years old opened his sleepy eyes wide. He knew his grandpa had not been well especially after the recent hospital visit where he saw the grandpa lying on the bed with all the tubes and oxygen mask.

"Yes", I replied solemnly.

Tears flowed down his cheek almost immediately, like raindrops. 

"But I don't want gong gong to die! I miss gong gong!", the raindrops gone fierce.

I hugged him tight in my arms, his reaction was stronger than I had expected. Holding back my tears, I whispered softly to him.

"Don't be sad my ko ko, gong gong had moved on to a better place, he is no longer in pain. As long as you love gong gong, he will always be in your heart, he will never really be gone, you know?"

He stared at me for awhile, and asked, "Heaven? Where is that place? Can we go and visit?"

"It's where good people go after they died and leave the Earth, it's a happy place with God."

He seemed to feel better. 

"Gong gong will be alright?"

"Yes, he will be".

He then calmed down, tear drops still visible on his both cheeks. 

Later at the funeral parlor, he refused to see his late grandpa lying in the coffin, he only starred from afar, but he said his prayer as he placed the white chrysanthemums on the altar. He wished gong gong to be happy, in a voice so soft that even I can barely hear.

When going round the funeral parlor, admiring all the wreath and reading the messages, I came to realize why is white chrysanthemums the flower of bereavement. The sorrow and dismay of losing a love one, is as massive as the amount of petals on each chrysanthemums.

Explaining death to little ones without scaring them was not easy. I hope big guy and I did it well.

On the other hand, my little girl who's under 2 years old had no clue what's going on. She kept asking me where's gong gong? And kept requesting to see the body in the coffin. I just told her, "gong gong is sleeping, he's having a long long sleep." she then went around telling everyone to keep quiet with a shhhhh sign. Too cute, yet too saddening that she didn't realized gong gong will never wake up again.

I let her choose a flower among all the wreath and let her placed it onto the coffin. Then she said bye bye to gong gong with a farewell kiss. I guess, this is the sweetest goodbye to my late father-in-law, who used to call my baby girl his Bao-Bei (sweetheart).

I wrote this article so that when my little ones grow up, they can recall what happened back then, when their beloved grandpa had passed away.

Rest In Peace, my dear father-in-law. Amen.


Saturday, August 10, 2013

Little Owl Tunic Dress for my lovely Baby 宝贝的小小猫头鹰裙子

I had always like owl prints, I can't explain why, perhaps it's the little fat and round figure, perhaps it's the fact that they are night creatures like me. I don't know, i just like them. I have been on the hunt for owly fabric for a while till I finally managed to get 1.5 yard of these colorful owls on a black background. Not cheap, I mind you, but I like them hence the price doesn't matter. :)

I decided to make a new dress for my little girl again (despite grandma warned that she had way too many dresses for her age!). Something that will show case the cute owls. And I found this nice Black Bird Tunic pattern from Shwin & Shwin. It looks so simple and cute that I knew I just have to make it.



After spending 2 hours on the machine, I finally had it done. Could have got it done faster if not because I had to negotiate with my machine on the button hole. For some reasons it took me 3 trials to finally got it right. Somewhat disappointed with myself on that. :(

But I'm glad it turned out well. I have enough reserve fabric on the sides to have it expanded to cater for her future growth. So this cute little dress is definitely here to stay!


It's modeling time...


Some how all the smiley shots were blur... 




It's exciting to see the little one looking good in own's handmade. That satisfaction, is what money can't buy. :)



Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. 

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

A Bottomless Diaper Bag for A Trendy Mom! 手制摩登妈咪包包

Finally, I've completed it! A trendy looking  Diaper bag for my own used for the weekends.


We used to carry a hard shell Simple Dimple diaper bag around, it is hardy and spacious, can fit lots of stuff inside but after 4 years of continuous using (or should I say, abuse?), it has finally gave in to wear and tear. After numerous shopping trips and scouting around for a decent mommy bag, either too kiddy looking or too pricey or too large/small, I finally decided to design one for myself that is tailor-made  to fulfill my requirements.

What's my requirements? Well, the bag must be:
  • TRENDY, so it does not looks like a diaper bag
  • SPACIOUS, that I can put my duo's items in there
  • POCKETS, yes, lots of pockets for easy storage cause I hate to have things falling out.

And I gladly declare that I passed my own requirements. :)

I choose the same light grey floral fabric used for making the cushion last week. Love the elegant feel of the prints.

The front look - it has 3 spacious pockets in front, outlined with a bright yellow piping. I added a leather bucket in the middle for a neat look.


A pair of padded & re-enforced handles. I added the coffee buttons for that classic look.


Now, the interesting bit that I am really proud of - a large internal compartment with lots of side pockets for putting all the baby stuff!


I have tried to fill up the following items into the bag (and in fact there is still room for more):
Thermos, milk bottle, 2 Bros water bottles, 2 clean diapers & changing pad, some cream & med tubes, 1 kid cutlery set, 4 sets of kids changing clothes, hankie, bib.. Its unbelievable that this bag  can fit so much things in there! Now you see why I call this a bottomless bag? *wink*

Here's a picture as proof..


Test wearing time. I'm glad it did not disappoint me. *phew*


Took it out for a park visit with my duo, love the leisure look of this bag.



So, what does it took to produce this bag?
1 large table cloth...
3 late nights sewing...
and all these make 1 Happy Mom!

Oh, and how can I forgot to mention, my very own personal brand label.. Pea Hatch!  Looking good on the inner top of the bag. :)



That's all folks, thanks for stopping by, feel free to tell me what you think of this bag. 

Adios!

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Tutorial: Easy Felt Art Project

We are up to a little craft project again this week, this time it's playing with felt. Look what we've created?


A smiling star..
A happy sun...
A friendly cloud..
And a joyous moon..

On a moody day where Mr Cloud cries and Mr Sun got upset...

All set for a little puppet show or just to be hang as ornament. My little Captain was so excited to help me execute this task, after all its rather simple so I certainly welcome his participation.

The making is so easy. These are the materials you will need:
• Some felt
• Some cotton batting 
• A pair of scissors 
• Fabric glue 
• Thick thread or strings for hanging 
• Needle and threads in matching colors


The Tutorial:

1. Cut a pair of felt into your desired shape.

2. Put some glue around the edges, place some batting in the middle and press another piece of felt onto it to glue both pieces into 1.

3. Decorate your ornament. For the sun, I cut some zigzags around the circular shape to resemble sun ray, then use a marker pen to draw the facial expression. 

4. Using a sewing machine or just needle and thread, sew along the edges to secure the joints. Sew on the string or thread now to finish it off. 

That's it, simple craft that allows endless imagination. :)







Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. 

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Re-make of an IKEA Chair Cover

Remember I made a VIP Cover for my old IKEA chair few months back, to cover up all the ugly PVC that had peeled off from the old chair? You may check it out here.

Well, my girl friend really liked it so I made one for her too, but the challenge is, she only bought 1 yard of fabric while my first version was made with 1.5 yards. 

Anyway, challenge overcame. I changed the design from using Velcro to tie knots. Turned out pretty alright albeit not perfect.

I added a little crown for the back of the chair, to make this her throne. Let's hope her hub doesn't mind. :)







Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.