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CNY 2012 Decor

January 24, 2012 in The Loft by somethingboutrenes | 4 comments

Putting up CNY décor has long been a tradition I had when I was a kid, even till the very last year before I moved out, our family often go out shopping for CNY décor, CNY goodies and CNY plants! CNY is a huge event at my parent’s place. Even though we don’t have many visitors at our new place, I plan to put in some effort in the décor and goodies too!

Except that with my busy work schedule, I didn’t have time to go shop around! I simply grab a few random things I saw and put them up within 10 minutes.

For our CNY décor we had these guidelines in mind:-

  • Nothing too loud or excessive
  • Nothing with dragons or fortune God as it deviates from our religion and values
  • Nothing that shouts “Wealth” in your face as I believe life is more than pure wealth
  • Things that is simple and can be reused

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“Xin Xiang Shi Chen” requires little explanation but I thought many would probably not know what “Wu Fu Ling Men” means. According to the Book of History (Shi Jing in Chinese) which was supposingly edited by Confucius, “Wu Fu Ling Men” means five good fortunes arriving at your door and the five good fortunes are Longevity, Great Wealth, Good Health, Good Character or Virtue, and Natural Death. Some people may go “ERM” with the last fortune but I thought it is really a blessing to die of old age instead of the other way round.

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A pretty paper cut “Fu”

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When we were younger, my mum used to put up red packets to form Chinese characters. In the red packets, there will be money ranging from two to 20 dollars. Depending on your luck, each kid will get a chance to pick one red packets after greeting her with auspicious blessings. It was really fun! At my place, it is simply a random DIY design. Haha. Don’t try peeling them off!

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Other simple decor.

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Instead of buying random ornaments, we made paper fish which I learnt to make in my younger days.

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With every party or festive around the corner, we always have fresh pink lilies at our place! Love the colour and the scent!

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CNY goodies! Most of them homemade by my in-law and some of them from my trusted supermarket! Haha.

It feels like Christmas…

November 29, 2011 in Food, Loft Inspiration by somethingboutrenes | 7 comments

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He casually mentioned that we never tried roasting a whole chicken before, and after he said that I was spurred to take up the challenge!

I found a recipe in Epicurious which uses mainly lemon, honey and tarragon but because we do not have any tarragon, I simply follow the recipe without it!

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Here is the final product! He was amazed! That night he gave the best compliment to my new domesticated self! According to him, “Do you know what is the best compliment to a chef? Not only did her patrons ate it all up and claimed to love it, it is the fact that there are chill sauce and other condiments at the side, the patrons choose not to use it!” Haha! I agree! But I thought it can be a little juicier if I stopped the oven at the last 10 mins! Sorry, I’m a perfectionist!

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For the potato, it is nothing fancy. I simply sliced two russet potatoes, soaked it in salt water, greased the bakeware with butter, laid the potatoes, put some butter and pepper in between potatoes, laid more potatoes and covered it up with cheese and popped it into the oven! Haha. No recipe required.

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Yums! It feels like a home cooked Christmas meal already! If you want to know the recipe we followed from Epicurious, you can click for more!

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1st Christmas Tree

November 29, 2011 in Loft Living by somethingboutrenes | 2 comments

His family never celebrated Christmas when he was young. They don’t believe in Christmas. When I was young, we do celebrate Christmas at my aunt’s place and it is a great occasion for family gathering, parents and lots of food! But it’s all merriment and celebration instead of understanding the real meaning of Christmas. After believing in God, I now know why we celebrate Christmas. It’s not Santa, presents nor turkeys, it’s Jesus!

This year, it is also different for us. We finally have a Christmas tree that we can call our own. We never had one in our parent’s home when we were younger so we were really excited to finally get our own Christmas tree and a Swedish one too! We bought a live one from Ikea! It comes with a natural pine tree smell and it is lovely! Except that the carbon footprint is making us think twice and thrice if we should get a live one next year!

Here are the boring bits why getting a live Christmas tree is bad! One, they flew / shipped them in all the way from Sweden. Two, it is in a minus one degree container, so imagine the amount of energy required to power it. Three, I heard from the staff these trees are not farmed. They are simply chopped from the woods. OMG! Four, you need to keep watering them and feed them with ice. Five, you need to replace them yearly and the cycle continues. GOSH. I’m feeling guilty. Boo. Maybe we should get a fake one next year but the fake ones does not look so luscious!

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The color theme we used is red and gold!

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Other than the typical decorative balls, we also used snow flakes and acorns!

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You need to top off the tree with a shiny gold star!

We bought all these at a decoration shop near Paya Lebar Mrt, because my office is using decorations from this store, we thought we should go back and get some nice ones from them too!

Bought: Wine Chiller at Parisilk

November 26, 2011 in Renovation Journey by somethingboutrenes | 4 comments

wine mess Before

wine chiller

After

This was how we kept our wine previously! It was dangerous and in a mess! We have plenty of wine and got even more after our wedding banquet! Thankfully we finally got a wine chiller! We got it at Parisilk Electronics & Computers (East Coast branch)! It is affordable and the guy who served us was really friendly! It costs over $400 and the model name is Valenti 160 which can hold approximately 40 bottles of wine. Parisilk is something like Ever Joint where they sell electrical appliances at a rate usually lower than major electrical stores.

Parisilk Electronics & Computers

86 East Coast Road
#01-21/35 Katong Village S428788
Tel: 63449937
Fax: 63459910

August 25, 2011 in Loft Living, Love by somethingboutrenes | No comments

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He bought me lilies and I love it! It smells awesome! Thank you baby!

Be my guest!

August 25, 2011 in Loft Living by somethingboutrenes | No comments

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If you are my guest and happens to need to take a shower, be my guest and use these yummy treats!

Decorette: Homecoming of the Birds.

August 1, 2011 in Renovation Journey by somethingboutrenes | 2 comments

We finally got our hands on the wall decals from Decorette! Amanda from Decorette was friendly, helpful and responsive! Two thumbs up for the excellent service!

We requested for a slight change to the design, as we prefer the birds to come flying home, we got Amanda to reverse the birds. Also, we had a little accident during the installation of the decals and so you will realize the lower part of the nest is cut off. Oh well, our little birdies prefer nest on branches then below. HAHA.

Overall, it is really designed to Do It Yourself and all you need is a little patience and concentration to get it right.

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Fixing the position of the decals.

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Check out my flabby arms. Heh.

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All done up!

Updated: 13 letters + 1 bird

July 25, 2011 in Renovation Journey by somethingboutrenes | 6 comments

After some of my blog readers gave their comment about “Laugh” being a distraction in my 13 letters + 1 bird post, I’ve mount it to my brick wall! Now you have to agree that my “Live, Love, Laugh” is perfect in it’s imperfection. Haha.

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13 Letters + a Bird

July 21, 2011 in Renovation Journey by somethingboutrenes | 16 comments

Remember a long while back I bought 13 Letters + a Bird from Typo? I’ve finally found a place for them and I love where it is sitting. All is perfect except a minor hiccup; the man in the house finds it messy and wishes that their font size and designs are all the same. And this, speaking from a true blue engineer who simply can’t stand randomness and abnormality. He got to learn to appreciate the perfection of imperfection! Haha. I’m standing by the location unless there is a better suggestion. Haha. If you think they look great where they are, do comment to show some support and convince the man! If not, maybe you can offer some kind suggestions? Haha.

Live

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Love

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Laugh

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He wanted to saw off the “L” and “U” because it is blocking the TV. GASPS!

Asia Mannequin

July 20, 2011 in Renovation Journey by somethingboutrenes | 4 comments

My female torso and wooden hangers are finally here! I would strongly recommend Asia Mannequin to anyone who wants to buy hangers, mannequins, torsos etc! Cynthia, the owner, is responsive and very friendly!I may be a little bias because she complimented that our place is done up very nicely! Haha!

I bought the female torso at $149 and 100 wooden hangers at $58! Their hangers are cheaper and better than Ikea’s! I should have ordered more to sell it to my neighbours because for purchase above $300 there is free delivery! I should have thought of that. Hmph! Oh well.

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I found them online and while their website may not look like an established business, I was convinced to take a $237 risk with the trust I had in Cynthia’s responsive and friendly services! Now, I’m glad I did!

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To complete the look, I’ll need a big frame mirror to add the final touch!

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