Help the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) 2013

This is the same post from my other blog.

This blog is supposed to be a happy blog, hence the name AllAboutHappyEndings, However, I cannot help but post about the recent devastation that the Super Typhoon Haiyan, aka Yolanda in the Philippines, brought about to many of the provinces in the Philippines, particularly in the Visayas region. It has been five days since the typhoon hit the country (11/8/13) but until now dead bodies found laying on the streets of Tacloban and Leyte are the headlines of every news. The whole city of Tacloban and Leyte is totally wiped out by the flood and the wind brought by the storm. The least we can do to the victims is to pray that they remain strong and to never loose thier faith in God.

On a lighter note, people from all over the country and the world are extending their support and help in the affected areas. With this, we learn to share and reach out to those who are in need of our help. Celebrities and TV Personalities from all over the world are even extending help and doing their share in spreading the word about this devastating crisis that the Philippines is going through.

Here are several ways to offer our donation to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan (I am, in no way affiliated or associated with the following organizations, I only posted the link of thier website where you can also help) This is the least I could do for the victims of Haiyan.  
 
World Food Programme  Their website is set to let their visitors see the donate button right away. If you wish to donate any amount, simply click on the donate button. Website is at http://wfpusa.org/

The Philippine Red Cross  is one of the first groups to arrive in the provinces and they currently need a lot of supplies, doctors and staff to attend to the victims. Your donation will be used to get necessary medical equipments and medicines for the victims. Go to redcross.org.ph to donate directly to the Philippine Red Cross.

Those who are in the Philippines and has a BPI account which is enrolled for online banking, you can also send your donations to the ABS-CBN account. It can be found on the BPI website. Currently, the site is down, it may be because of the traffic.

MSNBC has an article where you can find a list of websites where you can donate. Go to msnbc.com

Below are screenshots of personalities who have extended thier sympathies and support and of course one of them is Lee Min Ho (though, I believe the page is made by a fan, but still thanks for the effort).

A Post from Michelle Phan's Facebook Page. She is a make up guru who owns Em Cosmetics based in New York. Though she has a very busy schedule, she still post about helping the victims. The MSNBC link is actually from her. Thank you!

I cannot express my gratitude to those who already helped. I am a Filipino and it really breaks my heart seeing my fellow countrymen having to experience this. There are more donation drives being conducted in every corners of the globe and we hope that the victims get the help they need. Bangon Visayas!

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Halloween Treats for Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat!

It's that time of the year again and it has been our tradition to provide treats for the children at my daughter's school.

Last year we made marshmallow pops for the children. This year, we made cookie treats. I practiced making the royal icing for days using egg whites but failed all the time. I decided to try meringue powder and viola it was great. Tried different designs with it and loved how it turned out.  I am still practicing how to work with royal icing. Hopefully, I would be good at it when Christmas comes.

One other cookie I made was a butter cookie shaped into fingers. I separated the dough into two to color the other one with light green just to make it feel like a witch's hand.  I used sliced almonds for the nails and placed a jelly colored with red to make it bright as blood. To make it even look scary, smudge the other end of the cookie with the red jelly to make it look as if it was freshly cut. There is no need to worry if it is messy since its Halloween, the messier the jelly is the better as it adds effect. This method was done by yoyomax12 of Youtube, but the recipe she used was different.

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Crafting: Halloween Felt Treat Bags

Halloween is another major event in my daughter's life. It is also one of the seasons where my hands a very busy. We prepare her costume, accessories and even the treats for the school.

As for the costume, we avoid buying it for several reasons. First, the stores doesn't have the costume I wanted my daughter to wear. I always go for the child friendly outfits such as a gothic lollita, maid or a cute witch. I hate to see a princess outfit, it is so common. There was one year when I made her a princess one but that will be the last. Moving on, the costumes sold in stores are mass produced, which means that her classmate might be wearing the same outfit as hers, which I don't want to happen. I want her to be unique. The last reason, but not the least important reason why I hate going for pre-made outfits is that the quality is........... I hope you know what that means. Since it is mass produced, the quality is sacrificed. The details on the outfit is only machine printed whereas if we do it ourselves we can customize it and bling it if necessary. 

I know that accessories can also be bought, but since we are already into making the outfit ourselves, we also do the accessories. This includes costume accessories and the treat bag.

Last year, I made a Halloween bag out of felt. A Frankenstien and a Mummy Bag.

This is a very simple project. All you need is some felt of any color that you want, just be creative. To make the bag itself sew two pieces of felt of your desired length. Sew the sides and the bottom only, the top should be left open. You can also attach a ribbon at this stage to act as the bag handle. For the mummy, cut black felt circles for the eyes and sew it with a red thread to add some effect. Then, cut strips of white felt and randomly hot glue it on the sides only. You can add as many as you want to make it more like a mummy. That's it.

For the Frankenstien, cut triangles form the bottom of a black felt and hot glue it on the top of the bag. Use felt for the eyes and the mouth as shown on the picture. You are done after you finished the mouth, but to make it more like Frankie, stitch some lines on the sides of his face as shown above to add effect and to make it more Halloweeny, if there is even such a word.

Lots of candies can be carried with this bag and none of the children have this kind of bag so it's an added plus. After my daughter used it for Halloween, she uses it to keep to toys and put her stuffs in it.

This year, her treat bag will be made out of a Hersheys Mini Basket. We just have to add Laces and stuff to it to complement her character which will be Kiki from Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service. Will be posting about this soon once everything is ready and finished.

Till then! Have a spooky Halloween everyone!

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Crafting: Christmas Decorations (Wreath, Candy Cane, Tree Deco)

It's already October and the Holiday Season is just around the corner. The radio now plays Christmas songs. My daughter is already saving up to buy what she wants on Christmas. Christmas planning should be done as early as now to avoid the holiday rush.

Our plan for this year's Christmas is to have a simple decoration which the children would love. This is where my hands get busy again. Last year,I sew them their Christmas stockings out of the red fabric that was used as seat cover. I was small, but the kids loved it especially when they find some treats every morning when they wake up.

Another project I made last year was a felt wreath and a candy cane out of yarn.  I also made some felt decorations that can be hung on the tree. 

The wreath was made of three colors of felt cut into about an inch wide and about 8in long enough to go around the board. The length actually depends on the thickness of the board and the foam that you used. Here I used only 3 inches thick foam.

Before I wrapped the felt around the bard, I secured the foam by randomly wrapping it with yarn. You can use string or you can also use ht glue to stick the foam to the board. Either way, as long as it is secured in its place, it is good to go.

After, securing the foam in place, I started to wrap it with the felt pieces. I started at the inside of the wreath. I used hot glue to stick the felt in the foam and wrap it then glued the end to itself. the next color has to be different and it has to overlap the piece before it before it to add some effect. Just do this process until the wreath is fully covered with felt pieces. I'm not so sure how much felt I used for this project, but I believed I used a full yard of the red felt. After that you can put a string on the top so you can hang it and you are done. To make it look more pleasing, you can also add a flower to it.

Next, the Yarn Candy Cane. Unfortunately, I don't have the step by step photo of this project because I made it in less than an hour because my daughter did not tell me ahead that they need to bring a Christmas decoration to class 2 hours before she leaves for school. It was a quick project.

It follows the same process as the wreath except that the board has to be shaped like a candy cane. Ours looked more like an inverted question mark. Instead of felt, you just wrap the whole thing with two colors of yarn. Do one color first while leaving an inch for the other color. Once it is all wrapped, make sure that the ends are properly secured and you can also add some felt flowers to it.

Finally, the tree decorations. I just cut some felt in the shape of a tree , stocking and present. sewed them one by one, embelished them with ribbons, beads and bling blingsand it's all finished. Oh, don't forget the string at the top or else you won't be able to hang it on the tree.

I sent the Chrsitmas decorations and the candy cane to my daughters preschool and the teachers loved it. As for the wreath, I made another one and placed them on the Christmas wall that we made. 

Enjoy!

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