June 7th, 2009
I need to wear something nice for Hubby’s company annual dinner, so as usual my choice will be baju kurung. Not to be too simple with the attire I decided to sew some beads onto it.

Thanks to Kak Amoi (who used to be my decoupage student) for sharing the picture on her beading website, I tried her technique to sew manik V shape on my baju kurung. This beading work is worth of RM35, so if you would like to ask her to jahit manik on your clothing, feel free to contact her.

It is quite easy if you already know how to jahik manik beriring. Just like you would sew manik beriring double layer, this time for V shape or arrow style, just sew the second layer on the opposite side so that you get the V shape.

This is how it looks like once both of the tangan baju has been sewn. Of course I still need to brush up my beading skills as the V shape looks uneven and not as smooth as the one shown in Kak Amoi’s website..heh!
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May 4th, 2009
I couldn’t find a decent picture of the whole set of the green theme hantaran during the event day itself. What I have is only a few pictures taken after I have done the hantaran the night before.
The whole hantaran style was really simple, just put the artificial bunga dulang either on the hantaran itself or by its side.
SIL bought all kind of green-like fruits - pear, rock melon, mangoes, green apple and green grapes for the occasion, just about right with my wish to complement the cream and green theme..hehe!
I asked Niece #1 and #2 to fold the kain for baju melayu into a book-like lipatan. I am not fond of gubahan kain hantaran into any funny and intricate lipatan as it sometimes ruin the texture of the clothing and (most of the time) will create thousand creases.
As usual, for a hard sejadah (praying mat) like the one in the above picture, the easiest way to gubah it will be to fold it into fan-shape.
Not much should be done with the perfume set as it is already wrapped nicely by the departmental store.
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March 17th, 2009
I think I have never done cream and green theme for any of my client, be it for engagement or wedding. So when niece #2 is getting engaged this month, I thought of doing cream and lime green theme for her hantaran pertunangan.
Since I don’t have time to make bunga dulang from stokin or dip, I simply use artificial flowers. With the addition of ribbons and the green bead chain, the arrangement looks OK (not really superb but just nice for a simple bertunang ceremony).
I tried putting the green bunga dulang beside the hantaran basket meant for fruits, just to imagine how it’ll look on the real day..heh! I plan to put all green apples (or other green like fruits like pear, unripe mango) inside the bakul buah to go with the green theme but SIL said she wants all kind of fruits like grape, red apple and such..huhu!
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January 10th, 2009
Ever since I posted about bunga pahar songket in this blog, I have been contacted by many people who are interested to know the price. I’m sure many would love to have something exclusive and different to be given to the guests during their wedding and special events.
These are a few more ideas on what you can do with bunga songket.
Last year, I’ve done these bunga songket to be glued on top of boxes, which later will be filled with slice of cake, chocolate, boiled egg or even souvenirs like tiny earrings and bracelets. (Yes, there was a wedding of a VIP’s son that gave Swarovski earrings in small boxes to all the guests)
If you buy a bigger box, then this style of decorating will be perfect to be done on hantaran items as well. And I’m sure you will never throw the box away after the event or wedding is over.
These boxes with bunga songket on top will be great ideas for meja makan beradap souvenirs or special gift for VIP during any dinner or special events. And the guests will be wondering what’s inside the box. Of course the right color combination and additional embellishments like a coordinated ribbons will play an important role in making sure that your favors box will look exclusive and expensive.
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November 26th, 2008
I found these pictures of decoupage class I conducted last year for Puspanita in Putrajaya. I think since many people these days are interested to know the basic of decoupage, this entry will help them understand.
Of course you can use most of the materials and surface available at home like empty tin, cookies container, oil bottle, ceramic mug, porcelain plates or wooden box for decoupage. You can either choose to paint the background or straight away paste the tissue or decoupage paper on the surface.
Usually in my basic decoupage class, I will teach on how to paint the background using acrylic paint. My preferred brands are Americana and Jo Sonja. The easiest way would be to use the dab technique using sponge. However if you are painting the background of wooden box, my preference would be to use paint brush. You can also use plain white gesso as the background color.
The next step after painting the background will be to cut the motif from the napkin/tissue or decoupage paper. This is when your creativity comes into action. You have to imagine how the final outcome will be like i.e how you want to arrange the chosen motif on the decoupage surface.
I use decoupage medium to paste or seal the napkin. There are actually many art brands like Mod Podge, All Purpose Sealer by Jo Sonja or Jansen Art (DecoArt) Multi Surface Sealer. After all the sealing process, you can let it air dry or use hair dryer to speed up the drying process. Then you can apply a few coats of varnish to preserve the surface. I usually use Decoupage Varnish from Jo Sonja since I can minimize the application half from the normal usage of other type of varnish.
That’s basically how the decoupage process is like. It’s a simple craft that could be turned to a great hobby or even give extra income to those willing to do more decoupaged items and sell to others who are interested to buy.
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November 1st, 2008
For those looking for something different for your bunga pahar or bunga telur to be put at each side of pelamin, maybe you can consider this bunga telur daun getah.
The design has been made special so that my client can use 50 stalks instead of 100 stalks as bunga pahar during merenjis ceremony. I added the white daun getah leaves to the bunga telur since I have leftover from making the rose buds.
Since the theme for the wedding is maroon and white, I try to incorporate both the color elements in the design.
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October 22nd, 2008
I’ve been meaning to share this particular beading work with my fellow readers but I only found the pictures from my old PC. This was taken somewhere last year and I wore this purple baju kurung during Hari Raya open house.
I used manik tabur technique for this particular beading work, using few types of manik jepun - the cylinder shape, the sequin and rice beads to fill up the space faster. It was tedious but the easiest method for newbies in beading.
For the design on the baju kurung itself, I sew the beads into a design like flower and leaves. If you find it difficult to sew the manik design freehand, you can use erasable marker and draw the design first.
It took me a few days to finally finish all the beading. It looks striking since the baju kurung itself is a plain Thai silk. Of course once you have an attire with beads like this you will need to wash it in delicate cycle or wash it by hand.
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September 17th, 2008
Since I still have some pictures with turqoise theme, I thought it will help those looking for ideas on how to decorate their hantaran.
This is the picture of bunga dulang stokin I made for a customer’s wedding in May.
I didn’t do the hantaran for her as she bought bunga dulang and asked her neighbor to do her hantaran. The above picture was sent through email from her personal collection to show how my bunga dulang were used to decorate her hantaran. She also ordered bunga dip in turqoise and white color for her bunga pahar. I was unable to attend her wedding and take those pictures myself.
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August 20th, 2008
It seems that the trend this year for wedding theme color is something to do with soft baby blue, deep turqoise and soft turqoise.

For those looking for ideas on what to give for hantaran with that kind of theme color, you can try to give something unusual like this agar-agar kering, made into rose shapes. Of course with additional ribbons, pearls and embellishments, the arrangement will be nicer.

No wedding will be complete without a bunch of specially made bunga telur or bunga pahar. Meant to be given to special guests or those who come for the merenjis ceremony, these bunga dip lily will surely bring the glamour you want for your turqoise wedding.
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June 15th, 2008
I decided to accompany Hubby to his company’s annual dinner at last minute. Even though the theme is Movie Night but with the limited time, I have nothing more extravagant to wear. Plus being a spouse means I have no chance to be in the best dress nomination..heh!
I still have the leftover of the beads and sequins in pink, white and clear color so I decided to add some to the floral pattern on the sleeves.
I thought of adding more to the front side of the baju kurung, but then the clear, shiny beads were no more in stock. Maybe next time when I go shopping I will buy some more to add on the beading work so that this pink, black baju kurung will look more stylish..heh!
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