Feed the Hungry Phase II

* Thank you so much for all of your support. You can read the event report here. *

I'm happy to announce that Feed the Hungry is coming to b playland! It is the phase II of the event. Same as the first part, we will be donating 50% of the sale to Feeding America when you make a purchase at our little shop this week. And there's a store wide 10% off sale. For more info, please read here.

Happy Giving!

Dogs and Cats

A couple days ago, we saw a beautiful white doggie in the middle of the road by itself when we were out for a walk. As usual, Puchi was waving her tail welcoming the doggie. But it was too busy circling around. We asked the people around and no owner was found. There was no collar also. With only one eye, it kept walking back and forth the roadway and seemed lost. It was such a depressing scene. Before we could figure out what to do, luckily, there was a very kind young man drove by and called the patrol and took care of the situation. I hope it will end up in a good home.

It was a bit heavy, eh? Here's a lovely snap shot from Cat-titudes to Live By by Rachael Hale to brighten up your day!A cute little Cat Companion Journal from Chronicle Books.
Happy Tuesday!

Preview of the week

I've been longing to post some new creation for past two weeks as I was busy working on my artwork and some new patterns. And finally, things are kind of slowing down a little bit and I can start working on the little sewing again, which I love to. =)

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of flannel in regular doll sewing. But I wandered back and forth in the fabric store and couldn't resist and got this lovely rainy day fabric. I'm so glad that it turned out sweet. The little waist belt is crafted of gorgeous Swiss made velvet ribbon.
Happy Tuesday!

Getting Ready

Autumn is around the corner, so I've been working on some new designs this week. This chubby one piece is waiting to be finalized with some colour and pattern.

Happy Friday!

A Generous Heart

You will find this little chubby one at the main hall of Little Spectacular every Saturday generously handing out yummy homemade cupcakes to raise charity fund for those in need.

Generous Cupcake
Happy Friday!

When I was small

I used to watch Mr. Men and Little Miss. Those little characters always brought me smile. They don't seem to be around that much these days. I was delighted to see the lovely collection at Compass Books. When I was flipping through the little pictures and simple story, it felt like I was back in time.
Two of my favourite characters, Mr. Bump and Mr. Messy.

Happy Thursday!

Treasures from the Old Days

Wandering in an antique shop is always on the top of my list of favourite things to do. This lovely kitchen set is so uniquely adorable.
This cute little one is so 70's. I love her chubbiness and her hair cut. I wonder if it was original.

Happy Tuesday!

To the Great Hearts

Inspired by the Come Together of Macy's, the little mushroom is proudly present the first Little Big Heart event, feed the hungry. We need a lot of great hearts like you to help us spread the word. The goal of Come Together is to feed 10 millions meals to those in need through Feeding America. Macy's is taking part by making a matching donation for each dollar we give. For each dollar, it will be helping to feed seven meals.

From now to next Tuesday, when you make a purchase at our little shop, we will donate 50% of the sale to Come Together. Also, we're having a big sale for this special event including new prints and dolls.
Please check out the Macy's website for more info on the Come Together event.

Happy Giving! =)

Adorable Cakelets

So, as I mentioned earlier, I've got the lovely acorn cakelet pan. It's time for it to shine today. I used half bag of the Blueberry Quickbread Mix, approximately 1 and 1/2 cup.I poured 1 tablespoon of mixture into each mode carefully but greedily, means probably wasn't exactly 1 tablespoon. So it came out peaked quite a bit.They were so lovely and I was speechless. I think I'm going to put my regular muffin pans away for a while, a long long while.The preparation of my little project is coming into final stage. Hopefully, I will be ready to share it by tomorrow. =)

Happy Monday!

The Little Twins

Meet the twin violinists from the Little Spectacular. Growing up from a musicians family, they are playing one of the famous melody written by their dear old man.

Twin Violinists

I've been busy working on a little secret project. Please make sure to check back for the very special event!
Have a great weekend! =)

Christmas already?

I was totally surprised when I found the Christmas crafts at Michaels because it's still pretty summery here. It's a bit early but I can't resist to take a peek. There are a shelf-full of wonderful things. These rustic ornaments have so much character even without a coat of paint.A bunch of Nutcrackers are waiting for some handsome clothes.Among all, this is my favourite.

Happy Thursday!

Luncheon by the Sea

We went to San Clemente, a little beach town nearby, for lunch over the weekend. We walked along the main area for restaurant and finally settled down at the Fisherman's Restaurant by the pier. To be honest, we've never visited a good restaurant at any pier. Even though it was crowded, I was skeptical about it.

The ocean view was breathtaking. I couldn't resist to take my camera out for a few shots.We shared a Shrimp Basket. It was surprisingly delish. The shrimps were in decent size and well-prepared.We enjoyed the rich and creamy Clam Chowder also.Service was okay generally but we will definitely be back for the food.
Happy Tuesday!

Shirt Week

More little puffy sleeves shirts on the way!

Happy Tuesday!

Beautiful Objects to make

This new book, Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule, is filled with lovely simple craft projects to make beautiful things around the house. Some of them are great activities for mom and kids, or aunt and niece and nephew. =)When I was least expected, I found this lovely book on the bargain shelf, Complete Embellishing by Kayte Terry. It is filled pages of beautiful photos of inspiration and basic embellishing techniques. I felt so romantic even reading it without even knowing why and I finally realize that the author was the former Visual Manager of Anthropologie in New York City. So it makes sense now.I can't wait to go look for some pretty little treasures to start my own projects.

Happy Monday!

Toy Story Mania

I'm already so excited about the upcoming Toy Story 3 next year. It seems that the Toy collection is slowly marching back onto the shelves in stores. I found these little aliens 5" tall figures by Thinkway Toys, who made wonderful Wall-e toys last year, at Toysrus. They did another awesome job on the Toy Story collection.
There is another collection by Mattel which takes a little comic twist on the appearance which I should have taken a picture of those to share with you. But I didn't, so I guess if you like Toy Story, it may worth it to take a trip to check them in stores.
Have a great weekend!

Little Puppetist

Emily is the little puppetist at the Little Spectacular. Her little raccoon puppet was a lovely present on her third birthday from her beloved grandma who crafts handmade teddy bears for living. She gave it the name, Abby, and it has been her best pal since then.


Emily and Abby

Happy Friday!

Precious Moments

I've always been a fan of Precious Moments. If I would get a card for someone, it would most likely be a lovely one with Precious Moments drawings on it. Those little innocent faces are simple too cute to resist. And I wish someday, I will have a chance to visit the Precious Moments Park in Missouri. I was so delighted to find two sweet little ones from the Disney collection. Aren't they adorable?

Happy Thursday!

Fall for Acorn

I felt so fortunate to find the little acorn pan available again at William-Sonoma! It is so precious that I can't miss out on this like last year. Even though it is a little bit pricey but it worths every penny because it is very unique and well made. And most important, don't you think anything made from this little pan will be extra delicious? I also bought a bag of blueberry buttermilk quick bread mix to try out.
Not only the molds are in acorn shape, the pan itself is in acorn shape too. So lovely.a little recipe for acorn cakelets
Happy Tuesday!

Preview of the week

Fuchsia pink mixed with vintage style dot.
This little turtle neck dress is a very limited edition of the collection due to the supply of the dottie fabric.Fresh off the sewing quarter, these little puffy sleeve shirts have altered sleeves which are puffier and slightly shorter than the old ones. Same as the other shirts, they have darts in both front and back to make them fit better. They come in some of the favourite shades, dark green and mustard yellow and will be finished with some tiny button work.

Happy Tuesday!

Outing with Danica

I took Danica out over the weekend. It took me a while to figure out what to wear on her. I mean it was all good and fun to trying out different clothes. And I decided to dress her up more formal because we were to the museums.

Balboa Park

We went to one of my favourite place over the weekend, the Balboa Park, which is probably our most visited place in San Diego besides the Zoo. It is a special place filled with museums and Spanish Revival architecture. I felted delighted already simply wandering around the beautiful gardens and the charming buildings. We accidentally found The Model Railroad Museum which was very hidden that we've never noticed it. It was a happy surprise. It was like a childhood dream to have a room filled with model landscape and model trains came true, but in a big big room.Besides museums, the gift shops there are truly worth visiting. Each one of them carries unique treasures which kept me busy exploring.

Happy Monday!

Another Little One

Another cute little one from the Little Spectacular. The shy boy is performing with his dear buddy bunny.

The Shy Boy
Happy Thursday!

Carbonara Kind of Day

The word Carbonara pops up once in a while in my mind since my first taste of it in an Italian restaurant in Scottsdale last year. It seems that it is not that commonly found in most restaurants. Basically, it is a dish of pasta tossed in bacon, Parmesan cheese and egg yolk. It sounds great to me but I guess the egg yolk part probably might scare some people away. Anyways, I've tried a single portion (quarter of the recipe) based on the original recipe from Chef Emeril Lagasse's recipe.

for one person
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 tablespoon butter
1/2 clove shallot, diced
3 slices bacon
4 oz pasta of your choice
1 egg yolk
1/2 tablespoon heavy cream
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

In a pan, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. When butter melted, add shallot and bacon and cook until crispy and brown. Set aside. (Scoop away some oil if it is too much.)Boil a pot of salted water and cook pasta until al dente according to package instruction. Drain pasta in a colander and save a small amount of pasta water in a small bowl. In a dish, whisk together egg yolk and heavy cream and Parmesan cheese.Add pasta to the bacon and onion mixture. Stir over high heat until pasta is coated with the mixture. Remove from heat, add pasta to egg mixture and toss the pasta until it is well-coated. This process needs to be fast. The heat of the pasta is supposed to cook the egg yolk and melt the cheese.Season with salt and pepper. Add a bit of pasta water if it is dry. Serve immediately.It was delish!! Even though it didn't seem that much, it was pretty filling.
Happy Tuesday!