Wednesday 18 November 2015

DIY Holiday Décor Ideas with 3M Command Hooks

Are your halls already decked for the holidays? 

I had the privilege to share some DIY Holiday Décor Ideas as a 3M Resource Person at the Handyman Holiday Fair 2015 which was held last Saturday at the Robinsons Galleria Activity Center. Some mommies came up to me at the end of my segment and told me they really liked the ideas I shared and that they would certainly recreate them in their homes.


That's me sharing some DIY ideas at the Handyman Holiday Fair 2015
which happened at the Robinsons Galleria Activity Center. 

Here are some of those DIY Ideas: 


   WALL OF MERRY
Holiday wrapping papers could be so pretty I just don’t want to use them but I also don’t want to tuck them away for the rest of the season. So, I tweaked an idea on how to display these pretty wrapping papers that’s only available during this time of the year.

I recommend seven to nine frames for your holiday gallery wall.


Materials
Wrapping Paper/s
Greeting Card/s
Picture Frames
Ribbon
Scissors
Glue Stick
Command Hooks

Directions
1.  Cut a piece of the wrapping paper according to the size of the frame.
2.   Place the piece of paper you just cut inside the frame.
3. Get your greeting card and place it inside the frame.
4. Tie a ribbon at the back of the frame.
5. Plan the layout of your frames.
6. Attach Command Hooks on the wall following your layout plan.
7. Leave hooks on the wall for an entire hour.
8. After waiting for an hour, hang the frames.

*Do leave the hooks for an hour or they’re bound to fall off when you hang your frames.


Where to hang it

Trendy as they maybe, a gallery wall is a nice addition to your holiday décor. You could create one in your foyer, living room, dining room, or even along your hallway. At the end of the season, you could take it down by just removing the command hooks.


JOY TO THE WORLD
Here’s a nod to the typography trend – which I might say, I still absolutely love. There’s something about words that light up my insides, apparently. This project is rather simple really. Cardboard letters, a wreath, and Command Picture Hanging Strips are all you need. With this project, you’re only limited by your vocabulary and your budget. Remember, every letter will cost you. I got these two from Papemelrotti.

Left these letters au naturel but you could easily dress them up with wrapping paper, paint, or glitters!
I used this oil-rubbed bronze Command decorative hook for the wreath. 

For the letters, I used these Command Picture Hanging Strips to put them up on the door. 


Materials
Cardboard Letters – J and Y
Wreath
Command Picture Hanging Strips

Directions
1. Attach Command Picture Hanging Strips onto the back of the letters J and Y.
2. Hang a Command Hook on your door.
3. Wait for an hour before hanging your wreath.
4. Attach the letters J and Y on each side of the wreath.

Where to hang it
Why not try the front door? This is another way to decorate it. The letters complement the your wreath as much as any greens would.


THE CLASSIC 3M CHRISTMAS TREE 
I call this the Classic 3M Christmas Tree because it is the epitome, at least to me, what you can do with Command hooks. Choose the translucent ones as to make the appear as though magically standing against the wall

Against a dark wall, the classic 3M christmas tree is a statement.
Photo grabbed from thesimplestylist,blogspot.com


 Materials
String Lights
Command Decorative Hooks
Pencil

Directions
1. Plot your hooks with the use of a pencil.
2. Attach the Command Decorative Hooks on the marked spots on the wall.
3. Attach the string lights onto the hooks.

Where to hang it
You can hang it absolutely anywhere! All you need is a wall. For small spaces, this could replace – this year, at least – the big green tree in your living room to leave more space for entertaining.

BONUS: 

IT'S A WRAP!
Here's a  puzzle game you and your family can play while waiting for Noche Buena or during holiday parties.

Hang six of these pieces to make the game a wee bit challenging. You could also use a poster or a blown-up photo of Santa Claus or Rudolph  the red-nosed reindeer. 

A pack of Command Hooks come with six hooks, the perfect number of pieces for this puzzle game. 



Materials
Wrapping Paper
Cartolina
One-Hole Puncher
Ribbon
Glue Stick
Scissors
Command Hooks

Directions
1. Glue the wrapping paper unto the cartolina.
2. Cut the cartolina into six pieces.
3. Punch a hole through the upper center part of each piece.
4. Attach a ribbon onto each piece.
5. Attach six Command Hooks to a wall or a white board.
6. After an hour, hang one piece on one hook.

Rules of the Game
1. Arrange the six pieces correctly, like how it would look if it’s one whole piece.
2. The fastest person to do it wins the game.

Number of players: 2 or more 




Saturday 14 November 2015

The Magic of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo - Books

Marie Kondo says that after clothes, I need to discard books.

Well, I have lots of those. Literally, I have piles of them. Some are on the shelves while others – because I lack the shelves to house them – have been relegated to boxes.

If anyone would ask me what I spent my money on the past ten years, I have two words for her – books and travel. I spent my hard-earned money getting lost in fictional places and actual ones. And to be honest, had a rather grand time. 

Anyway, back to discarding books.

The KonMarie Method dictates that I had to take out all the books from the shelves and lay them down on the floor. Well, isn’t that the most inconvenient thing. First, books – when they’re hardbound and thick – aren’t light. Second, they could be quite dusty; and third, well, there’s just too many of them! Why couldn’t I just scan the shelves and decide which one stays and which one goes?

Of course, the high priestess of decluttering had an answer.  

“TO TRULY DECIDE WHETHER YOU WANT TO KEEP SOMETHING OR TO DISPOSE OF IT, YOU MUST TAKE YOUR THINGS OUT OF HIBERNATION.”

Like any good follower, I did what I was told and took down all of my books. I laid them down on the floor and took every single one in my hands and felt them.

I unearthed some things while trying to discard books. There were advance screening tickets to 'New Moon' and 'Eclipse' and several CDs. There was even a happy meal hello kitty toy featuring London!


To be honest, it was hard to discard at first. 
It was hard because I chose most of these books over every other want.
I sacrificed for these books and now, I am supposed to give most of them all away?
I used to dream of owning a huge house where I could fit a library that would house all the books and magazines I own. Or perhaps, a café where guests could enjoy a book with a good cup of joe. I must confess, I have neither.

The easiest to discard are the ones I could barely remember the contents of. What is this book all about, again? Marie Kondo orders to never, ever, start reading a book when discarding. I’ll be going down the rabbit hole if I did. Besides, isn’t it a definite sign that a book is going to the donate pile when I could barely recall what it is all about? 

I was about thirty books into discarding when it suddenly hit me - by keeping these books on the shelf, barely touched for years, I am doing them a great disservice! Books are meant to be held, to be read, to impart knowledge, to illicit emotions, to move us to dream. And these books are not doing any of those while they’re with me. So perhaps, it is, indeed, time to let them go. 
I donated some books to the Rizal Library of the Ateneo and in return , they sent me this acknowledgement letter.  If you'd like to donate books to the library, head to the Acquisition Department.
While others - mostly my guilty pleasure books - will be up on the shelves of a friend's cafe. 

Tuesday 20 October 2015

The Magic of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo

I’ll let you in on a secret. I own a lot of stuff.
As I’ve been earning a living as a writer and a stylist the past ten years, you can probably imagine how many books, magazines, and all sorts of things I’ve accumulated.

I’ve written several decluttering and organizing articles and tried to live them. If there is one thing I’ve learned, the key to organization is purging. No one could be organized if she's drowning in stuff! And so purging has become an annual event for me after which the discards are donated at the nearby Segunda Mana shop. But somehow, this yearly purging was never enough to eliminate the clutter entirely.

So when I read an online article on the decluttering superpowers of Marie Kondo, I knew I had to get my hands on her book.
Marie Kondo's "the life-changing magic of tidying up" became my bedside read. 

I guess a lot of people were in the same situation since  getting a hold of a copy of her book locally wasn’t easy. I visited several branches of National Book Store to track it down but in the end, I had to enlist and wait for the next shipment. The very day I got my copy from National Book Store Shangri-La Mall, I simply devoured it.

“When you’ve finished putting your house in order, your life will change dramatically. Once you have experienced what it’s like to have a truly ordered house, you’ll feel your whole world brighten. Never again will you revert to clutter. That is what I call the magic of tidying,” wrote Marie Kondo.

Such a huge promise, I do believe, but it definitely got my heart racing. Who wouldn’t want that? I certainly do and I couldn’t wait to get started!

So how does one declutter? The KonMari Method is based on the principle that one should only keep the things that spark joy. And for one to know if something sparks joy or not, it should be held in her hands. 

In theory, it seems such an easy thing to do but I tell you, it is not.  Certainly, there are items that are clearly heading to the bin  but there are things that are well, so-so. Let's say several rolls of wrapping paper or cartolina. I mean, they are not ugly and in fact, quite useful! It seems such waste to chuck them out. So, what do we do with such things?

CLOTHES 

The KonMari Method of decluttering starts with clothes.

And since I have inexplicably commandeered three closets in our humble abode, I thought it was the ideal category to start with. I am hardly a fashion plate so it’s quite baffling – especially to me – that I’ve accumulated that many clothes. But evidently, I have and so I must deal with it.

While it was relatively easy for most, there were items of clothing that I had a hard time figuring out my "feelings” for.  But if I had any chance of clearing out two closets, I knew I had to be decisive about it. So being me, I came up with this particular question to figure things out: 

If I am moving to another city, will I take this with me?

After an hour of going through each item-  from t-shirts to dresses and shoes to bags, I discarded enough items to fill up nine plastic bags and two boxes. And as forewarned by Marie Kondo, I did feel a wee sick and did a bit of coughing. Was it an effect of purging? detoxing? I dunno. Perhaps. Anyway, the bags and boxes have all been donated to Segunda Mana and me getting dressed in the morning isn't such a challenge anymore. 

My discarded clothes made their way to Segunda Mana.  

They gave us a receipt after we dropped off the boxes and bags. The first box was thrown into the bin though, so they couldn't write it on the receipt as they didn't officially receive it. 

Segunda Mana accepts donation in the form of different preloved items. 


Here's a list of  Segunda Mana Outlets.

Saturday 17 October 2015

Welcome! Welcome!

Hi, I am Coni and I have been earning a living as a professional stylist, writer, and event host for more than ten years. As the name of this blog suggests, I do believe that we could make life beauty full.  My kind of beauty may be different or similar to yours but I do hope you would join me in my search for all things lovely. 

So what exactly do I find lovely? Real Living Magazine was kind enough to ask me my 10 Favorite Things at Home and below are my answers. Further down is a feature on my room. Cosmopolitan Philippines found it worthy enough for their At Your Place page. Still get "kilig" when I think about it. 

Real Living Magazine, July 2015. 
Cosmopolitan Philippines; June 2014

 I have a feeling this is going to be quite an adventure and I hope you'll be coming along with me fdor the ride. 
Copyright © 2014 Life is a beauty full thing