This photo above is the beginning of my challenge with my 4-year-old at my husband’s coworker’s wedding ceremony. The ceremony has already proceeded.

My older one was in the ceremony. She was a ring bearer with another boy. They had to sit in the front at the beginning of the ceremony.

My second one wanted her sister to turn back.

The priest is reading.

My daughter in whisper voice: “Sister! Sister!”

Yikes.

I am so silly!

Hello, World! (She likes to say this.)

Smell my stinky shoe!

As I snap shots of the bride and the groom,

the next thing

I noticed

was

my camera was blocked.

She goes,

“Can I see my picture?”

Oh, gosh…

How monkey of you…

At this point, I was like

“do whatever you need to do to entertain yourself.”

Maybe the last 20-30 minutes of the ceremony, I took her to outside.

Then we walked back in.

This is the last photo I took of her during the ceremony. We were at the back row of the chapel.

I’m trying to be encouraging.

“It’s almost over. Hang in there.”

It was such a relief when the ceremony was over. It was beautiful even though I only had a chance to listen half the time.

I felt like I was taming my monkey at a chapel.

In retrospect, it wasn’t too bad.

I had an opportunity to go to my husband’s coworker’s wedding in November, 2011. My husband was unfortunately out of town for business and could not attend, so our girls and I represented him. Not only was it my very first time to witness an Indonesian wedding reception but our girls were invited to be part of this Indonesian wedding! Needless to say, it was a very special experience for all three of us!

The theme was blue and rock music. The groom is a band guy and plays the guitar, so there were many decorative items and photos that were relative to music and guitar. The portraits were very artistic and professional looking and I could tell that the ideas and designs came from the talented bride. I was just awed by all the interesting and gorgeous portraits displayed at the reception.

The plastic cases with key chain, thermos and name card case are party favor for those who gave the bride and groom gifts. By the time we left, it was late, so there were only name card cases available. My girls wanted the flower key chain, but we were told that they had been all gone. What can we do? Our girls were party animals that night and didn’t want to leave.

I didn’t go around and take photos of the reception as I was busy feeding my two beasts, but also I didn’t think that it was appropriate. That’s why I don’t have a whole lot of photos from the reception, but I can tell you that the food was quite amazing. In Indonesia it is very common to have a buffet style wedding reception and people stand and eat. There was no tables, thus you do not have a table assignment. In some way, it was easier that way with little kids.

The highlight of the night was this.

Wedding Dancers!

Prior to this performance, the groom performed a few songs with his band and even a bride sang at the reception. When the band performance was over, the dance music by DJ started and a funky fashion guy and girl who were standing in front of me ran out to the open space in front of the crowd and started dancing. I thought they were guests, so I was shocked and thought “goodness, what a show-off…” As I watch, more people started popping out from the audience and started dancing in front of the crowd. That was the point I realized “the dance is choreographed and these are professional dancers!” I have never heard of them before!

The girls had a blast. I wish my husband was there to see the girls in action at the reception. It was very sweet.

Here are some photos of my monkey daughters. I plan on posting photos of them in their dresses next Monday for the Monday Mode (if I don’t end up being lazy). Stay tuned!

To see an online catalogue, click each category under “Categories” on her home page on http://www.mytulisan.com/.

My favorite to look at is purses.

http://www.mytulisan.com/category/collections/organizers/

Two Christmases ago, my sweet husband put two packages of Tulisan’s design cards in my stocking for me. That was the first time I owned products from Tulisan. I’ve known that there was a Tulisan vendor at the Dharmawangsa Square City Walk and I always stopped and admired the prints because everything was so beautiful.

The brand “Tulisan” was founded by Melissa Sunjaya, a native Indonesian designer. (Tulisan means “print” in Bahasa Indonesia) Melissa graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California as a Visual Communication artist. She also pursued her art study in Switzerland. She’s been back in Indonesia, has a family here, and owns her business and a brand new gorgeous store which opened at Dharmawangsa Square City Walk towards the end of 2011.

Her art work is whimsical and playful. The warm colors she uses are welcoming. Her Tulisan store at Dharmawangsa Square City Walk is a showcase of her style and designs. When you walk into the store, you almost forget where you are and are drawn into her magical world of designs. What I love about her work is that while it’s very stylish, modern and western influenced, she preserves Indonesian heritage and culture in her work. I notice that many young Indonesian artists like to incorporate their heritage and culture into their modern interpretation of art which I think makes their work special and one of a kind.

I had a chance to meet Melissa at her store. She was warm and charming as seen in her design and prints and very sweet. When I told her about my pregnancy and how long my morning sickness lasts throughout my pregnancy, she offered me some tea at the store. While I saw her entrepreneurship and artistic talent side during this visit, I peeked her motherly side as she is a mother of two girls which made me feel close to her as a person. I loved the way she dressed, too. I miss wearing boots so much!

If you live here and have not visited her store, do pay a visit! If you ever have a chance to come visit Jakarta and have some time, I recommend you take some time to visit her store. I think you’ll love it!

２年前のクリスマスに、夫がクリスマスストッキングにTulisanのカードセットを２つ入れてくれました。それが初めて手にしたTulisanの作品でした。ダルマワンサスクエアというショッピングモールの中の一角に出店が出ていたのは知っていて、買い物に行く度に、いつも商品を手にしては素敵なデザインを見て目の保養をしていました。

「Tulisan」というブランドは、インドネシア出身のメリッサ・スンジャヤさんが創立しました。彼女はカリフォルニア州パサディナのアートセンターデザイン大学でビジュアル通信の芸術家として学位を取得しています。また、スイスでも芸術を学ばれました。現在はご家族と一緒にジャカルタに在住して、立ち上げたビジネスを経営し、去年2011年の暮れにダルマワンサスクエアシティーウォークに開店した、Tulisanのお店を運営しています。

彼女の作品は、楽しげで可愛く、暖かい色使いは、見ている人を包み込んでくれる感じがします。メリッサさんのTulisanのお店は、彼女のスタイルとデザインが凝縮されていて、とても素敵です。お店に足を一歩踏み入れると、どこに居るのかを忘れさせられ、彼女のおとぎの世界へと引き込まれます。私が彼女の作品で魅力を感じるところというのは、彼女のデザインする柄や絵は、とてもモダンでスタイリッシュで、西洋の美術に影響されている傍ら、センスよくインドネシアの伝統や文化をも取り入れている所です。若いインドネシア人の芸術家を見ていると、モダンな中にインドネシアの伝統を組み込んでいる点が共通しており、とても素晴らしいと思います。それが彼らの作品を比類の無い、特別なものにしているのでは無いでしょうか。

Tulisanのお店では、メリッサさんとお会いすることもできました。彼女の作品に現れている通り、とても可愛くてチャーミングで、優しい女性でした。私が妊娠中は結構悪阻が長期に渡って続くと話をしていたら、忙しい中気遣って下さい、お茶を出してくれました。お話をしている時、彼女の起業家精神と芸術家の顔を見る事ができたと同時に、２児の母親でもある彼女の女性的な面も垣間みる事ができ、とても親近感が湧きました。

ジャカルタ在住で、まだTulisanに行かれた事が無いのであれば、ぜひ時間を作ってダルマワンサスクエアシティーウォークにあるTulisanのお店に行ってみてください。またジャカルタへ来る機会がある方は、時間を作ってTulisanに足を運んでみることをお薦めします。気に入られると思いますよ。

Tulisan

http://www.mytulisan.com/

Darmawangsa Square City Walk, Jakarta 12160
Located right by the Ranch Market on the Ground Floor

Blog http://www.mytulisan.com/
Facebook
Twitter

クリスマスは、一年の中でホームデコレーションが一番素敵な時期だと感じます。シナモンとリンゴの香り、キラキラした色、ロマンチックな雰囲気で、幸せに満ち溢れているのが魅力です。普段子供の部屋以外は、家の飾りに赤色を使う事が私は無いのですが、クリスマスだけは例外です。クリスマスの飾りに一色だけをテーマに選ぶ事ができないので、エリアごとに色のテーマを決めています。

Entry Way
玄関

Dining Room
ダイニングルーム

Living Room is silver and white. I only took a photo of the coffee table display for 2011 which is shown above. I forgot to take photos of other items in the living room! You can see the Christmas decoration at my house from 2010 on this page and here is the post from 2010 about our Christmas Tree.

リビングは白とシルバーです。カメラには、コーヒーテーブルのディスプレイだけ残していました。リビングの飾りを撮影するのを忘れてしまいました！2010年のクリスマスの飾りは、こちらのページでご覧いただけます。また、2010年のクリスマスツリーの写真はこちら。

New Year’s Day Celebratory Breakfast
お節料理

This is a very simple version of “osechi”, traditional Japanese New Year Meal. I prepared “osechi” for my family this year because I especially wanted my girls to learn and experience the Japanese New Year as it is part of their heritage. I bought already made meal package at a Japanese grocery store, but I also cooked a few dishes. The girls enjoyed my “zoni”, the soup with rice cake. I always love having zoni on New Year’s Day and without it I feel like something is missing on January First.

May 2012 bring much joy and happiness to you and yours!

シンプルながらも、子供達に日本のお正月を少しでも味わってもらおうと、お節料理を準備しました。ジャカルタのように和食が手軽に手に入る街に住む醍醐味は、お節料理の材料が手に入る事ですね。できあいのパッケージと、自分で作った料理を少ないですが1、2品加えて出しました。娘達はお雑煮を楽しんでくれた様です。やっぱりお正月は雑煮があってこそですね。

今年一年が皆様にとって素晴らしい年となりますように。本年もよろしくお願いいたします。

A while back I took my older daughter to Vietopia, a Vietnamese restaurant, for lunch on her day off to have Pho. It is a pretty Vietnamese Cafe off of Senopati in Jakarta. I craved Pho for a while during my first trimester back in September and the pho noodle at Vietopia satisfied my pregnancy craving. These photos make me feel like it was taken ages ago. It’s been a long journey since last summer till now.

Vietopia
Jl Senopati No. 66
Kebayoran BAru, Jakarta
Indonesia
Tel. (62-21) 726 1162
Fax. (62-21) 7261129

Vietopia is almost across the street from the Kripik vendor who sells my favorite Kripik chips in Indonesia on Senopati.

As for my pregnancy update, I am getting big daily at 31 week of pregnancy. Round, heavy and slow. That’s me. I had a tennis lesson for 30 minutes today though. I have tried to stay in shape by jogging, now walking, swimming, and playing tennis, but I might not be able to do these activities much longer.

Back in June, my husband and I decided to take a big leap to go for a number 3. My thinking was who knows how long it would take us to get pregnant again especially I have already had one miscarriage between our first and second and I wasn’t getting any younger. Unlike the first two pregnancies, the pregnancy happened rather quickly and that surprised us. I didn’t even suspect that I was pregnant until I was close to 8 weeks. This post about my health getting weak was written with my true words. I honestly believed that it was parasite. Of course, I’m glad it is a baby. Babies are in some sense the same as parasites since they do live off of their moms, aren’t they…?

I have to incubate this baby at least for the next 8 weeks. If I can survive 8 more weeks, I’m good to go.

I can do it. Right?

If you ask me which restaurant I liked the best in Kuala Lumpur during our short trip in December 2011, I would say Sam’s Kitchen. Thanks to my husband, we found this wonderful South Indian restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It’s a very casual joint where locals probably like to go get some authentic South Indian food. It was a type of restaurant I picture Anthony Bourdain with No Reservation would go and marvel the dishes.

The signature of this restaurant is serving food on a banana leaf. It was cool. Our girls had fun trying everything served!My girls loved the pancake with eggs and cheese, so we ordered another one because they asked for more. I believe it is called Uttapam (the bottom photo above). The crispy pancake called dosa with cheese and tomato (second from the bottom photo above) was very good, too.Delicious Lassi!

Business Hours: 7.00 am – 12.00 midnight (Open Daily)
No. 234, Jalan Mahkota,Taman Maluri
55100 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur
Telephone: 03 9281 8839
Email: samskitchen@ibnfinefoods.com

Sam’s Kitchen on Facebook

When I lived in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal in West Africa, I used a tailor to make some clothes because there were not many places I could go shopping for my clothes. I always found it a lot of work as you have to have a couple of fittings until the clothes fit well.

I hesitated to have a tailor make a dress for a formal ball that my husband and I went at the end of November in 2011. I ordered a dress online which came on time. I, however, ended up ordering a tailor-made dress within a short period of time as the dress (for some reason, I decided to buy a regular dress as opposed to maternity dress) I purchased did not fit me because my belly grew a lot due to pregnancy. The zipper simply did not go up around my chest.

Having no other choices, I quickly went to Pasar Mayestik, a textile market in Jakarta, and bought 5 meters of chiffon fabric. I went to a store called IKO BANA. There are two stores that are called Iko Bana in Mayestik. One is a craft store and the other one which I went is a store for textiles only. My blogger friend, the Diplomatic Wife, took me to IKO BANA once, and I liked it. Toko IKO BANA has very reasonable prices. The store always have many locals shopping which to me is a very good sign.

Then I called my girl friend’s tailor whom she highly recommended. It was a gamble to me because I have never had this tailor make anything for me in the past and the first time I asked her to come was for her to make a ball gown for me. I didn’t have any other options since I’m pregnant and I can’t just go out and buy a formal dress.

Jump to the conclusion, I am satisfied with the result. It was worth the three hectic fittings and rushing to get it done within the time restriction of a bit shorter than two weeks. I designed the dress myself. I saw a couple of dresses in magazines that inspired me and I wanted something simple, so voila. I was 27 weeks pregnant when I took these photos.

Pasar Mayestik
Jl. Tebah III
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA 12120

Clutch
From AZIROO
Perum Jatibening Permai
Jl. Melati No. 6 Blok A – 114
Kalimalang – Bekasi 17412
Tel: 021-8477160
e-mail: Aziroo_leather@yahoo.com
Click here for the photos of Aziroo products I took at a British Women’s Association’s Christmas bazaar in 2010.

I know, I’ve been slacking off. I need to do better this year with my blogging. How was your holiday season? We stayed home, our home in Jakarta, until Christmas day and then we went to Kuala Lumpur on Christmas Day for a quick 4-day trip as our end of the year family vacation.
ブログけっこうさぼり気味でした。ごめんなさい。今年はもっと定期的にアップする様に頑張ります。年末はいかがでしたか？私たちは、クリスマスまで家で過ごし、クリスマスの日の午後にクアラルンプールへ4日程、年末の家族旅行に出かけました。
We treated ourselves a Christmas dinner at a very nice Japanese Restaurant called Tatsu inside the Intercontinental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur where we stayed. It was pricy, but for the occasion, it was worth the money.
クリスマスの夜は、タツというインターコンチネンタルホテルの中にある和食レストランでクリスマスディナーをしました。お値段は張りましたが、クリスマスという特別な日であったこともあり、奮発しました。美味しかったですよ。
Kuala Lumpur has a very easy to understand subway system which I thought was even cleaner than the metro in Washington, D.C. area or New York. My husband and I were impressed because there is nothing like it in Jakarta (Only buses and no subway system in the city of Jakarta).
クアラルンプールにはとても分かりやすいメトロのシステムがあり、地下鉄の駅はワシントンDCやニューヨークの地下鉄より奇麗だと思いました。ジャカルタには全く存在しない交通手段に、夫も私もとても感動しました。（ジャカルタはバスしか無く、他の公共の交通手段がありません。）
There are many activities to do with kids in Kuala Lumpur and 3 full days to spend in Kuala Lumpur was not enough! We took our girls to a butterfly garden. They enjoyed seeing butterflies like in the story “Fancy Nancy” at the Butterfly Garden in Kuala Lumpur.
クアラルンプールには子供を連れて行うアクティビティーが豊富で、3日の滞在は足りなかったです。子供達の希望で、バタフライガーデンに連れて行きました。娘達は蝶と遊ぶのがとても楽しかった様です。
Aquaria KLCC in the Petronas Towers was very interesting and fun.
ペトロナスタワーズの下にあるアクエリアKLCCはとてもよくできていると思います。（沖縄の美ら海水族館には負けますが！）
This is the famous Petronas Towers.
これがあの有名なペトロナスタワーズ。

We took our girls to the playground in the Central Park in front of the KLCC Shopping Mall which is below the Petronas Towers. Coming from Jakarta where a public playground like this is non-existent, we all got very excited. The only thing to keep in mind is that the bathrooms at the playground are not great, so if you take your young kids to the playground, you might want to make sure that your child goes to the bathroom beforehand or carry an extra underwear just in case. The public bathroom has two stalls with an Asian style toilet, which my kids would not use, and one stall with sort of a western style toilet seat. My second child had an accident because she couldn’t use the toilet on time.
ペトロナスタワーズの下にあるショッピングモールKLCCの前に位置するセントラルパークの中にある遊び場に子供達を連れて行きました。ジャカルタにはこのような公共の公園が一つも無いので、子供達はとっても喜びました。小さい子供を連れて行く場合は、必ずお手洗いを済ませてから行くか、予備の下着を持って行った方が良いかもしれません。というのは、お手洗いが3つしか無く、しかも2つは和式のようなスクワット式で(私の娘達は怖がって使いません）、一つが洋式っぽい座るトイレです。混んでいたので、次女は待てず、下着を汚してしまいました。

We had South Indian Food for the first time at Sam’s Kitchen in Kuala Lumpur. It was ranked number 4 on tripadvisor. Great prices and yummy food!
クアラルンプールのサムズキッチンで、初めてインド南部のお料理を食べました！トリップアドバイザーというサイトでは第4位にランク付けされているのですが、安くて、しかも美味しかったですよ！

We also had a very nice Thai lunch at Ginger Restauant inside the Central Market.
セントラルマーケットへ行った時、中のジンジャーレストランでタイ料理をいただきました。そこも美味しかったです。

As you can see in the photo, our first daughter was not feeling well. In fact, she started running a fever from a day after we arrived in Kuala Lumpur. It turned out that she had Strep Throat, but at the time we had no idea. We went to a local drug store just like Walgreens or CVS in the US called Watsons inside the KLCC Shopping Mall and bought her Children’s Panadol and gave it to her. It worked a magic for her when the medicine kicked in, but when it wore off, she felt sick again.
写真で分かる通り、長女の体調が優れませんでした。クアラルンプールに到着した次の日から、喉が痛く、しかも熱を出しました。その時は分からなかったのですが、ストレップスロートといって、日本語だと「溶連菌性咽頭炎」と言うらしいのですが、喉が痛くなり、熱が上がる細菌性の感染症で、子供達の間でよく流行る風邪に掛かっていました。KLCC内にあるワトソンズという薬局へいって、子供用の「Panadol（パナドール）」を購入し、飲ませました。熱を下げる目的や、痛み止めにとても効果的で、お勧めです。この薬を飲んで効いてくると、長女は元気になったのですが、薬の効果が消えるとまた熱が上がっていました。
We had a great time in Kuala Lumpur and it was such a pleasant trip with our little children. Coming from Jakarta, I was fascinated how different the city of Kuala Lumpur was compared to Jakarta. Kuala Lumpur is much more orderly and organized. The roads made sense and we hardly hit any traffic. The public transportation is clean and works well. Moreover, the city was walkable with pavements. As we often observe, former British colonies seem to have a better infrastructure than former Dutch, French or other colonies.
幼い子供達を連れてのクアラルンプール旅行は、とても楽で、楽しかったです。（ジャカルタから行ったということもあったかもしれません。）ジャカルタで生活する私にとって、ジャカルタとクアラルンプールの違いに目を見張るばかりでした。道路は整然としていて、渋滞も殆どなく(休みだったからかもしれませんね)、街はとてもよくできていて、ジャカルタに比べるととても効率よく物事が動いていた気がしました。公共の手段も外国人が使い安くしかも奇麗でしたし、何よりジャカルタと違って歩道がきちんとしているので歩きやすいという事でした。今まで見て来て感じるのですが、これが旧イギリス植民地とオランダやフランスまたは他の国の植民地の違いなのでしょうか。

Do you know that there are Kedaung Outlet stores all over Jakarta? To learn more about Kedaung, click here. According to the website, the Kedaung Group is one of the largest manufacturers of glassware in the world. The outlet stores in Jakarta have plates, glasses, mugs, tea sets and more with great discount prices. For example, a small water pitcher in the photo is IDR 18,500 ($2.00), a small jar is IDR 8,500 ($1.00), and bigger size glass jars are somewhere between IDR 20,000 and IDR 30,000 ($2-$3.5). Their quality is pretty good and yet inexpensive, which I find not easy to find in Jakarta. I didn’t know Kedaung Outlets until my friend told me about it recently after having lived in Jakarta for over a year and I was excited to learn about the store! I was even surprised to see glass jars with such great prices which I have not been able to find in Jakarta. I have not been able to find cheap candles in Jakarta, but at this store candles are sold with very reasonable prices for the Jakarta standard. There are many locations in Jakarta. To find the nearest outlet stores from you, please go to the link below.

Locations

I know that it’s already Saturday, but I needed to post this article because otherwise it keeps getting delayed and I would never post this. I wanted to tell you about this store because I think you would love to check it out if you live in Jakarta.

Kedaungってご存知ですか？ケダウングループのウェブサイトによると、世界でもトップのガラス食器を製造している会社だそうです。ケダウンのアウトレットショップがジャカルタ市内に点在しているのですが、最近友人に教わるまで、ケダウンのアウトレットのお店があるとは全く知りませんでした。ケダウンのアウトレットで売られている商品は非常にお手頃価格で、例えば安めのものだと、小さめのピッチャーが18.500ルピア（185円）、ジャムを入れる小さい瓶が(8,500ルピア（85円))、大きめのクッキージャーが20,000ルピア(200円)ちょっとです。ジャカルタでは、値段が安く、しかも質が良いものというのはなかなか見つかりにくいと感じるのですが、ケダウンの食器は嬉しい限りの値段です。

お近くのケダウンアウトレット店をお探しの方は、下のロケーションをクリックして下さい。

Locations

I picked the theme afternoon tea party for both of our girls because you can have a party in the afternoon and all I need to prepare is desserts for the party. This allowed me to have less time to prepare than cooking lunch for the guests. Since I was having parties for our two daughters back to back during the busiest holiday season, I needed to make this less labor intensive and this was my solution.

FOOD
Sandwiches (cream cheese and raspberry jam, cream cheese and cucumber, and cheese), cupcakes, Macaroons (I hear macaroons are new cupcakes), Meringue cookies, Strawberry Pocky, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Cake Balls, fruits, wafers, frosted animal cookies, Strawberry Oreos and mini jelly cups.

Macaroons & Meringue Cookies
KueKue
•Dharmawangsa Square Ground floor, Exhibition Area
•FX Lifestyle X’enter FB Floor K-5, Grab and Go Area
Phone +62 815 922 6222

Marshmallows
Kempi Deli at Grand Indonesia / Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta

DECORATION
Wall Decal: I found inexpensive tea theme wall decal at ACE Hardware in Jakarta some time ago, so I picked up the wall decal. The price was somewhere between US$10-15.

Lights
I picked those up when I was in Bangkok, Thailand at a weekend market. I bought them thinking I would be able to use them for a birthday party in the future.

Straws, Food Picks, Umbrellas
DAISO at Papaya in Blok M
Jl. Melawai Raya No. 28 Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12160
TEL: (021) 7279-3777
DAISO is a 100 store in Japan. The store in Jakarta sells everything for IDR 22,000 per item. It is a handy store. I love DAISO!

Birthday parties for my two daughters were on two separate days: a celebration for my younger one was held on a Friday after school and a celebration for my older daughter was on a Saturday, the day after her sister’s. The one for my younger daughter was like a big play date type of party and the one for my older one was a drop off party. It was our first experience as a host of a drop off party. Both parties were practically the same, but I made a slight variation in a dessert spread between the first day and the second day. I pretty much recycled all the decorations and activities, so it made the preparation for the second day much easier and less stressful.
Day 1
Day 2
Can you tell the little differences between the dessert tables?

ACTIVITIES
I prepared a few activities.

Decorating Cup Cake

I prepared 3 different colors of frosting and 4 different kinds of sprinkles. You don’t need much sprinkles and I recommend putting each kind of sprinkles in a bowl with a spoon since otherwise kids would put too much on their cupcakes.

I had chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. I recommend preparing just one flavor. I had more vanilla than chocolate and kids wanted more chocolate cupcakes.

Coloring Pages
Printable from Arisan Studio

Alice in Wonderland coloring pages

Tea Bag Craft Activity
I saw on an internet site about a tea bag making activity, so I prepared the following items and made into a tea bag activity.

What to prepare
Paper bags (gift bags), Stapler, Strings, Origami paper, Stamps, Stickers, Markers

I thought that the older kids, 6 and 7-year-olds would enjoy the crafts more, but they did not show much interest. On the other hand, the younger children, 3-year-olds, who came to my younger one’s 4th birthday celebration, really enjoyed doing craft and they were very entertained by the craft activities.

PARTY FAVOR

I found those cups at ACE Hardware about a month ago. I originally wanted to buy either mugs or tea cups, but I spotted these mugs/ice cream cups and thought that the colors were adorable and they would make great party favor for the tea party theme birthday party. Inside was a strawberry flavor tea bag, a tea-cup or tea-pot shaped lollipop, and some other candies.

I hope this could be of any help for some other moms to prepare for their kids/daughters’ birthday party, especially in Jakarta.