Showing posts with label made-in-Malaysia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label made-in-Malaysia. Show all posts

Friday, August 15, 2014

It's Just a Crate!

Vintage, rustic themes seem to be trending around here.  I find out it is difficult to look for a simple, wooden crate.  We went to wine shops - they wouldn't let us have any, not even if we paid for them.

So I said those dangerous words I tell myself every time not to even think.  "I'll just have to make it myself then".  Oops.

What making a 'simple, wooden crate' involved:

(A)
1.  Driving to the wood warehouse and picking out the size of planks I wanted (petrol cost, time cost).
2.  Dodging lorries and forklifts that are driven in a crazy, hurried manner all over the place.
3.  Getting cut by wires sticking out from here and there on the ground.
4.  Waaaaaaaaiting for the worker to find the pieces in the mountain of planks, plus rejecting the ones he slides down from way up there, if they were split or too pale a colour.

(I had no idea wood planks would cost so much! aaarrrrghhh!)

5.  Sliding them through the boot of my car, to the front, since I don't have a pick-up.
6.  Unloading the 10 foot or 12 foot planks piece by piece and carrying them to the back of my house where I work.


OR

(B)

1.  Knocking off (brute strength here) the slats from my leftover wooden bed slat collection (which has now dwindled to nothing)
     -knocking them off too hard will cause them to split, hence one slat wasted.


2.  Prying out the staples or nails (brute strength here) one by one.


Like a dentist.......                                                                                                                             



THEN with wood planks purchased as in (A) above or recycled as in (B):

1.  Sawing 15 pieces of planks for just one crate (you could of course buy large, thick pieces of plywood and saw just 4 pieces per crate for the sides and one for the bottom - but that wouldn't look as nice).

2.  Sawing 6 pieces of narrow wood-joining pieces (simply because I don't know how else to strengthen the joints.  These 'joints' cost, too).


3.  Nailing all the above together (amateurs like me still bend nails, split wood, measure incorrectly).


(Nails cost)

...and nail some more...

4.  Sanding the whole thing because I'm a forevermother and will always think of little curious hands wanting to touch this and that and end up getting splinters in their chubby little fingers.

These I made are 16inches wide, 12 inches high and 8 inches deep.  They are so versatile!

You can prop them vertically..


..or horizontally.


Love!


Here they are with my collection of all things blue and white (latest craze).




And here are some more pictures to inspire you on how they can be used.


                                                                     www.decoteco.com

                                                              www.blueroofcabin.com


                                                                    weddingwire.com

I think I want to move to a cottage on a hill surrounded by forests.....sighhhhh.


p/s  My DIY-ing started out as a necessity for having jobs done around our house, then moved onto making pretty things for myself, and now there are some awesome people who are making orders from me.  I'm still amazed that people want my things, heeheheheeee!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Things People Throw Out - why? WHY? (This post is otherwise entitled "That's what you get when you're an amateur DIY-er")

Look what I found! She was just

leaning on a lamp-post at the corner of the street
in case a certain little lady comes by,

oh me 

oh my.
 

And boy was I glad I was that little lady who came by....

I checked with the people in the shoplot nearby that she was not wanted, and took her home with me. She had her glass top missing, but I loved those legs!



I found that the only problem as far as repairs is concerned was that the thingies underneath were loose.


See those? Those are screws (even an amateur DIY-er like me knows that!)

Those I can tighten with an ordinary screw-driver.






But see the one in the middle?
Now what the dickens is that?  As far as I know there is no screwdriver that can fit that!

 


















I mentioned this to my husband before he took off to work the next morning.  He muttered something about Allen Keys.

Geez. I didn't know Alicia Keys had a brother. But why would he have anything to do with my table?

Later, I had to message him (my husband, not Allen Keys) for clarifications. Allen keys, he said, were the L-shaped thingies you use to tighten them thingies up there.


Here's Allen Keys. I mean an allen key.


How awesome is finding out something new every day? My friend LSY recently found out what jeggings were. Hee hee hee.
(Do you know?)

So after tightening them all up, off I went to the glass shop to order a piece of glass for the top..15 ringgit (about US$4.50).

I cleaned, gloss-painted, and distressed the table by sandpapering, before wood-staining her.














Unfortunately this is the only photo I have of the finished table!  GAHHH!  I couldn't find the others in my files.  And what's worse, several people were interested in buying her, so I sold her off as I had no place in the house where she would fit.  And I was daft enough to let her go at a really low price! (do.not.ask.)

So this beauty (I shoulda named her, then I wouldn't have sold her so easily, right?) cost me just that, 15 ringgit - since I had everything else on hand.

Including Allen.

Keys, that is.






















Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Waterfall Trip - Let's go!


This happened last year but I am recording it down for memories....I so wanna go again, though!

What can be more relaxing? I don't know about you, I always long to be near nature...my idea of a holiday short or long. And we have some pretty awesome spots right here in Malaysia.




When: Saturday 12th March, 2011

Where: Sungei Gabai Waterfalls, off Ulu Langat in Selangor, Malaysia



Surrounded by greenery...

and water.


The air smelt so earthy.

Who: Me, my husband Paul, my daughter Tammy, and friends Kevin Tan, Amanda Ee,
Shaun and Joanna Voon, Mahesh, and an old friend, Eng Hoe
(2 people missing in this photo?)


Oh, there they are.

Hmmm.....eating. Figures. (Neh, just kidding. They just happened to be missing when we took that photo)

This was an odd group indeed, some of them we hardly knew at the time (like Shaun and Joanna from Australia) and others are really old friends like Eng Hoe, who goes waaaay back with us like maybe from the Jurassic Era.

Why: I am blogging about this event so you get to see how great this place is. The last posts I did about the Bird Parks in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore (here and here), it inspired a number of you to actually want to go there. Well, how about that....maybe I should write a blog for travellers.

Something about the sound of water that makes you feel refreshed...gushing..



or splashing...


or rippling....

This waterfall is just about a 1 and a half hour's drive away from Kuala Lumpur.

IF you don't get lost.

Which we did.

And we are not gonna name names of person/s responsible.

There is a parking area. You pay one ringgit per person to enter the area. That's all! There are toilet and bathing facilities (warning - no frills..this is not some kind of tourist resort)

There are different levels of the waterfall which you can choose to stop at. We climbed the steep stairs and decided on the level where..
there...
was...
a...
natural water slide!

Head massage



Shoulder massage



B_tt massage



So we took our turn/s on the water slide.

This video was put together by Tammy.

But things didn't go quite like I expected when it came to my turn. It shows how I (in red bandanna, from 0.51) got stuck not once, but twice. Huh? What was I doing wrong? (don't answer that) Yes, that was my daughter laughing like a sadistic hyena in the background. She has a dark side to her I'm a-tellin' ya.

Maybe cellulite has suction cup properties or somethin'. Sheesh.


It reminded me of my bowling attempts where the ball gliiiiiiiiiiides to the side and into the drain. Not good. No one else had this pause button problem.

We also attempted to form a human caterpillar (from 1.16)...

Some of us felt mighty pleased with our accomplishments. We (ok, not me, some in the group) could actually slide down in a standing position. Whoa! yes, clap clap we did.

And then.

they.


arrived.

A few Orang Asli (native) boys who had lived near the falls all their lives.

And they did their ke-ray-zee stunts (from 1.36)!



What the jimminy haystacks!! Have you ever?!




Don't forget to read the posts on the Bird Parks! It has valuable advice! Post 1 and Post 2

P/S
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Monday, April 2, 2012

Winner of Starbucks Vouchers! and a ride through I-City

This was what was given for you to guess...

As no correct guesses were coming in, I gave clues…perhaps look at it from different angles…

Clue…it’s not found indoors….clue…it’s part of a large animal…can you see it, can you see it?




Four persons made correct guesses (Tony Khong, Pattie Boo, Mahesh and Eason Tang) so I put their names on pieces of paper and asked my 79-year old mum to draw a name out. Eventhough she had no idea what I was on about, my cute mum was all let's-do-this! and told me (!) to shake all the names properly, closed her eyes ever-so-seriously and drew the name:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
wait...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
coming....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
hold your heart...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
PATTIE BOO!

BOO-YAH!!

I will contact you to discuss how to get the RM60 worth of Starbucks vouchers to you! Congratulations!

This dinosaur photo was taken at I-City, Shah Alam, Malaysia. A few of us had gone there for a trip more than a year ago (maybe 2!). Here are some more photos of that trip.


SHHHH...."If I take this one home, I'd never have to hang ornaments on it..."

Be sure your sins will find you out....
No idea what Boago is doing here....maybe it was nearing Good Friday...


Esther: "So preeeeeeeeety! I want!" (ummm....the butterfly? or Esther?)

Someday....



Oooo...who took this awesome photo? (can't be me)









When guys pose..."We're cool man, we're cool...." (HEY! There's Fadil! and Malkey!)
When girls pose...."Oh, we're so HOT!"