Book-Box for Hin

My son reads a lot. When I visited his apartment three weeks ago, it was a mess. His books were lying on the floor, with a few on the table.

For this Christmas, I made him a book-box to hold books that he is currently reading. There is also a place where he can put bookmarks, a pen and a notebook. After all, he reads a lot of non-fictions and a notebook is imperative for him to jot down notes as well as his own thoughts.

This present doesn't cost me a cent as I used whatever material that I found at home. The fabric was actually from a skirt of Hui.

Claypot Drawing - A Birthday Present for my Daughter

Hui wanted to give me this claypot which was used to hold some kind of Arabic food. I tried hard to think of a use of it beside using it just as a decorative item.

I decided to draw dalmatian dogs on them. Each of them is wearing an Emirates hair band and Emirates signature red pillbox hat.

Inside was a chocolate mousse cake for her birthday.

The shape of the claypot is quite special though it is a bit similar to the Moroccan tagine. However this claypot has a deeper pot. I think it would be useful to store onions and garlics, since the pot can keep its content cool.

Blankets for the elephants

This pair of wooden elephants was bought by my dad when he visited Thailand in 1980. He brought back the whole family, mum, dad and 3 baby elephants. I am so fortunate to be able to keep the parents.

I gave them a layer of lacquer some time ago. Then I decided they needed a blanket in the true Thai style.

I did this when I was in Dubai. The star was designed by Hui, and she also gave me ideas on the arrangement of the beads. A mother-daughter creation, continuing the legacy of my dad.

The fabric was from an old Thai handbag I bought for Hui when she went to Perth to study.

The star was so beautiful when viewed from the top.

The pair of elephants is guarding my door to the garden.

A fan-like palm frond

There is a palm tree across the road outside my house, and it has beautiful fan-like fluted leaves which are big, about 2 feet across. I used it as a background.

An easel

I made an easel using a few pieces of old wood found at home. I dug out a very old blackboard used by my children when they were small. My second son drew a picture of the three siblings when they were all less than 10 years old. They have all left home. I miss them every day.

Little mat for my little cushions

I picked up a large palm frond from the roadside.

I cut out the leaflets, washed then ironed them flat. When I ironed them, it gave a fragrant palm smell, a the surface became glossy because of the palm oil that permeated out.

 I weaved the leaftlets into a mat. I used white glue to glue the edges.

The final product.