Smart Outdoor Dining Ideas

One of the reasons I like Martha Stewart is her eyes for details. She is able to capture the unmet needs that we do not even think about.

Salah satu alasan saya nge-fan Martha Stewart adalah karena eye for detailsnya. Aunty Martha kepikiran aja dengan hal-hal kecil yang tidak kepikiran sama kita tapi sebenarnya kita butuhkan.

Check some outdoor dining ideas I gather from her website.
Simak deh ide santapan di taman rumah yang saya dapatkan dari situsnya. 

Tissue or napkin keeper. No more flying tissues :) 

Other option, we can place pebbles on top of the tissues. 

Pemberat tissue agar tissue tidak beterbangan lagi! :)

Atau, bisa juga menindih tissue dengan batu kali. 

 Still about managing windy days.

Here's table cloth weight. This one is made of pebbles.

Masih tentang mengakali hari berangin.

Pemberat taplak meja. Yang ini menggunakan batu kali.

Bring out more natural touches on the table with real-leave coasters. 

Bagaimana dengan menggantikan alas gelas dengan dedaunan yang cukup besar?

Carrying full glasses on a tray is not always easy.

Floor the tray with a sheet of cork

Membawa gelas berisi dengan nampan memang gampang-gampang susah.
Alasi bagian dalam nampan dengan selembar gabus kayu atau sintesis.

A bucket of ice to chill the beverages.

By the way, I love the bucket (it is not a common bucket in Indonesia)

Bagaimana kalau mendingin minuman botol dalam seember es batu?

Ngomong-ngomong, saya suka ember enamel sayangnya jarang yah di Indonesia.

 Origami fruit cocktail cups. Click here for the tutorial.

Bungkus koktail buah dengan cup origami (klik disini untuk tutorialnya)

Terracotta plate 
Sulap alas vas terakota jadi piring yang dialasi aneka daun bersih.

 Stone and moss centerpiece. For me, it builds and radiates cooling effect.

Dekorasi meja makan (centerpiece) dari batu dan lumut. 

Menurut saya, kombinasi dua material ini memberikan efek menyegarkan :)

 Mini tiles for centerpiece alternative with floating flowers

Tegel atau tehel yang dijadikan dekorasi meja makan (centerpiece) dengan hiasan mangkuk bunga mengapung di atasnya.

Paper bag vase for the flowers
Vas bunga yang terbuat dari kertas

Hope the ideas inspire you too! 

I haven't conducted any outdoor dining yet. And, I can't wait for my first one! :)

Semoga cukup menginspirasi!
Saya sendiri belum pernah membuat settingan outdoor dining. Dan, tak sabar ingin segera bisa melakukannya! :)

Cheers,

Irene

DIY Sea Shells

Still in the mood for colors and paints! :)

Last weekend, I bought some food coloring and molders in Titan, a baking store (read: heaven!! hehehe) in Cilandak, Jakarta.

Check out what I did with them! :)

I bought a molder of a set of sea shell. I can't wait to mold them with colored clay!

I played with deep purple, sky blue and royal blue

Soon to be my new pendants! 

 I don't have the necklace tile at the moment :)

I was lucky to get a great sea shell molder which is pretty detail I must say. 

Last one! Gorgeous! Again thanks to the molder! :)

I got the clay from a bookstore. But I learn that there are many ways to make our own clay, such as this and this.

If you don't have a molder, you can shape it up with your hands such by flattening, rolling or twisting the clay. 

Have fun! :)

Cheers,

Irene

Potted Garden Inspiration

Hi there!

It's approaching rainy season in Indonesia.
Makin mendekati musim hujan!

It is the first year for me to have a (potted) garden and I am excited to pass this challenging season well really. I am sure I will learn something new. Thanks to the weather :)
Baru tahun ini saya punya kebun dalam pot dan saya tertantang juga untuk melewati musim hujan kali ini dengan baik. Pasti saya akan dapat pelajaran baru tentang berkebun yah. Terima kasih musim hujan! :)

If you want to share your experience gardening during the rainy season, please feel free to leave your comment and let's learn together.
Kalau teman-teman ingin berbagi pengalaman berkebun di musim hujan, boleh banget loh meninggalkan pesan dan mari kita belajar bersama.

By the way, check out some of inspiration for your potted garden. If you don't have a potted garden yet, I recommend you to try one. It is fun! :)
Omong-omong, simak beberapa inspirasi kebun dalam pot berikut. Jika teman-teman belum punya kebun dalam pot, saya sarankan untuk mencobanya. Seru deh! :)

I love the idea of re-defining a tea pot. It's cute and elegant at the same time.

Saya suka ide mengalihkan fungsi poci teh ini menjadi pot. Imut dan elegan.

How about reusing old flour sifter?

Bagaimana kalau ayak tepung usang dijadikan pot?

.. or creating a mini vertical garden of pastel pots on your fence

.. atau menciptakan taman vertikal mini dengan pot berwarna pastel di pagar

.. turn cracked mug or bowl into pots. 

.. gunakan mug atau mangkok retak sebagai pot

anything can be planters! It's so eco-friendly! :)

.. apapun bisa dijadikan pot. Jadi kita tetap ramah lingkungan! :) 

 ..pots from old boots
.. pot dari sepatu bekas

.. create more garden space on the wall! I super like this idea. 

.. ciptakan lebih ruang tambahan untuk berkebun dengan menggunakan dinding! 

Saya suka sekali ide ini. 

And lastly, pots made of formula cans. I like that they are painted to prevent them from being rusted.

.. Dan akhirnya, pot dari kaleng susu bekas yang dicat agar tidak karatan. 

I hope you are inspired to utilize anything at home for your garden.

Let's create something out of anything we have at the moment now. 

Semoga teman-teman terinspirasi untuk menggunakan apapun yang ada di rumah untuk berkebun.

Mari kita menciptakan sesuatu dengan apapun yang kita punya saat ini :)

Cheers,

Irene

PS: the pictures are gathered from various blogs. Too bad I didn't save the links. I will try to save my reference next time :)

Dyed Tissue Paper

Hi again! :)

The thought of doing something with colors and paints has lingered in my mind almost a month or even more (I don't recall the time cut).

I planned to change the cover of my small cupboards with something more refreshing, simple but still good for eyes. I have 3 small cupboards and the covers are now almost two years old. I guess it is about time to change it. 

So, I just can't wait to get nice fabric to start with this project. And since I don't have the fabrics yet, I played with tissue papers and tried out some dyed patterns. It is so fun and the magic is we'll never know how the pattern will turn out until it happened and we finally see it. 

It's called Fold and Dip method.

Fold the tissue paper and dip it into diluted pastel colors.

 I chose Red and White patterns :)  

Fold the tissue into square and we'll get lines patterns.

Or, try to fold it diagonally to get the diagonal lines.

Some of my creations :) 

One of my fave abstract patterns.

 I love to see the change of color intensity in the paper. 

I call this floral pattern :) 

More floral patterns in soft pink 

Another pattern.. Just have fun folding the paper and change the color concentration 

 The letter L pattern

 I think the wrinkled edge just adds more character to the paper.

Stack of my collection

Stack of my collection from another angle ;)

With this method we can make our own handkerchief, gift paper or even pillow case :)

Isn't it simple and fun!!! :D

Cheers,

Irene

Botanical Doodles

Hi again!

I saw so many ferns on the forest in my way back home in homeland! 

My hometown is Curup, a small town in Bengkulu, Sumatra. It sits on the side of a mountain. So, the weather is great, the people are nice and the plants are happy! :)

It takes two hours riding in a car from the airport in Bengkulu to reach home in Curup. In the ride, we spent at least an hour in the forest. So, it was intensive exposure to the ferns!

I was so inspired because I love ferns. 

Check out some of my fern doodles that I did on the airplane flying back to Jakarta.

Here's my very first trial with fern

 Trying to capture another type of fern

another one... 

and, another one..

I am so new with drawing and doodling.

But, I think I am liking it more and more now :)

Do you also have a new hobby? 

Just do it and just do it! :)

Cheers,

Irene

Mom's Garden

Hi there!!

Last weekend I went back to my hometown for a short visit.

So, happy to see my family especially my mom and my nieces! 

My parents love gardening too. We have fruity plants, herbs, flowers and Sansevieria and more. My mom smartly planted many tall lemon grasses to fence our house from dusty street! Ain't she artistic, creative and brilliant? :)

Check out some of her babies in the garden:

Orange Rose! 

It's a wonderful flower. For me it looks like the combination of Orchid and Lavender 

 This leafy plant caught my eyes. Look how happy it is!

 Blooming!

Can't wait to be home again! :)

Do you want to share your garden with me? You can! Drop me your garden pictures, tell me more about it and I will post it in my blog! 

Cheers,

Irene

Floral Doodles

Hello hello! :)

How are you?!

I finally take the courage to prove my old belief about myself wrong! Before, I kept telling myself that adoring arts is enough, no need to start creating something by myself. 

Two days ago, I finally did it! I drew. It is really my first time trying to do it seriously. My objects are flowers.  

Here are some of my floral doodles. It's far from being great but the point is I was able to conquer my own self. 

Doodling in a low light taxy during traffic jam 

My very first trial! During lunch break in the office 

Also during lunch break :) 

 Again, during lunch break!

The next day, while waiting for a group discussion. My friend said it looked like mosquitoes :)

Always believe in what your heart tells you. You are amazing as long as you allow yourself to be amazing. Always live your passion because we live just once. So, why not making it awesome! :)

Take the courage and just do it! 

Cheers,

Irene

My First Succulent

ALOHA!!

Wow! I had a pleasant weekend.

My friend took me with a group of his friends to Bandung in West Java, 2 hours from Jakarta by car. It was not planned at all for me.

The main purpose is to attend his friend's wedding. So, since it was not at all planned for me, I came in white t-shirt and blue jeans (thanks to my ever present scarf and a beginner's skill of doing hair updo, I hoped I made it somehow casual formal in the wedding).  

Since we were in Bandung already, we wanted to do something more in the city and tried to do it easily and  spontaneously. Little did I know that we were heading to a strawberry garden and surprise, inside there was a small greenhouse providing many potted succulent and sansivieria plants for sales.

In a nutshell, I was in heaven since it is one of my dreams to have succulent collection. 

My first Succulent collection.

And a pot of Sansivieria, named Pagoda which is popular in Korea.

Check out some of succulents and sansivieria plants that hit my eyes yesterday.

 I don't know their names

 Succculent is known as desert plants 

 They store moisture in times of drought

But, they still need regular watering at least once in 3 days

This one is so feminine and gorgeous

 They can be kept indoor.

  But need to have outdoor exposure once a week

This one looks like sueded succulent. So charming

We also found hanging plants but decided to buy it when we have our own house already. I am so passionate about having these lovely plants in my future garden.

Let me know if you know the name of the plants in the picture or any experience growing up some succulents.

Hope you also had a pleasant weekend!

Cheers,
Irene