The Breakers Hotel Suite by Badgley Mischka

The Breakers Hotel at Palm Beach Florida has an imperial suite specially designed by Badgley Mischka. Combining Hollywood glamour with modern elegance, the serene yet luxe abode fits into the Florida lifestyle perfectly.

The hotel itself will provide magical moments with its intimate dining, spa and recreation areas. All beachfront of course.

Party Food Appliances

These are not everyday appliances, only used when you are a having a big party or on special occasions. Even then, most people just buy ready-made or rent the appliances. So its terribly cute when manufacturers make small home-sized versions for people with a lot of counter space and like to party.

Popcorn makers to pop your own corn. You control the type of corn used and amount of seasoning. I would imagine this is for people with home cinemas or TV rooms.

Cotton Candy machines. To make cotton candy, you really need this appliance. Using just 1 or 2 hard boiled sweets that will last a really long time in this machine. The retro versions are too adorable for words.

Chocolate Fountain, the ultimate dessert! Found in every hotel buffet in town, you can dip ice-cream, fresh fruit or even marshmallows in.

Margarita or Slushie Makers. One of the best ways to beat the heat, next to snow cone machines of course!

Corn dog makers, a summer time snack. You can buy the machine, mixes and an adapted waffle dog maker.

Sodastream or water carbonators to put the pop in your soda. Carbonate home cocktails, fruit juice or cordials for that extra special fizz and sparkle.

Beer dispensers are handy for big barrels of home/artisan brewed beer. Think about how much waste you can reduce from not using beer cans or bottles for your next party.

Wine dispensers are usually found commercially in restaurants and pubs although it is perfect for home use. It can accommodate just 1 glass each time and allow family members with different preferences to get the beverage of their choice when they want.

* updated on 17 Feb 2013 : Ice maker, I know I want this.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye

Estee Lauder's Advanced Night Repair for the Eyes. Skincare brands usually carry special products just for the eyes because the skin around your eyes are 4x thinner than the rest of your face and its also where the first signs of aging appear (a.k.a. crows feet). So you apply eye serums/creams on your eyes first, followed by the usual facial serums/creams over the entire face. If you are the type that doesn't use anything at all then at the very least, you need to own and use an eye cream.

Estee Lauder skincare lines stay around for decades, a testament to the results and popular fan base it has accumulated. Most women like my mom use this as their base/fallback brand for good moisturizers/serums that work. It is also a good step-up for ladies looking to upgrade themselves from the usual drugstore brands as results are visible. I tried it for 1 week and noticed the dark eye rings are visibly reduced and the area around the eye is almost the same as the rest of the face. Full sized bottle 0.5oz retails for S$68.

XNDO Diet

Xndo is the only diet plan with full service shops in Singapore. That means you can buy weight loss supplements, meal replacement food and drinks as well as healthy snacks all under the Xndo brand name. So far, everyone that has tried the diet says it works and the food and beverages are tasty, so I decided to try it out for myself.

The meal replacement packets retail for $11.90 to $14.90 a box, the same price as a meal at a cafe. However, there are usually promotions so you can get large quantities for much less. If you are not planning to lose weight, these meal packets can be stored without a refrigerator and make good rations for busy people who don't always have time to buy food.

Most meal replacement meal plans like the Cambridge Diet sell hydrogenated food packs that you mix with water and consume, usually soups and drinks. The Xndo Diet features real food with all the nutrients in healthy portions so you know you are eating right.

I heated up my packet of Chili Crab Horfun in the microwave and am happy to report it tastes delicious! The noodles are especially springy and there are lots of herbs and spices in that chili crab mix, it tastes more like curry crab than the usual chili crab we are used to.

Daikin Air Conditioning

Workers installing our new Daikin Inverter Multi Split Air Conditioning System. I think we change the aircon system every 10 years or so. Daikin because its a market leader and the Inverter series because it is quiet, powerful, energy saving and filters the air to  make it clean, healthy and odorless that is the real deal breaker.

Like a pet, your home aircon system needs regular cleaning in-between. So glad we got this before CNY so we have 1 less item to spring clean.

Paint-by-Numbers Online Stores

Craft stores usually carry paint by numbers kits and it's amazing how the creators of this product managed to simplify the painting process so that anyone with the time and patience can create an amazing piece of  wall art. Using acrylic or oil paints, each number is tagged to a colour and you just brush the respective colour onto the area marked out on the canvas. Easy enough?!

Online Singapore resources to buy your own paint-by-numbers kits from:

Paintastic - Nice selection of small, medium, large or clustered kits. Allows ordering and payment online.

DigiPainting - 8 different sizes of painting kits available including clustered kits. Custom orders of family portraits accepted, please enquire.

Very Nice Art - Online art seller that carries a few small sized painting kits.

For those who want to try this out, I have only 1 bit of advice: buy larger kits as the spaces to paint are bigger. Smaller kits have smaller sections that are more difficult to paint.

Floral Scrapbook Frame

These frames measure 22cm x 27cm, large enough to fit a photo collage or magazine cutout. The great thing about it is the recipient can just slot in a photo and *boom* scrapbooked picture! So I don't have to chase people for photos. 

Materials needed to make your own Scrapbook Frame:

3 pcs of Scrapbook Paper

1 strip of  Ribbon

Embellishments (I used swarovski crystals in fuchsia, 3D Butterflies stickers, Metallic Thread in green)

Cardboard base and frame

Penknife, Tape, Tweezers to pick up crystals

Start by wrapping up the cardboard frames with scrapbooking papers. Tape the strip of ribbon onto the base board so you have something to hang up the frame with.

I spun this sparkly green metallic thread around the frame to create a mystical fairy web.

Then I cut out the flower border from scrapbooking paper with my new pink sparkly penknife.

And glued it onto the frame.

Then glue down 3 sides of the picture frame, leaving the top-side open to slip in the photos.

Finish by embellishing with crystals and butterfly stickers.

Claridge's Rooms by DVF

Diane von Furstenberg and the reknown Claridge's Hotel in London go way back, staying at that hotel whenever she is in London. The story goes that on recent trip a few years back, she stayed at Claridge's and noticed the rooms were wearing apart. She duly informed the management who invited her to re-decorate some of the rooms.

So now the glamorous Art Deco hotel has a block of some 20 rooms done up in DVF's signature exuberant style with loud prints and colors.

Barbecue Equipment

One way to entertain guests and enjoy the great outdoors is a good ole barbecue. So easy to organize and prepare. Instant barbecue pits are sold at your local grocery store for just S$20, just unfold and light the coals to start. You can even stand it on an outdoor table like those Korean restaurants.

People who have outdoor kitchens usually have a built-in pit. If not, a simple kettle or a standalone barbecue station with racks, stoves, smokers and gas will make an appearance during summer.

If you plan to organize a BBQ, you must use smokers. Afterall, what is BBQ without the deep complex flavors of smoked meat? It is one of the main reasons we love outdoor cooking in the first place. If it wasn't, any gas stove or electric grill will do the job. Sometimes, getting one of those multi-shelf smokers to slowly flavour your meat before grilling is all you need.

Don't forget the wood chips for use in the smokers. It ranges from hickory to applewood and just about anything delicious in between. Another way to add spice to your meals.

Nail Buffer

For neat, shiny nails on a budget and I mean that! 1 nail buffing block or stick can last you a year at least. So everyone can have beautiful nails all the time if they just make the effort to. I used to do this when I was younger as schools have strict no nail polish policies.

It's a 3 step process of shaping the nails, filing away ridges on the nail surface, then buff those nails until you get that shine! So natural, guys can do this too.

Seoul Garden

10 years ago, Seoul Garden was the only Korean restaurant in Singapore. This Korean BBQ buffet place seasons its meats perfectly resulting in juicy, sweet chicken in tomyum, szechuan, cha siew, garlic and black pepper flavours. There used to be beef, mutton and pork that has since been taken off the menu. 

From just a bbq plate, there is now sushi, cooked dishes and hotpot with the usual yong tau foo in a buffet format. S$20.90+++ worked out to S$29.40 per person and the place is open for 4-5hrs at a time so you can avoid the rush crowd by coming in later. 

Atmosphere is decidedly congenial and relaxed with large groups of students, friends and family. A group next to me was strumming the guitar and singing campfire songs. Don't expect much service though and pack some wet wipes. The staff only collect money and prep food so tables take forever to clear.

Scrapbooking Supplies from Daiso

Daiso that $2 store stocks arts & craft materials seasonally so if you see something you want just get it as it won't be there on your next trip. This trip yielded more pink stuff, including a sparkly pink penknife and pink glue sticks.

MapleTreeHouse Haul

I ordered some scrapbooking items from MapleTreeHouse as it was having a really good sale, they're calling it an Inventory Blowout. There are usually a few more emails exchanged before payment is made because some of the discounts are calculated manually and not all items will be available (website not real time). The people that run it are really friendly so I don't mind.

The one tool I have really been wanting is the Martha Stewart Large Circle Cutter, that cuts perfect circles in various sizes. It is the version I want and now I can't wait to get started on more craft projects.

These are professionally made pennants that are really prettier than anything I can make myself, so I ordered a set. You always find pennants in scrapbooking crafts so I will find a use for these.

Clear stamp sets so you can see the positioning. Numbers, Alphabets and my favorite raspberries and blueberries. All half price now.

One large acrylic block to do the clear stamping. I tried stamping without the block and you get a distressed look, so you really need the block. No discounts on this though.

The ink pads are on sale too and I ordered a few but as it turns out only 1 ink pad was available at the time of my order. It's a 3 tone mineral ink pad that will help get that ombre look on bigger stamps.

Embossing stamp pad. This one is colourless and you need it for those gorgeous glitter embossing with the heat gun. Will definitely be doing a separate post on this later on.

Some scrapbooking stickers. The butterflies are just perfect for a project I am working on. The colourful ones in the back are actually water transfers.

And these Fiskars catridges are the reason I placed the order in the first place. Works with the Fiskars interchangeable starter set. Original price S$30.90 and after discount just S$12.50 each.

  

This cartridge makes mini pennants or saw-tooth edges. Last minute decision to buy it as I love anything miniature so I had to get it.