The Breakfast Theory

I'm not sure when Filipinos began embracing Hallyu, I just realized one day that it was no longer taboo to openly declare your love for Kdramas and Kpop. In my 20's, the few times I let slip that I was into Kdramas and Kpop, I was met with smirks and was mocked by close friends. In my 30's I just didn't care anymore. I was still ridiculed for listening to music "you don't even understand" and watching dramas and movies that have "plastic surgery beauties." But by this time, I knew what I wanted and what made me happy and no longer craved acceptance from my peers.  From time to time, friends would ask what I am currently watching or for recommendations. During ECQ, finding she had more time on her hands and less workload because of quarantine, a colleague asked for a list of recommendations. She didn't have any particular genre in mind, so I made a quick list of dramas and movies I enjoyed. I didn't want to overwhelm her, so I just listed ...

BIRTHMONTH: May Said to be the gemstone of the goddess Venus, purveyor of love and hope. While ruby is known as the stone of passionate love, the emerald is known to be a stone of faithful, deep and mature love. The birthstone for those born in spring, emerald is believed to bring vitality, success in new ventures and good health. MYTHS & LEGENDS Legends endowed the wearer with the ability to foresee the future when emerald was placed under the tongue, as well as to reveal truth and be protected against evil spells. Emerald was once also believed to cure diseases like cholera and malaria. Wearing an emerald was believed to reveal the truth or falseness of a lover’s oath as well as make one an eloquent speaker. ABOUT THE STONE From the beryl mineral family, the Emerald has a rich, green color. Stones with weaker saturation or lighter tones are called "green beryl". Mistakenly calling a 'green beryl' an 'emerald' can greatly impact its price and ma...

2017, I've been wanting to try metal stamping but found that it was too expensive and I didn't have the budget for everything I needed. Christmas time came and I thought to put them on my wishlist, and my siblings chipped in to complete my list. So lucky to be the youngest ❤ So I finally bought everything though I found that my choice of font was too whimsical. The stamping set I really wanted was too expensive, almost double the price of the one I got. There was one set that was inexpensive, but was out of stock, so I thought okay, I'll get the hang of this first, make money off of it then buy another set. What I didn't consider though was the stamping blanks. The ones from the seller were too pricey since she orders from abroad, so when I was computing the selling price became too expensive that I just had to look for another supplier for the stamping blanks if I wanted to sell them at a reasonable price. I found one on Shopee and my first transaction w...

2019 was the year I received a lot of upcycle projects for old jewelry pieces. My sister also had a bagful of accessories that she was about to throw away and this made me wonder just how much accessories were being thrown out everyday. After finishing one project, I thought, since I was going to upcycle the pieces from my sister, I might as well document it and create tutorials on how to upcycle or redesign old jewelry pieces. But like I said in my previous post, this blogsite was too disorganized and I didn't have the time to fix it that I decided to just create a new one to separate the tutorials from my random posts. So if you're looking for upcycle jewelry projects and ideas, visit  The Buttercupstreet Project . All my socials are there too, so tag me in your versions, I'd really love to see them!

I've been wanting to update this blog site for some time now but never really got around to doing it. The other day, much like cleaning out a locker, I cleaned out my virtual locker of social media accounts and deleted ones I haven't really utilized in the past decade or so. Since I had time, I decided to update this blog site too. I was surprised when I realized my last post was in 2014. Has it really been 6 years??!! I started reading my past posts because I remember having content that was from the sites I've deactivated. It was interesting to realize some things about my younger self and see the difference now. I'm so glad that even though I initially put up this blog to post about accessories that I make, because I was so all over the place, I also posted some things that were not related to crafting. Because then, I was able to read and see where I was at, mentally and emotionally, in that phase of my life. Going through my site and reading the posts, I realized...

This happened sometime in 2002 - 2003. One morning I woke up to happy chatter. I wasn’t even surprised anymore to have such early morning visitors. We grew up with friends and strangers going in and out of the house at all hours of the day. And by all hours, I mean even at 3 - 4 a.m. But as I entered the dining room, I realized this one was for the books! Here in our dining room, happily conversing with my mother as if they were long-time friends, was an actual monk. A bald-headed, clad in orange cloth monk. This may be normal for other Asian countries, but the Philippines is a predominantly catholic country so seeing monks is not as common here. I cautiously sat down and glanced at my sibling and Tita to see their reaction. After he left, we asked Mama how that happened. She said she was walking home from the market when she saw the monk and wondered what he was doing in the neighborhood. So she struck up a conversation and invited him for breakfast. And because of Mama’s curiosity, w...

Recent conversations with my nephew made me realize how fast he is growing up that soon he won't be needing us anymore. This made me remember some of my favorite funny moments with him and got me laughing by myself I just had to compile them while they're still fresh in my memory. I guess an alternative title for this post is How To Traumatize Kids! Hahahaha #1 Hammie : Tita Boom, naglalaro ka ba ng tecs (tex?text?teks?) nung bata ka? Beam :(nandiri ang mukha) No! Larong kalye kaya yun. Hammie tingin sakin sabay balik ang tingin kay Beam Hammie :(nagaalangan) Si Tita Tin naglalaro daw ng tecs noon eh Beam :(hindi makapaniwalang tumingin sakin at nandidiri parin ang mukha) O?! Naglalaro ka nun??? Tin :(biglang nagalangan narin pero hindi nagpahalata kaya tumawa nakang) Oo! Oo naman! Beam :(balik sa ginagawa nya) talaga?! Yuck! #2 Hammie : Tita Tin, may field trip na kami! Tin : Kelan? Para masabi na natin kay Mommy Hammie : Sa nov.xx pero wala pang le...

A couple of months back a client said she'd be sending over a string of pearls in silver thread for redesigning. She tried to explain that they were tangled but that was an understatement. What I received was a clump of pearls in silver string. I couldn't even tell if there was a clasp or not, where it began and ended, and what kind of necklace it was.. *sigh* my client friend never ceases to amaze me!  So I tried playing Dr.Quackquack and tried to untangle them but it seemed when one knot was free another one formed. And as if that's not hard enough, I found out the pearls were glued to the string! It was taking too much time and I was losing patience I had to set it aside to work on my other projects. Although from time to time I'd work on it, it still looked the same as when I first got it. I was feeling hopeless. Finally done with everything else and now having some free time, I decided to take this on and not accept orders until it's done. Two headaches after a...

I keep remembering your last day, our last trip. You looked so happy and excited. Surprised when I put you in the car that you were actually going with us. Looking out the window, insisting on sitting on my lap instead of going to the other side to watch everything go by. And then looking forward to check where we are then going back to the window. You wanted to lie down, but also want to see outside so you just stand up, spraying your saliva everywhere as your breathing turn into pants. And we laugh at you, because you make evrything you do look so adorably cute. We stop over for food, and as Beam goes down you scratch at the door wanting to go with her. We tell you to stay and we play instead. When food arrived I offered you a piece of bread, but you turn it down and I laughed because you never turn down bread! I offered you fries and you didn't want any of it either, so I saved you some in case you changed your mind once we reach the cemetery. We got there and after you peed on ...

For the little ladies, these dainty pieces will make them feel every bit as special as a Disney Princess!