Home deco: Sheer DIY

Assalamualaikum.. 

Hi guys! How's your weekend? Did you guys go to someplace interesting? Well, I had a very leisure weekend. I went for a swim on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I really had a great time in the pool because I have been longing to swim like I used to back in uni days.  It is very therapeutic for me..hehe. Anyhow..back to the topic, I decided to make a sheer curtain for some privacy during the day. It was just a simple DIY project and I am sure everyone can do it too. These are some of the inspirations I get from Pinterest

Sheer fabric with doilies. Source here

Source here

First of all, before buying the fabrics, you definitely need to measure the height and width of your window. I did my measurement with just the sewing tape only. No need fancy measurement device guys :P So for the width, you need to add about 3/4 of the original width of the window frame.

For example, if your window is 100 inch, the total width of fabric you will need is about 175 inch. Be warned that this measurement is only for curtains that you just hang on the rope loosely. According to the salesperson, if you want to use the hook type, you will need approximately 9 meters width of fabric to get the best flowy curtain. For the height, I added about 10 inch from the total measurement for seems allowance.

So at the store, you can find a few types of fabrics to choose from. These includes nets material fabric with varied qualities. There were also the lace types which are a little expensive for me and then there were the organza types. I chose the last one because it suits to my liking and also my wallet approves it. Haha. So I bought 3 1/2 meters of the fabric in total.

Okay, done with fabrics..now lets get to the real stuff. Just simply cut your fabrics in half (lengthwise) since I only want to make two pieces of it. Oh yes, since this is like the intensive-labor kinda DIY (meaning-I sew it on my own without the aid of a sewing machine), I just use my trustworthy candle to work out the side fringes of the fabric like the good old days. Haha. So done with that. Then, I sew along the bottom of the fabric to make it appear neater. The kind that I bought have sewn metal cord on the bottom so that the curtain will stay down. So that's really a bonus right there. After that, I sew the top part of the curtain and made like a loop about 5 inch height. This is for future usage if I wanted to use the curtain with hooks. If not, only 2-3 inches will do. After sometime, you won't even realize that you have already finished sewing it! Yeay!! 

The chosen fabric, the trusted candle & the heroic rope :P 

Now the last and the most important part which is to hang them up, of course! Hehehe. If you have that handsome husband around, please make full use of him :P If you don't, like my case *weeps* just hang it accordingly. I use a cheap plastic rope (tali rafia) to hang them. And then, take a few steps back and admire your hard labor with a big proud smile \^_^/ hehehe

Does it complement the yellow curtain or not? I think it is :)

Cost wise, I am not sure whether it is cheaper to buy a ready made curtain or to make it from scratch. All I know is, it is more satisfactory if you make it on your own :) Time wise, it took me about 8 hours or so of devoted sewing time to finish it. Really, it is that simple I feel shy to call it a DIY project..hahaha. I hope you guys could try it too someday. I think that's all for now :) Thank you for reading!

p.s: I have great ideas in my mind on what to put on the empty space in front of the window. Can't wait to start it! hehe :D

Travel: Semporna Day 2

Assalamualaikum..

Hi guys! So are you thrilled to read the next part or not? Haha I bet you are *clap clap* :P hehehe..So the next morning we woke up early because the boat leaves at 8.30 am and we have to gather at the agent first to register our names. Oh I forgot to tell you that the fees also inclusive with the fee to enter Taman-taman Sabah. They do a head count first, pack all the foods and also the scuba gear for those who does scuba diving. Truthfully, I would like to learn scuba diving. It was like in the list of 'Things that I would like to try, but first, be rich' kinda thing. Haha. But seriously, if you have all the excess money, please try for scuba diving :) Anyhoots, we depart first to the Taman-taman Sabah office to pay for the fees and then straight to Mataking Island about 1 hour boat ride from Semporna Jetty. It was far alright! According to the guide, the next island after it is already the Phillipines! The journey was not that sea sickening, but definitely a bumpy ride! Haha (do you also read that in the voice of that thing on the bus that Harry Potter took to the Leaky Cauldron, or is it just me? haha)

The main jetty in Semporna

On the way to Taman-taman Sabah

They gave us the wrong ticket. It was supposed to be RM 2 only for Malaysian

On the way to Mataking Island

Is that Bohey Dulang Island? I think it is

Look at all those tanks!! 

Finally we are here!

Getting excited!!

Upon arrival, you could see that there were many soldiers guarding the island due to its location near the international border. But don't be afraid, InsyaAllah everything is safe there :) We were left on the small island first and the boat went for a deeper part of the island for the scuba people to do their activities. Oh sorry, I forgot to mention that Mataking Island consists of two islands which were separated by a sand barrier and can be passed through during low tide. According to the guide, the small island is now a private property and cannot be passed through randomly. There is a resort on the big Mataking Island for those of you who would love to stay there. 

Mataking Islands; the small and the big island. Source: Here

Le hubs with Mataking Besar as background

C'est moi with Mataking Kecil as background

Us :)

After 30 mins or so, the boat came back to take us to the bigger island. We snorkel some more and got a little tired because the sun was like literally scorching our heads! Tips 5: Do not forget your sunblocks guys. It was really hot there! Soon after, they took us to the Timba-timba Island for lunch. I forgot to take a picture of the food, but definitely it was really good, considering the grumbling stomach we all had. Hahaha. There were spicy chicken, omelette, stir fry veges, rice and also fruits. We had a good rest there. Some decided to fish using papaya as a bait while some decided to do a backflip on the jetty. Haha amusing of course!

Beautiful Timba-timba Island :)

On the way back. Tired, but still happy :)

Then we headed to the other side of the island to do a last session of snorkeling. There were many fishes! Sadly we didn't have an underwater camera so we couldn't show you the amazing view in the sea. T_T I might consider saving up to buy that kind of camera..hmm...Anyhow, around 4 pm we went back to Semporna and reached there by 5 pm. We were very tired of course, but couldn't missed out on buying some souvenir for the family. There were many souvenir shops in Dragon Inn and grabbed everything that we want there (we've paid for it, of course :P) and went to hunt for dinner. We were starved and search no further thus settled for the shop near the jetty. We had fish and stir fry veges. It was good and decent considering the price :) Then we walk slowly to our hotel. If you guys are into night activities, I think there were a few shops that open up until late at night. 

I've paid, okay? :P

Toooo hungry to smile properly..haha

So that was the end of day 2 in Semporna. The next day, it was suppose to be another day trip to some other islands (Sorry I forgot the names!), but we decided to cancel it and changed our plans to discover Tawau instead. Luckily I have a friend over there and she was free to take us around town :) So, I think I will continue about that in the next post. Until then, bye!

Thank you for reading!

Travel: Semporna Day 1

Assalamualaikum...

Hi guys! It has been what..? A year? Haha that was freaking loooong. I know :P hehe I had just been caught up with works, family, friends aaaand a lot of cafe hunting. But no worries, I have never forgotten you guys. No fret ;) hehe. So back to the topic, I decided to share my travel experience with you guys since I missed this place a lot!! Semporna is like the lost heaven in Sabah, even Malaysia I think! So please bear with all the awesome eye torturing picturesss because I kid you not, it is like literally having sex with your eyes, feasting all the good view and the sea flavoured air. Haha that was too much information. Sorry! Hehe

So it was kind of a short get away with le hubs. We decided to go to Semporna, because well we just had a thing with sea and its kind. Hehe. So since I'm already in Sabah, only le hubs are flying from KL-KK and we went to Tawau the earliest flight the next day. Tawau is the adjacent district beside Semporna and the nearest airport to Semporna. You can opt to either land in Sandakan or Tawau, but Sandakan is waaaay farther to Semporna compared to Tawau. It's a little too much geography, I know.. haha. But just in case guys. Who knows when u accidentally bought a ticket to Sandakan and didn't know where to go kan? haha

The flight was early morning guys, excuse our panda eyes :P

We took MasWings flight to Tawau from KK and you can also choose to fly with Air Asia, no worries. The flight time is roughly 45 mins? I think? or lesser than that. Tips 1: You get to view the majestic Mount Kinabalu if your seat is on the left side of the plane. This was my first time flying to the east coast of Sabah so I am a little jakun. Haha. Anyway, a few naps after that, we safely landed in Tawau. From KK we have already arranged a designated driver (that sounds too fancy it seems wrong) haha. We booked like a chartered car la that comes along with the driver for about RM 100 from the airport to Semporna town. We have been conned actually but I will tell you about it later. You can get cheaper rate, if you bargain enough. Just don't take a taxi there because it will obviously gonna make a very big hole on your wallet. Don't say I didn't remind you :P The journey from Tawau Airport to Semporna town took us about 2 hours and 30 mins. Tips 2: Just sleep all you want because there is nothing much to see along the way. There were acres of oil palm plantation along the journey since Tawau is known for that. People down here are rich because of it, so don't underestimate them..hehe

Cheesy, I know :P

Tawau Airport

The designated driver *ahem* took us straight to the company that we book our trips with. I had made a booking earlier to stay in Mabul Island for 2 nights with an agent thorugh a Facebook page and thought that everything had settled and, boy was I wrong! Tips 3: Boat trips to the islands in Semporna leaves early in the morning (around 8-9am). We arrived in Semporna around noon-ish so obviously we didn't make it for the early boat! If we really want to go to Mabul that day, we have to pay charges for the boat which will cost us around RM100. So we discussed and decided to just stay in Semporna town and went for a day trip instead to Mataking Island and Timba-timba Island. The owner was really dissapointed with the agent because she didn't really tell us the truth about it. Luckily I just paid a little amount to her (about RM50) as a deposit, but hey money is still money, kan? huhu. But anyhow, the day trip cost us RM150/pax inclusive of return boat trip, halal lunch, snorkeling gear and insurance. 

Sipadan Mabul Lodge & Tours

Then we search for a place to stay, together with the owner for the island trip, and oh yes, Sabah people are kind like that :) Finally, decided to stay in Ocean Inn and it cost us RM 68/night. The room was spacious, bathroom was clean with hot shower and hair dryer, there were instant coffee and tea, and also water heater. We just rest in our room for the day and decided to explore the town during the evening. 

Semporna town is just a small town with enough facility to accommodate the town's people needs. There is one Giant hypermarket and also one Guardian Pharmacy to buy your necessary medications. We went to Giant to buy some bread for the fish tomorrow. Tips 4: Place small bits of bread inside a mineral bottle container so that you can feed the fish easily a.k.a many fishes will some to you..hehe. We had our late lunch+dinner just behind our hotel where you can choose from the many stalls there. We had our dinner in a steamboat buffet restaurant cost about RM35/person (if I'm not mistaken. Sorry, lupa!) If you preferred fine dining and wanting some exclusive feel to it, I would suggest to dine in the restaurant inside the famous Dragon Inn. Price wise: $$$. 

Semporna Mosque

Kids playing beside the mosque

The famous Dragon Inn. This is taken from our hotel. Underneath on the left is the many eating place you can choose from

For the trip tomorrow, I will continue in another post because I think this post seems like an essay already :P hehe. The total cost and itinerary will be posted in another post, so stay tuned guys..good things comes with patience :P :P :P Until then, bye!

Thank you for reading!

Home stuff: Living room deco 101

Assalamu'alaikum

Hi there guys! How are you guys doing? It's school holiday season now and I hope many of you had great times with the kids. As kids, we always look forward to the holidays, me and the sibs...well, who doesn't, right?hehe. Mom and dad would send us back to the village or we say kampung in Malay, to visit our grandparents and cousins. It never bothered us if dad and mom were not around because we get to play day and night with the cuzzies, and eat such lovingly made food by Uwan :) 

I remembered the most epic game that we played was the treasure hunt game. The older cousins would sneak the clues in the most dumbest/weirdest place ever! Haha. They even shove it down a dead banana tree trunk and made us dig it up. Sooo nasty! haha. We bathe in the kolah (small pool in the bathroom used to contained water) and pretended as if we were in a swimming pool. Haven! Hahaha :D Those were the days. I'm old now though *sigh*

Sooo...back to the topic! I have a Pinterest account with sooo many inspiring pins that I adore! You can check them out here. So as I have many free weekends now, I thought I should give some of the easy ones a try :) I have been falling in love with geometric decorations I guess. I recently bought small pillows to put on the couch with chevron lines and previously had bought a small carpet with geometric design..annddd now, I want to try and paint something artsy for the wall *on a canvas, of course* with geometric inspired design too! hehe :D 

I love the geometric pattern on the wall and also the various designed pillows!
Source: Here

I personally think it complements the yellowish carpet and also the curtains. I am thinking to buy/made another simple pillow but longer in size to put in between. It seems nice to be in odd number, right? But I didn't know what shades of color should I go for. Should I go with blue-ish tone, or grey-ish tone? I think those two would be nice. Or should I go with a lighter shade like white, peach or pink? Hmm...

Looove the combinations of turquoise+red+grey!
Source: Here

Another thing I would like to add is more sitting spaces. Since I have a small living room, I think buying more bulky sofas is not such a good idea. I want to have a reading nook besides the window but I'm worried though because when it rains water will dissipates through the cements. I don't want that to ruin my pretty nook..cewahh..hahaha v(n_n)v But anyhow, I couldn't erase the idea of having a comfy nook in the living room. Here's some inspiration for you guys to check it out :D 

Love the led lights and the colorful pillows :D
Source: Here

The plant pots, rattan basket and how simple this looks!
Source: Here

Simple and functional. The copper bronze tone added umpph to the area :)
Source: Here

White pillows and natural light
Source: Here

Another tips I've learned to make a small space looks and feels roomier is by adding mirror in the room. I want to buy these Ikea mirrors since they can be 'glued' to the wall using only double tape but I will try to look for a more cheap version of it if I can though :) Since I only rent this house, I am not allowed to 'punctured' the walls with nails, so tapes are my last resort on trying to hang something on the wall :') These are some of the inspirations I get from Pinterest.

I would omit the lamp and the vase though :)
Source: Here

The different sizes mirror give different dimensions to the room
Source: Here

Would be nice to add to the wall facing the windows
Source: Here

I know it is ambitious to do all of these deco stuff but I think I'm going to start small first, then slowly build my way up :) Moreover I have to think about my budget for this project and also my time allocation for it. Hee :D I would love to start from making the cushion cover myself and a sewing machine would definitely be a good idea to have now! Heheheh I am soo excited and thrilled to see the outcome :) I hope it is not only saying though. I think this will be it for now. I have something on my mind for this weekend project and will be sharing it with you if I really did it. Hihihi I think that is all for now. Thank you for reading! :)


~Husna S

Should I, shouldn't I?

Assalamu'alaikum

Hi guys! How is everyone? I hope no one is catching a cold due to the weather conditions lately. I am good here. Just recovering from cough, but am still having it though it is not as bad as last week :) 

So I have a friend, a new one actually. We were good at first and suddenly I don't know what happened, that person suddenly shows hatred towards me. Not directly though. Like for example, he/she will emails everyone in our group whenever he/she got something good, but not me. I don't know where did it all went wrong. Sometimes I felt like that person was just jealous of me, which I myself is still trying to figure out what is the one thing that I have, that he/she didn't. I am totally clueless ??? 

That person always asked for my help back in the days when we were good. I am glad to help, because we are friends, right? That is what friends should do to each other. And now, out of the blue, that person started to kick me out of his/her life. Started to ignore me whenever he/she feels like so, and talk to me whenever he/she feels like so. I am a little mad, of course; because I didn't like people used me like that. Being kind to me when he/she wanted to ask for a help from me. Friends share their laughs and sorrows together. Not just happy times. So when he/she decided to ignore me, I started wondering, should I do the same to him/her too? 

There are times when I am hurt with what he/she said, but then, as time passes by, I recovered and just let it go. Never would have crossed my mind to like totally ignore him/her. Because true friends just don't quit on each other :( So now, things has elevated to another stage. He/she will not even respond to me in our group. Whenever I ask a question, no respond. But when everyone else is talking, he/she would suddenly appear and continues chit chatting like nothing is wrong. I am sad, seriously. Because I didn't know what I did wrong and made me deserve this. I helped him/her a lot though but never have I asked for any help in return because that is my principal. I just don't like to ask for help. I am so sad because I never thought he/she could be this cruel.

I don't want to hate him/her, because we used to be good to each other. But I don't like the way he/she treated me now, too. What should I do? Should I just pretend like nothing is wrong? Should I just refrain myself from getting mad? Should I just continue to give him/her a helping hand whenever he/she ask for one? Of course deep down inside of me, the devil is suggesting just to get out of the group and forget about him/her. Forget that we have been friends before. Treat him/her back like what he/she did to me. But I can't do that. I am not the kind of person that simply just be mean to someone that I used to be good with. I am in a dilemma. I need opinions and advises. Please help me! :(

Love,

~Husna S