Showing posts with label homemaking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homemaking. Show all posts

21 January 2017

No-Bake Cookies and Cream Cake

With Valentine's Day nearing, it's quite a given that pastry stores, even chocolatiers will take advantage of the needs of their customers. Aww-worthy gifts for their loved ones, that is! But what if you actually have not allotted a budget for it? Well, you might probably decide unleashing your inner Martha Stewart, right? But then, what if you got no tools to back you up? You only got a few spoons and bowls and a brand new refrigerator (from last Christmas or perhaps, a wedding present from one of your wedding godparents, lol). 


Fret no more, royalties! MoneyMax.ph sent me this awesome infographic on how to make a No-Bake Cookies and Cream Cake under Php200. 

10 August 2016

War Against the House Enemies & A Giveaway From Pest Off

You know what they say about raising happy kids and messy homes; that it won't come together all the time as you wish? Well, there is truth to it especially if your family's like us, who do not have anyone to manage the house but us. Now that I have online work, a small biz and this blog to maintain - I hardly have time to fully clean the house! After my shenanigans for my well-received #baonserye episode on my Facebook page, the kitchen area usually looks like a warzone. Seriously. And we all know that those traces of war attract *enemies*, right? By that I mean - house pests that scare the hell out of me. So how do I keep them away without being rushed to the hospital?


1. Making sure that if I choose not to wash the dishes, the edibles or "ngatngat-worthy" are all in the trash bin. It has to be somewhere far from me or I'll freak out to death once I see a fiend crawling on top of the sink. *goosebumps* lol 
2. I have a cat. Have you noticed (in the movies, Instagram, blogs or maybe someone you know) that those who love to cook are those who love the feline family, too? I have no scientific idea about it but it does apply to me. I just feel like keeping my furry baby but I'm also glad that she helps me drive away the unwanted guests at home. 
3. If my cat fails to fulfill her duty, I use products to halt a budding scary pest domination. I have insect repellent sprays for mosquitoes, flies and roaches. We also draw on wall crevices using insecticide chalk to neutralize creepy crawlies. As for Mickey Mouse and his friends, we are armed! Pest Off sent us their best mouse and rat warriors last week and really, it's the best! 

20 July 2016

Free Printable Finds

With all the many hats that a mom has to wear, she must always organize and plan things ahead in order to accomplish the tasks as she wanted it to be. It can be planned at least a day ahead, sometimes a week before; months even if necessary. I know some moms who can peacefully manage her household without a journal or to-do list, at least; I am an exemption. I need a handful of post-its and a decent pinboard beside my office desk so I will be reminded of what I need to do. But post-its can be a bit boring albeit its loud colors - my penmanship makes it as such, perhaps.


I'm glad that there are creative bloggers who are so generous to share their digital art skills with us here in the cyberworld! Planning my #baonserye is now easier with Living Locurto's Lunch Box Planner. I write what I can prepare for Sophia there then I list down the items needed to make it in Hello Cuteness' Grocery List. Here are the other free printables that can help you organize your tasks (and maybe your life, as well, haha).

01 May 2014

Lovin' Hooks and DIY with Good Housekeeping and 3M Philippines


As a self-proclaimed domestic queen and Army wife (whose husband is not at home all the time), it's inevitable that I do 99% of the house chores ― laundry, dishwashing, changing light bulbs and even making pukpok some concrete nails on the wall to hang the curtain rod or framed photos. However, the latter will be quite a task for my weak arms. The last time I attempted to do such, I hit my thumb! So I'm glad for products such as Command™'s Damage-Free Hanging Solutions by 3M. 

29 April 2014

Make Your Home Healthier and Safer with Lysol


So I’m a self-proclaimed domestic queen, right? So you must probably think I have the cleanest home, right? Yeah, yeah, it can be true. I hate dirt, I have OC tendencies and clutter turns me off big time! This is kinda cliché but I somehow believe in this: Cleanliness is next to godliness. I mean, sloth is one of the seven deadly sins. And having mess, garbage and germs in your body, home and surroundings are all results of laziness. Get the point? Wait, wait. I have my share of ‘organized clutter’, too, like lately (hihi) but I’m generally into cleaning. Come and visit my humble kingdom and you’ll see. I’m also glad my husband’s not that Mr. Scatter Everywhere kind of guy. His car’s interior’s the proof of it (kisses to you my Cpt R). 

But guess what? Cleanliness is not enough. In fact, according to Lysol, it’s just the first step.

08 March 2014

Joy with a Touch of Olay


Since I'm a self-proclaimed domestic queen, people would easily think that I can do all things at home with a snap of my royal fingers. Or that I have imaginary butlers and chambermaids doing the icky stuff for me. Well, through Christ, of course I can! But sometimes, my royal body complains. One of its pet peeves is dishwashing. I don't find it fun; it's tiring and boring. Well, house chores aren't intended to be fun at all, as a matter of fact, but a SAHM's got to do what she's got to do. I love cooking and eating and taking food photos for Instagram (follow me by the way, @bebengisms) so it's natural that dishwashing is a part of the full kitchen production number. Ugh, how it dries my hands it leaves cracks! Therefore, I only use two brands for my dirty dishes: One I mentioned here and the other is Joy! So I'm really happy when the non-domesticated Wife from Hell, Krisna, tagged me along to Procter & Gamble's recently concluded event that launched Joy with a Touch of Olay ― making our hands set for “touching moments”. I'm sure my domestic king is excited to use this so I can hold his hands more. Hihi.

27 November 2013

The Captain Has Been Promoted to Domestic King

Few weeks earlier, I had the light that Sophia accidentally blew up in the bathroom upstairs repaired by a neighbor, who used to work as an electrician. Originally, I wanted to wait for my husband to come home and tell ask him to do the much-needed repair. I thought that it might not happen anyway. Ugh *rolls eyes*. He is not a handy daddy, unfortunately. It's a very sad fact for a damsel who's always in distress, like me. Well, to be fair, he painted our old home in 2009. Bad news though: he has problems with colors. Our house looked so Avril Lavigne kind of purple. So emo, so rockstar. It was supposed to be a little of lilac-ish but he was the one who bought the customized paint, as I was taking care of an infant then. So there. I just made do with what we already had - paired it with black, glass and stainless stuff to give the old apartment a modern vibe. 


That's one skill that any woman married to a man working away from home must acquire: Learning the art of make-shift.

I remember when we rented a shoebox of a house in Pasig and that I needed to put up curtains and that he was not around. I was silently cursing him in every pound of the hammer in my finger the nail. LOL.

My husband is the only boy and youngest in the brood of four. According to MIL, my late FIL never wanted him to touch any womanly domestic duties at home. He was designated as their errand boy. In fact, when the rebellious teenager R disappointed his folks, as a punishment, he was tasked to do the laundry. Well, FIL should have taught him to do more "dirty" work! Hehe. Seriously, I can't question him for not doing what most by-the-book dads do. His being a military officer doesn't really require him to do such things. So yes, I understand him.

 I'm a kikay handy mommy.
But hey! I love him to bits despite that and I will not end this post with wifely complaints. The previous paragraphs were just the prologue to what I wanted to tell you. I am actually a very lucky wife. My king came home for 4 days and though I was physically, emotionally and sexually (of course) prepared, the house wasn't. A pile of freshly-laundered clothes welcomed him at the couch. Dirty plates and glasses were smiling at him when he entered our kitchen.

Guess what?

I woke up one morning with folded clothes. Though not neatly done, it was still frikkin' folded!!! Wait, there's more. I turned on the light in my cute kitchen and saw newly-washed almost dripping plates! Hallelujah!!! He was lying at the couch like a boss in front of the TV when I saw all of those. I felt as if he was a lifeguard in Baywatch, looking so gorgeous and all. LOL. I gently hugged him, smelled him like a lola and showered him with kisses. Woohoo! My captain, oh captain is now a domestic king. Insert flowers, hearts, birds sweetly chirping, angels singing bonggelz-ly and sexbomb dancers doing some Jean Claude Van Damme epic splits here.


And so when we passed by Sesou's kiosk in Trinoma, I bought a bottle of Droplets of Nature dishwashing liquid. It's his current favorite sink buddy! My R, a stern and strict military officer, is a homebody domestic king. He really kept his promise that he told me 5 years  ago  he will be a blessing. Oh yes, he is! Naks.

What about your husband, my fellow dear queen? Can he make Martha Stewart look lazy?

06 August 2013

Hoop for a Hoopless Hand Towel

I love Martha Stewart's kitchen towels! I bought mine in SM Department Store. It has so many designs that could add a touch of cuteness to your kitchen. I have pink polka, cupcakes, stripes and plaid. I am actually planning to add more. Yes, you can never have too many hand towels, you know. But I noticed one thing, only a few have hoops sewn on it. Among my 5 towels, the polka has it. And since I don't have an oven yet where I could hang it and neither I have installed a hand towel bar in my humble kitchen, it has nowhere to go. It became a messy love affair between me and my towels. So I thought of a great idea! I sewed a DIY hoop for my hoopless hand towel!