Peppermint Mallow Cream and Dresslily Giveaway!!!

....meanwhile at the Christmas clearance section at the grocery store, I found peppermint flavored marshmallows. Suddenly I remembered a recipe from one of the ladies at our church consists of jello, cream and marshmallows.

 I am not a marshmallow type of person. However, I like perppermint! It's a shame I was too busy shopping for Christmas stuff and never noticed that there is such as peppermint marshmallows. Oh well.

This recipe for the cream is very easy. Put peppermint marshmallow (amount of your choice) into a cup of whipping cream. Let it sit for a minute or two and whip it at speed two with a stand mixer. If you like chunks of marshmallows, put the marshmallows at you whip the cream. 

I sprinkled crushed peppermint candy to add a little crunch to the dessert.

Just a reminder. The DressLily giveaway is still on going.

Dresslily has a vast collection of amazing high quality fashion products!

They have dresses, shoes, accessories,bags, jewelry, lingerie and watches

 for very reasonable prices!

Do not let this one get away! You could win and choose any from these great fashion prizes! The giveaway is also open outside U.S! 

Read all about the giveaway here

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Pick Your Price. Win Dresslily Fashion Giveaway!!!!

Caution: Extra Hot News!

I'm just gonna to cut to the chase because I am super hyper excited to tell you about my news.

I am very thrilled to be chosen by a great sponsor to host a fashion giveaway for Petites Passions followers!

Dresslily has a vast collection of amazing high quality fashion products!

They have dresses, shoes, accessories,bags, jewelry, lingerie and watches

 for very reasonable prices! I... personally couldn't stop browsing their collections and I couldn't find anything I didn't like! Dress lily is a one-stop shopping for every style that suits any personality, weather you are:

Lady of Elegance 

Vintage chic

Contemporary Chic

simply wild 

Sweet charmer

ETC!

Visit Dresslily.com for more fashion inspiration and for some shopping!

 Okay! Enough teasing! Now... for some pleasing! 

You could win any from these prizes!

See here for a closer look of the prizes:

1. Fashion Candy Color Wave Veins Embellished Small Bag For Women

2. Relaxed Sawtooth Pattern Batwing Sleeve Plus Size Women's White Blouse

3. Pair Of Artificial Hair Design Knitted Long Winter Gloves With Exposed Fingers For Women 

4. Sparking Waterdrop Rhinestoned Pendant Women's Necklace

5. Morden Style Stripe Splicing Lapel Double Breasted Embellished Women's Long Hoodie

6. Sweet Colorful Rhinestone And Bowknot Embellished Women's Drop Earrings

7. Cosmetic Large Plum Foldable Bag For Women

8. Fashion Square Pendant Pylon Shape Earrings For Women

Here's how to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 I will announce the winner in a month, then the winner must email me the price of choosing (including size and color), and a mailing address.

Happy Winning!

Inspiration On How To Wear Faux Fur Vest

Did you ever had I-forgot-I-have-it moment while browsing in your closet? I bet you did!

I got this faux fur black vest as Christmas present from my mumsy a few years ago. She had so much hope in me that I could pull through a wardrobe like this. I don't want to appear too flashy. I have tried the mix and match game with it but to no avail, I wasn't very successful. I found it again sadly hanging in the closet waiting to be worn. I wanted to figure out how to wear it with a little subtlety

I browsed the trusty Google engine and found this photo for inspiration. Casual but sophisticated get-up with a touch of brown leather bag and flats.

...still playing with it and trying on some more ideas.

Christmas Birdhouse Project

It's not to be up decorating and crafting again. It is one of my relaxing moments on my days off from a tiring work at the restaurant.

I am doing a few sorts of new decor lately. It's funny how my taste in decoration differ from the last year. Although, I have been recycling and re-using some stuff that I had last year to make new ones.

I had this wooden bird house since last year. I got it from Goodwill for a $1 or less. This is going to be my blank canvas for this project. One of my problems is I over think things too much. I was too excited to do something with it a while a ago but I just ended up not doing anything with it so it just sat around, collecting dust at the storage room, until one night while watching TV with hubby, I jumped right off the couch like a spaz chihuahua and gathered...

 a piece of scrapbook I got as a present from my Aunt Carol 2 years ago, some transparent glitters, modge podge, geeso paint and artificial snow grains that bought last year at the end of year Christmas clearance.

Covering the bird house's front was quite tricky. After I managed to finally do it, I had to paint some blue parts of the house with white Gesso. Embellished it with glitters for frost effect and artificial snow for snow effect

You could either hang it...

or display as it is.

I hope you like my little project! Have a wonderful day!

Time to Sparkle Link Party

French Yule Log

Getting tired of fruitcake for dessert on Christmas? How about try a classic French yule log or " Buche de Noel". Of course you can be all Pinterest- y with your dessert such as crafting an intricate cute snowman melts and reindeer cupcakes if you have all the time in the world. However, I find this recipe as easy as making snowball cake.

As promised, I am sharing this recipe I got from an old book entitled Southern Heritage Cakes Cookbook.

What you need

4 eggs
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar
2 cups of sweetened whipped cream
1 tbsp of instant coffee granules
3 (1 ounces) of unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup butter or margarine
dash of salt
About 2 1/2 cups  sifted  powdered sugar
Candied cherries

Instructions:

Grease 15x10 x 1 inch jellyroll pan: line with wax paper and grease lightly.

Combine first three ingredients; beat at medium speed of electric mixer. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, beating until thick and light colored. Fold in flour, cocoa and vanilla.

Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 13 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed.

Sift 2 to 3  tablespoons powdered sugar in 15 x 10 inch rectangle linen towel. Turn cake out onto sugar; remove wax paper from the cake. Trim crisp edges if necessary. Starting with the short end, carefully roll cake and towel, jellyroll fashion. Cool thoroughly  on wire rack. Unroll and remove the towel; spread with whipped cream, re-roll and chill.

Dissolve coffee granules in boiling water; stir well and set aside.

Melt chocolate in top of a double broiler; add butter, coffee mixture and salt, stirring until smooth. Cool to lukewarm. Stir in about 2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar to make a spreading consistency.

Spread frosting  evenly over cake. Mark with spatula to resemble a bark of a tree. Garnish with candied cherries. Refrigerate until serving time. Yields 8 to 10 servings.

Thank you for your time! All the blessing to you and remember... never stop creating!

Cakes for a Cause

I was given the privilege to contribute 2 cakes at the bake sale/cake auction  to raise fund for Speed the Light ministry, an event hosted by CM Journey Youth Ministry. Without any hesitation, I took the chance to make two cakes of my choice.

I wanted to be timely. I saw Martha Stewart's Caramelized Apple spiced cake in Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Butter cream, decorated with Gold Marzipan Pumpkins, Leaves and Acorns and took courage to give it  a try.

Of course, I am no Martha Stewart so my cake didn't turn out as gorgeous as hers. This cake is great for Thanksgiving holiday. But beware, this is a very rich and heavy cake. A sliver would be good with a cup of apple cinnamon tea!

The second cake I made was Buche de Noel. The recipe came from an old recipe book I bought from a thrift store for half off! I will be sharing this recipe. I have to day the Oldies are goodies!

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The Time I Embraced My Beauty

I visited my home Manila. Some people noticed there was something different about me after living in U.S for four and a half years. Some people I know observed my skin gotten darker maybe after I moved to Tucson.

Some of you may not know in Philippines, tan or darker skin is often unappealing. To call someone dark skinned could be taken as an insult or considered imperfection.

"Nothing has changed since I left" I thought to myself. Supermarkets and drug stores were full of skin whitening products, from soaps, to creams to pills. The market of whitening products had increased from natural whitening papaya soap to a hardcore gluthatione pills. For some reason, I was glad I escaped a place where society encourages me to hate my natural color.

I was often called "negra" or black when I was a little girl. I was often compared to my sibling who is "meztiza". "Why is she darker?" I remembered a friend of my mom asked. Our silly neighbor didn't know I was too busy enjoying my childhood playing under the sun all day every summer . I guess my skin just adapted to my lifestyle to protect me from the sun which caused me a darker complexion. However, I never escaped the same comparison every family reunion. It's always been the whitest is the most beautiful. This sentiment was planted in my mind. White dolls were the epitome of beauty. I wished I was blond, white and blue eyed. I was a little girl who wished I was something else.

The time came when I liked boys and I became too self-conscious about my appearance.  Filipino mentality has becoming more and more westernized and whitening products were on the rise. Girls and boys in school who have whiter complexion were among the popular ones.

 I saved my allowances to buy skin products strong enough to burn and peel my skin. I would wake up one and a half hour early just to bleach my skin before school and scraped it with knife to remove what I believed dark dead skin cells. I hate to admit, it was painful and it consumed so much of my time I've thrown so much money in the beauty industry. I've gotten tired of it. WHAT A COMPLETE WASTE.

I stopped my skin whitening obsession when I met and married my husband. He preferred my natural color and most of all, he loves me the way I am and wouldn't change anything, with a bonus of second parents who always remind me that I am beautiful the way God made me.

I have been to different countries where I haven't seen any kind of whitening products in grocery isles. Many have wanted and complimented my complexion. There were few men asked my for my number. Instead of digits, I answered "I am married". My confidence climbed higher I didn't have to be ashamed of my color anymore.

 I am not saying skin lightening is pure evil. Skin whitening  has a benefit too. 

According to this girl on youtube, when you got a boo-boo or acne inflammation, the Melanocyte creates more melanin in a spot. It should actually fade within 24 months, so to speed up the process, whitening products are used to speed up the process to diminish the excessive melanin that caused dark acne spots. But in most cases, many have abused it, bathed or injected these chemicals into their bodies hoping to look like whites.

There's nothing wrong on having preference when it comes to the definition of beauty as long as it won't hurt or scar someone and feel bad about themselves. Do not fall for the lie that beauty demands something you are not or you do not have. Beauty is always been there. It can be enhanced but shouldn't be changed. Filipinos are given a beautiful and functional skin color to enjoy the beauty of nature (such as beaches, mountains) Philippines have.

With this in mind, I was wanted to bring home a Filipina barbie doll but couldn't find one that I could afford. 

So my oldest sister who's hobby is crafting doll gowns, gave me a gift to bring back to U.S. She found my old dusty barbie doll and clothed it in very beautiful handcrafted gown.

 Filipino inspired ball gown made from our very own Philippine product Abaca.