Boys can craft too… just bring them to a Canon PIXMA Craft Workshop

For the first time ever, I brought the elves to a Canon PIXMA Craft Workshop on Saturday 31 May at the Inter-Continental Hotel. The theme was “We Are Family!” and it was definitely one popular family event as streams of adults and their little ones queued up to register, get their goodie bags and excitedly go through the materials provided by Canon.

It took a bit of coaxing but my older elf, who at first thought of the event as “girly stuff” eventually joined in the fun with his craft-crazy sister. We posed with mustaches, speech bubbles and spectacles at the photo booth, fixed crafts together and the kids started getting into the games with their peers.

My gal even got a photo with the lively and witty hosts, Jeremy Yeo and Joanne-Marie Sim!

We made two items, a door hanger and a photo holder. The Canon-provided materials were all printed from their Canon Creative Park website and all we had to do was to cut, paste and stick them in any way we wanted. I did most of the cutting and let the elves decide how they wanted to decorate.

Before the event we were asked to store a few of our favorite family pix in our phones. We then printed them out using the Canon PIXMA Printing Solutions app at the printers stationed all around the ballroom. It was so quick and simple and the colors were vibrant!

The kids were well-entertained with games that had them interacting with each other and running around the ballroom looking for answers to Canon-related questions on “clouds” that were posted above the various printers. My gal was thrilled when she won a prize bag of exclusive Canon products!

In between, there was a tea break which was a delicious treat of egg tarts, dim sum and carrot cake. It was heartwarming to see all the family photos and the love and detail that went into each craft item. Sharing our table was a family of five with mummy, daddy and their three children helping one another to finish their creative keepsakes. As there was only one set of double-sided tape and scotch tape and a couple of scissors, it was a good moment for my children to learn to share and wait patiently for their turn to use the tools. We had a great time chatting while crafting too!

Canon organises these craft workshops at least twice a year near the school holidays. Registration is free so places get snapped up real quick. So look out for details for the next one and make sure you sign up. You'll definitely have an enjoyable family-bonding time!

Quick & Easy Bespoke Box

I like handmade things because they give a personal touch. But some days, making something original requires creative promptings.

Two weeks ago, Canon sponsored a group of bloggers with Pixma printers each to blog about the creative things we can do with crafty resources at Canon CREATIVE PARK and Canon PIXMA town. I've always wanted a Pixma printer for its printing quality and was quite thrilled with my MG5570 model (although I was also eyeing the fire engine red one another blogger received, but gratitude girl, gratitude).

What can I say, the websites were created to avoid pre-mature life span shortening for procrastinators like me. I had a gift for my mother-in-law but no box to put it in. So I headed to these two websites and found a basic floral box template that I could print, cut and decorate just the way I want it. 

It was super simple. The instructions were clear and the cut-outs well marked with fold lines. The only challenge I faced was the folding of the "petals" so that the top looked like a perfect flower. Obviously, I was no match for the most idiot-proof of visual instructions. The box was hitherto building up well but now threatening to look like origami gone wrong. Suddenly, the paper folds fell into place and a perfect flower was formed. Hooray! 

Meantime, my daughter has found that she can build a whole town out of paper from the Creative Park site. Looks like the Little Ponies will have a new neighbourhood to roam about soon….

Put your gift inside the box

Crease along the dotted lines and fold the "petals" towards the left 

Voila, you get a pretty floral cover for your box

Personalise it your way and it becomes a unique gift!

July Class: Home Is Where Love Lives

Here's another workshop for mommies and your little tykes!

Add a touch of cheer and warmth to your home with this lovely hanging decor item made from pages of a Maya Road round coaster album and the bright colours of American Crafts' Backyard paper collection. Little birdhouses, cute wellingtons and yummy watermelon slices will definitely bring back homey memories.

Cost per mummy+child (5-12 years) pair : $20

Materials to bring: A pair of scissors. All other materials provided.

Special Treat: A WHOLE pack of American Crafts tangerine puffy stickers worth $10.50 for your keeps! No need to fight with your neighbour for the alphabets you want :)

For venue details or more information, please email me at littlehappyideas@gmail.com

Thanks for dropping by!

Sneak Peek: Home Sweet Home

A sneak peek into a new workshop I'm preparing for July...

Children's Wall Deco

The wall deco I did for the kids' room was selected as the layout of the week by Made With Love! Thanks, MWL, for this privilege! Here's the deco I did, with more details at Flickr.


Just bought another stack of cardboard sheets to add to it. It's getting kinda addictive :)