♥ Day 1 - Groceries in Japan at Gourmet City

These were the basic groceries we picked up at the 24 hour grocery store near by. Lots of Cute character based foods and novelties. Selections on types of drinks are huge, packaged bentos go for $3.00 to $5.00 with it being 30% off after 7 pm usually.

Bread (~$1.00 cdn)
1 dozen eggs ($2.19 cdn)
3 package of pudding (~$1.00 cdn)
 Orangina (~$1.00 cdn); this drink is seen everywhere but its usually $2.49 at home
 cured ham (~$3.00 cdn)
large peach jello cup (~$0.88 cdn)
1L lemon tea (~$1.00 cdn)

With a few more items, the bill came to $11.00 cdn. Taxes here is 5% versus the 13% at home. Makes the bill look less horrifying after shopping. Fruit though on the other hand, is too expensive especially $20.00 for a watermelon.

♥ Day 1 - The Apartment in Shibuya Japan

This is our apartment for the 21 or so days we are spending in central Tokyo. It is the the Shibuya-ku area near Hatagaya station. It is very close to a shoutengai (a shopping street filled with family runned businesses). Several convience stores are in the area, such as 7-11, mini-stop, and lawson. A 24 hour Orangic grocery store is found by the station exit.

The location was found on Airbnb, and while accomdations in japan are small and expensive, Airbnb has offered some inexpensive places for groups of 4 travellers. In the end it was roughly $25 a day for this apartment per a person; which is the same price as staying at a hostel such as Sakura house. However considering that in this private 2 bedroom apartment well over 40 meter squared and that you do not have to share a bathroom or kitchen with others, it is a better bargain over staying at a hostel.


It is a 7 minute walk to Hatagaya station which uses the Keio line (a private line from Tokyo Metro not included in our 2 day metro passes), fortunately it only costs 120 yen to get to the major station of Shinjuku.

Deco Cake

Add a cute touch to a cupcake tier with some drawings attached to toothpicks.
Extra chocolate covered candies can be placed in between each cupcake for more detail

♥ Chocolate Filled Origami Roses

These were some of the roses I folded and stuffed with chocolates for valentines. There were some off-cuts of red paper that were going to be thrown out at work, so I kept them to use for this project. The video for this is down at the bottom. ^^ hope you like it.

pretty ?

♥ Nommy Donut Toy Design

I am so greatful for the local 24 hour Fedex print shop. It had been an immense life saver through out schoo, but even now it still is. I had a good 6 months to work on pieces for an upcoming portfolio but motivation did not come to me until 2 weeks before the deadline (=_=). It seems a lot of art students are that way, they would tell me they work better under pressure. There were plenty of times when I did start projects early, put a lot of sweat and work into only to hear from the professor complaining that I over thought, and tried too hard.

I modified a donut box (the ones with the handle) for the packaging, but at 3-4 AM I thought it was going great. However next morning when I finished printing and cutting, they flaps do not fit together ?!?!?!?!?!!! It made much more sense when I was half awake sadly. That error will be fixed. soon.

Anyways, I love making cute things, its more enjoyable and comes naturally, hopefully I will have time to craft more of these donuts into key chains to sell in the spring. I hope you like them.

packaging that was a fail. =(

Hello, how are you?

♥ Valentines Day Origami?

Valentines day is coming up soon! Even if you are not with someone, its a time to show off your creative skills with your friends and family right? I love the oppourunity to make chocolates and nice little cards to give to people, makes the miserable winter weather more bearable (^0^). I am working on a few dozen origami roses at the moment. Since these roses have an open cavity, that will close up by tucking the extra tabs, you can easily fill it up with chocolates or candies! 

Theres lots of instructions on the internet for different roses, usually the packages of rose origami papers will come with instructions. I was attempting a kamikaze which ends up with 8 petals instead of the regular 4, its been a while that I forgot how to fold it, so its incomplete at the moment (T^T)'' .

♥ DreamV Jumper Skirt Order

A jumper skirt I've ordered from DreamV Rakuten came in today. This is my second order from DreamV, and it went very smoothly. Both times I've order mid-week and it arrived in Canada by Monday or Tuesday the next week (however I did use EMS as a shipping method). I still have to figure out how to get them to ship in a regular parcel because even for 1 item, it is shipped via EMS in a large box that costs about 1,500 yen. I do fear excessive communication would complicate the order even more though, which happened with another shop.

I've ordered the navy version  (~ 2,900 yen) 

I really wished they did not waste a box for my small item (T_T), package came safely, with newsprint stuffing for extra protection. You'd also get a variety of flyers and coupons; its pretty but cant read it lol.

overly large box

newsprint filled for protection I guess lol

The jumper skirt was exactly as show, the material is soft, the lace a bit stiff, but holds its shape. There is extra lining on the inside, and adjustable straps as shown. Buttons look just like the photo. 

I was a bit upset at myself about the sizing. The first time I've ordered I was afraid of asian sizing - and the 1 or 2 inch variation, so I went up a measurement. When the item came in, it was too big. This jumper has a stretchy shirring waist band. Size S waist measurement is 62cm to 82cm , size M is 66 to 86 cm, size L is 70 to 90 cm. It looks like the skirt waist measurement has such a large range. Usually I do not fit into a japansese size s or m, so i assumed since size L fits my range, and I usually order an L I would be safe. I was disappointed , even though it does fit, and it is not falling down, I felt it would have looked better fitted if I chose an M or even an S. Have to be careful with this when ordering. =(

overly large box

newsprint filled for protection I guess lol

All in all, I cant wait til the weather is a bit better to be able to wear this. The ordering process wasn't too complicated, it was a trouble free shipment and the item looks just like the photo. Final verdict? 4.5/5