Why You Need A Wedding Planner

10/02/2016

Every new engaged couple quickly learns how expensive weddings are.

The first thing couples book is the venue. They know they need a photographer, food, flowers, music. But what about a wedding planner?

Though wedding planners aren’t on the top of most couples’ shopping list, it should be. And here’s why.

1) How much is your time worth?

You probably don’t realize it yet. You have a year until the wedding right? That’s plenty of time!

But time will pass and the next thing you know, you’re getting married in 3 months. Did you book your flowers? Do you have the cake ready? How about the favours? The bridal party gifts? Make-up and Hair booked? Suit Rentals? [Read more…]

The Dear Friend Project: Spring 2016 Link-up

28/01/2016

Welcome to The Dear Friend Project: Spring 2016 link-up!

I’m very excited to see what the participants have come up with. If you have signed-up for this session, please add your blog posts to this link-up!

If you weren’t able to participate in the Spring 2016 session, not to worry, there will be another one in the Summer of 2016. Please subscribe to the Pocket Wonders e-mail list or follow me on Twitter to hear about the next session.

And now without further ado, the link-up!

THE LINK-UP

Let’s talk Mood Boards

20/01/2016

Hello lovelies,

I’m excited to release my first digital product in over 3 years! Following up with my post from earlier this week where I provided a free mood board template, I’ve created five more for you to play with. These ones are available in my shop or on Etsy.

I’ve also put together an instructional video to help those using any of my mood boards. They’re so much fun to use and make and I’ll likely be sharing some mood boards weekly that I’ve created as well. Please do let me know what you think and let me know if you use them to make any mood boards. I’d love to see what people come with.

Below I’ve posted some information for those who are completely new to mood boards. Send me a message if you have any questions!

What is a mood board?

A mood board is a collection of images, assets, patterns, and colours to create a mood or to provide inspiration. Mood boards are commonly used as style guides.

Why should you use a mood board?

Mood board are pretty popular among bloggers and you can normally find them in blog posts. Mood boards can be found in the fashion and design industry to anyone planning an event or in need of inspiration. CreativBloq lists 7 reasons why you should use a mood board and why its worth the time.

If you’re looking at rebranding your website, they are extremely useful in establishing the colours and feel of the website. Mood boards save tons of time and are a casual draw-up without investing too much energy to get an idea of what clients are looking for.

I’ve used them many times when creating themes for weddings. Mood boards are nice and quick to draw up a theme to see if I’m on the right page with a client.

And finally, they’re just fun to make!

So how do I get one?

2016 Pantone Colour + Free Mood Board

18/01/2016

If you follow Pantone, you’ll know that they released 2016’s Pantone colour. This year, it’s Pantone 13-1520 Rose Quartz and Pantone 15-3919 Serenity.

The colours are very reminiscent of a Pinterest board I created almost 3 years ago. I’m so happy to see this colour combination together. If you’re interested in seeing wedding related photos that are similar to this colour scheme, check out my Pinterest board. I’m sure it’ll be a popular colour combination this year and I’ll continue to add pins to the board for inspiration.

I’ve also created a mood board to show off the gorgeous colours.

Image credits: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

If you’d like to create your own mood board, this board is available for sale or you can download a free one below. [Read more…]

How to Make and Fold Dumplings [With Video]

15/01/2016

HOW TO MAKE DUMPLINGS

My absolute favourite meal is Chinese dumplings. I grew up with them as a little girl and would always request my parents to make them. Have you ever wondered how you can make dumplings at home?

Traditionally, Chinese dumplings are eaten on special occasions since meat was not affordable back in the day. Now you can enjoy it whenever you’d like!

The most difficult thing about dumplings is folding them. In this recipe, I’ll show you how to fold dumplings properly so you have dumplings that look like they were bought from the store.

It should also be noted that this recipe can be modified by simply switching the dumpling wrappers with wonton ones and presto, you have wontons.

Portion size: Enough for 4 people (or 2 really hungry ones)

Prep time: 1-2 hours (dependent on folding speed)

Cook time: 20 mins

WHAT YOU NEED

MEAT FILLING

500lb Ground Pork
1 bunch of dill
A blender
A mixing bowl
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Sesame oil
2 Tsp black pepper (adjust according to preference)

FOR FOLDING

1/4 cup of Flour (for sprinkling trays and keeping your hands form sticking to the dough)
Trays or plates to put folded dumplings on
Dumpling wrappers
A small spoon (a teaspoon is good)
A small bowl with water

SAUCE

Chinese Vinegar
Garlic
Soy Sauce
Chili Oil (optional)

[Read more…]

The Dear Friend Project

11/01/2016

Back in the spring of 2011, I launched the Dear Friend Project.

It was one of the most fun and enjoyable things I did while blogging. So in 2016, I’ll be relaunching this project and will attempt to run it once every few months.

THE STORY

If you didn’t participate in the past or didn’t read the old post, I’ll re-tell my story.

When I was in Grade 4, I had a pen pal. We would write letters to each other even though we’d never met. With technology constantly evolving and the introduction of the internet and e-mail, the mail that I receive now is just bills and advertisements, with the occasional Christmas card (thanks mom!). Though e-mails are very efficient, nothing really beats receiving a hand written letter. The paper, the effort taken to write it, the crossed out typos and unique handwriting all add to the character and charm of the message.

So The Dear Friend Project is a project to bring back life into receiving messages the old fashion way.

THE PROJECT

The purpose of The Dear Friend project is to make new friends and have some awesome keepsakes by exchanging letters with someone you’ve never met.

I’ll open the initial entry phase for 2 weeks time. I’ll match everyone up with someone and you can exchange mailing addresses. Please send a handwritten letter to them (minimum 1 page double-spaced please). Feel free to jazz them up with stickers, washi tape, cute paper, or other PAPER items. Please send this letter out within one month of being assigned.

Every session I’ll post an optional list of prompts you can use in your letters.

If you would like to participate, please fill out this form:

Sign-up is now closed! Thanks for joining us! If you’d still like to be part of this project, please follow me to hear about Summer 2016 sign-ups!

Spring 2016 Prompts (optional):

Introduce yourself (name, your pets, your family, your location)
Talk about the weather on the day you’ve written the letter and how/if it effects your day
List 3 interesting things about yourself
Include a drawing (in your letter or on a separate sheet)

Check back at this website for a link-up party so you can show off the letters you’ve sent and received! I’m looking forward to see what everyones letters look like.

The List

08/01/2016

If you’ve read about me, you’ll notice that I have a large variety of interests. I write about a lot of subjects, but the list is ever-growing and evolving. So here I present to you all of the blog and personal goals I have that I am actively working towards completing. You may recognize some of them from my old list.

Last updated: February 9, 2016

SKILLS

Read and understand a book in Romanian
Read 500 books (using Goodreads to track)
Learn how to ballroom dance
Learn how to Salsa dance
Learn how to properly use my DSLR
Learn how to watercolour paint
Crochet a Pusheen doll
Cook a dish from each of the following cuisines: Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French
Make macarons

[Read more…]

New Year, New Perspective

08/01/2016

When I came back to the world of blogging a couple of months ago, I had one thing in mind: I wanted to make money from doing something I loved.

Over the last few weeks however, I noticed myself becoming tired, and writing posts started to feel like “work”. Don’t get me wrong, blogging full-time is a lot of work. But by “work”, I’m talking about feeling like you don’t want to get up in the morning because you don’t like your job. I remember what that felt like. It was the whole reason I was pursuing this to begin with.

The issue was, I was approaching everything from a business perspective and it was making me unhappy. I was focused on monetizing instead of passion. So yesterday, I re-aligned my goals and expectations for Pocket Wonders. I want to write and share things with my readers that makes me smile.

Something you should know about me is that I have a very wide range of interests. So you’ll begin seeing a lot of different things on Pocket Wonders. This means that for the first time, I’m writing about my geeky side.

I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I do writing them.

Review and How to Play: 7 Wonders Duel [2 player game]

09/12/2015

When I was looking for the best board games to purchase, the most frustrating thing for me was finding how-to-plays on them without watching an hour long play through or having to read the full instructions online. So I’ve taken it upon myself to summarize in text (and possibly in video in the future) to make it simple to read about and understand without having to spend too much time on it.

In our house, 7 Wonders is the most played game we own. So when I heard that 7 Wonders Duel was released, we jumped to buy it.

Number of Players: 2

Playing Time: 30-60 mins

Game type: Competitive/Strategy Game

How to win: Get the most victory points at game end*

*there are scenarios that end the game earlier but are difficult to achieve

If you’re familiar with the original 7 Wonders, this game is a breeze to pick up. Whether you’re playing it for the first time or are a 7 Wonders veteran, I’ve summarized how-to-plays for both scenarios.

[Read more…]

70 Advent Calendar Ideas for the boyfriend or husband [Great Stocking Stuffer Ideas]

04/12/2015

70 Advent Calendar or Stocking Stuffer Ideas for the Boyfriend or Husband

I have a tradition in my house. Every year, I do an advent calendar of small wrapped gifts for my boyfriend. Last year was only “13 days of Christmas”. This year I did 25 days of Christmas. I thought I’d share what sort of things I’ve wrapped up (including ideas that I didn’t use). These would also make great stocking stuffers.

[Read more…]