Pocket Wonders

Your Creative Sidekick | Crafts, Design, DIY

2016 Pantone Colour + Free Mood Board

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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.

pantone-color-2016

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.

Mood-Board-Pantone-2016

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]

how to make dumplings

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

how to make dumplings, the ingredients

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

dearfriendprojectBack 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

thelist

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

hello2016

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]

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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

70 Advent Calendar or Stocking Stuffer Ideas for the Boyfriend or Husband
Are you looking for advent calendar or stocking stuffer ideas for your boyfriend or husband?  You’ve come to the right place!

Update: The original advent calendar list was from 2015. I’ve recently updated this to include advent calendar ideas for 2020 and will be continuously adding as ideas come.

I have a tradition in my house. Every year, I do an advent calendar of small wrapped gifts for my boyfriend, now husband. Last year’s advent calendar 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 or Valentine’s Day gifts for him.

[Read more…]

10 Ways to Save Money on Groceries

groceries1

If you’re like me, you think that you spend too much money on groceries. Most of the time when I buy groceries, I find I’m the worst offender at over-buying which causes me to throw out a lot of food a week later. Over the years I’ve worked very hard at cutting my bad habits of over-buying and wasting food. Here’s a list that’s worked for me to cut my grocery bill by 20%.

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4 Days in Paris

paris

Ah Paris. You stole my heart years ago when I found out about macaroons, La vie en rose and you being the city of love. It was with complete joy that I was able to visit you in the Fall of 2015.

This article has the following:

  1. My 4 day trip to Paris including feedback on what I liked and didn’t like. Note: This was more of a 3 day Paris with 1 day of travel.
  2. Tips and tricks I learned while I was there (great info for anyone planning on visiting!)
  3. Lots of pictures

[Read more…]