Who wouldn't want to see America Singer in toothpick doll version wearing her signature blue gown she wore on her debut on the Illea Capital Report? After I created a toothpick doll version of her first ever day dress when she arrived at the palace, it inspired me to make another America Singer toothpick doll looking regal and princess-like. I might actually make more Americas in the future since she wore a bunch of outfits in the whole series and add to that her signature outfits on the book covers of The Selection, The Elite, and The One.  But apart from being the main character of the series, she's my favorite since she's got the personality I can probably relate to in some cases. She's a little introverted (I think), doesn't have a lot of friends, likes to do things on her own, may be a little stubborn, and likes to remain grounded despite all the fancy opportunities offered by living in the palace. But she also has some characteristics I look...

If you came into this post then one thing is for sure: you know who America Singer is and you've also read the Selection series. I've recently come across with this series. I've been a reader of thriller genres or novels about some heroic detective solving various cases of murder and stuff. I was never a fan of the romance genre and I would always pass by the romance section on our local bookstore. Then out of the blue, I just felt like I'm getting fed up with the same genre after reading them for years. Hell, most of the books I have on my shelf are of the thriller genre. I believe it should've been a habit, but I got tired to the point of having a hard time turning the page. I was dumbfounded since, I am a lover of books and it's heart-breaking to put down a book unfinished, or having a lack of passion to read again. I felt lost. Then one day, I went to the local bookstore with my cousin to pass time. Crazy right? Most people would probabl...

It's that time of the year when people celebrate the coming of the new year under the Lunar calendar. Chinese people celebrate this event in a very colorful way. The culture and tradition is evident on the clothes they wear, the food, the dance, and the whole celebration itself. Compared to the way my family celebrates the solar new year, it's fun in its own way. Not only do the Chinese people celebrate at this time of the year. Countries such as Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, North Korea and South Korea celebrate this holiday as well, however, it is also widely celebrated here in the Philippines as there are Chinese communities living in the country although it is not exactly a declared holiday. The Lunar New Year doesn't have a fixed date unlike the other celebrated holidays in the Gregorian calendar. In South Korea, the locals celebrate the new year in a duration of three days. But this year, it falls on a weekend, making it a long ...

It’s finally our most favorite time of the year! It’s finally the night we hear Christmas carols on loop and Christmas trees are bigger and brighter than ever. It’s also that time of the year when families get together and talk about their lives for the past year. Kids and adults roam around the streets in Santa Claus costume and people from all walks of life celebrate on the night of Christmas eve. Apart from Santa Clause, another reminder of Christmas is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We all know the story of the Nativity, and how meaningful that one Holy night was when the stars were at their brightest. To celebrate Christmas, I made toothpick doll versions of the people of the Nativity Scene: the Holy Family, the three Kings, the atchangel Gabriel and the shepherd. But why not make Santa Claus or a nutcracker or a snowman toothpick doll? Simple. Because the Nativity scene reminds me of my childhood. I used to take part of every church celebration such as H...

Apparently, Halloween is just around the corner, and by this time of the month, kids are now excited to wear their Halloween costumes. And perhaps some adults are also excited for their Halloween pranks. But I'm not, since I don't have any Halloween costume to wear even though I would gladly wear one if given the chance. But even so, I made another toothpick doll for Halloween which is, in my own opinion, a really adorable one. There's a lot of Halloween figures every year, but the most popular ones are vampires, zombies, mummies, werewolves, ghosts, witches, and Frankenstein. I've already made a vampire toothpick doll before at the start of the month of October, so I decided to make my second choice if ever I would wear a Halloween costume: Frankenstein, only the female version. I decided to make a toothpick doll version of Sally from the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. She may just be a rag doll, seemingly similar with Frankenstein in ap...

Every toothpick doll I make always have a story. And those stories are all rooted from my life experiences, both good and bad.  In my previous post, I talked about my dark past. About how I got bullied from an accident that nobody wanted. To lift up the heavy mood here in my blog, I decided I should at least write about a positive accident as well. And it all happened when I was in my Sophomore year in high school. I've been the typical student in school, not really standing out, but not also being left out. I would say I was the average high school girl that nobody notices, or wasn't the type who leaves a strong impression. I only talk to my friends and teachers, but other than that, I never had any interaction between those who are in the higher or lower year levels. Yes, I am that ordinary girl.  I would only stand out when there's art involved. When there were art contests at school, my classmates will automatically volunteer me. And after the conte...

It's finally my favorite month! Why? Because apart from October being my birth month, it's also the month when people prepare their Halloween costumes, plan their Halloween outdoor designs, and stores sell their newest (if not cliche) Halloween costumes. I've never experienced attending a Halloween party nor do I have tried going around the neighborhood saying Trick or Treat on repeat. It was never a practice in my school as a kid, nor a tradition in my own suburban neighborhood. You might be asking which planet do I live in that I haven't experienced such a fun activity in my whole life. But it's the truth. Even when my grandmother visited Canada when I was just 6 and she had pictures of Jack O' Lantern pumpkins being prepared by my cousins, it never occurred to me that it was for Halloween. I only thought why they were salvaging an innocent pumpkin. I only knew the word Halloween at 3rd or 4th grade when my second youngest cousin attended a Hall...

Just before this month of August ends, I decided to create a toothpick doll wearing a modern  Terno Maria Clara gown.  Every month of August, the Philippines celebrates a month-long celebration of Buwan ng Wika  (Buwan means Month while Wika means Language). It used to be a week-long celebration, until President Ramos declared it should be a month-long starting from the year 1997. It's usually the month where all Philippine schools hold programs and contests about the National Language of the Philippines and our rich culture and history. Along with it, participants also wear our traditional clothes which are the Barong Tagalog (for men) and Baro't Saya (for women). Baro't Saya is an early pre-colonial clothing of the Philippines, and also has different forms. Back in the day when there were castes, the upper class wore Baro't Saya made from silk while the lower class wore Baro made from pounded white bark fiber.   One of the forms of Baro...

If you have been hanging out on my blog from when I started, you'll definitely notice I am fond of animation, or anime. I believe it has become pretty obvious on my Elf Mage toothpick doll series, as I have mentioned that I got some inspiration designs from my favorite characters on my favorite animes. And speaking of favorite animes, I do have quite a list. When I was in 5th grade, )back when I was really obsessed with watching Japanese animes) I tried listing all of the animes I have watched, making sure my favorites are on the top of my list. Believe it or not I have filled an A4 sized piece of paper. Until now I still can't quite understand why I did that, but I think it's quite amazing that I managed to watch all those.  My obsession to anime continued on even when I reached high school. Though I might have toned down my addiction a little bit. Actually my freshman years were q little hectic since I needed to adjust to new faces and new schedules, and ...

I admit I'm in to Youtubers lately. I used to watch Korean drama series before, then when none of the new dramas interested me, I switched on to Korean variety/reality shows. But since these variety shows only get aired on weekends, I had to wait for a week to watch the next episode. So I go to Youtube to watch mostly anything. I watch cooking tutorials, baking, make-up, workouts, basic yoga, even DIY ideas (yes, the usual girl stuff), but I do watch music videos too, and recently, reaction videos and mukbang  videos (mukbang is basically a video of someone eating, which can be very tempting...and I am tempted everytime...and I'm on a diet). After I made a toothpick doll for Terry Song (Terry TV), I got positive reviews from fellow fans. I thought Terry wouldn't even notice since my toothpick doll wasn't even that perfect. But he did! I posted it on Twitter, and he even retweeted.  Since I received positive reviews of my Terry toothpick doll...

It's no longer a surprise for me to create toothpick doll fan arts of people I am a fan of. I've made fan arts for Philippine celebrities before, but this is the first time I am making a fan art for someone who is not actually a celebrity you can watch on TV or supermodels you can see on magazine pages and covers.  Today, my friends, will all be about Youtuber Terry Song (@terrysongtv on his social media accounts), who is an online personality and a sensation. He's a half Korean and a half American. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States but he is currently residing in Seoul, South Korea where he once became an English Teacher. Due to some circumstances, he had a career change and now he is a full time Youtuber. His first videos were mostly reaction videos with his Korean and American friends. Those reaction videos were of varied categories: games, celebrities from different countries, Kpop music videos or Kpop idol groups. Until he decided to up...

After making quite a few toothpick dolls that could stand on their own, have wings, have layers of petticoats, and some I made into key chains, I wanted to try out something new. So I consulted everyone's best friend, Pinterest, for some ideas. I found thousands of recommendations as expected, but nothing interested me. I must've spent half a day trying to find something that made me curious, or even something that caught my attention. I mostly found toothpick dolls attached to clothespins, made into key chains, or either simply standing or laying down on a surface.  When I thought I had lost hope, I tapped the home button and I found a fairy mobile idea. The thing was, it was needle felted. The idea was great, and I honestly would like to try needle felting aside from creating toothpick dolls. The problem was, here in the Philippines especially on my side of the country, supplies for crafting materials are scarce. There are a few craft stores downtown, but...

All people have their humble beginnings. I always liked listening to stories of how people started, how their roads were rough at the start, how they stumbled but managed to pull their senses together and kept going.  Just like everybody else, I also have humble beginnings on making toothpick dolls. They were never perfect. They had uneven hips, too big heads, too thin limbs, and so on. But despite their imperfection and my obvious mistakes and lack of experience, I'm still as proud of them as I am proud of the toothpick dolls I am creating now--my own style, my fan arts, toothpick elf series, and contest entries. After all, these humble beginnings started it all. They opened the door to me creating toothpick dolls and improving my craft. It all started once upon a night time when my online students were absent and I've got nothing better to do to keep my time productive at the very least. So I went on to streaming dramas online till I got bored sitting sti...