August 15, 2015

Stay Protected with AXA Family Advantage

Dominique Advertorials AXA Assurance, AXA Family Advantage, Financial Assurance, Insurance

R and the three kids

Staying financially protected during pregnancy, child birth and the formative years of a child is very important. Being the main breadwinner in many cases, the dad or dad-to-be bears the brunt of any financial burden that the family may have.

From the moment of conception, throughout his wife pregnancy and beyond birth the cost of having a child can be astronomical if complications arise.

R and I didn’t have a smooth start when we embarked on our family planning back then. We suffered two miscarriages prior to the arrival of our first child back in 2004.

It was a really stressful period for him when we conceived a third time and really prayed that the fetus would grow normally in me this time and I will be able to get through the 9 months without any complications.

As first time parents back then we were hoping to go for natural delivery during the birth of our 1st child- Monkey boy.

Monkey boy’s EDD was on 3rd of March and he was overdue when we checked in hospital on the 4th. Little did we know that after inducing for nearly 24 hrs I was still unable to proceed with delivery and had to be wheeled in for an emergency c-section.

If only there were suitable insurance packages for us back then. It would certainly help us defray the hefty costs that we incurred as all three children had to be delivered by C-section. It would also give R peace of mind instead of having him worried over our increasing financial expenditure.

The daddies and daddies to be are more fortunately these days. AXA has unveiled a first-of-its-kind pre-natal plan package, “AXA Family Advantage”, to allow couples, when expecting a child, the flexibility to select from 8 different types of protection, savings and investment plans for themselves to prepare for the responsible role of being parents.

The plan simultaneously offers pre-natal coverage for an expectant mother, and subsequently when the child is born, the parents can choose to insure their child in a straightforward process with no health questions asked.

Contest Time

Calling all daddies with newborns and toddlers. Tune in to Class 95 between 6am to 10am from now till the 17th of September and stand a chance to win the following.

3 Weekly winners with a weekly winner being selected on the 21st of August, 28th of August and 4th of September have a chance to receive a 2-hr home cleaning session by the AXA Daddy Rescue team. All entries also stand to win this grand prize-

Babycation Weekend for 2 at Capella

Sentosa worth $2000!!!

Doesn’t that sound awesome!!!

All you have to do is

SMS the following details to 76677

AXA <SPACE> Name <SPACE>NIRC

and add the most creative reason why you deserve to win this prize.

It’s that simple!!

The grand prize will be announced on the 18th of September.

Good luck!!

To learn more about AXA’s Family Advantage do visit the AXA’s website for more details.

Disclaimer: This is an advertorial in collaboration with AXA Singapore. All opinions are 100% mine.

August 9, 2015

Gift Wrapping with Jane Means

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Reviews Crafts, giftwrapping class

Wrapped gifts on display

Last weekend was a special weekend for me. It was the first time that I attended a hands on Gift wrapping Workshop.

I was privilege to attend the workshop conductor conducted by famed Author, Presenter and Designer Jane Means from UK.

She has been wrapping for many big brands for the past 15 years and has her own line of gift wrapping accessories and stationary which she sells online.

The basic tools that was needed- Scissors and tape

The first thing we learned in the workshop was how to make a simple bow out of a wired ribbon.

Instruction cards on how to make a rose

We started off by making a 3 pleat bow and later added a rose to it.

Using the bow and rose as a plate directions

As you can see by adding the rose to the bow it gives it a lot more “volume”.

Using the bow on a bottle we wrapped up.

Bows are very versatile and can be used to dress up any item. You can see it here being use to decorate a bottle which had been wrapped up.

The bow and rose used as decoration on a box- The example done by Jane.

Mine isn’t half as pretty as the one made by Jane and certainly needs lots to work on to get to her standard. I definitely need more practice!!

Wrapping a flat present

Besides learning how to make bows out of wired ribbons we also made bows out of ribbons of different materials.

I learned how to make a tailored ribbon bow which could be used for boxes or any odd shaped presents. In the collage above you could use the bow to decorate the tissue which was used to wrap up the present.

If just having a simple bow on a tissue wrapped present isn’t desirable there are other ways which you can do you gift wrapping.

For the same packet of sweets we can add another layer of wrapping using cellophane to give “bulk” to the gift . ( seen above)

DIY envelopes decorated with ribbons

Another items which Jane showed me how to make are these envelopes from wrapping paper.

They are quite simple to make and are great for small items or even samples which can be use as door gifts at an event.

A pinwheel

This pinwheel certainly makes a great prop for decorating a gift table or buffet table. I didn’t make a pinwheel during the workshop but a blue pompom instead.

A Tin with a pompom on the top

Using a pompom as a decoration really makes the present look so much more eye catching. Using the pompom as the center piece on the wrapped up tin makes it more outstanding and it’s certainly not that difficult to make. If you are not sure how to make it you can refer to the tutorial on tissue pompom on Jane’s blog.

A ric rac flower decoration

This has to be one of my favourite decorations that afternoon. Making a ric rag flower is quite easy and it really looks very pretty.

A present with another ric rac flower

All you need is some ric rac ribbon and twirl it into a flower before attaching some stitches at the bottom to hold it in place. What would like to try is a dual color rose made from ric rac ribbon as I’m sure it will look even more outstanding.