Simple DIY Christmas Deco for Just About Anyone

Yes I agree, that it is a little too late to still be out and about for christmas decorations since it is literally just 5 more days to Christmas. But with all the work piling on, I kinda pushed decorations (not AS important as proper business perception-wise) to the back, doing it by bits and pieces in whatever pockets of time we have.

Anyway, this post is about creating stencil art with artificial snow spray! Its fun and its easy to execute, and most importantly, easy to CLEAN UP!

You'd need:
1 Cutter
1 Small roll of sticky tape
Few Plastic Sheets, amount depending on how many stencils you'd want to create
Few Common Paper
Few Artificial Snow Spray cans (see below where to get in Phnom Penh)

Good to have:
Adobe Illustrator software (lol, nothing is easier than drawing it on Illustrator)
or
Pencil, Eraser & Ruler

Step 1:
Search on google for whatever you wish to create (snowflakes/snowman etc.) to get some inspirations and ideas. In my case I looked for 'snowflake stencils', 'holly stencils', 'candy cane stencils'. Save the images and print them out! If you like any of the images I made below, I've attached them at the bottom of this post so feel free to download it. They fit in an A4 sized paper, and make sure you uncheck 'fit to page' before printing. =]

If you do not have a printer, you could just sketch the stencils out on paper. Look for a simple design to start with.

I wanted a more special touch to the designs, so I created the designs in Adobe Illustrator.



Step 2:

Stick your sketch/printout on to a plastic sheet big enough for your design. Make sure that it is secure and does not move when you're cutting it.



Step 3:

Use the cutter to cut out the areas, in my case the areas to cut out are the ones shaded. Make sure you cut through the plastic sheet, and be sure to use a cutting mat! =]

Step 4:

When you have your stencil cut, make sure there is at least a 12cm border from the edge of the design to the edge of the plastic sheet. If not, you could always add some extra areas with more plastic sheets with your sticky tape. This is to ensure that when you spray the artificial snow, there is enough plastic to catch any stray mist.

And... You're done!

All that is left is the fun part.

I use these Snow Spray cans that I got from the IBC (International Book Center) in the city (Phnom Penh). They cost $1.20 each, so I reckon buying about 4 would be more than enough to decorate any glass surfaces in your house.



AND SPRAY AWAY!

Do a few tests on the surface before you go crazy with spraying of course. =]

Tip: You don't have to be too meticulous with cutting straight lines as the spraying would even out any jagged edges you have on the stencil.

And a zoom-in view:

Cleaning is easy, just wipe with dry newspapers and a glass cleaner!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Feel free to print out the stencils below to save some time! They fit in an A4 sized paper, and make sure you uncheck 'fit to page' before printing.

Big Snowflake, 12 cm Width

Holly Stencil, 14 cm Width

Small Snowflake, 9 cm Width

Candy Cane, 14cm Width

Yumcha in Phnom Penh - Dim Sum Emperor

Awesome dimsums are hard to find. Awesome dimsums in Phnom Penh are even harder to come by. Yum cha (饮茶) literally means 'tasting tea'. To have yum cha means to have dim sums (the small dishes) along with traditional chinese teas, usually for breakfast and brunch for the Cantonese people.

After living in Hong Kong for three years (prior to Phnom Penh), this traditional Cantonese way of having breakfast has come to rub off a little on me. There will be certain times when I'll crave for the dim sums when I wake up from my Sunday sleep-in.

We were greeted by this very familiar view of dim sum steamers stacked all the way to the top.

After having been to 5-6 different better yumcha places in Phnom Penh, and I can happily say I like Dim Sum Emperor (点心皇) the best. This place was actually recommended to me by Kenneth, and since he is from Hong Kong himself, I had to check this place out.

Dim Sum Emperor (sorry if anyone of you recognise yourself in the pic, I've tried my best blurring faces out!)

We ordered two cappuccino after we spotted a proper coffee machine behind the counter, can't help being observant lol. It was great coffee to be honest. I certainly did not expect such quality coffee in a Chinese Dim Sum place like this.

Cappuccino (the sad one with lots of foam - read below)

However, I would have to point out that when you order 2 cappuccini at the same time at this restaurant, more often than not they would give you 1 with lots of foam (~65% Coffee ~35% Foam), and the other 1 with more coffee (~95% Coffee 5% Foam), which is really, really annoying.

This is probably because there are usually 2 nozzles dispensing the coffee, and one of the nozzles most likely was generating more brew than the other nozzle. I'm guessing that they do not use a general collector, but instead put the cups directly below each nozzle respectively. And after the coffee has been dispensed, 1 cup will always have substantially more coffee than the other (and they never bothered to even that out apparently). The staff then fills the remaining space in the cups with frothed milk to the brim, and that is why you get such disparity in the coffee quality.

This happened twice in 2 separate occasions when I was there and I have given some feedback to the manager the second time it happened, but it seemed that he thinks he knows more about coffee machines than I do, and said there was nothing he could do about it, so we might just order 1 cappuccino at a time to stop it from happening. But otherwise, great cappuccino. =]

Steamed Fresh Shrimp Dumplings, 'Ha Gao' , 蒸虾饺 

Rating: 3.5/5

One of my all-time 'must order' dim sums is the shrimp dumplings. Translucent pastry skin with fresh succulent shrimp fillings, Dim Sum Emperor's shrimp dumplings did bring me back to Hong Kong for a second. Although it is not the best tasting shrimp dumplings I've ever tasted (best tasting one I had was in Hong Kong of course!), but it is not too far off from what I'd expect from a restaurant who has a hong kong chef monitoring the quality of the food.

Somebody couldn't wait to attack those little dim sums

Next up was the Shrimp with Vegetable Dumplings.

Shrimp and Vegetable Dumplings

Rating: 4.5/5

My personal favourite from the Dim Sum Emperor. I like it even more than the shrimp dumplings to be honest. The vegetable and shrimp goes very well together and the filling is very juicy and savoury, its really hot though, so just be careful not to burn your tongues lol.

2 types of chili condiments, perfect with all the dumplings!

I like to mix the two sauces above for the steamed dumplings. One of them (the darker one) is an aromatic concoction of fried chili, dried herbs in chili oil and not too spicy, the other one is a clear sweet and spicy chilli sauce.

Pork Rice Rolls 肠粉 (猪肉)

Rating: 3/5
Smooth and tasty, this rice flour roll has pork wrapped in it. I'm not a big fan of this since I am a shrimp lover lol. My personal favourite is the one with shrimps instead of pork of course.

BBQ Pork Bun a.k.a. Char Siew Bun 叉烧包

Rating: 4/5

Surprisingly good BBQ Pork Bun. I really really hate the BBQ pork buns which are too sweet. This one is just right. Bun itself is really fluffy and soft, so I definitely recommend this.

Glutinous Rice with Pork in Lotus Leaf

Rating: 3/5

This dish will take about 15-20 minutes for them to prepare. I'm actually not quite sure what the meat in it is, as on the menu it says 'Chicken', but the 2nd time I ordered it I think I saw pork instead of chicken. So for people who mind knowing what meat they are consuming, it will be good to ask the staff first before ordering this. Taste wise, very good. They are very generous with the fillings too, although I'd prefer more glutinous rice instead lol.

Just opposite Central Market at street 130

This photo is taken from the street level. You'd have to turn right into the alley and walk up the stairs on your left.

Bon appetite!

点心皇
Dim Sum Emperor
Street 53 Corner of Street 130,
Sangkat Phsar Thmey 1,
Khan Daun Penh,
Phnom Penh
Tel: 023 650 7452

Let me know about your experience in this restaurant!