Giant Lantern Festival 2013

Visited the exhibition for the first time last year, and the lanterns were just a spectacle to see!  Check out the dates for this year or better yet, include a tour of Pampanga with my itinerary!

• Dec 15 to 21, 2013 · 7 PM · Robinsons Starmills, CSFP
• Dec 25, 2013 to Jan 3, 2014 · 7 PM · Robinsons Starmills, CSFP
• Dec 22, 2013 · 7 PM · Telabastagan, CSFP
• Dec 23, 2013 · 7 PM · Greenfields, Sindalan, CSFP
• Dec 24, 2013 · 11 PM · City Proper, CSFP
• Dec 27, 2013 · Nepo Center, Angeles City
• Dec 28 to 29, 2013 · Marquee Mall, Angeles City

You can read about my 2012 visit on this link:
http://moleinthefoot.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-tour-of-pampanga-and-giant-lantern.html

Decorating a Luau Inspired Party

I was requested to decorate our backdrop for our company Christmas Party.  Since our venue is a Swimming Pool Lounge, the committee decided to adapt the Luau theme.  With a limited budget of 8K, I decided to just buy the decorative items instead of making them to save time as well.

I found pinwheel flowers at Anding's Toys and Flowers inside a building along Sta. Elena St. in Divisoria.  These are the same flowers pinwheels you would normally see being sold together with gardening and landscaping supplies going to Tagaytay from Sta. Rosa.

What I did was to take some apart and cascaded them on the side of a printed tarp.  I have assembled some sets and attached them to the side panels for movement and depth.

The flower pinwheel costs 70-100 pesos depending on the size.  Here's the finished set-up.

Cheapest Capiz Christmas Lanterns in Manila

You will know that the Christmas Season in Manila started when stalls selling rope-light lanterns and Capiz starts to sprout on major thoroughfares.  The more popular stalls are located at Gilmore St. in San Juan and along SLEX near Buendia in Makati.  Of course there are stalls in Pampanga if you don't mind the distance. Rope light decors are actually cheaper there as well as plastic coated lanterns on wire frames.  But, if you're looking for the Capiz variety, the cheapest is located in Divisoria.

Looking for the store might be a challenge for those who are not familiar with the area.  It is located at the other end of C. M. Recto near Delpan Sports Complex.  Here you will find Capiz Lanterns that ranges from 100 for the small items to as big as you can afford.  The trick is to haggle always and to buy in bulk.

They also have decorative Capiz items in various shapes and can customize for you if you order in advance.

The stall I frequent is Mary Shell Craft.
You can reach them at Tel. No. 2316289