My Cat, My Crafts, My Life: November 2025

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Weekly Happy Planner Spread | Hello, December! 🎄

It’s finally December!!! Christmas is just around the corner, which also means our trip to Manila is soooo close! For this week’s layout, I used my Happy Planner Merry Christmas sticker book, which I bought from their website last year around this time (together with my 2025 Happy Planner, of course).

I used a long side sticker that says “Making A List and Checking It Twice” to write down everything I need to do before the weekend - prep for our Craft Fair, plans for the CCSC party, and wrapping up Christmas gift shopping. I also sprinkled stickers like Merry & Bright, Officially Snuggle Season (because it is! Yayyyy winter!), and Oh What Fun all over the spread.

And because I want to be more inclusive (haha) and always include Lucky… here’s a cute photo of him lounging on one of his three beds in the craft room, which are all on top of the actual bed.

Yet somehow, he still prefers sitting on my printer while I craft. FOMO is real with this cat.

Crafting Projects This Week

A busy, busy craft week, as always! Here’s everything I worked on:

Bearly Art Winter Animals & Gingerbread Tags/Ornaments

Cricut-made and triple-purpose:

— My entry for the Cricut KSA challenge

— Part of my Hot Chocolate project for Happy Sandscapes

— Extra products for the upcoming Craft Fair, the Twinkle and Sparkle Holiday Craft Market

Love when one project checks multiple boxes! Don't you think so?

Hot Chocolate Treat Packs – Happy Sandscapes x Friends Salon

I packaged a cozy little bundle: a hot chocolate packet, a chocolate biscuit, and a Cricut-made winter animal or gingerbread character.

Miqueka Scrap – Cuento de Navidad

This week’s Miqueka Scrap scheduled project is a set of printable iron-on tote bag and a matching pouch. The ballerina remains my forever favorite from the Cuento de Navidad collection.

Kat Scrappiness Camera Card

Used my oldie-but-goodie Lawn Fawn Magic Iris dies and camera add on with the Kat Scrappiness Say Cheese Quokka stamps. Still The Lawn Fawn dies remain magical after all these years!

Handmade Notecards

Restocking for the Craft Fair - simple, cute, and always handy.

Collapsible Gift Boxes

Made for my friend, Mel’s son’s teachers. They fold flat so they’re suitcase-safe for her trip home. These also doubled as my Cricut MEA Elf on the Shelf Challenge entry.

More Elves

I made these elves characters as backup for the challenge. Now I’m deciding if I’ll keep them and do my own Elf on the Shelf every December or add them to my Craft Fair products. We’ll see!

Mini explanation for those unfamiliar:

Elf on the Shelf is a tradition in some countries where parents hide a little elf toy every day in December. Kids wake up and look for where the elf moved to next. I honestly didn’t know much about it until I saw a friend post about it last year, and Cricut MEA always includes it in their December challenges so I finally read about it.

Non-Crafty-but-Still-Making Things

I finally figured out how to make a good Sushi Bake! It’s not Spam but Pure Foods luncheon meat actually worked really well, especially with crab sticks. Ingredients here can be tricky to find, so this is a small but big win. We also found the perfect nori brand. Yay!

What I’m Reading & Watching

Reading:

I… did not progress since last week. I started Dan Brown’s Secret of Secrets but the first 3 pages already bored me. Might pick something else up soon.

Watching:

I finished several mini series on Netflix: Absentia, As You Stood By, and The Asset.

We’re also almost done with The Bear on Disney Channel. Season 3 was such a draaaaag!

Weekend Moments

Last Saturday, we met with friends in Dammam. We had lunch at Raising Canes, and we all got free insulated bags! I joked that we should all use them together. I didn’t love (like super love) Canes the first time we tried it, but I randomly craved it last week - with rice. So yes, we brought rice.

After lunch, a friend and I left the boys and attended Happy Sandscapes’ Hot Chocolate & Pamper Day at Friends Salon. I’ll write a separate blog post for this because it deserves its own kwento. Definitely another win for the week.

Then we tried Salt Al Bahar for the first time. It's a beachside spot where you pay SAR 100 entrance but it’s consumable. They have outdoor seating and a few food places. It was beautiful at night, but I’d love to see it during the day. For sure we’ll go back.

December Daily is Here!

It’s baaaack! I made the same style of December Daily album I’ve done since 2022, but this time using Traci Reed’s Make Merry Collection. Last year I got sick (my annual “winter sickness”) so my December Daily started blah. This year, I’m determined to complete it like before and Ton has been super supportive and planning coffee dates for stories.

And oh! I have two Advent Calendars this year:

A duck one from Ton’s cousin (from our cruise in August)

A Happy Planner Sticker Advent Calendar I got last year along with the sticker book I used today and my 2025 planner.

If you’re a journal girl - or doing a December Daily too, check out Traci Reed’s Make Merry Story Ideas. They’re so helpful!

Here’s to a cozy, crafty, sparkly December ahead!

Eurovillage Compound Winter Market 2025 - My First Craft Fair in Saudi Arabia

Last year, a friend here in Saudi invited me to Eurovillage’s Winter Market because she remembered that I love crafting. It was so sweet because we only talked about crafting once during a coffee meet-up with the ladies in Dammam/Khobar but she remembered!

We walked around the Winter Market and she introduced me to everyone she knew… which was basically everyone. She would tell them, “This is Ana, she’s from Al Ahsa, and it’s her first time at a Winter Market in Saudi!” And it was true — my first bazaar visit here. It was refreshing to see so much Christmas décor in one place.

Watch a short reel of the EV 2024 Winter Market I made here.

That day, my friend introduced me to the event organizers and told me to message them for future markets. I actually tried joining a Ramadan market but it was a daily, month-long event and Al Khobar was just too far, so it wasn’t feasible.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I suddenly remembered that Winter Market season was coming up. I messaged the organizer, and luckily they said they were finalizing details and would add me to the vendors group.

And just like that… my bucket-list moment started to come true.

Good thing I’ve accumulated a lot of handmade crafts since arriving here in Saudi. Crafting kept me company, so I ended up with plenty of ready-made items. All I needed to do was sort them and prepare. Ton made card stands for the booth, and soon enough, we were set. I told myself I was just “threading the waters” to see if there’s a handmade market scene here and the outcome did not disappoint! I’m even joining another one on December 6.

Did we sell out? No, and to be honest, I really didn’t expect to. I brought too many things. I have so many cards, albums, mini albums, and journals! I even left some inside a luggage because I got overwhelmed during setup. Haha!

Budget-Friendly Booth Setup

Since I didn’t want to spend much, I DIY-ed my signages using leftover sintra boards from the Distress Oxide stand Ton made me earlier this year.

Ton also made card stands from the same material. We bought the boards from Jarir — only 6 SAR each! Affordable and perfect!

Other things I bought:

Plastic packaging (50 pcs) - SAR 15.30
A tassel garland to decorate the table (I thought it was ready to hang, but it needed assembly. I should’ve just made my own!) - SAR 6.8 x 2
Disposable table cover (didn’t use it because the venue provided tablecloths) - SAR 11.90
Light pink disposable table runner - SAR 5.95
Display boxes - no cost because these were actually Lucky’s canned cat food boxes that I painted white

We transported everything using luggages and wore pink because my branding is pink. Even our friends wore pink to match! I called them my “staff” and told them next time they’ll get aprons with my logo. hehe. They stayed the whole day, helped me sell, and even manned the booth when Ton and I checked other stalls.

Proud to say I didn’t buy anything from other vendors! I wanted to support them, but I wanted maximum cash in for the day! hehe!

I also remembered that cute Instagram reel where crafters manifested high sales, ended up with lower earnings, and one said she was -3 because she bought nachos. I didn’t want to be the nacho girl. I’ve been trying to find that reel again but still no luck.

Memorable Sales & Stories

My first sale was a little girl who came by while we were still setting up. Her nanny asked if I had anything worth 10 SAR, so I pointed them to the mini notebooks. She picked one and that alone already made my day.

Nayibe, a co-vendor I met during last year’s Winter Market, also passed by and bought handmade Christmas cards. She said she wanted to be one of my first sales for good luck. So sweet!

Another girl picked a card for her mom and one for her dad. I liked that she knew what she wanted while I helped her choose.

A father-daughter pair bought one of my travel journals, and the next day I remembered it had snarky stickers inside… and the daughter was like 7. Haha. Sorry parents!

A husband-and-wife pair stopped by and the wife loved a cat-themed card. She told her husband she could frame it and display it at home. I love that idea!

The Happy Sandscapes ladies and kids also came by and they got a lot! They even messaged days before, reassuring me that they’d stop by. It really eased my pre-market jitters. If you’re in Saudi, follow them on Facebook for events happening around!

A friend’s family also dropped by to support.

Another co-vendor bought 10+ mini notebooks. We ended up talking about cutting machines and crafts. She was so happy when I gave her free gnomes! Apparently she sells plush gnomes!

Speaking of gnomes, I’ve joined Craft with Sarah’s Gnome Craft Countdown for years, so I have random gnome pairs. Ton doesn’t like them and suggested we make them freebies. So I made a cute “Free Gnomes!” sign for every SAR 100 worth of purchase.

Turns out…

PEOPLE LOVED THE GNOMES.

Almost everyone went to them first. My friends and I would look at Ton every time someone grabbed one. A co-vendor even walked by repeatedly and loudly said, “THESE ARE SO PRETTY!” for Ton to hear. Haha!

Joining a pop-up market has been on my Saudi bucket list long before last year’s winter market. Since I’m always crafting to entertain myself here, it just felt right to finally put myself out there and try it.

And the funniest thing? When I went to the restroom, a co-vendor went to our table and asked Ton if everything was handmade by me. He said yes, and she went, “It’s beautiful! Why is she selling so cheap?!”

Maybe it’s not the best business mindset, but honestly, I feel like I’ve already ROI-ed on everything. These crafts kept me sane during my transition to Saudi, especially in 2023. They entertained me through the years, helped me learn so many techniques, allowed me to win challenges and contests (just the Cricut prizes this year alone already made up for so much!!), plus all the materials I got through design teams and Bee Happy.

And it made me remember a lady I met during last year’s winter market. She was complaining about how expensive everything was because “vendors want to earn their table fees with one item.” She said they should make things cheaper so they sell more. At that time I thought I was just a cheapass… turns out it wasn't just me who found most of the products expensive.

A Really Good Day

All in all, this was a wonderful day, a huge checkmark on my Saudi bucket list and a memorable first craft fair experience here. And definitely not the last!

After the fair, my “staff” (haha!) and I went to Finding Sushi for dinner, another new place we got to try out. Great food, even better service, and mostly Pinoy staff. A perfect end to a perfect first market day.