More Stuff for my Coffee Shop... Remember my inspiration boards?
For more details regarding my previous article or moodboard please visit www.lilacnights.com/post/my-little-barista
We’ll it’s my Birthday month and even though I had told myself I won’t be spending money this time, I ended up buying a few things but that’s okay I’ve got something to keep a track of all my expenses which I’ll be sharing here. My hands are feeling too weak and lifeless they are almost paralysed as if there’s no life in them so I’ll be taking a break and posting everything later on.
This is what I got… I had taken a few things last year in Dec during Christmas
Set of 2 Irish Mugs for 700/- or 800 these ones in particular although they are from PRC are popular everywhere all across the globe, even in cafes, they have these same glasses, there’s one more variant but the handle in below (with the crystal ball) and it’s too small. These handles look huge in pics but they are very cute in real life. For some reason these handles look huge in photos… Got ‘em a while ago with the machine and not during my birthday month shopping spree
Next I’ve got these Cup Saucers as I didn’t have any & I gave one set to my mom. I love the aesthetic Beige colour in rich gloss and they are meant for Coffee ☕️ more than tea because of the Italian look. They are on the heavier side cuz it’s stoneware but I love how they look. I got the 25 cl or so which is 250 ml. I initially wanted the Bistro ones but even huge brands are selling PRC imports those however are not able to withstand hot drinks so they are shattering lol I returned mine after reading the reviews, you do get something similar which is a bit pricey but the cup is very big and the saucer is completely flat with a bigger diameter, which makes it very modern and it doesn’t have that vintage Italian look (not like authentic bistro ones) the saucer should’ve been smaller and less shallow with a deeper dish. These however are different they aren’t Bistro either but they do have that Italian vibe because of the straight cups and smaller saucers. 1090/-
Everyone has this glass it’s again very popular worldwide, being a bear he’ll even go with my Ralph theme… these insulated glasses are actually for kids but adults are buying them for coffee videos, I wanted to make those too but I’m not in that position. He also has cute ears which fill up with liquid drinks when you pour them. How adorable… You get a Seal, Duck, Bear and this Polar Bear, the other one looked too happy so I went for the lonely sad guy 660/-
My most fav piece of all times only 190/- bucks but it gives me lots of happiness, it’s so cool… it has a beautiful dancing doll and cedar 🌲 trees when you pour something they show up even more cuz it’s like one of those magic glasses. I had taken this during Christmas… The quality is good and it’s a big glass.
What’s a Cafe without music? I do have Marshall, small one but on my pinewood candle deck where I store and light all my candles, it has my fav paintings on top (one of them has a real princess from mid century with her vintage toys 🧸 I love it, she has a pretty doll in blue silk and several quaint old Teddy bears like Steiff’s) I want to keep my Marshall right there so I got this mini radio, Marshall has increased their prices there’s been a recent hike with Middleton which is nothing but Emberton + an Aux cable, it costs more than the bigger speaker now. I can’t compare Marshall with this but I feel those brands lose credibility when they show so much avarice. This speaker has multiple outlets such as a memory card slot, a USB port for charging, a USB-C port for all those who have new chargers and a provision for Aux cable too. It has an old fashioned meter with ROMAN numbers which look very beautiful and On & Off sliders in fancy cursive fonts. They were all sold out at 1600/- I got them from another site where they were charging 1800 + shipping and only prepaid mode, I luckily got a coupon so I purchased it for 1690/- which isn’t bad along with shipping.
I initially wanted either pink or white but even here they were sold out, on Amazon US you are getting them for the same price but for some reason Walmart is charging 3000 (after conversion) I feel whichever colour I got is better than white cuz the metal portion stands out too much there, and pink was a little darker it’s looking light in photos hence I wasn’t sure if it would’ve complemented my cafe, I was planning to keep it next to the Barista bear he’ll be sitting with this… I got baby blue which goes with the overall vintage look.
Next we have these… okay so for all those coffee videos I have seen girls using mini measuring ladles (with wooden handles) they are all sold out now, they were available at some point for 550/- but now there’s only one person who is selling them for a whopping 1670/- or ends you’ll have to import them for 1000 which is still cool (not talking about fake websites) legit one, but since I’m more of a tomboy (I love the masculinity of the stationary section near my bed below the frosted office lamp I have given it that name cuz there are Ralph like paintings there is a Polo jockey 🏇 I’ve matched it with a white frame to go with the green turf and I have a Boat too I’ve used my bigger light wooden frame for that and a beautiful cruise in shades of grey and gold settled in another small golden frame) since like I said I do have a huge tomboy side, I got what I wanted since long even though I had developed that “craze” thanks to all the hype for the ladle. I got these 10 cm small mason jars… Boys or men use them while making Coffee Videos, I was wondering why not a girl? They look so vintage and smart and they were always my first choice, they are inspired by Bormioli Italy. The minimum quantity was 10 they were only available in a set, I eventually got them ‘cuz I had multiple uses in mind. I will be taking shots or lungo in them and using them as a pourer instead of the ladle to create drinks in bigger glasses, moreover I needed them for my coffeemate/coffee creamer and Vanilla powder, all other toppings such as Nutmeg or Chocolate & Cinnamon would go in the sprinkler set which you saw but for heavier toppings I needed these, I have got mini wooden scoopers very cute they are literally scoopers not spoons… I got those to put inside the handle and I’ll be storing my Vanilla & Hazelnut (CoffeeMate powder too) in these jars. I got these for 900/- they have Ice Cold drink written on front with a border and all it looks like a vintage label it was impossible to find them with that typography and golden lids, only plain ones were available that too with metal caps. I was so happy to get these golden ones. They are tiny but they are exactly what I wanted and now we’ll have a girl making those videos with these jars hopefully.
Latte & Cappuccino Cups both for 1160/- with disc. & coupons. Luckily I have a golden spoon which came with another mug it has a glossy finish. I'll be keeping it inside my Cappuccino cup and I also have a ceramic green spoon which will go with the Mint green Latte one
This was a necessity - an Expense tracker especially in today’s times when Retail Therapy has become our only escape. It’s for 350 or so… I would’ve designed it in the exact same manner, it’s very creative. It has Amt. Item, Cash or Credit (which is great cuz I keep forgetting when I buy anything on the credit card 💳) and Want or Need - something I myself would’ve come up with, it will help us prioritise our money and see if we are squandering as a spendthrift or out of real need. It has a challaan look so you can tear off the pages like old bills and invoices… I first got only one product to see the overall quality and I was very happy when it arrived, it comes in a dust bag whoa… like a fancy little cute pouch which will protect it from ink stains, and the paper quality is also very thick (even the pages) so that makes up for the price 60 pages for 350/- it’s not bad if you are getting a pouch which also makes it ideal for gifting and the GSM or thickness of the pages is great, it feels like a premium memo pad.
I got Sakura Moon pens from Korean stationary which come in a set of 3 very cute pastel colours, soft case, lilac one has a moon, and white and pink pens have cherry blossoms… there’s also a sticker for your journal.
Took a break cuz I became lifeless and cold again like I literally fell I had kept my head tilted… I don’t know if I’ll ever be back to normal. You know what or who got me in this state. Always wanted these type of typical Italian Coffee Glasses I got these from a very old stock from (fresh box packed) they came in proper condition, very beautiful glasses and the problem was with the size everywhere, so some were selling the same style but in a very miniature 6cm 5cl (50 ml) quantity which are actually meant for tequila shots, espresso shot glasses start from 70 ml and I wanted full sized. I got something exactly like this...
Luckily I found this Set of 6 for 450/- which was like a steal they are from the old stock but they are brand new and they came like I said box packed with bubble wrap and all. I really love them. The size is perfect, it’s neither too big or wide nor too small. You can enjoy coffee with cream in these ones. They are each 200 ml.
Didn’t realise I was this long winded… took 2 breaks in between. Okay so I read somewhere that they shatter over a period of time due to hot drinks… but that is if you use them everyday, well I’m not planning to do that and any glass will crack because they aren’t actually meant for hot drinks we have heavy duty porcelain or stoneware for that, I love the shape and all so I kept them and I won’t be using them that regularly but I found original Bormioli somewhere and my bad sorry when I’d first seen them I thought they were a knock off cuz the store had put up a wrong description, it said the country of Origin was India and the size in one of the pics was 20 cm I’m assuming they had mixed up all the description. So I went to the main brand site which is officially importing them other than a few more vendors and they had caught in spin the wheel I was like it’s a click bait don’t put your mail address here they’ll spam you but then I felt tempted and all I won was a 5% disc and I told myself “Had to be a click bait!” Later on I realised even 5% was not applicable on my “premium directly imported from Italy cart” the title itself said premium collection my internal voice said “aah told you it’s a click bait!” Honestly my luck isn’t so bad I’ve won several good discounts and coupons at other places not all of them have such rigged games, anyway I got them from another platform where even returns are possible if anything comes damaged or of the product is different from the images, and I got it for slightly cheaper cuz they had a bigger discount… but now my mail has landed in their subscription list. I got them for 1399/- instead of 2690 or 2890/- as there were 2 listings, set of 6, 270 ml glasses, the shape is a little different that the other which someone said won’t be lasting long (they are branded but only for 450 so I’m not sure about that either and I will be very careful with them I won’t use them that frequently and try to stick to cold coffees) now I’ve got 2 varieties in a similar shape, these ones do come in 200 ml also but the other ones which I got for 450 have a better shape in that size, and here the 270 ml has a proper look cuz they are slightly bigger and the top border in these ones is supposed to be like that, they can be used for hot drinks without any stress cuz they are made using tempered glass.
I got those pens for these👇🏻 I’m not in the state to start proper journaling so I brought something which would be easy to fill up and I’ll also get to work on my handwriting which has spoilt due to smartphones📱These 2 journals are a part of their Wellness Kit which has a Book of positive affirmations and a Mind & Body planner.
And I also got this… not the Know Yourself one for now as I’m not used to writing anymore and I don’t keep well, I got the Daily Journal Five Minute Journal is quite popular in US but it’s not available here and I love these… they have a lot of things to fill up inside and they will look great as coffee table books in my coffee bar. I will be using them too, all those AD and other biographies are too big for my table so these will look great when I’ll stack them up. They are aesthetically appealing and productive both, I’ll be getting the Open When - positivity book in the previous kit and I have taken the daily journal in that light duck egg shade (it’s an English colour)
Insulated Tall Latte glass for macchiatos from 50% disc. + additional 5% off for 305 (since this is a budget blog) I was aiming at a much more taller guy like umm 17 & a half but the most I could get was 14.5 as all the good guys are taken.
Xoxo
Zara Sauleh
Bonus Recipe
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