Family Bonding Over Concrete Collage Making at DW Workshop. Bistro. Retail

As a busy full-time working mom, I am always on the look out for activities that promote quality bonding time with my whole family especially on weekends. Now that my first born (K) is in Secondary 3, we seldom get to bond with her due to her hectic schedule in school. On weekdays, she comes home even later than yours truly who is fortunate to have landed a 9am to 5pm job. On some Saturdays, she attends leadership seminar arranged by her school and every Sunday, she has a Catechism class.

If you're one of my loyal readers, you should know that K and I used to go out regularly on Fridays for our mother and daughter bondate. She also used to have extra time to fetch her little brother (G) from school and play with him before and after dinner. Nowadays, she comes home right in time for dinner and had to do lots of homework after. At times, I have no choice but to give in when G begs her to sleep with us in the master room because he misses his big sister so much.

Imagine my extreme elation when the Concrete Collage Making at DW Workshop that our family was invited to attend was scheduled when K finally get a free Saturday. I initially thought of attending it with just her so we can turn the event into our long overdue bondate but Saturday for me is strictly a time to spend for both kids, unless K has something on. G would be so sad if we leave him alone with our reliable helper whilst the hubby goes to work and we go for the workshop.

In the end, I RSVP'd for the whole family and asked the hubby to take some time off from work so he could go with us. I am so glad I did because we had so much fun bonding as a family unit whilst making the concrete collage. The whole process was a very pleasant sensory experience and the venue is an "Instagram heaven". You'll know what that means after reading the entire post.

Here's how the workshop went:

A nook at the DW Workshop's capacious dining-slash-workshop area at level 2 was reserved for our family. Our lovely workshop facilitator, Yi Tong, handed our aprons and name tags and gave us a brief introduction about Concrete Collage Making. K and G were utterly excited about the workshop hence they paid so much concentration and attention to what Yi Tong was trying to explain to us.

Basically, in Yi Tong's own words, we are going to learn basic techniques of mould making, mixing and casting of concrete. After which, we are to create our own collage using recycled materials and learn techniques of transferring these images onto concrete in two hours. As seen on the photos above, Yi Tong presented us slides of Concrete Collage samples to give us a rough idea of what to expect.

Inside the grey DW Workshop box are the materials that we need for the Concrete Collage making. As seen on the flatlay above (excluding the bottle of water) are:

• marker
• pencil
• fine cement powder
• packing tape
• scoop
• scraper
• penknife
• glue
• a pair of scissor
• ruler
• cutting board
• corrugated plastic cardboard sheets
• pan with handle
• wooden pestle

STEP 1: Mould making

We were given specific measurements and instructions on how to cut the corrugated plastic cardboard to make the cube mould where the mixed cement will be poured later on. Since G is off limits to using the sharp penknife, he took delight on being daddy and mommy's assistant like helping us cut the packing tape with the scissor and helping us draw a line in the mould with the marker. K on the other hand did everything by herself.

We learned something new while making the mould:

Scoring Technique - scoring is done to bend the corrugated board. It is done by cutting through only the bumpy layer with a penknife using the ruler as your guide to cut a straight line. It sounds and looks so easy until you do it yourself. I am only speaking for myself though because K and the hubby mastered the technique right away.

STEP 2: Mixing and Casting of Cement

This is the part that G enjoyed the most because he got to pour the water, scoop the cement powder, mix the cement, pour the cement in the mould and tapped it to get rid of bubbles while hubby and I took turns in assisting him. Whilst G evidently gushed in almost every little thing he did, K was acting all serious the entire process although I can tell she is enjoying herself. Oh the wonders of being a child! Made me wish K didn't grow up too fast in the blink of an eye.

Ooops, sorry for digressing. I got carried away!

STEP 3: Removing the mould 

It will take some time for the cement to harden so we were given pre-made mould so we could proceed to make our concrete collage.

STEP 4: Sanding the cement block

Sanding the concrete block helps to get rid of the uneven and sharp edges. Since the mould was corrugated, we had to flatten one surface of the block for us to paste our collage later on.

STEP 5: Making a collage

Collage making was fun. We were provided with a guide, old magazines for cut outs and some collage samples for us to draw some inspiration. A week before the workshop, we were asked to send a few family photos that we could include in the collage. I ended up choosing one of the photos taken during our impromptu outdoor photoshoot at a resort in Bintan.

And now, I present to you the product of our fun, sensory-laden and educational bonding time:

A Versatile Concrete Collage

You can use it as a planter and put cactus or any other tiny plants like succulents on it as pictured above. Other uses of the concrete collage include tea light holder, stationary holder, dried flowers/potpourri holder, and basically anything you can think of. G already used ours as marble holder whenever he plays with marbles whilst K used her own creation of concrete block as hair clips holder. It's that versatile and we love it!

It's not just the workshop that we tremendously enjoyed but the the whole DW Workshop, Bistro and Retail space. Nestled in a black & white colonial house, the whole place was transformed into an Instagram and Interior Design enthusiasts' mecca. So much thought and attention to details were given in the houses' every little nook and cranny. As if those weren't enough to make you swoon and gush, there's also generous amount of natural light and so much green space around the house which made it all the more visually attractive. I went bonkers snapping with my camera which I seldom bring with me nowadays because it's just too heavy to lug around. Let me give you a virtual tour of my dream space perfect for peeps like us who badly need to unwind, rest and relax after a tiring work/school week.

Warning: Photo overload!

The Facade

 Dining/Workshop Space @ 2nd Floor

Our workshop was held at the far end table covered by pleated blinds for privacy.

 Dried Flowers Galore

 Veranda/Al Fresco Dining Space

 Knick Knacks

Succulents

 Meeting/Dining Space at the Ground Floor

 Outdoor Space

Now you know why I fell in love with DW Workshop! Visit them soon! I was lucky enough to have clean snapshots of their space. They have many patrons when we arrived for the workshop at around 10am but was delighted that after the workshop, almost everyone went off already after having their fill of breakfast or lunch. We loved their healthy cold pressed fruits and vegetable juices! We have to come back soon to try their food and take in all the beauty and grandeur of their space one more time.

DW WORKSHOP
41 Rochester Drive Singapore 138582

(5 mins walk away from Buona Vista MRT
or if you are driving, park at Rochester Mall)

Contact no.:  +65 6659 0879

Opening Hours:
( Monday ~ Friday )
9:30am ~ 10.30pm
( Saturday, Sunday & Public Holiday )
9:30am ~ Late