DIY: Birdhouses... With a Twist

This year I made about 78% of my gifts. This particular one was one of the most involved and most fun to make. My sister, Amy and her family live near a pond and her kids like watching the birds that come there. I felt a bird house/ feeder would be a relatively practical gift but let's be honest, they aren't that cool. Naturally, I decided to put my own spin on the classics.

This is the birdhouse. I went ahead and painted it with silver paint. I made a disco birdhouse, but you could paint it anyway you'd like. Make sure the paint is non-toxic as you don't want to harm any birds.

I used some of my leftover Gaga fabric and covered the roof with it. I glued it with some rubber cement I believe and it seemed to work well enough. I suppose I forgot to get the final shot but my sister seemed to like it well enough.

Next is the bird feeder. I bought a basic one from Gary for $16 and decided not to paint the wood on this one, instead I painted the plastic that holds the seed in. For the feeder I wanted to paint one side like a diner and the other as a landscape. This is one type of paint you can use.

I also used some flaka paint. I think that's what it was called..

This was the finished scene side. The blending was very hard to do because it was plastic...

And below is the diner side... it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. but oh well..

DIY: Turn Tights into Thigh Highs

 This past November I bought some lovely Chinese Laundry sweater tights from TJ Maxx. There was a slight problem that came about after the first wash- they shrunk. Being the frugal person I am, I thought that instead of throwing them out I would just make them into thigh highs! After sitting in my sewing corner for a month I finally got around to it and was thrilled with the result!

 What you need:

1. pair of tights, the thicker the better. This might work with regular opaque ones but I doubt it would be very durable.

2. Sewing machine with a stretch stitch

3. Elastic and safety pin

Step One:  Cut the tights as close to the crotch as possible, while still keeping the cut straight across.

Step Two: Turn the legs inside out, flip about 1/2 inch over the top, forming a casing. Then use the stretch stitch and pull the tight taut and sew around the casing.

 Step Three: Measure around your thigh using elastic. You want to make it tight enough so the tight will stay up without cutting off circulation. Cut two pieces. 

Step Three: Turn the tights inside out. Cut a small slit on the inside of the casing.

 Step Four: As the picture shows, thread a safety pin through the elastic. Next, thread the pin through the slit until it goes all the way around the tight. Then pin the two ends of elastic together and use a zigzag stitch to sew.

Finished product! I'm going to Chitown in a couple of days and I'll let you know how they hold up!

Meet Me In St. Louis

Source: Wikimedia

Woah. Let me start off by saying that I wasn't really expecting much from this film. A lot of times I don't like movies made before the fifties (with some obvious exceptions) as I believe them to be a little dry and boring. However, I felt obligated to see this film as it is playing in the background in nearly every contemporary Christmas movie. I can honestly say that I was blown away. This film made me crack up and it also made me tear up. I could relate to the plot (moving to New York), as college is just around the corner and I may have to move away from friends, family, and everything I've known my whole life. The thing that really got me was the humor. I really didn't expect a film made in the forties to crack me up, but it did. The Grandpa is hilarious! If you haven't seen Meet Me in St. Louis, you really need to. I regret how long I put off watching it and it is truly one of my new favorite Christmas movies. Watch!

P.S. You know it has to be good if it was the first movie review I've written in months. I didn't even do that for Harry Potter!

Home. (part 2:my room)

I have been wanting to do a room tour for quite some time now, and as I was taking pictures of my house for my "Home" post, I just went for it. Let's be honest: your bedroom is totally the place where you feel most at home anyway. It's completely decorated by you and it totally represents you. No ugly flower couches here!

My dual Christmas trees! I am actually really lazy so I just put these trees o my closet shelf as soon as Christmas is over without putting the ornaments away. The pink tree has so many more ornaments because after I got the black tree I was too lazy to even it out. I sense a trend here.. Ooh and you can see my Degas cover in the background. It's one of my favorite pieces.

This is my "shelf of wonders!" Or random crap my mom gave me. or I bought. And then there is the James Dean poster, two of my hats (fedora and thirties style. not sure what it's called) with a felt owl in the middle complete with a feather clip my friend made me.

Then I have the "starry night" print with "DREAM" above it and the "Chairman Mao" print with "PEACE" above. Sometimes my cleverness astounds even myself.

one of my favorite spots. This is all of my makeup!

My dresser. My sister sold it to me and my mom touched up the original print and changed the colour from a nasty pink to this green. I love you mom!

There's a Monet print, I think it's "Field of Tulips." And then there is my other shelf, filled mostly with junk, ticket stubs, and Christmas cards. And there is my favorite recent purchase, a pink glitter skeleton!

This is the unnamed wall of art. there's the "Ballooning over Paris" print, a yarn owl, some of my own artwork, James Dean calendar, two vintage glamour shots, and some photo booth strips. The light pink painting is a self portrait actually, another one of my favorites.

This is my most favorite thing I own. It's a peacock and has small sequins throughout and it is the most random gorgeous gaudy amazing things. Have you ever seen anything like it? Thanks again April!

My Andy Warhol shower curtain/ bedroom curtain.

My closet! Might not be as big as you would expect but this makes me realize I have A LOT of shoes..

I'm thinking I might change my room around over winter break as I have had it like this for over a year and I need a change. I've probably spent $200 or less on everything (not including makeup, clothes, or shoes), because I mostly go to yard sales or make things. It's taken me awhile to acquire it but that's what makes it so much fun. There's a story behind everything in my room and I love that.

Home. (part 1)

Home. What a word. It can be defined as so many different things. It's almost an abstract word as it means different things to literally everyone that is asked. For me I think of safety, a place where you can be yourself, a place to relax, a place where you cannot be judged for your actions. I went around the house and took some pictures of things that represent my home, and then I have a second blog post that is focused specifically on my room. Here goes!

To me, a home never seens more homey than at Christmastime. We got our tree last Saturday and finally finished decorating on Mmnday.. it's a long process (aka we get halfway through and then get lazy.). This is probably one of my favorite trees even though in past years it has been more decked out. By a lot. And then there's the fireplace. Complete with the family portraits up top, gaudy stockings galore, tacky seventies architecture, and a nativity scene!

My mothers oriental collection. As tis the season, she put up her rather large Santa/ angel collection. Nothing goes together better than Asians and santas! And on the left you can see my genius demonstrated by the wreath over a clock. Wow what an invention!

My mother has been wrapping the presents.

Although I hate them (look at their beady eyes- piercing your soul in thew worst kind of way), Christmas would be incomplete without the elves. all 45 of them.

Now onto the more "home" things. This ugly couch. as much as I absolutely hate it it kind of fits into the house of hodge podge that I call my own. It might have promise deeper in, but on the surface it is quite gaudy and odd.

What are your basements filled with? Ahh entertainment centers and mini kitchens or storage? Well, it's not a real home unless it's filled with books books and books!

I absolutely love our extensive VHS collection. We probably have over 150 tapes, and even though they are horrible compared to DVD's I wonder if we will ever get rid of them.. Do you guys still have VHS tapes? Am I the only one left?

Anyway, this is my home. These are some of my favorite pieces, mostly because they just stick out on their own but if you come inside you see everything is so out of place it fits in. Sort of like my family, we're all strange in our own ways but when we come together you can see how we're a family. I think that family is the deciding factor in whether or not you live in a house or a home. There are some things I absolutely despise about my home (stained carpet anyone?), but all in all it's a place I can come home to at the end of the day and just be whomever I want to be. It's good to be home.