Dresser Decoupage

I have been on a DIY binge as of late and I decided to do something with my dresser. I've had this Warhol "Marilyn" wrapping paper for about six years...I wanted to save it for something awesome. I wanted to decoupage the sides and top but alas there was not enough paper. I think it still looks pretty kickass!

All you need is a bottle of Mod- Podge, and some sort of paper you want to paste on. The wrapping paper seemed to work fine though there were a lot of bubbles. I think it kind of adds to it though so I left them. If you have an old wooden dresser that frequently gets repainted like mine, you should be good to go.

The whole project from start to finish only took an hour and a half.

Believe in Me.

This house is so negative.
I feel constricted.
  I feel trapped.
     I feel helpless.
        I feel angry.
            I feel disgusted.

I need to get out.

I am getting an apartment in August with my best friend, but neither my mom nor my dad thinks I can do it. Right now they think it's just a dream not a reality. I don't think it's wholly because they don't want me to go, or they think it's a bad financial decision, I think they just don't believe I can do it.

It's no surprise to anyone that I'm not the best with money, at least not saving. I just keep praying that this will work out and that I can save enough so that I will be out from under their thumb. I know the apartment won't be what I imagine, and real life will suck but I'm tired of explaining to everybody that I'm the only townie that is living at home (not an exaggeration, I haven't met one that doesn't live in the dorms or apartment). 

Fuck it. I'm doing this for me. And maybe a little to spite them. 

Goals

This has been a crazy, strange summer. I'm not sure what I was expecting because I am of course in between HS and college. People have been growing up a lot this summer and that influences even more change to happen. I feel like I've gotten a lot done, both with my material self and my mind. I am very excited to start college. I think and hope it will be fun and interesting, but I'm also planning on learning a lot. As many know, I am doing part time at both Ivy Tech and IU. I was kind of disappointed at first but now, I am actually very excited and am looking forward to it. Classes start on August 29 so it's just a little over 3 weeks away.

  I have accomplished a lot this summer. I have pretty much finished redoing my room (Just have a mirror situation to take care of). I have gotten my license. I have grown out my hair. I have gotten a tan line. Yes, there are things I've done this summer that I'm both happy and unhappy with.

Things I am still very much wanting to complete before school: Make my Halloween costume and another dress I have. Completely make my own garment from sketch to finish. Start working again. Save money... I am such a bad saver. Buy a laptop... and find out I have a rich relative who decides they want to put me through college. 

Wowzers!

I've been a high school graduate for four days. What have I gotten done?

-Completely re-did my room including painting my bed (I still have to do some patching and buy a new mirror and dresser.)
- finished all my thank-you cards and am about to send them out
- finished filling out all that health information necessary for IU
- thought about taking my driver's test... soon!
- decided I AM going blonde... soon.
- Acquired many many freckles
and I've done all this while basically watching my 3 (almost 4) year old niece. It's nice to be a favorite aunt but... I feel like a mother already. She wears you out!

As soon as I get my new dresser and mirror I will put up a post about my room because I think it looks damn fab. BTW, does anybody know where to look for a solid upright wooden dresser without DAMN LAMINATE ON TOP? seriously, been to at least five large furniture places (new and used) and haven't found anything... Heading up to Elletsville tomorrow so wish me luck.

I think I need to start a new project... I've already started my junkie summer diet and watching tv a lot. I do start camp next week and the Orlando the next week so I probably won't have too much time to keep up this awful behavior but seriously. I think I'll go to the Y tomorrow or something...

Also, for all you townies, I tried Subacos in the mall today (vegetarian taco), and while the price was not too bad the food was. It was not very tasty and my mom (chicken sub) said it was really dry.

OK, more later maybe!

Hiatus

Yeah I know this is my first post in about ten years but I've been really busy.

Things that have happened:
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Finishing school (THREE DAYS TIL I'M DONE WITH IT!)
- Renovating my room for the first time in about three years (will do a post on this when it is complete)
- Making my own prom dress (Does anybody want to see a post on that? I didn't really take pictures (I know I'm an awful DIY-er), but I could still do a post on that and/or my feather capelet).
- Contemplated going blonde. Thoughts?
- Got sort of tan!
- Given 11 speeches. GOODBYE FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING!
- Bought a new phone... it's android.
- Other stuff that I cannot really think of right now...


So you can see I've been really busy being awesome and shit.

I might attempt to revive the blog during the summer but we shall see.....

Lent

WELL, that failed. This weekend I swear whenever I was hungry the only thing to eat was Dove chocolate... I couldn't resist

SORRY GOD

Review: Revlon Top Speed Nail Polish

Well. I could go through all the trouble of posting pictures of the outcome, but I'll keep this short for the benefit of everybody.

It Doesn't Work.

While the line provides some interesting colours and finshes, the 60 second (or less) dry time is quite the underestimate. The first coat dried in maybe two minutes, which wasn't too bad for polish but with both shades I tried, I needed a second coat. The second coat took almost ten minutes to dry.. 

Bottom line: Don't buy it for the dry time, but as a nail polish line it does offer some great shades!

P.S. If you want your polish to dry quickly, buy Seche Vite top coat.. It actually works! 

My Spring Break!

 I had major plans for this SB... and as of yet none have worked out how I wanted. I originally was planning on doing Disney World for a week with a couple of my friends. That quickly became too expensive. Next, I thought I should go up to Indy with a couple of friends for a couple of days. I'm still waiting to know if my friend can borrow the car so we have transportation. If that falls through, which it probably will, I do have backup plans. On Monday I am definitely going up to Indy for a day with my older sister. And then on Tuesday I am going up with my mom and friend to Midwest Fashion Week, spending the night and then doing shopping the next day. It should be pretty fabulous!

Other goals:

1. Apply or the rest of my available scholarships, I've been putting most off because they include essays. 
2. Make my prom dress. I just finished cutting out the pattern and the fabric is preshrinking as I type. I also need to do my feather capelet, using this. I will let you know how that goes.
3. I need to work this week! I said at least 20 hours but.. with all my traveling I might just say I will work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
4. I really don't remember what else there is to do.. I wish SB was two weeks and then I know I could get everything done.

Ok. Well I think this is all I've got. Enjoy your SB everybody!

Lent

As I am Christian, not Catholic, I don't technically participate in Lent.Or at least not for the same reasons. I think it's interesting to see what I can give up for a month and how hard it can be at times. Before I have gone vegan for Lent, and that was not terrible but it was really hard when I went out to eat. So this year I was planning on giving up soda and candy but as rehearsals for "It's a Wonderful Life" have started this past week, I have come to realize I cannot function without a caffeine boost. Now, I have decided to give up candy and desserts.. starting today. I'm sure this will be hard, but really good for me. I'll let you know how it goes!

LUSH bath and beauty regimen

So I was about to take a bath tonight and then I thought "I should show everybody my LUSH collection! Maybe I can get some more people addicted! And so here you go. Beware though, it can be an expensive addiction to feed...But In my opinion, the product is totally worth the price.

My Lush collection (Bubble bars, bath bombs, bath melts, soap!)

 I do have a rather large collection, most of it is from the 2010 holiday collection, after it was buy one get one free/ half off. I pretty much bought all the bath bombs, a couple of bubble bars, the floating island bath melt and then honey I washed the kids soap.

Holiday Candy Cane Bubble Bar ($6), The Boog Bath Bomb ($7)

For this bath cocktail I used the Candy Cane bubble bar, crumbled under running water; I also used the Boog bath bomb, just tossed into the tub. The bubble bars make really big luxurious bubbles that soften the water. The Boog specifically is a basic bath bomb but has little bubbles of colour in it that turn the water different colours. Both are also scented sweetly.

I did decide to find out why it was the bestselling soap! This is a sample I got from my last order and I didn't like it THAT much. It didn't lather very well and the scent smelled kind of like black cherry and incense..

The Final Product!

Angels on Bare Skin Cleanser ($11)

This is the second package of angels on Bare skin cleanser I've bought and I LOVE it. It has a little bit of exfoliant in it but not too much and it feels really good on your skin, not harsh AT ALL. Also, it may be a little pricey but my other one lasted me literally a year. And then it started molding and I had to throw it out..

Face Masks- Brazened Honey and Oatifix, both about $6

Oh Holy Moly I love these masks! The Brazened Honey one exfoliates and brightens the skin but doesn't have the best scent, and the Oatifix is the best moisturizing mask I have EVER used. It was my savior this winter and it smells delicious! The only downside is they do expire pretty quickly and are only sold in stores because they are made FRESH!

Honey I washed the Kids DUPE body butter ($5)

I bought this because I went through a period where I tried to buy anything that smelled remotely like HiWtK, aka the best scent ever.. Anyway, to be honest it doesn't really smell like HiWtK but it is still a nice scent and is VERY moisturizing. You can find it here in a variety of scents!

Bubblegum Lip Scrub ($9), Holiday Snow Fairy ($6)

This is my evening regimen. the sugar scrub works wonders as it exfoliates and moisturizes, as well as being edible. Then I put on some snow fairy lip tint and my lips are soft for hours!

So that's my collection! LUSH is a little bit more expensive than other brands but there are so many fun products that make me really excited for baths. They are all very good quality, and handmade. Best of all, A lot of them are all natural, some do have chemicals but only where necessary. AND they are animal cruelty free as well as having many vegan products! I LOVE LUSH!

Not So Good.

I feel betrayed, angry, sad, annoyed. I am just so tired of everything that is happening. I think I've made up my mind that I need to go somewhere else to college. No more Bloomington. I need to get away from these people right now. I know I'm sounding really angsty but right now I just want to cry or go to sleep or yell some more. I feel very alone.

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.

Xmas Tip: DIY

As you may have guessed, I enjoy making presents more than purchasing them. I thoroughly recommend you try and make most of your gifts this year if you have the time. I started thinking of ideas in October and I'm almost finished with most. Making your own gifts saves a lot of money (trust me!), and I would so rather receive handmade gift rather than store bought because even if you don't like it, you know that person spent time making it specifically for you (at least I would hope so). I will be sure to post the tutorials on her as soon as Xmas is past for obvious reasons.. Anyway, just wanted to share yet another holiday tip!

P.S. If you don't have time to make anything but would still like to give a handmade gift, check out Etsy.com. They have really cute stuff and you can always find really good deals. And they carry vintage!

Quick Tip: Buying Gifts

Christmas is barely over a month away which means most are beginning to think about gifts. Around the holiday season companies will often release gift sets that are a better value than buying the products individually. A really good way to save money is to buy one of those sets and distribute the individual products to different people as stocking stuffers or otherwise. This way you save money and multitask by getting more than one gift at once.

That's What Christmas Means to Me My Love

Ahh the sounds of Christmas music. For me, Christmas songs make me feel so many different things. When I hear "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth," I think about my younger years when I would call Santa and tell him what I wanted. Those were the days when I would listen to the Santa Watch on the radio. Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year, though the weeks leading up to it usually are better for me. I love giving gifts. I love getting them too, but giving them is so much better, especially when you know you got them something they will love. Or make it. That's what I try to do. AND I WISH I COULD SHOW YOU WHAT I'M MAKING BUT MOST OF THE PRESENTS I'M MAKING ARE FOR THE READERS OF THE BLOG. So that's that. I just changed my caramel apple wallflower to fresh balsam. And I'm listening to the Xmas station.

The only bad thing is it kind of makes you miss people. I have not spent a Christmas with my brother, Eric for 3 years. and a clean Christmas would be even longer than that. My other siblings will come down for a gathering which is always fun, but still I feel like there's never enough time. It's true. You don't know what you've got till it's gone. When we lived in the same house i mostly fought with my siblings but now I do miss them quite a bit. It's not the same sitting around the tree with just my sister and parents. I love them, but still...

Anyway. Just felt the need to update. And I'm feeling so damn sentimental because of Christmas and also I was reading an article about Harry Potter and how it's the beginning of the end and holy shit. I'm going to cry my eyes out.

Comfort

I was sitting in church today and I realized how nice it is to have a community of believers surrounding you. I think sometimes I take that for granted, but today especially I could just feel the warmth enveloping me and it felt amazing. I recently became a member (finally), and I am so happy that I go here. Sometimes the church's and my views do not always match up, but I think on the whole that ECC is pretty accepting, probably mostly because there are so many college students that attend. Regardless though, It is the best feeling in the world to be walking down the halls and have people say hi to you, and they actually care about how you're doing, unlike a lot of the generic fake people in high school. It's refreshing.