Christmas DIY - Christmas Countdown

I had a fun time with this one! The best part of this DIY is you can really make however you want depending on your preference. You could change the colors, change the tree to a little house or whatever you can dream up!

What you will need:
Wood blocks 7-10 small and 2 large
Wood plaque
Acrylic paint in various colors
Small fake tree
Glue (I used E6000)
Optional - silver beads for the tree, small star for the tree topper

First, paint the plaque and blocks in whatever colors you want. I painted the plaque and large blocks white as well as the little blocks blue, pink and green.

I painted the words "til Xmas" on the small blue blocks with white paint. I added numbers to the large blocks. One block has 1,2,7,8,9,0. The other has 1-6. Don't quote me on whether this will work for all the dates but I think it will!  Lastly, I made the pink and green blocks into little presents. Once everything is dry, glue the til Xmas and tree down to the plaque. Decorate the tree with your beads or whatever you've chosen. There you have it! Easy peasy! If you decide to make your own countdown, please link back to it in the comments so I can see what you've come up with.

Have fun and happy holidays!

Costumes From Your Closet

Happy Halloween! If you are low on time or money, don't go to the Halloween store and overpay for cheaply made costumes! Browse around your closet and use things that you already own to make up your costume this year. I put together a couple of outfits from things I already had around the house to give you a couple of examples!

Witch
This is pretty easy for most women because we all should have a black dress in our closet, right? I paired mine with a vintage cape (I mostly wanted an excuse to wear it), tights, black boots and a witch hat that I got for only $3 at Target. Total cost of the this costume: $3

Lumberjack
I own about 7 plaid shirts so this costume was a no brainer for me. If you don't have one, they are relatively cheap at the thrift store. I also added my brown lace up boots, black beanie and my buffalo plaid jacket. This is a perfect costume for Halloween in the Midwest because you are already wearing lots of layers!

Professor
Wear a pair of khaki pants or a plaid skirt. Pair it with a blazer, oxford shoes, glasses and a bun. Think Indiana Jones or a stuffy British professor :)

Mad Men Character
You can pick whichever lady (or gent) suits your style or what you already own. Since a lot of modern style is taking its cues from the 50's and 60's right now, you might have something that would work even if you don't own any vintage clothing. I would wear a 50's dress with a full skirt and go as Betty, a pencil skirt and tie blouse could evoke Joan or anything plaid or conservative could be Peggy.

Most importantly, have fun and get creative. My favorite costumes have always been the ones I've put together myself instead of buying. I would love to see what you come up with. Have a great Halloween!

Galentine's Day

My friends and I had a little get together complete with heart shaped pizza and delicious treats.  Then, headed out to the Heights theater and saw An Affair to Remember.  Such a great film and it was nice to hang out with some of my favorite gals. Better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself  :) Did any of you do something fun that night?







Outfit Details:
Shirt - Thrifted
Skirt - The Paraders
Tights - Target

PS. Remember when I talked about supporting the Paraders kickstarter in this post?  Here is the skirt I got for my contribution! It fits perfectly and I love the vintage feel of the full skirt. Head over to her page if you want to get one of your own!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve! My brother flies in today and the festivities can begin! The plan for today is to go to work, go home and bake a chocolate peppermint cake, pick up my brother at the airport and head to my parents. We are going to drink Tom and Jerry's, play cribbage and open presents. The only thing that would make this better were if my sister, brother-in-law and niece were coming home. Hopefully, we can skype with them tonight or tomorrow.

I thought I would share some of my decorations with you like I promised! I didn't go all out this year but I really like what I did end up doing. I only bought one item and that was my new vintage tablecloth from Hill Valley Boutique. Right next door is her parent's garden store and that's where my parents and I got our trees this year so we had to stop in. I definitely need to stop in there more often because she had some really great stuff! If you are a local and head over there, tell Liz I said hello!

   

      

Last year, my mom gave me some of my ornaments from when I was a kid. These are 3 of my favorites

 I hope everyone has a great day and if you don't celebrate Christmas then happy Monday :)

Christmas Outfit - Casual

My plan was to photograph a bunch of outfits that I'll be wearing this Christmas but I've been so busy getting presents that I haven't had time. Ahh the life of the procrastinator. I feel like being sick for two weeks really put me behind in getting presents and getting in the holiday spirit. I'm starting to catch up but tomorrow is Christmas Eve so I better hurry up! Today I'm off to my parent's house to bake cookies with my mom.  Hopefully that will help :) Tonight I have a little holiday party with some of my neighbors over at a local bar. Bring it on Christmas!

Here is an outfit I wore the other night out with friends. I might wear this again to my extended family Christmas. No one really dresses up but I want to be festive just the same. I like the red and white combo because it's Christmas-y but not over the top. It's been really cold here the past couple of days so you all get the pleasure of indoor photos again. :)

I can't wait for my brother to get here tomorrow and for the festivities to begin! Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it. I'd love to hear what everyone's plans are for the holidays!

Christmas Decorating

Since I've been sick for the past week, my Christmas decorating and activities have fallen by the wayside. I'm starting to feel a bit better and I went to White Christmas at our local theater.  I want to get my decorations up this weekend. My parents are going to help me get my tree on Sunday so I'll probably try to decorate Saturday. I'm not sure if I'll get time for any crafts this year but here are some inspiration pictures. You can find all of them on my Christmas Ideas pinboard.

Hopefully, I'll share some of my decorations on Monday and maybe even a couple of Christmas DIYs!

Poultry and Polka Dots

This is what I wore on Thanksgiving day. I was all prepared with my jeggings and long flow-y shirt. However, I didn't really eat that much at all. I had about 10 bites and felt so full I just couldn't eat anymore. What a shame...

Outfit Details:

Top - Forever 21

Jeggings- Target

Cardigan - so old I can't remember

Shoes - Old Navy

This mural is right by my house and I've always wanted to take pictures in front of it. Thanksgiving meant NO people in my neighborhood which never happens. I was a bit excited about it...

Halloween DIY - Zombie Punch

Happy Halloween!! You can call this punch whatever you want but I went the zombie route :)

This punch was totally made up by yours truly and it tasted delicious. I'm sure there are a lot of substitutions you could make but I went with lime flavor because I had a whole bottle of vodka from my birthday party and I thought the vodka would go well with a citrus flavor.

What you'll need:
Vodka (clear rum could work too)
Limeaid
Ginger ale (sprite/club soda)
Sherbet
Plastic eyes
Punch bowl or other large container
Food coloring (optional)


This is so easy. I had a bottle of Simply Limeaid and I used the whole bottle. I added about 1/2 the bottle of vodka (I know, right?) and about 2/3 of the ginger ale.  Experiment with the proportions based on how sweet or sour you want it.  Then, take a couple scoops of sherbet and plop on top.  When it melts, it will take on the murky/swirly quality you see in the pictures.  I added the plastic eyes and green food coloring for fun. I think it makes it more spooky. Let me know if you try this!

Be careful of this! It is MUCH stronger than you would expect :)  You could also take out the alcohol and use this recipe for a kids party.

Halloween DIY - Paranormal Portraits

I wasn't going to post about this because I thought, "This is too easy to do a DIY for."  However, I got compliments at my party about them so I thought I would show you all!

It's pretty simple but here's what you need:
A couple of frames
Black spray paint (optional)
Red Christmas lights
Printer paper
Scissors or exacto knife
Tape
Electricity

I just thrifted a couple of frames and spray painted them black. If you already have black frames or want them to stay the original color then you can skip this step.

Next, I went online to find cool vintage photographs. I found it was MUCH easier to use photos where the subject is larger or the image has only 1 or 2 people. Shit was getting crazy when I tried to do a group photo. Also, use heavier weight paper when you print them so they can hold the weight of the lights.

Take the glass out and the backs off of the frames. Take the photo and poke a hole in the eyes of the person with your scissors. Arrange the photo how you want it and then place the lights. I suggest using older lights that are already stretched if possible. I had a brand new box and I had to use ever other light for my photos. It worked out though.

Tape the lights to the back of the photo.  Put the backing back on the frame and tape it down if necessary (it will be).  Try not to curse when the lights fall out of the eyes or the picture pops out of the front of the frame. It will happen but be patient!  Place the frames near an outlet either on your counter or a table. Plug in and voila!

Halloween Prep

Sorry for the lack of posts last week. I do 5 posts in a row and then I get lazy :)  I'm making 3 costumes this year so I've got to get my shiz together.

My niece is going to be the Stay Puft marshmallow baby.  I'm making the collar and the hat (hopefully) and sending it off to my sister.

Ace is going to be a dinosaur :)  I'm going to thrift a green t-shirt and attach some felt spikes to the back. He's going to look so cute!

This is going to be the hardest. I'm going as Jem! Can't wait. I'm kind of bummed because I bought all of the fabric and decided all of the costume a couple of week ago.  I went to the Halloween store to look for a wig and found a whole Jem section :( I hope there aren't going to be a million Jems this year.  I decided not to buy the (super) shiny costume from the store and make my own from a pattern. I'm nervous to make it but at least I will be more original!

4th of July

Picnics were had, beaches were visited and fireworks were watched. Only thing that would have made it better was not having to work the next day. Here's a couple of pictures!

View from the bridge we were on before the fireworks. I need to get a steadier hand...

See that wiggly orange thing on the right? That was the moon!

Have a great weekend! I'm going to see the Avett Brothers tomorrow night at the Basilica Block Party. Can't wait!