After-Christmas Shopping

I was very good and didn't go shopping the day after Christmas, but for reasons that will remain unspecified, I ended up with some credit at Khols that I needed to spend. The Target gift card from Mum and Sir was also burning a hole in my pocket.

At Khols, I got the item I'd come for, and then had about ten dollars left to spend. I wandered around for a while trying to find something practical to buy (slippers, towels, or something like that), but didn't really see anything I just had to have. And then I stumbled onto some super marked down clothing including this AMAZING motorcycle vest.

Now, I have wanted a faux leather motorcycle forever. But I've never been able to find one I loved in my price range. Well, I'm pretty darn excited about this vest because it looks so cool and was only $10.20 after all the discounts. There was a brown one too, but black seems like the better option, and it was also the only one I could find in my size.

The fun part is, you can zip it up like it is on the mannequin (and like it is in my first photo) or if it's really stinking cold, you can zip it all the way up (like in the second photo). In any case, I have a feeling it's going to be my new favorite piece of outerwear, though probably more once it's not quite as cold as it has been recently.

More "natural" looking, but still glittery

These two are surprisingly heavy.

There was a Michael's in the same lot as Khol's, so I decided to pop in there and see if there were any Christmas decorations I wanted to pick up for next year. I found a few cute little birds that I liked. Best part was, they were all less than a dollar.

Wire bin to hold crap- yay!

Finally, I went to Target. Mostly I went to scope out after Christmas deals, but I figured I'd also look around to see if there was any bigger stuff we'd maybe want to get with the gift card. I have one idea, but I'm not sure about it yet, so I'm gonna wait a little bit on it. Anyways, I did get one Christmas thing- white tinsel garland for the tree. It'll help it look more full next year and I got three for less than the normal price of one. I also picked up a loofah since mine had come apart. The front of the store suckered me in as usual and I got a wire bin to put all my craft stuff in. It had been sitting in a cardboard box which was just kind of sad looking.

And at Target, I found an inexpensive pair of slippers that I actually liked. They're slip on, have a nice thick sole, and are super warm and fuzzy. They seem like an excellent replacement for the pair I just had to throw away because the sole was coming apart and leaving little chunks everywhere. (Okay, I admit I didn't throw them away until we moved and I couldn't justify keeping them any longer.) It meant that the only slippers I had were some slipper socks from Forever 21 and they just aren't the same as a nice pair of real slippers.

That was my New Year's Eve so far and, I have to say, I'm quite pleased with it.

Scarf!

Maureen got me some wool over a year ago (maybe two now that I think about it). It's died a lovely blue-green, but of course I never really did much with it. I did make the boys cute little hats, but that took hardly any of the yarn. Anyways, I started a scarf a long time ago, but just finally got motivated to finish it. And here it is!

I'd love to give credit where credit is do, but I can't remember for the life of me where I got it. The least I can do is post what I did.

Yarn: I have no idea what ply the yarn I used was. The original pattern called for a wool that was 3.5 oz./138 yrds or 100 g/125m. I used more than one skein (probably one and a third).

Needles: I used US 13 (9mm). The original pattern called for US size 10 (6mm) or larger.

Pattern:
- Cast on 20 stitches (I made it a bit wider and cast on 28 stitches).
- Knit 2 rows.
- Rows 1-2: K4, *YO, K2tog, K2*
- Rows 3: K all
- Rows 4-5: *K2, YO, K2tog*
- Row 6: K all
- Repeat rows 1-6 until desired length.
- Knit rows 1-3, knit one more row, then bind off
- Weave in ends, block if desired. (I did not, but blocking it would make it appear more lacy.)

It's a lace pattern which means it has little holes in it. I like it cause it's fancier than some of my knitted scarves, but still very warm because it's made of wool. I can't wait to wear it! The funny part is the color totally goes with the Pantone color of the year: emerald.

I can't decide whether to try wrist warmers next or a nice slouchy hat. Either way, I suspect I'm going to need to get some new knitting needles.

Lush goodness

Christmas was very good to me this year. However, I got a present a few days before Christmas that actually made me really, really happy. It was a thank you from on of the actors in It's a Wonderful Life. What was it you ask? A whole bundle of beautiful products from Lush, all wrapped up in a handkerchief made out of recycled plastic.

Snow Globe

As you can't give Lush without giving soap, there were two kinds of soap: Snow Globe and The Godmother. Snow Globe I think it my favorite of the two. According to Lush's website, it's a blend of grapefruit, lemon and lemongrass oils, with a little ylang ylang oil thrown in. Those are some of my favorite scents for soaps and things so it just makes me superbly happy. The Godmother is an all pink bar and smells sweet like bubble gum and candy floss. Not quite as heavenly but still very nice and I'm very excited to use it as well.

Two of the things have already made it into my purse/onto my person because I love them so much. They are the Charity Pot lotion and Honey Trap lip balm. The Charity Pot is a delightfully moisturizing lotion with cocoa butter in the base, among other things. Lush says the scent is ylang ylang. It's quite strong and I haven't decided if I love it or not, but I do know I don't care enough to stop wearing it! My hands feel so good after using it, I don't care that the fragrance is a bit stronger than I like. I just have to be careful of putting it on when I'm around Mike. The best part is, the purchase of every Charity Pot goes to a specific charity, and the purchase of mine supports the Ancient Forest Alliance which I think is a great cause. The pot it comes in is also 100% recycled. And it now has a nice little home in the Clinique bag that is always in my purse.

The Honey Trap is a fabulous lip balm. Firstly, the tin is really cute, a nice flat shaped that sits really nice in my pocket, and it's easy to open (unlike other lip gloss tins I've owned). As to the contents, Lush says it's filled with toning sweet orange, cooling peppermint, rich honey, and melted white chocolate. All I know is that it feels great going on and smells good enough to eat. It has been living on my desk next to me or in my pocket ever since I got it. The best part is that I can put it on when it is cold, but it doesn't get too warm and melty when it's in my pocket.

Tiny Hands

The last thing that was in the handkerchief of joy was an item I have not positively identified. I'm pretty sure that it is the Tiny Hands moisturizing hand cream bars. It came wrapped more like the soaps, in paper, but had a sticker tag explaining massage bars. I don't think it's a massage bar (and not just because I think that would have been too awkward to get someone you don't know well). But the Tiny Hands have many of the same properties of the massage bars, and hey, the one I got is shaped like a hand! Though the one I got is more of a green color, which is part of the reason I'm still not positive. In any case, it does seem to be some sort of solid moisturizer, which is super fantastic. I've been wanting to get one for a very long time (and one of my next posts is going to be about my adventures with solid lotions). Once I find a good way to keep it somewhere, I'll definitely be using it a lot. It has creamy cocoa and shea butter, soothing argan oil, and aloe vera all of which are so good for my hands. :)

I may do a "Christmas Haul" post, but I just had to do a special one for all the Lush goodies I got.

Happy Christmas Eve!

The only two real ornaments

Happy Christmas Eve! Before the season was over, I wanted to share my tree with you all. In an effort to be budget conscious, I decided to make some ornaments this year. I really want to collect bird ornaments (of the white, gold, silver, and blue persuasion) but that's gonna take time and money. I'm hoping I can scoop up a few this year when they all go on sale. But, I currently only have two real ornaments. Seen here is my little birdy tree topper from Pier One that I got last year and the little white bird I got from Christmas Tree Shops this year (he was only a dollar!). However, I knew the tree would look very bare with only two ornaments, so I set out to make more.

My cut out "patterns"

First thing I did was print out a few bird shapes I liked off the internet. Then I traced them out onto thin cardboard boxes that I'd been hoarding for a week. Boxes like the ones from pasta, crackers, and popcorn. Logically, the next thing I did was cut them all out (it took forever!).

Birdies all cut out!

One of the many cardboard boxes traced out

 

Drying after one of the many coats of paint

Next I had to paint them so that they were all uniform in color (and it didn't look like they'd been cut out of random boxes.) I ended up doing one coat on the non-colored side, and two coats on the printed side. I chose to go with white since that's the look I was going for, but you could paint them whatever color/design you like to fit with your aesthetic.

Glitter bombed!

The next step was the most fun and most definitely the messiest. I'd bought some really cheap glitter from Joann's. It was three colors- silver, blue, and white- for only a dollar. Turns out it was really fine glitter too, which worked out well. Anyways, on the blank side of the ornament, I painted a coat of paint mixed with matte medium (which helped thin it so it would dry faster and act better as glue). You could probably also just use paint or use white glue/a white glue mix. The matte medium is what I had on hand so that is what I used. I painted each ornament and then sprinkled away. As you can see, the owls I ended up sharpie-ing on a bit of definition to help them read more as owls. I'd asked Mike what he thought they were when they were all white, and his guess was a shield. :/ And so the owls got some sharpie.

Make-shift hangers

I'd originally been planning on punching holes in them to thread the hanger through, but after putting all that paint on them, I realized that was going to be no small task. So I cheated and simply hot glued the hangers to the back. Voila! The only sad part was when I decided to not pay attention and accidentally touched the metal tip of the hot glue gun to my finger. It hurt really bad and blistered, but luckily it was really small and is healing pretty quickly.

 
And just for fun, here are some close-ups of them on the tree:

They're not the most fantabulous ornaments ever made, but I had fun making them and they make the tree feel full, so I'm happy. :)

Hello again friends!

So this thing called life happened, and it kind of glomped all my time. First there was the job at Williamstown Theatre Festival. It was three months long and sucked up all the time. Then I ran off to Maui to visit my family and meet my adorable nephew Parker (see the cutest funny faces to the right). After I was home for less than a week, I got a job being run crew at North Shore Music Theatre. And now I'm finishing up two back to back shows at Stoneham Theatre, the first as run crew, the second as PA (Production Assistant, aka low-man on the stage management totem pole). But, I've been doing lots of fun stuff lately and decided to get back on the blogging horse.

For a very auspicious first post back, I decided to do an "outfit of the day" type post. I've been feeling all gross and sick again, so I didn't put too much thought into it today, but I liked it none the less. It was warm and comfy.

 

I was wearing one of my Forever 21 black t-shirts, my black Dickies and Chucks (that you can't see), Mike's button up that he lets me wear, a leopard print scarf I think I got from Wet Seal (but it's been so long I don't remember), and a slouchy hat that I can't think where I got (though it may have been Forever 21).

As you can see, I didn't do anything fancy with my make-up today, either. Having to get up at 5:30am has that effect on me. Let me explain. Because it's a kid-friendly, Christmasy show, we have what are called "student matinees" that start at 10am. Well, because I have to be there 3 hours before we start to get all my pre-show done and it takes half an hour to get there, I had to get up super early. Luckily, there's only one more of them left (on Friday, ugh). Featured in that second photo is the oh-so-glamorous laundry room that I spend a good two hours in every show. I have to put away the laundry from the previous show, steam anything wrinkled, and iron any shirts that got washed the night before. If nothing else, I can iron a button up shirt very quickly now.

Anyways, it's time to get back to my Christmas ornaments so I can finish decorating the tree! Don't worry, I'll do a whole Christmas tree post! :)

More hair!

I was amused today when I didn't do anything to my hair and it came out sort of emo. Not that I mind at all, since emo is just less whining and more anger away from being punk. ;) And it means that even if I'm too lazy to put a little mousse in it, it still looks okay! And now my pic:

Best haircut ever!

Super duper excited because yesterday I got my hair cut! After much debate on my part, these were the two pictures that I brought with me to give the hair stylist an idea of what I wanted my hair to look like.

 I took Jenn's advice and had Rebecca cut my hair and she did a simply amazing job. :) She knew exactly what I wanted and did a really great job of making it look good on me. And here's the cut!

This was after she styled it quickly with a curling iron to give it some texture. Normally, I'll scrunch it with mousse after I get out the shower and let it air dry. And here's a picture that shows the back sort of.

I'll post another picture after I wash it and everything, but I really really like it so far! I'm definitely going to redye it now too. Though it's funny, everyone has already been commenting on the color again now that it's shorter.