Give a hoot

Hi lovelies! How was your weekend? Mine was nice and relaxing. I had a fun date night with Brian, went to a drive-in, and got my thrift on - nothing to complain about over here. Life has been really good lately, just busy beyond belief. I can't believe we are already in to November. My one year blogaversary is coming up at the end of the month! Oh my. I am hoping to put together a special giveaway for you all. I am excited for this week - I have a weeks worth of posts! It has been far too long. I am finally getting in to the groove of my long commute and balancing life. Wahoo. Anywho... here is a mini glimpse in to my life lately.



For my instagram buds - you have seen this (sorry), but for those of you who do not follow me on IG - this is what I have been up to. Basically, a whole lot of thrifting. Something about the cold weather makes me want to rummage through old things. I have found a lot of goodies though! I have added quite a bit to my pyrex collection (I will show you more on Thursday) and I have been putting my thrift finds to good use - I absolutely adore the dress I am wearing in the photo above. I wore this dress out on my date with Brian. It is a silk number from an estate sale down the street from me.

I need to cut down on my thrifting. I have officially decided though that I am going to open up shop at the beginning of next year (so I guess disregard that first statement - haha). Why not put my thrifting obsession to good use and share my finds with everyone? I am pretty excited about it.

I hope you all are having a beautiful Monday :]

Dreams Really Do Come True!

Hi all! I have a very special Toy Army Tuesday to share with you all. It is the mother of all my Toy Army Tuesday posts honestly. Many of you who have followed my blog for awhile know that I LOVE Blythe dolls. I had two dolls (I even picked one of them up in Japan!). Ever since I fell in love with those big eyes I have been on the search for a 1972 Kenner Blythe doll at thrift stores and flea markets, mainly since they are far too expensive on ebay ($600-$2,500). For those of you who don't know - Blythe dolls were created and sold (originally) for only one year - 1972. Needless to say the originals are VERY DIFFICULT to find. I made it my quest however. I have been dreaming of finding Juniper for over a year now...and now she is mine!!!



Yep, that is right! I found my dream Blythe. A blonde 1972 Kenner!! Saturday night I attended the all night halloween fleamarket. It was freezing and half the size of the fleamarket in August, I was pretty bummed. I picked up some Pyrex and wandered inside to check out some stalls. I was drawn to a pile of old musty dolls. Running through my head was small hope that Juniper would be there. This time I saw some teeny feet and started to get excited. Next I saw a paisley patterned dress - WHAT?? And then I flipped her over and saw her eyes. It was her. I started shaking. OH MY GOODNESS!!! This is happening. I told myself I had to try to act as calm as I could and ask the man how much she was - I didn't want him to become suspicious. "Sir, how much is this doll?" I asked, "$3 dollars" he promptly responded unfazed by the situation, "Oh, ok." - AHHHHHHH. I unbuttoned her original dress and there it was written - 1972 Kenner. I kept checking her in my bag every 5 minutes just to make sure.

Phew. I could go on and on about that night. I won't though. Here she is as I found her. Next week I will show you her cleaned and restored look :]



Not a scratch, mark, or crack (aside from on her face where it looks like someone attempted to open it). She even still had her original polka dot panties on aaaaand proof that she is a 1972 Kenner stamped across her back. Oh - and guess what!!! Her eyes change effortlessly to all four colors!! Her pull string works better than on my other two Blythes, which is insane considering she is 40 years old.



This crack and her missing 5 tracts of hair are her only quirks.



This is proof that if you dream about and search for something long enough it is bound to find you.

Have a beautiful day everyone! Next week I will show you what she looks like after her makeover.

Duh nuh....Dun nuh....Duhnuhduhnuhduhnuh

Hi guys!! How's it goin? I am not much of a DIY'er, except when it comes to Halloween. I am not sure why I don't craft more in the every day...more stuff to put on the to-do list I suppose. Anywho - I thought it might be fun to share with you guys a quick little tutorial on how to make an awesome shark/shark attack costume (in case you are still looking for something to wear). I made this costume the day of last year and it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Let's get started! Warning: If you need precise measurements or more in-depth directions please refer to Ashnola's shark tutorial - her tutorial inspired me last year. I am not one for precise directions and just went with the flow. If this is more your style follow the following steps...

Jaws Costume Tutorial


Materials:
- Grey fabric as tall as you are and twice as wide as your body.
- Black felt - a sheet or two to make eyes the size you want.
- White fabric - half a yard - yard.
- Red fabric - half a yard - yard.
- A bag of stuffing or foam to add to the nose and fins.
- Glue gun or sewing machine.


I simply purchased scrap pieces of fabric for this costume and lucked out. I have no clue what the measurements were - I just held up the fabric and could tell it would work. This is my approach to a lot of things....cooking, thirfting... Anywho! I also used a glue gun to put this costume together since I was down at school and sans my sewing machine. It worked out just fine! I hope this helped you out or gave you some Halloween costume inspiration.

Have a beautiful day everyone :]

Halloween: 2007-Present

Hi guys! I am keeping up with the Halloween theme this week since it is only a week and a day away, but who is counting, right? I thought it would be fun to show off some of my costumes over the years. At first I only had a couple in mind but I found myself getting lost in old facebook albums, aaaaand basically ended up with 5 years worth of costumes - haha. I really got in to making my costumes sophomore year of college and have been ever since. Anywho...here is a quick - kinda - overview.



2007: I was a newbie to the whole halloween thing so I bought a german beer maiden costume - cute, but pretty unoriginal.
2008: This year my bestie and I decided to go with an animal theme. We were wild cats the first night and a narwhal and lobster the second night. (I went to school where Halloween lasted a weekend and meant multiple costumes)
2009: This year was wild and I dressed up three nights in a row. The first night I was Mia Wallace from pulp fiction, the second night I was a geisha, and the third night I was cleopatra. I guess this year was a girl-power theme?
2010: The cat is out of the bag - I LOVE KATY PERRY. Get over it. I think she is so cute and her songs are so catchy. I was also in love with her hubby Russell. This year her California Girls video came out and I fell in love with the cupcakes. My most inappropriate costume, sorry, but it was a lot of fun. I was the only one dressed up as her this year, the following year they mass produced the cupcake costume - LAME. Brian also dressed up like Russell because they are practically twins.
2011: I was a my little pony and a shark attack victim this year. I wish I could have found a photo of my full pony outfit, it was pretty cute. I had a lot of fun making my shark costume. I made it last minute (the day of), but I think it turned out pretty cool.
2012: Last Friday Brian and I went to a friend's birthday/costume party. I had been sick all week so my Marie Antoinette costume wasn't (still isn't) complete yet. On the drive home I thought of possibilities and Bambi popped in my head. I picked up some makeup and the dollar store Brian Manages and was ready to roll :]

I will share with you all my Marie costume once I wear it on Friday night. I am pretty darn excited. I still need to figure out how I am going to do my hair. Anywhooo...

Do you all go overboard when it comes to Halloween like I do? Tomorrow I plan to share how to make that KILLER shark costume ;]

Back from the dead

I am back from the dead...so to speak.


Looking lively, huh? I apologize from my absence last week - I was hit with the worst head cold and spent the majority of my time in bed, not fun. I am finally starting to breathe through my nose again though, haha, tmi? Anywho... Halloween is quickly approaching!! Are you ready? I still need to hit up the store and find the finishing touches to my Marie Antoinette costume.

Have I ever told you how much I LOVE HALLOWEEN? It is hands down my favorite holiday - EVER. What is better than dressing up, eating candy until you are sick, and watching movies that make you nearly pee your pants? Haha. But really. I like to go big or go home when it comes to Halloween, so this week I will be sharing with you my previous costumes and possibly a tutorial or two to make yourself a sweet last minute costume (they tend to work out best that way anywho).

So let me explain the photo above and the ones to follow - three years ago my friends and I thought it would be fun to dress up the weekend of Halloween as zombies and walk around the mall (as zombies would of course) just because. I simply rolled outta bed (sweet bed head, right?), and threw some red, white, and black paint on my face. Woohoo.



We got quite a bit of stares, some photos taken, and unfortunately made a little boy cry - whoops. Overall though it was a fun outing. Have you attended any zombie functions lately?

Designer Charity Sale

Hi guys!! Happy Monday to you all. How was your weekend? Mine was FANTASTIC!!! I went to a designer warehouse sale aaaand saw Perks of Being a Wallflower with my friend Lindy. Both were so good. I really enjoyed the movie and want to see it again with Brian this week, haha. As for the warehouse sale...

Awesome - pretty much sums it up. You can purchase two bags - either their small bag for $20 or their large bag for $75. Once you purchase your bags you can fill them up with whatever designer goodies you want (they had a whole hall full to the brim with new and gently used designer goodies). All of the proceeds went to the Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago. Anwyho...

I sat in the cold rain for 6 hours alone to make sure I got my hands on the goods. It was intense. I was supposed to go with a friend, but she ended up missing in action at 2 a.m.. Having come so far for the sale I decided to brave it alone. Thankfully, there were about 30 or so people already in line when I showed up at 3 a.m. so I wasn't too afraid. I also made good friends with those sitting next to me. We bonded over Dunkin Doughnuts while we took shifts to go in to DD's to use their hand dryers to warm up and dry off. Around 6 a.m. the sun rose and our spirits were all lifted. 7:30 was around the time when people started to get scary. People were calling out others for cutting the line and calling in security to kick them out - yikes. People also really started filling up the line around 7 - by 9 nearly 1,000 or so people were in line. They ended up opening the doors a half an hour late and I thought a riot might break out. Thankfully we were across the street from a police station. I was soooo glad I was so close to the front of the line. Once I got inside I went to town and filled up two large bags. 20 minutes later I made my way down the stairs so relieved it was all over. I knew I had found some good stuff, but was too tired to sift through everything until Sunday morning. Here is what I thrifted...

Bag one- Bag two-

Yep - that's right - Manolo Blahnik's - and in my size!!! Made nearly losing a toe or two worth it all :] My life will basically resemble Sex in the City from here on out. I scooped up so many incredible brands - Manolo Blahnik, Betsey Johnson, Armani, Coach, Julie Haus, Philip Lim, Milly, Paul Smith, Barney's, N.D.C., Cordani, Brigids Bags... I really didn't think I was going to be able to carry it all by myself to the car, thankfully, I found the strenth...but my arms and legs are so sore. Haha. I need to start working out. Anywho...

BEST THRIFT HAUL - EVER! Hands down.

Next year I plan to be in the front of the line. Who's with me?

I was away from my computer all weekend, but plan to catch up on everything Tuesday night - my free night. Have a beautiful day my lovelies :]