Trim and Tea Dying (Halloween costume sneak peek II)

More photos of the sewing and dying process...

I am Doll Parts (Halloween costume sneak peek I)

More photos documenting the process...

Subtle Touches of Fall

For a die hard Halloween fanatic, I am late with putting out my Halloween decorations, being that I haven't done so and it's ALREADY October 2nd.  The work on my costume, which is still not complete, has put some of my other Halloween related plans on the back burner.  I'm okay with that because as much as I love Halloween, I have found that getting out my decorations at the beginning of the month, or even as over zealous as the end of September, I sometimes tire of the extra "clutter" around the house before the 31st has even arrived.  Also, as I like to decorate with candy filled apothecary jars, it can be hard on my willpower, and expensive as I continually have to purchase refills. In addition, last year I had my calendar so full with events, I felt burned out come November and in need of a serious candy/alcohol detox.  Basically, what I'm asserting, is that this year I've made a conscious decision to take it a bit slower, and savor the month not worrying about doing everything all at once.  I'm leaving the big events as a finale, and staying in to do my Halloween DIY projects (and get those posts and the decorations up), enjoy the premieres of my favorite horror genre shows and what not.

Here are a few of the things I'm currently surrounding myself with to get in the Fall/Halloween spirit:

A pre-workout worthy carby breakfast of limited edition Pumpkin Spice Thomas's Bagel Thins, with The Laughing Cow cream cheese spread and sprinkled cinnamon, to ward off cravings for 300 calorie Starbucks Pumpkin Spice lattes.

A cute new owl Bath & Body Works Wallflowers oil plug-in with Carmel Pumpkin Latte scented oil to reinitiate the 300 calorie Starbucks Pumpkin Latte cravings.

Trading in our summer white bedding for this cute fall-ish, whimsical, oversized damask-like print, with woodpeckers, owls, bunnies, and foxes by Patch NYC for Target's The Shops.

Utilizing a punch bowl and some of my other thrifted orange opalescent carnival glass pieces with fall leave motifs, as fruit bowls.

A divinely scented carmel apple candle.

My Love for Halloween Costumes and Cosplay

As far back as I can remember, Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, for the obvious kid reasons: candy, staying up late, but most of all dressing up in costume.  I believe I owe this infatuation to my mother, who always made us the most fabulous Halloween costumes for my sisters and I.  I remember as a child accompanying her to the fabric store to pick out what we wanted to be, from a selection of patterns and fabrics.  Sometimes our creativity went beyond the bounds of what the pattern selections had to offer, and we would sketch our own costume ideas, which my mom would lovingly and painstakingly create for us with her skills and Elna sewing machine.

One of my fondest costume memories is the year my mom made me a teddy bear costume I wanted, complete with gloves that had felt paw prints on the inside and a tie on hood like hat that gave the appearance that my head was in the bears mouth, as if he'd swallowed me whole.  I have no idea how my mom sewed that heavy faux fur fabric without breaking her sewing machine needle.  I remember that same year, I think it was in the third grade so it must have been 1987, Alf was really hot.  I saw this rubber Alf mask that matched the fur body of my teddy bear costume perfectly and I begged my mom to buy it for me and let me be Alf for Halloween.  She told me no, and who could blame her with all the work she put into the costume!

Even though I wasn't Alf, I'm pretty sure I felt like the star of the elementary school costume parade that year!  I remember always feeling sorry for the kids that had to don those plastic smock and mask costumes they offered at the drugstore, or even worse, a Charlie Brown style white sheet ghost.  This was not so much because of snobbery (I knew even then that not every kid was as lucky to have a mother or the means to make an incredible Halloween costume) but my artistic vision.  Having an artists eye and being a stickler for details, the thing about the licensed costumes that bothered me was when they had the character mask (My Little Pony for example) and then the smock just had the My Little Pony logo on it.  I always felt like it was half assed.  The ones that had a trompe l'oeil image of the characters body were at least excusable.  How would you like to be the kid who's parent waited last minute and ended up with the below costume?

Today my problem with store bought costumes as an adult (besides the fact that they are overpriced for the cheapest constructed polyester firetrap you can wear) is that as a woman, the only offerings are the cliche sexy costumes.  Why is there only "sexy witch", "slutty police woman" and "naughty Alice"?  Why can't you be just a witch, police woman, or Alice in Wonderland?  The most memorable costumes to me are the super clever, super scary, and downright authentic to the smallest details.  Below is a look at some of my costumes from the recent past.

Among my other Halloween posts this year, which include many DIY projects, I will be posting some sneak peeks of this year's costume until I reveal it in full, closer to Halloween.  I was already sketching out this years costume before Halloween 2011 had even come.  It was a true moment of inspiration that led me to a year of sourcing materials to piece my vision together, and in the more recent months, painting, sewing, and dying to create my most impressive and ambitious costume to date!

Happy Halloween!  30 days and counting!!

Grocery Organization with a Little Help from Martha

Our pantry is one of those places that I continually have to organize, but nothing really seemed to stick. I think I finally made some of the right changes to keep it in some semblance of order as the contents constantly change.

One of the problems was that we weren't utilizing the door storage very well, as we had tea boxes and other random items in there, while having a lot of bottled condiments on a carousel which wasn't easily visible or accessible for those kind of items.  I removed the tea boxes (finding that many were empty... an annoying habit that SOMEONE in my household is guilty of doing) and used the door space to house the bottled items.  I divided them into categories such as sweeteners, cooking oils, and so on.  I then labeled the shelves with Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery Adhesive metal book plate labels that you can purchase at Staples.  The nice think about this type of labeling is that the labels slide in and out, so that you can change them when you rearrange.  Although it's pretty obvious to they eye what one is looking at, the labels can be a helpful prompt to make sure things get put back where they belong to keep the order.

An item I highly recommend for pantry organization and food storage is OXO Pop containers.  They are clear (so you can easily see the contents), come in many sizes stackable, and airtight.  We received a starter set of various sizes as a wedding gift, and I've acquired more because they are so practical.  They are a little on the pricey side, but they are a good deal if you can find them at Home Goods or TJ Maxx.

One of the things I recently found they are great for is cereal storage.  It is helpful because you can see how much cereal is left (no more empty cereal boxes left in the pantry) and know when you need to purchase more.  Also because they are airtight the cereal stays fresh (the same person who is guilty of leaving empty boxes is also guilty of not rolling the internal bag of cereal, making it quickly become stale).  I also like the larger containers for flour and sugar, (and protein powder).  The smaller containers are great for the variety of nuts and dried fruits we always have on hand for salads, cooking, and snacks.

I recently came upon an ingenious pairing for the OXO Pop containers with Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery chalkboard labels also available at Staples.  These labels are not only attractive with their flourish die-cut design, but practical, as they are nonpermanent in that you can erase and change the label to match the contents as needed.  And you can include the expiration date as well!  I also used these labels on clear bins, which are good for wrangling things like beef jerky pouches, seasoning packets, and sprinkles.

 

Now that the pantry was organized, I was ready to go shopping which inspired me to organize my coupons.  Yes, I use coupons, but I am not a crazy coupon lady by any means.  The reasons why:

• I don't use many of the products the manufactures provide coupons for
• I have a certain degree of brand loyalty for certain products
• I don't have a stockpile and have no desire for my home to resemble a grocery store
• I don't dumpster dive for coupons
• I don't subscribe to the paper
• I don't need 500 candy bars

I do however use coupons somewhat regularly on the things I buy, and need, and I am able to save an average of 25% on my grocery bill, which really adds up.  Some people are snobby about couponing, as if it's below them.  Just because you have money doesn't mean you shouldn't save.  Who doesn't like free stuff?  Every time I save a few hundred dollars, it's like getting a pair of shoes for free!

Because I am not a crazy coupon lady, I don't need a jumbo binder that weighs 50 lbs.  However my old system of envelopes divided by category wasn't working so well and if you can't find what you need you won't use it (before it expires).  So again with items from Martha Stewarts Home Office with Avery line at Staples, I created a little coupon binder I could take shopping.  One of the things I love about her line is that a lot of the accessories are robins egg blue, so it matches my office!  I purchased a small robin's egg blue binder that can fit in my purse and some dividers, and clear pocket pages.  I also added some filler paper in the front that is perfect for composing shopping lists.  For me, I kept it simple (no subcategories) and divided them into grocery/food, household/cleaning, personal, pets, and other.  Each category has a few pages of various size clear pocket pages, so I can flip through it and easily find the coupon that I need.

A few of my tips about couponing:

• Online shopping: did you know there is almost always a coupon code for most retail websites?  You can just Google the name of the retailer and coupon code and see what comes up.  Retail Me Not seems to have the most valid codes.  Depending on the retailer you can sometime use up to 2 different codes on an order.  You can usually save 15-30% and get free shipping, just by typing in the coupon code in the field at checkout.
• Bed Bath and Beyond: you know how they send out mailers constantly with 5 dollars off one item or 20% off one item coupons?  You can use multiple coupons on one purchase, one coupon per item, AND although the coupons have expiration dates, they except expired coupons (and competitior coupons).  So if you shop there, don't ever throw your BB&B coupons away!  You can use them on the OXO Pop containers!
• Pavillions/Vons/Safeway:  There Just for You program is great.  They give you special offers on the things you frequently buy.  I love berries, which are usually pretty expensive compared to other fruit, but because I buy them all the time they give them to me at prices like 77 cents a pound.  Because I get good deals on them I continue to buy them, and they continue to give me the deals!
• Pets: If you sign up for Petco Pals rewards, you get coupons every month.  Also many of the dog treats you buy have coupons inside the bag for those products, don't throw them out!
• Extreme Couponing tactic: I don't take it to that level, but I have figured out how people get the extreme savings, or even cash back on items.  Basically you try to combine your coupons with sales and other promotions.  For example:  I had a sunday paper coupon for 1.00 off these mashed potatoes my husband likes.  When I looked at the ads I saw they were on sale for 2.99 (regularly 3.99) with my club card.  And when I went on the Just for You site I was able to load to my club card, a store coupon that was also for 1.00 off.  So with my two coupons and the club card sale price I purchased the mashed potatoes for 1.00.  A good deal, but I don't need 500 tubs of mashed potatoes... I was happy with the one.
• Keep your coupons (like your reusable grocery bags) in the trunk of your car.  That way you can never go to the store and forget them.

DIY Throw Pillows with Envelope Opening

I fell in love with this steampunkish/nautical sailing ship print fabric from Ikea and so I bought a yard and a half so I could make some pillows for our bedroom.  This is a great project for beginners, and really simple.  I purchased the pillow fills from Ikea as well, and the total cost of the project was about $26.00 for the pair.  Pretty good considering fashionable throw pillows from Z Gallery and other home stores are often upwards of $80.00 a pillow...  

The great thing about envelope pillows is that the covers can be removed and washed.  You can even just cover over old pillows instead of purchasing the fills, if you you are on a budget, or want to make a change with what you already have.  There are several different kinds pillow fills at different price points, but I prefer feather or down for throw pillows, because poly/cotton fills can be lumpy, and they aren't as plush, fluffy, or of substantial weight.  That's why I went with the Fjadrar fills, because they were nicer and the finished product looks more expensive.  I tend not to sleep with down, for allergy reasons, but these are the type of pillows you toss onto the floor before getting into bed anyhow.

Below are illustrated instructions I put together so you can make your own.  You don't have to use the same size pillow, as the instructions illustrate the formula for figuring out panel sizes for any size pillow, with 20" x 20" as an example.  Keep in mind that if you go larger, you may need more than 1.5 yards of fabric.  Also as a beginner it will be easier to work with a random repeat, rather than one that only goes one direction as I did, because it takes some thinking and consideration to make sure that things match up, and that you don't accidently sew one panel in upside down.

The photo above shows the back side of the pillow, you can see the overlap envelope opening  for getting the cover on and off of the pillow.  If you follow the instructions, the repeat should match up, not perfectly, but close enough for the opening to be very subtle.  Of course when you put the pillows on your bed or sofa, this side won't be the side to show anyhow... but if done right they will look like they were purchased from a high end home store!

Once you complete your first pillow, you will want to make more.  The pleasure of DIY is highly addicting.  I'm already on the lookout for the right fabric to update our living room seating with some new throw pillows!

Spring Cleaning, Taxes & Cupcakes

Something about spring time that gets me all motivated to get things done.  I spent Saturday deep cleaning my office, organizing my taxes (and paying them), and baking and decorating birds nest cupcakes.

For the cupcakes I baked vanilla cake (with extra vanilla extract) and then mixed food green and yellow food coloring into the icing to match the edible easter grass, which I found at Target.  The grass was supposed to be sour apple flavored, but it was pretty bland.  The grass was edible, but not flavorful, it kind of had the taste and consistency of those ice cream cups.  This was good because I don't really like putting fruity candy on cupcakes even though it looks cute, as it generally makes for a nasty flavor combination.  For the eggs I used malted milk ball eggs, and Cadburry's Robin Eggs (my favorite) and added a Peep to nest on a few of them.  Everyone loved them, so I'd say it was a successful deviation from my traditional Peepcakes!

The years of tax files were taking up valuable space in my file cabinet, so I decided to transfer them to two clear hanging file boxes, labeled with a label maker as: IN CASE OF AUDIT.  After finishing up the paper work prepared by my tax accountant, I was able to file away 2011 along with the previous years, and store them away in the attic.  God forbid I will ever have to retrieve them for an audit, but if I do this should make the event less stressful.  Every year I file I can shred the oldest year in the box.  It's a good system to stay on top of paperwork.  I know people that have paperwork and receipts from the 80s which is just crazy.  I think 7 years is the furthest back you need to have records for.

Speaking of staying on top of paperwork, you know those scanning things they sell on TV to go paperless?  They really ought to do one that scans and shreds at the same time.  I should patent that idea!

Despite the fact that I haven't held on to records further back than 7 years, I still had a ton of shredding to do as my cheap shredder broke 2 years ago. I'd been squirreling away sensitive documents in a suitcase, and avoiding purchasing a new shredder, because a shredder is hardly something you can get excited about shopping for.  However I finally purchased a nice one, my motivation being it won't break and have to be replaced again (and the suitcase was getting full).  The one I bought (made by Swingline) allows you to put a stack of papers in it, close the lid, and it will automatically feed them so you don't have to stand there feeding only a few sheets at a time.

After shredding all those documents, I had a lot of paper dust from transferring the bin to the trash several times, and so I began to sweep, and decided my office needed a full once-over.  I pulled everything off the shelves to dust thoroughly and then reconfigured  the books and knicknacks for a fresh look.  Another thing that had been bugging me from the time that I ordered my glass desktop, was that it looked smeary underneath.  The glass people after putting it down had told me it was unavoidable condensation.  However I managed to carefully slide the glass top halfway off at different angles, supporting the off portion with my arm while cleaning the greasy residue that had built up below.  When I returned it to it's proper position it looked decidedly better and I felt decidedly better.

Clean desktop.

Clean shelves.

Clean office.

Ahhh.

Next on my spring to-do list is finishing our bedroom.  I finally found charcoal curtains that match our walls perfectly.  We also received our bedside wall sconces from West Elm.  And the shelves.  Basically I have everything, I just need to hang things and get the electrician out here.  Big before & after post to come.

Happy Easter everyone!