Tutorial: Flowerrific Necklace with hints of Paris

Yay! I am back with a new tutorial. Stay tuned, because I actually have an important question to ask you guys at the end. I would ask now, but I'm SO PUMPED for this tutorial. I'm pretty proud of myself.

Today, we (or I) will be making this necklace as shown below. There are some closeups.

What you need:

• Sequins
  
• Eiffel Tower keychain. I got mine at Paris. Literally, 5 for a freaking euro. If you don't have this, just get some other pendant like thing or keychain you get from a touristy place.
  
• 2 pliers. It can be a combo, like plier and wrench. You just need 2 clampy things.


• Thread. I used black sewing thread


• Needle


• Necklace Chain


• Necklace clasp. I used a toggle kind. It's like a bar with a loop. Use whatever!


• Jumprings

Instructions

• First, take the keychain and split it apart. You see in my above picture with supplies that I broke it into the keychain thing, the pendant thing, and the middle "tag" that says paris/france on it. You'll need the pliers becuase this metal is very heavy and hard. If you have problems opening the loops, don't force it with your nails and one plier. Use 2. It gives you much more force.


• Now, take the pendant, and attach a jumpring. A jump ring is like a thin ring that's really easy to open and close. Attach this the jump ring to your pendant, then to the middle of the chain necklace. Make sure that this is a link chain necklace. It'll be easier to work with.





• You see the tag? Choose where you want to put it on the necklace. I chose the middle of a side. So assuming you want to put it there, just open a link on the chain, and attach the tag on. You might have to break some links off to make both sides of the necklace on.


• Attach the clasp. Are you still with me? Here is where we should be right now.






• Faaantastic. Assuming that you are at this point, congrats. You can leave right now and have a rockin' necklace. This is where it becomes a bit hairy and time consuming. I'm going to describe it in words. First, make a chain of sequins. You should have 3 sizes. Small, medium and large. Just find a bag of assorted sequins and separate them. You make a chain like so: First, take the needle and thread it. Don't tie a knot because it's not going to be useful. Put the sequin on the thread and leave a little tail. Now, put the needle through the sequin hole so that you have a loop. Don't tighten the loop! Now, pull the needle through the loop twice. Tighten and you have a knot.


• NOW, to make the chain of sequins. Thread another sequin on. Now push the needle through the "up" side of the previous sequin. Push the sequin up through the "under" side of the newly threaded sequin. Repeat. I usually like to do 10 in a chain


• Still with me? You are a brave lady you know. This part isn't really directable. I can give you a starting point, but it's mostly feel, go and improvisation. The sequin that you last sewed on is now "1". Everything else is 2, 3, etc in order. Take the needle and push it through the hole of sequin number 5. You should have a flower shape. If you are using faceted sequins, you should push the needle through the "bowl" side. This means that when you lay the sequin down, it looks like a bowl. Now, just curve all the sequins into a circle and sew it together.
  
• To make flowers, you can layer sequin circles of different sizes together to give different depths and such. Very cool. Now, just sew them on your chain however you like. I actually put two flowers back to back. Here's the picture of that. It's blurry, I know. If you need to, you can gorilla glue the flowers for added strength.
  

Yay! Do you guys like it? Now for my question. It's been a weird dream of mine (not like a DREAM dream, but more of a daydream) to actually open an Etsy store, just to see if I can get some more cash to pay for grossly expensive textbooks. Why are they 100 dollars each, I don't know. Yay for ebay and amazon! Anyway, back to the point. Do you guys think that I have enough talent to open one? How much would this kind of necklace be worth? To ladies who have etsy stores or ebay stores, how has it been running it? Any stories?

I'm not asking for flattery. I'm asking you ladies because we are essentially strangers. I like getting opinions from people I don't know becuase sometimes, I feel like its more honest you know? Since you don't know them, you usually don't feel obligated to say something not to hurt someone's feeling. I want constructive criticism!

Toodles!

Review: I love my Croc (Nero)

OMG. I hope that you ladies didn't think that I was going to say that I loved Croc shoes. You know, those rubber shoes with holes in them? I don't understand how they could possibly be comfortable. They're rubber shoes. If you do like them, enlighten me please.

But, a few days ago, I bought a Turboion Croc NERO Titanium flat iron (pictured below in pink) at CVS. It retails there for 69.99. I had 2 five dollar off coupons to make it 59.99 or 60 dollars. It's expensive for a Croc Nero becuase I believe you can get these at Amazon for 40 dollars, but you do have to pay shipping. I wanted to get a Chi, but not enough money eh! Let's get on with the review.

Packaging: It comes in this plastic case which encloses the actual box. The box slides open to reveal the sleek black croc. The cord has this plastic thing that wraps around it to hold everything together. It's really useful becuase you shouldn't wrap the cord around the iron. It destroys it. Theres this little instruction manual inside thats like 3 pages. It shows how to iron hair, curl it, make flips. It also comes with a 1 year warrenty, however if this thing breaks in one year, it's really not worth the money you know? I expect my new iron to last for a few years.

Price: Again, at 70 dollars at CVS, its not too cheap. You can look for deals online though

Functions: This, I'm a bit iffy on. Let's just talk about the past first. First, my family bought me a cheap Vidal Sassoon Wet/Dry iron. It's pretty horrible, but I was in 7th grade. I didn't really use it much. However, as I got into hair, then I realized that after I used it, my hair was kinda puffy after. Also, when I slept, it would become unstraightened significantly. Why would I do it before I sleep? I don't have time in the morning to straighten my hair and do makeup. It took me 45 minutes, previously.

Now, this iron heats up to 430 degrees F. It doesnt really say how long it takes, but I estimate about a minute. Also, I hate how it doesnt have a temperature control. I mean, when I want to do touchups, I want to be able to set the iron to a lower temperature, because my hair isn't really wavy. Also, the plastic stuff around the plates get so hot. Ugh. I wonder how I'm not killing the thing. Therefore, you can't really hold the plates together at the tips. You don't need to do that though because the plates close nicely. The cord is uber long and it swivels!

Styles: I only really tried straightening and curling. Okay, whats up with those youtubers? They seem to be able to get thier hair nice and curly. I got a frizzy mess. I tried all methods and it's not working. I can't comment on the curling aspect at all becuase I'm pretty damn incompetent at that.

Before and After Pictures:

The pictures speak for themselves. Also, after I woke up the next morning, I only needed a minor touchup. Like I didn't even bother because I'm lazy. I apologize for my roots. UGH. I will be dyeing them next week. Do you want a post on that? Let me know!

Overall, I like this iron. I'm not going to be looking for another, but I don't think that I'll be buying this again purely becuase I want to upgrade to a FHI or GHD you know? I mean, this is assuming that I'll have saved enough money to get those irons. If i were a bit broke, I'd probably get this again.

Toodles

Yays for swapping!

I think that swapping is one of the 8th wonders of life.

No, not really. It really isn't.

Maybe to fellow beauty addicts it is. I like trading stuff that I'm never going to use for stuff that I kinda actually need you know? So I am always scouring MUA for new ways to get rid of stuff and for some new stuff to get. Yeah, I know that there are risks, thats why I don't go for used mascara, lipglosses, lippies are dipped in rubbing alcohol, etcetcetc. I'm actually planning on getting a spray bottle (like mini sized) from CVS to like fill with alcohol. Its to quickly sanitize whatever when I'm in college. Who says that colleges are clean?

Anyway, enough ranting. Here is my weekly swap haul.

L to R: L'Oreal HIP cream liner in Midnight Blue, MAC pigment sample in Golden Olive, Unnamed pigment sample (probably from Coastal Scents), E.L.F mineral lipsticks in Pouty Petal, Party Pink and Rosy Raisin.

I AM OBSESSED with E.L.F mineral lippies. They are only 3 dollars each and they wear well for the price. However, they do look horrid if your lips are even slightly dry. That's more motivation to always put on lip balm at night and exfoliate. I tried them on, but I'm quite dissapointed at thier sheerness. They don't cover my pigmented lips as well as Nicely Nude (E.L.F mineral lipstick) Perhaps it's time I find a realy thick, nude lip liner? Tips anyone?

Toodles

Giveaway Update: New Prizes Added

I was feeling really bad actually. Becuase well, I thought that my prizes were a bit skimpy you know? Some people like to do like 10000 prizes in a giveaway, but frankly, I'm not going to take the time to accumulate 1000 items and store them away like a squirral preparing for hibernation. I don't want to even think about shipping costs, especially international.

However, I decided to add a few more gifts for the winner because I love you guys that much. The giveaway is located in the sidebar just in case you guys are interested.

There is one hand cream, 2 pairs of earrings and a sparkly hair tie. Yay! But back to some good news, a bunch of swaps came in yesterday and the day before, so I will be posting a bit on that tomrrow (assuming that everyone on MUA bascially confirms that they recieved my end). And a quick more bites of info: I won't be doing EOTD this week (usually I don't but whatever) because my right eyelid is kinda puffy b/c of a sty. I've been warm compressing it with some hot water and cotton pads, so it should go away soon. But better safe than sorry, especially with makeup right?

Toodles

Social Parade Linky Linky

Bascially I've joined this thing called "Smart and Trendy Moms Social Parade" Although I am not a mom, this still sounds interesting you know? So, the requirement is that I have to make a post about it. I have linked it also in the sidebar if you ladies are interested.

Toodles

I freaking love CVS beauty clearance

This is actually a 2 part post. The first part is basically my pitiful "haul" from the HUGE CVS beauty clearance. I mean, usually I bascially BUY out the store. But.... you know. This year, my CVS didn't really put that much stuff on clearance. And the stuff they did put on clearance, well, weren't very interesting. How long does this sale go on anyway? Probably a month or something becuase I'm going hauling next week and theres a CVS near that place. Heehee. I'm also planning on converting loose change at the Stop and Shop Coinstar. I can convert it to a CVS gift card and they don't take a "changing coins to dollar fee"! Yay!

Usually I don't buy Maybelline and L'Oreal. I think that their stuff is a bit overpriced (at CVS at least) for the quality. Almay Interplay mascara is my HG, but this was on sale and Almay is freakin 8 dollars (as compared to 5 at Target) so this was a good deal for me. it's like my emergency mascara. For the HIP stick in Meticulous, I don't know if I like it all that much. I guess it's good as a base (like NYX jumbos) but. It's aiight.

Crappy swatches.

OMG so exciting! I got the my contest prize from Phyrra. Thanks sweetie! Here are the Meow swatches heehee. These are from the Wild Child collection.

Lto R: Hacker, My Bad, flixting, GMTA, ROFLMAO, TMI, WTF, ROFL

As much as It'd like to put an EOTD up, my eyeliner is bacsially smudge to nowhere b/c I'm swearing off UDPP on my lower lashline. My lower lid is pretty dry SIGH. I'm planning on getting TFSI instead next time. Or stop blinking. Either one works for me.

And for my announcement! I have almost reached 100 followers! Yay! once I do, I will include another prize in my giveaway (located in the sidebar). I won't be announcing it because I think that's pretentious and it's a bit early doncha think? I know that you guys will LOVE it.

Toodles

Guest Blogger: Kristin From Fashion, Makeup and Fun

Hey ladies! This is my first time hosting a guest blogger (yay!). I also did a guest post on her blog (which has been linked to the title) and it's a DIY ring post. Lets enjoy!

The perfect summer scent!
I'm Kristin, and i'll be guest blogging today =) If you want to check out my blog where I write my little articles about pretty much anything and where the lovely owner of the blow will be doing a guestpost, you can check it out here: Fashionmakeupfun.blogspot.com. I started my blog last week, and I'm really enjoying it!

Perfume is something people see in many different aspects. Some people say they don't need them, some people say they're too expensive to invest in, some people like them and some people, like me see it in a way of fashion. I use perfume to dress up or dress down an outfit, just like accessories. Different outfits and seasons go with different scents.My favorite kind of summer scents are citrusy, fruity, floral, fresh or spicy. The scents I'll be showing you today, are all brand new summer collections =)

CKIN2U - By Calvin Klein. CKIN2U is a new scent with an explosion of fruity and floral. With a blend of white pepper, iced bergamont and mandarin,this scent is modern and very summer 2010. Butterscotch, cedarwood and tonkabean completes the scent like nothing else!



Tease - By Paris Hilton. Paris Hilton is releasing her 10th fragnance in June this year. The scent is said to be playful and flirty with a mix of Fuji apple, white peach nectar bergamot, white flowers and base notes of amber, blonde woods and warm sand, this scent isvery fruity and floral.

Rock me! summer of love - By Anna Sui. Anna Sui has released a new perfume to compliment her original rock me fragnance: Rock me, wich is more intense and night time than her new summer scent. Anna Sui says: "the scent is for the rocker girl who has a softer indie-folk side"Rock Me! Summer of Love is a floral scent, and features notes of bergamot, blue water hyssop, geranium, peach, freesia, waterlily accord, musky rose, sandalwood and ambergris.


DKNY woman summer 2010 - By Donna Karen. The summer version of DKNY woman, was released in March and features notes of magnolia leaves, mandarin, guava nectar, mango leaves, freeshia, frangipani, muguet, jasmine, orange blossom, sandalwood and cedar.

Wild meadow - By Kate Moss. Last year, Kate Moss released a summer fragnance with a little twist on her original Kate Moss scent: Kate Moss Summer time.In March 2010, Kate Moss launced her new spring/summer fragnance: Wild meadow, inspired by the beauty of the English landshape. The notes features bergamot, pink grapefruit, peach, rose, magnolia, honeysuckle, apple blossom, benzoin and amber.

Orange sapphire - By Bath and body worksNotes of blood orange with tantalizing notes of white jasmine, golden honey and citrus sangria have been mixed to createa fresh and exotic new summer fragnance inspired by the sunny beaches of Brazil.

What do you guys think? I'd love to host more guest bloggies, so just lemme know if you are interested. heehee. I have an AMAZING freaking amazing contest haul (thanks to Phyrra) and CVS beauty clearance haul coming up. Oh and i have this really interesting announcement to make too. Toodles

EOTD: Pink Bronze and Green!

Hey Girlies! So, I have to tell you the FUNNIEST STORY EVER.

Can I?

Can I?

Can I?

Why am I asking you guys? I'll tell you anyway. If you just want to see the EOTD, come on dooowwwnnn! So yesterday, I was supposed to go to school late because kiddies who are taking biology for the first time has to take some standardized test. I thought that school opened at 11:45. So, after watching an hour of Maury, I was about to watch another bit of Springer when I called my friend. I'm like, hey you want to walk with me? He goes, oh, I thought that school started earlier. I'm at home eating lunch.... and I check the fridge. SHoot. School starts at 10:45. It's 11 o clock. I start RUNNING to school and freaking out. My friend picks me up when I'm halfway there. Annndddd I basically cut 4th period, or English. SIGH.

But here is my EOTD. Sorry for the crappy lighting. It's raining here.

Products Used:

• Egyptian sands by Back to The Earth (Inner corner)
  
• Pink Bronze by MAC (Inner third)
  
• Cat Eyes by Back to the Earth (middle third)
  
• Green Indica by Back to the Earth (outer third)


• Annabelle Smudgeliner in Sea Green( lower lash line)


• L'Oreal HIP cream liner in Black (layered over annabelle)


• Almay Mascara in Black Flash

Toodles

XX Chronicles 4th Giveaway: Ca-ca-ca-ca-n you win it?

Today, I basically decided that I wanted to buy some 22 gauge wire to make some rings. Frankly, I wanted some thicker wire, but I can't be too picky. This is the nice bit of jewelry that I came up with. It's nothing too special, but I am quite proud of it considering it's the very first ring I've ever made out of wire. It's time to start honing my skillz (the z was intentional).

Then I thought for a bit. How can I improve my skills and use up the rest of the 10 meter wire that i bought? I didn't even go through one meter! I can't wear that many rings! AH! So, giveawayyy!

What can you win: I will custom make you a piece of jewelry of your choice. Necklaces, rings, bracelet whatever! You want flowers, you got flowers. Maybe you feeling some pearls? Go for it. The sky's the limit. Even though this is no Burger King, you can still have it your wayyyy HAYYYYY. yes, I know, I shouldn't go into comedy. But seriously, let's see how you can win. *Edit* You can also win the following prizes below!

Rules:

1. You gots to be a follower. You can follow through email, google friend connect, whatever. Just let me know kay?
   
2. Leave an email, or some form of communication.

Optional Entries:

From XX Chronicles

1. Reblog, retweet, restumble, redigg, refacebook, mow it into your lawn, i don't know. THe last one isn't recommended btw. But If you do spread the word let me know. If you are blogging, a sidebar mention is fine and you can still do this even if you have 0 followers! It's the thought that counts- 2 extra entries



2. What's something you'd like to see on this blog? More DIYs? More reviews? More EOTDs? If you are a new subscriber and you have no idea, just tell me something you love personally. I know how you feel ladies and men. Sometimes I'm a new subscriber and I really don't want to go through that blogger's 1000000 posts to see what kind of posts I want to see more of. -1 extra entry

This contest ends on June 15th! INTERNATIONAL ENTRIES WELCOME

Toodles

UD Strip EOTD!

Hey ladies! Today's EOTD features UD's Strip eyeshadow. It's a blue based silver. I got this in a haul with a CG shadow in Cafe Creme (sorry ladies, but I believe that it is discontinued). I have swatches below. The UD is really great, and it is comparable to the Physicians Formula Baked Smokes Trio (medium grey color). The difference is that the grey color is not as pigmented, more "matte" and more grey. If you mixed the lightest color and the medium color, you'd get something that resembled UD Strip. The Cafe Creme is like a grey taupe, not like Tapastry Taupe which is a brown taupe. If that even makes sense. Sorry if I'm rambling, here's the swatches/products/ EOTD

Left to Right: Cafe Creme, UD Strip, PF baked smokes

Products Used:

• UDPP
• PF Baked Smokes trio (lightest color) in the inner corner
• UD Strip in the inner 1/3
• Revlon Matte shadow in Venetian blue on the rest of the lid
• Annabelle shadow (matte dk blue) in the corner
• L'Oreal HIP cream liner in Black
• Almay Interplay mascara in Black Flash (2 coats, I think)
• Physician's Formula Healthy Wear Powder SPF 50 in Natural Beige
• Back 2 the earth shadow in Earth elemental (I think. I'm too lazy to check. I love how it matches my hair!) in eyebrows.

OMG today, I have to tell you, my right eyebrow was so kinky. Not even joking. You can't really tell on my camera, but when I woke up, instead of being straight, my brows were like... curly and gross. They were really uncooperative and that made me upset. Rant over, sorry that was weird especially since usually they are well behaved.. LOL look at me talking about them like they're animals! I know you do it too!

Toodles

Let's do the limbo! How low can you go? Tutorial: Changing waistbands on jeans

Most of my family lives in Taiwan, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong. My reletives in HK and Taiwan like to buy me clothes, except well, frequently the measurements are wrong because they have to guesstimate by some numbers that my dad sends over every year. This usually results in clothing that are too large, or high waisted or not my style. Luckily, I've found a way to make the waistbands on jeans "lower". This means that if have you have a pair of jeans that are "mid- waisted" or "high- waisted", you can take them a bit lower, like 1 and a half inches. This is especially good as well, if you buy a pair of jeans from Macy's or something, and they fit your butt, thighs, legs, but not waist, becuase you can tailor the waistband to fit you.

This project is not for the meek! This is especially good if you are trying to make a new waistband to kick up a pair of pants, trying to make something fit your waist, or trying to make your pants a lower rise. I'm not going to teach you guys to make your jeans like 5 inches lower becuase that's some serious stuff right there. You have to move the pockets, cut off a substantial amount of cloth, move zipper etc. That's scary stuff right there.

Here's the original pair of pants:

Instructions:

1. First, take off the waistband. This isn't that hard actually. There's some thread holding it to the jeans and you just have to snip that and you'll find that the waistband comes off pretty easy. Underneath the waistband is just the jean pant part that has fraying stuff.

2. Now, you want to put in a new waistband that is lower than the original. You see the fraying edges? You just want to take some cloth, denim or not (whatever floats yo' canoe), and wrap it around the edges. If you don't understand, I have a picture below and lemme give you an analogy. You know when you have to tape together two edges of a piece of paper? How do you do that? You tape it together by putting half of the tape on one side and half on the other side right? It's the same concept, except you are "taping" the frayed edges down.

3. Be careful of the zipper. Try not to cover it too much. Now you have some space right? Put a hook- and- eye clasp there. They come in many different sizes and you can find them at a local craft store. I've put a link HERE. I chose not to use a button because then you have to make a button hole and those are seriously annoying.

4. I forgot to mention, save the belt loops. If you've thrown them away, just make some. Sew the belt loops back on, and if you want, put a li'l button on the front and you are fantasticlly good to go!

Final look:

What do you do after APs are over...? FINISH SKIRTS!

Actually, the correct answer to the one above would be to finish your other work, but you know, I deserve a break after AP Stats and BC calc right? Right. So, remember the skirt that I showed some ladies last post? I finished it! Thanks to Heather and Lillian, I love you guys!

What do you think? It went from a gross office skirt with an asspocket to this lovely contraption! I like how it's kind of a wild child mix of amazon jungle and pearls! Now, if only I had something to wear with it... I kinda actually want to make a contest out of that! Winner will be chosen randomly, becuase I believe that all advice is valid and useful, but you have to give me one piece of advice to be entered. Or maybe not. I mean I would actually like the advice now. So if you do have advice, do tell. I will be hosting another contest though before I leave for the summer!

Hey and a quick question, if I were to offer a handmade item as a prize, would you be interested? I know that most people only enter in contests where there's a gigundo amount of prizes or like a ton of high end products. Well, I'm taking this informal poll that is not statistically valid (due to voluntary bias) just as a go see becuase I'm going to be hitting up AC Moore first week of June or something to get some more materials. I am quite out of evrything!

Some posts you dollies should be looking out for: Making mid-waist jeans to a lower rise, haulies, and a ring and necklace tut!

Swap Haul and Quick fashion question for you fashionable ladies

Hey my fashionable ladies! How's everyone today? I meant to put this post up over the weekend, but it's been SO FREAKING HOT. UGH. And muggy. I mean, it went from 40 degrees to 80 in a period of literally 2 days. Also, it's been really really humid (haha like the eyeshadow) and my concealer/NYX jumbo pencils melted a bit. Ugh. Yeah, they're easier to work with, but it's gross...

I know that you ladies from the South are probably laughing now, but I THINK THAT 80 DEGREES IS QUITE WARM! I'm in the North, so... anything over 70 is horrid LOL.

Here's my swapsies with 2 ladies. I don't remember what I swapped unfortunately.... I got TKB trading in Manganese Violet, Electric Cosmetics' pink mineral eyeshadow, Chill Curve by Liz Clairborne, ELF mineral lipstick in Nicely Nude.

Some quick thoughts: I LOVE this new perfume, even though it is a EDT instead of EDP. It's alright. I've actually been planning for a long time to buy some beeswax, vitamin e oil and make some solid perfumes, but it's not like I have time now! Maybe when I get back from college over the winter break. I'll have a month of time then! LOL! It starts out as this light citrus/flowery smell then goes into a more warm and muskyness. I usually don't like warm smells, but this is aiight. I HATE AMBER. that's gross okay.

And how is that nicely Nude? It pulls a brighter pink on me, put it doesn't go too opaque, so it's not like Viva Gaga. Thankfully. I don't think this is nude at all.. but it's a cute pink.

Anyway, I'm calling all fashionistas! Even if you don't think that you are a fashionista, who cares! Go comment becuase I love all opinions. So, I've been working on this skirt, but I'm kinda stuck! It currently looks a bit BRIDAL, which no offense to people who like that, it's not my style. I'm not a real "bridal" kinda person. I like girly/vintage, but still with a bit of a kick. Ya know?

Tell me, what do I need to add? Don't worry about items. I've got fake flowers, faux pearls, fabrics in all colors etc. Well, here's the skirt in progress. Sorry about the crotch shot, but I needed to display the fabric on the outside of the skirt.