Pretty Things

This is what happened last week.

I had this little shelf in the back of my room between my two windows that had nothing on it.  So I put things on it.  From left: teacup with my makeup brushes in it; teacup that plays music and is the only thing I have left of my grandma; old milkshake glass filled with purple rocks, chains, and a strand of pearls; another pretty teacup; my alarm clock from when I was a baby (it might still work); my writing utensil teacup.  I did thrift some cute teacups and saucers last weekend so this arrangement might change.

I made this after my across-the-hall neighbor said my jewelry was awesome and said if I made a Triforce necklace, he'd buy it for a thousand dollars.  He didn't buy it.  (I knew he was joking but I liked the idea of a Triforce necklace.)  So this will go up in the shop once I photograph it, which may be awhile.  The way my room is, every single surface to put things on to photograph casts a shadow between me and the light, so I need to set up my desk lamp.  But first I need to buy an extension cord and a power strip so I can.

Achievement Unlocked: Wall Decorated

I finished decorating my wall a few days ago, but i just edited the pictures today.  There's one gap that I'll get a 4 x 6 frame and print something out to put in it.  Other than that, I really like how it turned out.



putting up lights?

the whole thing

this is one of my favorite parts
made this mask for a masquerade ball two years ago

I'm so happy with how this turned out. 

All I did to make the jewelry organizer was wrap the cool paper around the cardboard frame backing and tape it down.  Then I just poked the earrings through the paper and it's heavy duty enough that it didn't rip.  I really like how it looks with the silver frame.  Using a frame is also a great solution because you can hang necklaces on the corners.  You could also get some small hooks from the hardware store and poke them through the cardboard backing and the paper and use them to hang more necklaces, as well as bracelets.  Smaller hooks would work for rings.

I'm very happy with the final result, and it was surprisingly simple to make the jewelry organizer.  They would make great gifts, perhaps with some new earrings.  Just make sure that the paper you use is strong enough that it won't rip, and don't hang really heavy earrings on it.

Rite Aid is Great

I went and shipped the eBay order and found out that I am undercharging my customers for shipping.  I also found out that shipping things is unnecessarily complicated.  Then I went to Rite Aid.  I got so many things and I still have almost $30 left on my rewards card from my bank.

I got a sample size face mask, lotion (I wanted face moisturizer but that stuff is expensive so I'm just going to keep using ordinary unscented lotion), a face scrub, an eyeshadow brush, a new shower pouf because mine has a destroyed handle, 100 cotton balls, my clear fairy lights, and leftover candy corn from Halloween (don't judge me, it lasts a long time and I've been craving it since my Halloween was unfortunately candy corn-less) all for $21.  The lady who rang me up was really cool and gave me the savings even though I don't have a Rite Aid card.  So I saved $4.  So I basically got the eyeshadow brush and candy corn for free : )  And I'm going back tomorrow(which is actually today, since this is a scheduled post) to get Kleenex (which I completely forgot to put on my list), an eyebrow comb, and Sally Hansen nail strips which I've been wanting to get for a while and review.  I'm still undecided between the special Christmas patterns, the sparkly black, and the lace pattern.  Time to drink hot chocolate and decorate my wall.

the haul, not pictured: candy corn, because I ate some and put the rest in a ziploc

Also, G took me bowling this weekend and I beat my previous high score, which was 80.  I got 100!  Also, shout-out to Sinful Colors nail polish.  I buy it at Walgreens for $1 a bottle and it works like a champ.  After bowling 3 games, there were only a few tiny chips.

Annoyances and Plans for Today

First off, I would like to welcome my 22nd follower, Miss Sassy Pants from A Few French Fries Short of a Happy Meal.  She's great not only because she alleviated my OCD from having an odd number of followers, but also because she comments regularly on my blog and writes a pretty awesome blog herself.  There's a post about her calling the police when she thought the zombie apocalypse was happening, guys.  I'm so following.

I would write an entire post on how much DSHS's phone system sucks, but they give me free money, so I'll just complain a little bit (and by a little bit, I mean a lot).  For those of you lucky enough to not know what DSHS is, it stands for Department of Social and Health Services.  It's where us poor people get food stamps and medical assistance from.  Right now I only get food stamps, and I applied a few months ago for medical assistance.  They supposedly sent me a letter that I never received asking for copies of my bank statements and a bunch of other stuff I don't have because I'm poor, such as car insurance and proof of assets.  I never got this letter, but I did get the letter saying they were denying me medical help because I never sent them that stuff.  I immediately printed off my bank statements for the time period they asked for and mailed them with a letter explaining that I had never received the initial request.  They never responded.  I gave them a whole month.  So then I called them.  Or rather, I attempted to call them.  You may remember when I was trying to get food stamps and ended up eating rice sandwiches for a week because their phone system totally sucks and I couldn't reach them.  Well, it took me about a week of continuous calling to reach them again.  It's weird because if you want to talk to an actual person, you usually get a message saying that all of their operators are busy and to try again later, and then the phone system automatically hangs up on you.  Well, the one time that I actually got put on hold, I managed to talk with them.  They were very good about it after I explained the situation and told me they would make it top priority to re-evaluate my case.  Two weeks later, I still haven't heard back, so I am trying to contact them again.  Let's hope it doesn't take a week this time.

In other news, today I am going to mail the skirt to the person who bought it from me on eBay, and then I am going to Rite Aid to get some clear Christmas lights for my room and possibly random other stuff.  I still have $50 from my bank, after all.  And then I'll come back and hang the lights, and string a ribbon through my mask to hang it with, and make my jewelry organizer, and then my room will be decorated to my liking.  And then, if I still feel like it, I'll dye my hair, because my roots are showing and it bugs me.

Until we meet again, enjoy this cozy winter outfit and enter my giveaway.

Keeping Cozy by jaythejedi featuring sequin beret hats

I want some sweater tights right now!

Dollar Tree/ Bookstore Haul

So my shopping trip yesterday didn't go exactly as planned.  The store I sell my books to isn't buying books this week because it's Thanksgiving week.  The store I want to sell my CDs and DVDs to just bought a bunch of CDs and doesn't have money to buy my stuff.  Then I went to Dollar Tree and got everything I wanted from there, but my reward card from my bank was declined.  I purchased the stuff anyway, since it was 5 nice looking picture frames and one nice piece of wall art for a total of $6.

the frames and art

You can't read it but it says, "Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by
the moments that take your breath away." It's one of my favorite quotes.

So I have to call and figure out if I need to activate the reward card or what.  On the bright side of that, I still have the full $50 to spend on my fairy lights for my room and on stuff from Goodwill.  Walgreens is selling the lights I want for $4, so I get to buy $46 dollars worth of clothes from Goodwill sometime soon.  That's practically enough for a new wardrobe! I usually spend about $8 for pants and around $5 for skirts or shirts at Goodwill, so I can buy 2 pairs of pants, 5 skirts or shirts (some combination of the two), a cute scarf, and probably still have enough leftover for a pair of gloves (the one-size-fits-all kind).  When I think of it that way, I'm not bummed at all. 

In other news, the bookstore was wildly successful.  I bought a hat that doesn't go in my eyes for way more than I would normally spend, but I used my rebate, so it's like free money.  It was $20 and it's made out of alpaca fur and I love it. 

the hat

I also bought some jewelry stuff, including ribbon, hemp cord in 4 great colors, and rhinestones.

the bookstore haul

And I found the coolest paper ever to use on my earring organizer.  It's about the weight of slightly thicker tissue paper, so it will be really easy to poke earrings through.  I couldn't decide between these two, so I got both.  They were only 50 cents each! One has actual sheet music pieces made into it, and the other has shiny gold colored fibers and swirls of white fibers.  I think I'll quarter them and do a checkerboard sort of thing. I'll post pictures when I finish, of course.

the sheet music paper

the fiber paper

And in other other news, I have learned to put on my makeup quickly.  It only took five minutes to do my whole face, minus mascara and eyeliner.  I didn't feel like wearing mascara today and I suck at eyeliner so I usually don't bother.  I think it turned out pretty well.  I even did a smoky eye!  Everything on my face in this picture is e.l.f. makeup, except my foundation.  I still plan to review the makeup, but haven't gotten around to it yet.  Obviously I like it enough to keep wearing it though.

the makeup and the top half of my outfit (bottom half was skinny jeans from Ross and the
brown boots from Goodwill, which turned out to be pleasantly waterproof)
camera necklace from Etsy, guitar pick skull necklace made by my awesome brother

Busy Today

Last night G and I went to the mall and traded in some old video games and bought some new ones.  G finally got his NBA Live 2010 game, and informed me when I woke up this morning that he stayed up until 4 in the morning playing it.  I got Resident Evil 5, because I love zombie movies, so why not get a zombie game? I didn't play it until I got the second Spiritual Stone on Ocarina of Time.

I found out that zombie games are hard.  I only had one grenade when I got attacked by a seemingly endless horde of zombies in the African village, and not nearly enough ammo.  Plus, my computer-generated partner is way better at needing rescued from blood-thirsty zombies than she is at blowing their heads off.  So after those zombies murdered my partner three different times, I gave up for the night.  I watched some Futurama on Netflix, then went to bed.  And apparently G stayed up late playing baskestball.  I didn't know because I am a ridiculously sound sleeper.  I once slept through an earthquake, true story.

Anyway, today I am going to the Ave for a shopping adventure.  I intend to only spend free money.  I have quite a large rebate from the University Book Store.  I plan to get a hat and new slippers from their apparel section, and then see what the art supplies section has for things I can make jewelry with.  I also want to get some fabric there to use in my new jewelry organizer I am going to make.  Then, with the money I discussed yesterday, I intend to do what I said I would, except instead of buying jewelry supplies with the remainder, since I'm getting that stuff at the bookstore, I am going to get some stuff at Goodwill.  I want to get at least one shirt, skinny jeans, and maybe a cute scarf.  We'll see how that goes.  But first I plan to go to two different stores and attempt to sell all my CDs, some DVDs, and some books.  So that's the game plan, and of course I'll share with you if I'm successful or not, probably tomorrow, or Thursday, since G has tomorrow off and we might go bowling.