new year's resolutions

I always have the urge to become really organized and crafty around this time of year, which usually manifests itself into having a bunch of resolutions that I become too busy or bored to continue for the year. This year's no different, but with my list including blog-resolutions I'm hoping I can keep them up!

• Blog on a weekly basis, with a theme. I'm still brainstorming ideas but I'll definitely post the first part of the series this week.
• Post every day on my list of life blog. I started a list of life for a few months in high school and being the list-lover I am I always enjoyed reading it over and being reminded of the fun times I had, so I'm going to try to keep this one up for a year!
• Open an Etsy shop with my mom. I have lots of creative ideas about this one... I haven't exactly been at the best place and time in my life to set them into action so far.
• Be more crafty at school. I really enjoy making things spontaneously at home, but at school I'm so consumed with working and socializing that I don't usually take away time for myself.

And with that last one, I'm going to try to manifest it into a year-long plan (gulp) that will involve doing something crafty every day! Anything from making a new piece of jewelry to doodling on a sticky note, or in the margins of my classroom notes. 

I'd like to thank all of my readers for their support over the past few months. This blog started as a creative outlet for me, but within the next year I have hopes to expand further into the blogging community. I've met learned about lots of interesting, creative people through this blog, and I want to continue doing that in 2012 :)

Hope your new year celebrations are excellent and fun!

thrifting finds

I'm back with my thrifted finds! I went to 2 Goodwills and a Salvation Army yesterday and emerged with what's pictured below + 2 more sweaters + some pink costume butterfly wings for less than $20. Good deal, right?

From top left to right: Mossino striped sweater, vintage turtleneck, New York & Co. cardigan, LL Bean light plaid button down, strapless sundress, TwentyOne plaid dress & leather belt

This happens to be my favorite purchase of the day, a Liz Claiborne shoulder bag for only $6.00! I'm in love with this color leather and I've been going crazy for shoulder bags lately so this find really thrilled me.

I'm so glad to be back home with free time to thrift again. Find anything cool lately?

marble nail art experiment

I had a fantastic day today thrifting with my best friend, wandering the mall in search of post-Christmas deals and (most importantly) searching for hair bleach and dye! I'm gonna be dying the tips blue once I get everything together, which is another project I'm super excited to do and share with the lovely world of the internet :3


I'll post my thrifting finds with photos tomorrow (I got some really cute pieces and paid less than $20 for all of it) but I wanted to share a nail experiment I tried out tonight- the results, well, you can judge them yourselves.

I used binder paper reinforcers to make the tips and crescents after I painted the blue base coat on 4 of my nails.

The marble effect (that I found through this post and this tutorial) is pretty messy, it'll probably take another day for the polish to completely come off my skin. It was a bit tricky to work with since poking the polish to make designs in the water didn't go so well, my toothpick kept getting twisted and stuck in the polish and I'd have to start over.

I used 130 by Sally Hansen (Blue Me Away!), 358 Nicole by OPI (Make a Comet-ment), and an unnamed purpley-pink from Urban Outfitters.

Not too bad for a first time effort, but I'll definitely try to keep my nails neater next time around.

Be back tomorrow with my thrift finds!

xmas haul

Happy Holidays! I've been enjoying mine to the maximum, it's so nice to know I have no commitments or work to do until I'm back at school mid-January. I thought I'd show you a few pictures of some things I got for Christmas, mostly from my parents:

I can't wait to try out all those polishes! I was a bit worried when I learned my dad picked them out but it turns out I quite like the colors :3

Hope you're all having a peaceful & relaxing holiday,

home for the holidays

It seems like nowadays the only time I have to blog is when I'm home, away from crazy college life. I snapped a few photos of how my home is decorated this year- we recently painted the dining room a cozy barn-door red, so everything's been looking extra Christmasy!

Hope you're all enjoying the holiday season!

very belated thanksgiving post

It was so nice to be home! On Wednesday after a few hours of curling up in a ball, sipping hot chocolate and reading The Hunger Games I helped my mom get food ready for Thanksgiving. 

(I submitted this one to Gizmodo's Shooting Challenge)

My mom's obsessed with taking Hipstamatic pictures of things, our Turkey included.

Best,