I donut think so

With the exception of brooches, I've never been a huge jewelry-wearer. Mostly because I'm actually not a big fan of traditional gems and sparkly stuff (with the exception of glitter!) However -- I Love Crafty totally changed my opinion on the subject. I find myself wearing necklaces a lot more often now that I've started acquiring a little collection of fun novelty jewelry from their super cute shop.  For instance this cat lady necklace, which is probably my favorite thing in my jewelry box.

I Love Crafty just debuted a new line today - the ILC Bakery, which features a whole array of ridiculously adorable, super sweet (literally & figuratively) donut themed pieces! The attention to detail is unbelievable. Even the packaging looks like it came from a little bakery! If you've got a sweet tooth, definitely check it out! :)

skirt- mallory | scalloped shirt - forever 21 | peach dress (worn as shirt) - h&m

shoes - modcloth | belt - forever 21 | necklace - c/o i love crafty

collections: brooches

I thought it would be fun to share some of my collections here once in a while. Partially because, like I said in this post, I want to post more about my various interests, and partially because I just really, really like collections. I like having them, photographing them, lining them up, looking at them.. thinking about them.

I can remember in third grade we did some sort of project where we had to tell the class about something we collect, and I couldn't decide between my Disney VHS tapes, my pillows (I've always had a lot of pillows and apparently I used to consider them worthy of show-and-tell. Actually I still do. My pillows will probably be featured in a future installment of this series) or my Barbie dolls.

Now that I'm all grown up with no parental veto power over my desire to excessively collect a bunch of stupid things, I've acquired quite a few collections. One of my favorites is my brooch collection.



I started collecting brooches a year or two ago. I love being able to accessorize but I've never been a huge fan of necklaces or bracelets since I always feel the need to fuss with them. A brooch is a nice little non-invasive way of adding something special to an outfit. I used to have them tossed in a few containers on my dresser, but last week I found this dessert tray at Target (only $10! yay!) and knew it would be perfect to display my pins! I love that I can see them all at a glance and the chances of pricking my finger on one that mysteriously popped open is much slimmer now.

Here are some of my favorites!



The unicorn stick-pin was a gift from Solanah. The carousel is from modcloth. For Christmas I got one for me and one for my grandmom since we always used to ride the merry-go-round together when I was a kid :) I like to get her one carousel themed gift each year if I can.  The "Math is as Easy as Pi" pin is from amazon. That's my Pi Day pin! The Carl Sagan brooch is from The Science Boutique. I also have a glow-in-the-dark Marie Curie and a Nikola Tesla from them as well. The rainbow sweater clips and the dinosaur are both from my Sweet and Lovely shop. I'm so tempted to keep one of everything for myself ;) The constellation brooch is from Under the Shade of a Bonsai Tree (I'm a scorpio!) and lastly the cute little heart is a vintage find. I'm planning on wearing that one on Valentines Day (obviously.)



The I love Cats pin is from modcloth (although I think the amount of cat hair I have on all of my clothing advertises this fact without me having to spell it out lol) The kitty cats were a birthday present from Casey. The corn brooch was something I picked up when I had a pesky ear infection that wouldn't go away last summer. I was visiting the doctor so often I thought it would be a funny joke but nobody noticed. Oh well, I still thought it was funny :) The enamel flowers were lucky flea market finds (I love these so much but can't justify spending the $20+ people ask on etsy. I got mine for $1 each. woo!) The mod girl is one that I made from these wood cut-outs. I love this shop so much! I bought a couple other sets that I've turned into brooches too! And lastly the hot air balloon eraser brooch was a DIY on the blog last year! :)

eraser brooch DIY

Maybe this is just me, but I absolutely hate using really cute erasers to actually erase things. I never want to ruin them! But at the same time, I also seem to hoard cute erasers because they're so... cute. So I decided, in light of my new brooch obsession, to try turning some of them into pins!



It's pretty self explanatory -- get an eraser and a pin and glue them together! But I will say that this particular glue seems to work really well, and I'd definitely recommend it. When I first decided to try this I was worried that no glue would be strong enough to stick to the strange eraser material, but this is holding up fantastic! It's a gel consistency, so I think that might be it!

The pins that I got at the art supply store also came with little holes in them, so if your eraser is thick enough you could always use some kind of pin or screw to hold the back in place, too!

brooch the subject

jumper - modcloth
shirt - c/o romwe
brooch - my etsy shop
shoes - c/o bait
belt - asos

I am on SUCH a brooch kick. It's bizarre... I've never been a huge fan of jewelry at all but lately I just can't get enough (or in this case, make enough) pins. I made these a couple months back for my shop, and then kind of forgot about them until I sold one a few weeks ago. Since my brooch phase was in its infancy at the time, I decided to make one as a keeper, too.

I guess I like that they're a way to spiffy up an outfit without getting in my way. It's the same reason I've never been a fan of wearing my hair down.. it just gets in the way of me doing things, having to constantly brush it out of my face. Bracelets jingle jangle, necklaces swing around and bonk my cats on the head... but brooches just subtly sit there, enhancing your ensemble without any fuss.

how to fill a locket

This is probably the stupidest thing to do a post about, but I have always been a little perplexed about how to perfectly fill an oval or circular locket. It's hard to just randomly cut out an oval and hope it fits, and the edges always end up looking jagged and messy. So now that I figured out how, I thought I'd share it in case anyone else was equally baffled :)



1. Measure the locket's height and width.



2. Create a new photoshop document with the same height and width. (My adorable Hypatia desktop background kind of looks creepy in this photo lol)



3. Create an ellipse shape that fills your document. That shape is now the size of your locket!



4. Open the image that you want in the locket. Copy it, and paste it into the document. Create a clipping mask (right click on the image layer and select "create clipping mask.") so that the image now takes on the shape of the ellipse.

5. Print it out! I have a Xyron sticker machine that can make anything into a sticker, so I usually run my image through that, cut it out and pop it in the locket. But you could also print it on sticker paper from Staples or go the old fashioned route and use a glue stick ;)

would you locket that

dress - asos
sweater - forever 21
shoes - modcloth
necklace - c/o modcloth

I'm always shocked when I order a dress online and it turns out to be super short on me.. I'm only 5', how on earth did it look longer on the 6' tall model on the website?! As much as I love the color and dotted lace overlay, this is probably going to be in my shop my closet store pretty soon. Maybe someone taller can buy it as a shirt/tunic? ;p

On a much lovelier note, I want to share the contents of my locket! If you've read my blog *at all* you probably already know what's inside... it's my pretty little kitties, of course! ;D

posh frock friday

dress & shoes - modcloth

lace cardigan - forever 21

necklace - c/o michelle hartney

I love this beautiful monogrammed charm necklace that Michelle sent to me! I don't wear jewelry too often, but this one is so special! I picked the celtic knot to represent my mom's Irish heritage (I'd add a Russian symbol too, to represent my dad's side of the family, but I don't even know if they exist. Does anyone know?) and obviously the K is for Kate! Michelle has tons of different charms so you can mix-and-match to create something unique that fits you to a T! Or in my case, to a K! ;D

ps. Did you enter the cat purse giveaway yet? :)

nepotism and earrings

Now it's my mom's turn! ;D My mom runs a little etsy shop called Baubles Bangles and Beans, where she sells handmade earrings. She sells two kinds -- coffee bean earrings, made with real fair trade coffee beans, and "extreme decaf" earrings, which are similar to her coffee bean style, but without the coffee! My mom is so cute, it's ridiculous... I am not exaggerating in the least bit when I say that each time she's made a sale she's positively GIDDY with excitement. She usually has the order packed up and ready to go within like 10 minutes because she's so excited that she made a sale. It's so adorable!

So if you have a coffee addict on your Christmas list, this is a pretty cool gift, right?! She offers free shipping on all orders, no coupon necessary (and you know you'll get it for Christmas since she ships it within like 10 seconds of your order, lol) and if you mention that you're visiting from my blog when you order there will be a little flapper doodle goodie in your package, too! :D

ps. If you're super amazing and want to order from my mom AND my dad you can let one of them know and the orders can be shipped in one package :)

green bonsai

brooch - c/o under the shade of a bonsai tree
dress - modcloth
sweater - forever21
tights - we love colors
shoes - c/o blowfish
hair bow - hive & honey

The brooch I'm wearing in these photos was made by Jacquie from Under the Shade of a Bonsai Tree. I'm not usually much of a jewelry person, but when she asked if I'd be interested in one of her pieces I answered with a resounding "YES!" I'm in love with the bold opaque green, and how it contrasts with the wood. I adore the shape and the dainty, vintage feel. For someone who is very (very!) picky about what goes into my jewelry box, I have to say I'm incredibly pleased to add this to my collection!

Oh, and guess what?! Exactly one week from today I'll be packing my bags to go to Disney World! Well, actually, knowing me I'll have them packed way before that so I can stare at the luggage in the corner of my room for a few days before I leave. I might do a post next week to get some help narrowing down what dresses to take. I'll need 5 days worth of clothes but I want to bring about 20 dresses... I definitely need help lol ;)

ps. If you're submitting a DIY post for while I'm on vacation, please send it to me by Sunday! It doesn't have to be Disney related, any DIY will do! My email is slightlyterrific[at]gmail.com.