Christmas and New Years Manicure!

lHappy New Years Eve!

Since I wasn't able to do a post on my Christmas manicure, I decide to do a Christmas and New Years combo.

Btw, please excuse my nasty cuticles. They have been really dry due to the weather. I guess I didn't realize how dry they were! :(

Christmas Manicure:

• Red: OPI's You Rock Acapulco Red
• Gold: Rimmel. I can't remember what its called at the moment and I'm too lazy to dig for it through my nail polish stash
• White: Non-toxic (yes, I had to put that) acrylic craft paint from any craft supplies store

I originally wanted to do the candy cane design on all my nails, but I figured it would be excessive. So I decided to improvise and this is what I ended up with. I tried to keep it simple, but it just came out very gawdy and christmas-y. But hey, it never hurts to be in the Christmas spirit right? It only comes once a year so I thought, "why not?"

New Years Manicure:

• Bright blue: OPI's Suzi Says Feng Shui (Spring/Summer Collection)
• Blue glitter: OPI's Simmer & Shimmer (Burlesque Collection)
  

For some reason I thought blue would be a good and festive color for the new years. But again, it came up quite excessive but hey, its all for fun. I used the same white craft paint from my Christmas manicure and a dotting tool to make the white dots. I used tape to make the straight edges. Believe it or not, tape has been my best friend in nail designing. It works wonders.

Tell me what you think! Thanks. :)

Versatile Blogger Award!

While I was away on my unannounced hiatus, Kay of Gurly Things awarded me with the Versatile Blogger Award. Aw, so sweet of her. :)

Rules:

1. Thank and link back to who gave you the award.

2. Share seven things about yourself.

3. Pass it along to seven blogs you've recently discovered and enjoy.

4. Leave you recipients a note, telling them about the award.

******************************************************************

7 things about Alice:

1. I took one lesson in Muay Thai. I got so frustrated with the instructor because he kept picking on me that I started crying. It was quite embarrassing. Don't get me wrong, I had fun, but it was that intense. Luckily I was paired with a girl so it wasn't as awkward-- she was very understanding and nice. :P
   
2. I bring my boyfriend with me when I go shopping and or buy nail polish because he seems to have a better sense of what looks good. Which works out for me because when he goes shopping once in a blue moon, I can pick out better clothes for himself than he can. Weird right? He can pick out better girl clothes than I. But can't pick out guy clothes for himself. :)---which brings me to my side story. Remember how dark blue nail polish was in style for fall about 2 years ago? Well I remember asking him what colors he thought would look like nice. He suggested dark blue. I told him, "you got to be kidding me". A few days later I was reading the Los Angeles Times---lo and behold there was an article in the fashion section indicating that dark blue was the new in color! I saved that article because I thought it was funny. I'm thinking about framing it. :)
3. I bought my first pair of heels about 2 months ago for a wedding. I'm 23 years old and I never bought heels for myself until now. I've had the luxury of borrowing shoes from my older sister until she moved to San Fransisco.
   
4. I have a strange hobby of keeping old letters, notes I wrote to friends during class in high school and Christmas/Birthday cards from people. I don't know why I keep them. I especially like to go back and read the notes I wrote during class and laugh at how stupid I use to be.
5. Although I make a lot of Hello Kitty stuff when I do my crafting/nail art. Chococat is my all time favorite. :)
6. About 60% of the music in my mp3 player belongs to Frank Sinatra. As my great history high school teacher would say, "His voice is like butttttttttttahhhh" (butter).
7. I've never left the country before, which is quite sad. I've been stuck on USA soil my entire life. :(

Okay, so I'm going to be a rebel and break the 3rd and 4th rule because I haven't recently discovered any new blogs and it would be cheating if I tagged blogs that I've been reading for awhile. Sorryyyy...:(

Hello Kitty Manicure

I've been away from the computer for awhile. Since I have email access on my mobile device, I seldom use the computer now. :(

Here is a Hello Kitty manicure I did, although she is not my favorite Sanrio character. She is nonetheless a beloved icon.



I know it looks a bit excessive, but this was done at the spur of the moment. Since I use to work for Sanrio, I figured such a gawdy look would be appropriate for a Hello Kitty manicure (pink, purple and glitter/sparkles-I kinda thought about shiny stickers). I didn't use red because it is a traditional Hello Kitty color and I wanted to do something different.

The purple I used was from Color Club's Wild at Heart . The glitter polish was used from OPI's Burlesque Collection; I used Show it & Glow it! and Sparkle-icious. The pink was nail art paint I bought from Sally's Beauty Supply, used for the stripes and bows. The black and white paint I used for the Hello Kitty face was acrylic craft paint.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to take a photo of the other hand before I took the nail design off. It was less excessive, more plain and much nicer. I had to go to a wedding so I figured it wouldn't be appropriate to wear to a wedding.

Tell me what you think! :)

Black Flats Reconstruction (3 in 1)

I've been so lazy!! and for too long! I've been keeping myself busy here and there working on small projects.

Here is a simple and yet fun project using basic black flats. I bought these at a stand from my local Farmers' Market. They were only $10! So I couldn't resist! I never ended up wearing them and began to collect dust in our storage room. I decided a change was needed to make these shoes wearable. As I was walking around Joann, ideas starting coming to mind and I ended up purchasing (2) gold bracelet toggles, a bag of silver end connectors, leather band lace, and a metallic gold lace.


This is the what the Mary Jane flats looked like when I first bought them.




A close up picture.


Black leather band I sewed to the back of the shoe.


This is the final product! So I know I skipped a few steps, I was so into it that I completely forgot to take progress photos. :( But as you can see, I used the gold lace, gold toggles, and silver end connectors to make the ankle wrap.


Here is a close up of the ankle wrap with all the jewelery hardware.


I also found some other fun uses for the ankle wrap!


A bracelet!

There you go! A pair of black flats reconstructed/altered to my liking with 3 uses in 1 product. What do you think? :)

Totoro Nail Design

Okay, I delayed my update as I promised...this is the laziness I am talking about!

Here is a Totoro manicure I did. Since I love Totoro and nail art, why not combine them? I was thinking of you Asami when I was doing this because I know how much you love Totoro and Nail Art. :)

The mediums I used were Orly's Bon Bon which is a pale gray-ish light purple. It is such a pretty pretty color. I figured this would be a nice color since light gray on nails is too dull for my taste (no offense to any of you who like light gray on nails). I decided to use this shimmery/glittery purple from OPI that I mentioned in my Space Nails post. (I still don't know the name of it. If anyone knows, please tell me! I'd like to know. :) ) The So Easy Stripe Rite paint I got from Sally's Beauty Supply which I used to make the little designs. I also used dotting tools which are not pictured to make of the designs.



I used the shimmery/glittery OPI polish on my fingers that didn't have designs on it so the whole design wouldn't look dull from the Orly's Bon Bon.



Tell me what you think! :)

Time waits for no one...

It has been almost month since I last updated. My how time flies. I've been working a lot. I have so many things to post but I've gotten so lazy....I'm at work right now. But I will be back to update! Just wanted to let all of you know I am still alive! :)

Totoro Eyeglasses Case Reconstruction

Here is a fun and simple project that only took me a matter of hours to make. You can use any old soft eyeglasses case you have laying around. Doesn't have to look exactly like what I made, but since I love Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro (for those of you that don't know)and the eyeglasses case is gray, I thought, "Hey! Why not?".


I first started out with a blueprint/doodle in my notebook. You don't have to do this, but I just like to draw out/plan out first.


Here is a close-up of the little Totoros I drew for fun. :)


This is what the case looked like before. I used an Express eyeglasses case my sister gave me when she use to work there. If you look closely at it, it has Express plastered all over it which is huge turn off. But the overall satisfaction of the final product outweighs it. :)


This is the final product. I used green felt to make the leaf, some old buttons for the eyes and black threading for the nose & whiskers.


A close-up picture. :)

You can use this pouch to store anything to your heart's content. I personally would not use this to store glasses because the case is too soft and could easily get crushed. I like to store my mp3 player and cell phone for easy access and so it won't get scratched.

I hope that this will inspire you to make your own fun & cute decorative eyeglasses case. What do you think about it?

Space Nails/ Madness!/ Angry Paint Splattered Painting

Just as a side note, I also added a form spring on my side bar so feel free to ask me any questions!

After reading Asami's Space Nails manicure, I made an attempt to re-create her masterpiece.



Since I don't have any black nail polish, I used Chanel's Blue Satin (which is the darkest nail polish I own). It is an extremely sexy color with shine and glitter.



I also took a close-up picture just to show what the color really looks like. I know this isn't really a great photo, but this will do.



So I didn't realize how much polish had gotten on my cuticles! Sorry for the dirtiness! I used an OPI glittery/shimmery purple color for the first layer. I'm not sure what the color is called because it was from one of those sample packs that I got as a gift. But it is a really pretty color. Then I used Nina Ultra Pro in Electric Rainbow and Molten Opal. I used all 3 of these colors to help create the spaciness. I didn't use any nail embellishments because I don't have any that resemble stars so I just left it as it is. But I might purchase some later on in the week just to reach the maximum effect.



Here is the final product! Although it does not look as good as Asami's, I had fun trying to attempt it! I'm calling it Space Nails/ Madness!/Angry Paint Splattered Painting because (1) it looks like madness (2)sorta looks like space and (3) reminds me of an angry paint splattered painting.

What do you think?

Moccasins with a personal twist!

I know it has been a while since I last posted, but with good reason! I have been keeping myself busy with another project!

I was browsing around Michael's one day and came across a DIY: Moccasins kit. I thought it would be something fun to keep myself busy with. It was about $15.99, but since I had a coupon it only cost me about $10 dollars or so with tax.



This is what the kit came with:



When completed:



Upon completion, I felt that the final project lacked serious character and wanted to do something more. After browsing through much online tutorials and YouTube videos, I came across Katie's Darlingtonia Moccasins. This was just the inspiration I needed. Although love her Moccasins very much and would LOVE to purchase one, I don't have the financial means to do so as of now. But I will be purchasing a pair in the near future.

I drove back to Michael's again in hopes of searching for something that would give my Moccasins what it needed and I found this:



Who would have known that leather jewelery would go a long way!



I added some embellishments so it wouldn't look so plain. These beads were sitting in my arts and crafts bin for a long time and figured it would be the perfect opportunity to use them.



A side view of the Moccasins.



As you can see, the stringing on the left Moccasin is different from the right because I ran out of string and didn't want to go buy more if I only need such a small amount. Kevin suggested that I put a charm on the back of only one shoe to make it unique and I do say that it looks good.



So here you have it, a completed Moccasins project. I hope this will inspire you to go out and make your own or to purchase one from Katie because her Moccasins rock!




*Side Note*: I also wanted to mention that these Moccasins kit didn't have soles on the bottom of the shoes, so I went to a local shoe repair store and had one slapped on.

Back from Vegas...Part 2

First of all, thanks for all your lovely comments from my pre-vacation post. :)

Second, good news! My camera showed up in Kevin's room. That was a huge relief for me since many of my photos were stored in the camera. I'm one of those people that are too lazy to transfer photos into their computers and will only do so when there is no more storage room.

Anyways, one of the few things I love about Vegas is:

• A chance to get away from LA
• Great food - Buffets
• The Shoppping
  

I also visited the Pawn shop from History Channel's Pawn Stars. Sadly they weren't there because it was a weekend after all and who would want to work on weekends anyways. However, what was cool was that I was able to see some of the items that were featured in their episodes!

Sadly, I didn't get to take much photos from trip. I only got pictures of dessert, YES--DESSERT! from the M Resort's Studio B Buffet. It was so good! I cannot help myself when it comes to dessert, even though I'm lactose intolerant! and Yes, I tried every one of those. I was a happy fatty that night!

Back from vegas...

So I've been back...for a while. I decided to give myself a little break from blog world and guess what happened? I became unmotivated and lazy again! So I am back once again! I will do a proper update because I seem to have misplaced my camera!!! I know its somewhere in the house!

Goodbye LA, for now...

I'm heading to Vegas this weekend! Be back Monday to catch up on all of your lovely posts! :)

How to make your own Storage Boxes! w/ a small tutorial

I thought that this might be a fun idea to share with all of you. First things first, I am your typical girl with tons of shoes (which includes the boxes) and wrapping paper. Since Ikea has practically become my second home for these past few weeks, their wonderful storage boxes caught my eye. But I just couldn't bring myself to spend such money on an item that I thought was somewhat overpriced for a cardboard box. Since I am a huge advocate of being eco-friendly and recycling, I decided to wrap my old shoe boxes with old wrapping paper to make my own storage boxes. It's not really great but its a fun small project to do when you're bored or want some storage boxes! Its also a great way to reuse resources and save money. Make sure that the boxes you are going to use are ones with the detachable lids (as shown in my photos). They are easier to wrap and more practical than ones with the attached lids.

What you're going to need, depends on how precise you want the size of the wrapping paper to be. If you don't care and prefer to go gung-ho then all you're going to need is a glue stick and scissors. But if you are detailed orientated like myself (basically OCD), you'll need scissors, a ruler, xacto knife, and a glue stick. If you are going to use an xacto knife, make sure you have a self-healing cutting mat (like the one featured in my third photo) so you don't damage any surface area you may be working on. I also recommend using a glue stick (Scotch brand because it its really sticky, but any glue stick will do too) because it will give you a better consistency compared with liquid glue. I know one my photos has liquid glue in it, but don't use it unless you want streaks to show up on your storage boxes.

I apologize for the first few photos as they are really grainy and yellow-tinted. Don't know what happened there. Please tell me what you think! :)

Giveaways!

I absolutely love giveaways! But for some reason I always miss out on them. Check out these fantastic giveaways for your chance to win!!!

• Check out this giveaway from Miles of Style. Ending July 23!

• A 200 followers giveaway filled with lots of beauty goodies from Cosmetic Cupcake. Ends August 8th.

• Elisharon is having a wonderful dress giveaway. Ends July 20th.
  

Yea or Nay?

So I've been contemplating whether I should invest in a gorgeous Cambridge Satchel. I saw it on the adorable little Dakota Fanning in the movie Uptown Girls. I like the vintage and unique look it carries. I've got my eye set on brown, yellow or red.

What do you think? Yea or Nay?

What I've been up to & The Getty Center!

I've been away from blog world for several reasons:

• haven't been online for awhile
  
• not much inspiration lately
• constantly tired from work
• been cleaning/organizing my room since my sister moved
  
• been working out trying to get back to my previous fitness level since this past school year
  
• I've been watching The Tudors which I'm totally addicted to b/c of the drama (for those of you that watch it) and I enjoy history in general :)
  

But don't worry! After getting inspiration from my muses (blogs that I read) I'm starting to slowly become inspired again. Due to a messy room, that is stopping me from working on projects. :(

My intended plans post-college life are:

• have fun & enjoy my summer :)
• finish cleaning/organizing my room so it will 100% Alice :D
• work for a year: part-time job, TA-ing and doing research for professors back at my university
• then graduate school, hopefully a Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW and possibly LMSW! :D)
  

Anyways, on the brighter side, I would like to thank 'Chelle from Cosmetic Cupcake who awarded me with the Stylish Blogger Award. :) Thank you 'Chelle, you're so sweet! :)

I leave you with pictures from the Getty Center (which is one of my favorite places now) from our 6 years anniversary with Kevin. :)

Post graduate life...

It's hard to believe that my life as a baccalaureate student has finally ended. In the end I am rewarded with a slip of paper showing that I have a Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology. I'm finally done and its over with. I am greatly relieved that I don't have to stress myself out with school work, yet ironically I miss it. However on the bright side, I have so much free time to get started on my projects. Before I left campus after graduation, I also took some amateur photos of our Japanese garden.

Ps. I decided to post pictures of my parents because they were being such good sports about me "decorating" them. :)











Taken without flash & special "flower" setting on camera


Taken with flash on "flower" setting, huge difference huh?