Valentines Day Outift on a Budget

I have a confession. I am a married woman, and I hate Valentines Day.
Okay, I don't hate it. But... I don't know. Maybe it was all those years in high school when I wanted to go to the Valentine Banquet with my friends, and my mom told me I couldn't unless I had a date. It made me hate that the day was really only for those who had someone's attraction, and otherwise you should feel terribly embarrassed or ashamed or guilty.
Now, I know that's not what it's about. It's about Saint Valentine who was martyred and wrote letters and all the rest of that gruesome story my mom used to tell all of us every Valentines Day. Still, I' only in it for the candy.
Did I mention that there was one year when everyone in my family wrote Valentines to everyone else and every single person forgot to write me one? There are ten kids, and not one remembered me.
Moving on...
This Valentines Day wasn't anything special, but I did decide that I would get dressed up. Heck, maybe I'd even wear lipstick. An outfit fitting for the occasion, well, that would be difficult.
I had bought a pair of faux leather leggings on Ebay about a year ago, but I had yet to wear them. For one thing, I've been waiting for winter, and for another, I didn't have a top that I felt went with them. I've searched in thrift stores and online for all these months, but I have had no luck. I even went to Kohl's with the gift card my sister gave me, but that was a huge disappointment (More on that in the next post, though). Nothing.
Nada. Zero. Zilch.
Finally kind of on accident, I found a really cute blouse on Ebay. I'm not a blouse person, as they usually need to be tucked in, and my belly is a problem area. Thus, I rarely tuck anything in. This one, however, was really more of a tunic. Also it was purple. At the fantastic price of $16.22 (it was brand new and yes, a bit of a splurge, but still cheaper than a department store), I had to get it.
I accessorized with a $3 bracelet from Ebay, earrings gifted to me from my sister, and nude suede heels that I had gotten for $7 from Salvation Army. The final result:

 

So there ya go! Altogether, my outfit cost about $40. The original retail price of the shoes alone was more than that.

Happy thrifting!

Wow. Just... wow.

This has pretty much been my mantra for the past three months.
We all have days when we feel as though we are losing control. We feel like we are never going to be happy again, and that things will never be alright. It's normal, and as I've said many times on this blog before, it's okay.
But then there are days when it doesn't just seem like everything is falling apart... everything actually is falling apart.
Participating in life in any extent has been difficult, if not impossible, for me lately. There have been days I have laid in bed for hours on end staring at my ceiling. Nothing is right. Nothing makes sense. Life isn't fair.
Dad died a few days before Christmas. I'm alright, really. We were expecting it, and I saw him last on Thanksgiving and made nice and had a very long conversation with him, which thankfully he was not only awake for, but also mostly in his right mind. He remembered my kids' names because he loved my kids, even if he didn't get to see them often.
He was a good grampa.
I could go on about the things that my dad did, both awesome and devastating. I could speak of his accomplishments and his failures. I could tell of how he was to me personally as a father. I could relate some beautiful memories. I could relate some sad ones.
I'm not going to do any of that, though.
Dad was Dad and he lived much longer than anyone expected and he had a full life and at the very heart of him, I think he was one of the most genuine people that has ever walked this earth.
But then January came. Dad's death was fairly easy for me to stop being sad about, for lack of better words to describe what I went through. Things were looking up. I was going to enroll in business school and get my life back in order, and things were going to be fine.
But on January 26th, our family suffered a loss we couldn't have expected in a million years.
My sister, Jennie, is a sophomore at St. Joseph's College in Rennselaer, Indiana, about an hour from where we grew up. Just about every weekend she and he boyfriend of nearly a year, Ian, would visit home and hang out with the family. She brought Ian to every birthday party (and with ten kids in our family, that's a lot of parties), every holiday celebration, every cookout, every movie night, every everything. Ian became like a brother to all of us immediately. We all loved him. We tried to find a reason to hate him, but we couldn't. We were determined to hate anyone who dated our baby sister, but it was absolutely impossible. After Nathan and I met him for the first time, which consisted solely of a three-minute quick hello as we passed through to drop something off at my parents' house, we left and I turned to Nathan and said, "How long did it take you to like him?"
"About three seconds," he answered. And it was the same with me. Before I got to know his sense of humor or his talents or his lovely personality or any of his numerous redeeming qualities, he just had a way about him. And I just adored him.
Ian was found dead outside his car on January 26th.
There have been a lot of questions as to why or how or what exactly happened, but answers are few and far between. It was an apparent suicide. Alcohol was involved. Whether anything was intentional or not, we don't know. We aren't blood relatives, so we're not privy to any details outside of what the newspapers could print.
That loss, the death of a guy who was madly in love with my sister, and she with him, that one hurt. It hurt worse than anything I have ever been through, whether physically or emotionally. It was impossible to believe, impossible to understand, and it has proven very near impossible to get through.
My sister, Jennie, has to be the strongest person I know. She is going through something I can't imagine and hope I never have to understand. But through it all she has remained strong in her faith, retained her sense of humor, and has not asked for any pity. She has returned every prayer for her with gratefulness, and she has maintained her composure through all of this. I don't know how she does it. She's stronger than me, that's for sure.
I have a couple of items to post about, but I am going to wait a bit. I am only now able to write about Ian, and this is a big step for me. Prayers for our family are still coveted. Especially for Jennie.

Psalm 121

King James Version (KJV)

121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

² My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
³ He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
⁴ Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
⁵ The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
⁶ The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
⁷ The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
⁸ The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

 

Update

Hey!
Yeah, I know... it's been a while. I guess this is one of those days that I'm glad I have only three or so loyal readers. Any more than that, and there might be people who miss me.
So here's what you missed on Glee in the past few weeks: I've helped my parents move into their dream home, I've redone lot of furniture, I've been up and down dealing with my depression, and my father is in the hospital with a broken hip, which led to the doctors discovering what they say looks like cancer.
I know - that's a lot.
Something I've learned in my 25 years is that although there may not be much I can control, I can do my best not to make my misery worse. I can surround myself with things that make me happy. Things like family, music, painting, TV, and Jeremy Renner.
Not the real Jeremy Renner. Just... you know.... fan fiction, movies, pictures, etc.
Anyway, I think things are starting to get better. Yes, I'm still dealing with depression. Yes, I still have those days when I just can't get out of bed, just can't force a smile, just can't have a conversation for the life of me. But sometimes it's okay to escape the real world for a fantasy world. As long as you are able to separate the two, and as long as you know when to be in which, both worlds are acceptable.
Sherlock (BBC) has become my new obsession. I have watched the same six episodes probably ten times now over the past two months. It's always good. And I have fallen in love with Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. I'm even reading the Sherlock Holmes stories all over again for the first time since I was probably 12 or 13.
Some of you are trying to start a business or you already run one. I am about to start business school with the same goal in mind. Please, PLEASE don't let yourself feel bad when you have days you feel less than adequate, maybe like a failure, maybe talentless. You're amazing. If you see beauty in your work, so do others. Maybe not everyone, but then how boring would it be if everyone had the same taste in art? There would be no variety, therefore no conversation.
True story.
I can't bop you on the head with my magic wand and make you confident in what you do. I wish I could. If I could, I'd bop my own head with it, because believe me, I am far from confident in my work. Every day is a battle, but I fight with my head held high and my mind set on happy thoughts, thoughts of whatever cheers me up... and you know what? It's okay if the things that are "supposed" to make you feel happy don't always. Do what you need to do. As long as you're not hurting yourself, do whatever you must do.
Be happy. Decide to be happy. Try, at least.
You're worth it.
See you soon, hopefully.

What, These Old Things?

Yes. Those old things.
I'm referring to the massive pile of jeans I have bought over the past few years, but that I have only worn a couple of times.
Why?
Well, mostly I outgrew them belly-wise. Or I'm saving them for when I'm back into that size again (probably never). Or they just didn't look great on me the last time I wore them.
And such is the case with one pair of my jeans in particular.
You might not know this about me, but I do almost all of my clothes sopping in thrift stores (sarcasm alert). As it turns out, though, I'm one of those people who hates using the dressing room to try something on before I buy it. If I'm spending a lot on an item (more than 5 dollars. Yes, I know that's not a lot in the real world, but it is in the thrift world - MY world), I'll run in the dressing room and try it on, whatever it is. But $2 jeans? I'll buy now and ask questions later.
They fit great around the waist, which in and of itself is a major accomplishment. But I'm 5 feet tall, and the length on the jean along with the boot cut style just didn't work for me.
Pack rat that I am, however, I folded the jeans and tucked them in a drawer. Maybe I thought I would grow taller or something.
But I'm glad I did that, as it turns out.
Pinterest, that wily minx, has had me addicted for a while now, and I recently noticed a video on how to distress jeans. That got me thinking about making boyfriend jeans. I've always wanted a pair, but they're expensive new and are almost never in thrift stores. So I decided to use my old jeans as a guinea pig. No loss if they didn't work, right? And hey, at least I can say I tried.
This is the link to the video, by the way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2maI9roHJzM
So anyway, I followed the instructions and this is how they turned out:

Ok, so they're not exactly making their way down any runways any time soon, but not bad for my first time, right?

Maybe I should have distressed them more. I don't know. Also, my phone camera is crap. You can't really trust the way it makes them look.

So that's it! I hope this helps to inspire you a wee bit if you feel like getting in that DIY sort of mood.

Happy thrifting!

FALLing In Love

My favorite season for a long time was winter. Snow, time off of school, snuggling under the covers - all of those things were very important factors when it came to choosing my favorite season. But ever since my husband has worked an hour away, the snow scares me, and my favorite season has changed to fall.
All that to say, I have been upping my style factor for the season lately. I am about to buy my first pair of ankle boots (never thought I'd wear them!), and an orange dress. But more importantly to me, crafts are sporting those fall colors, as well.
One of my recent finds that I was SO very happy about, were my candlesticks I bought for $2 each.

Cute, right?

I didn't know how to paint them, but I decided on orange, since I knew that was a color I wanted more of.

After I had them painted, I was at my in-laws' home when they laid out a bowl of candy corn.

Bam.

I had yellow and white craft paint at home, so I painted the ends, and I am SO happy with how they turned out!

 

So now I'm set!
By the way, I found that the tops and bottoms unscrew from the wooden stick itself. That made it so much easier than using paint tape. I know it may seem like a dumb thing to note, but if you ever paint something and aren't sure how to paint around certain parts, check to see if they are removable.
I didn't at first.
Woops.
Happy thrifting!

Finally Bit The Bullet...

I opened an Etsy store. Check it out if you're interested, and tell me what you think! I only have 3 things in there now, but adding more soon, hopefully. =-)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheScarlettWren

Comic Book Project 2.0

So last Christmas I discovered Mod Podge. And I fell in love.
My other brother (not the one I made the table for at Christmastime) has a birthday party next Saturday, and I wanted to do the comic book table again. He really liked the one I made my brother last year, and I thought what the heck? I'll be a good sister.
But I did it a little differently.

I found this table at Second Life Thrift store for 8 dollars. Yes, it's outdated - that light colored, heavy, high-gloss wood that was so popular 20 years ago. But as I try to do always, I looked past what it was and saw what it could be.
My original plan when I bought this over a month ago was to finally make that Union Jack table I've always wanted to make. But after a failed attempt, I painted over the top and decided to try again.

Well, two weeks and four sick people in our home later, I got back to it. But this time, I decided to do the whole comic book thing for my brother. If you want to know how to use Mod Podge, see my previous post.
This time, I decided to do less comic book, more comic book graphics. I looked up the templates online, sketched the designs onto the wood, painted the outlines in black, then filled in the rest. Super easy to sketch!

Hope this inspires you to try something new. I'm no artist, believe me. And if I could sketch these somewhat successfully, so can you. I promise.
Happy thrifting!