Saving at CVS

Oh, how I wish I had coupons with me today! I had to stop at CVS this morning to grab bottle cap images (I use these for bows and flower clips, and have them printed up there), and decided to bypass the Valentine's Day clearance, and see what they had in their small end cap clearance section.

I am SO glad I did. They've been doing inventory in makeup over the past week, and clearing out a lot of fun stuff. Raegan's birthday is in April, and so is Easter, so I decided to stock up, as most of the make up marked down was 75% off.

I wound up getting:

4 Chrome Nail Pens- these are the Sally Hansen nail polish "Paint & Go" type pens, in a metallic chrome finish. $9.99 each, marked down to $2.49 each

1 Gold Metallic Nail Art Pen- these go hand in hand with the paint & go pens, but are skinnier so you can draw designs on your fingers. $8.99, marked down to $2.25.

Rimmel Sapphire Blue Eyeshadow- $4.39, marked down to $1.07

Sally Hanson Hard As Nails Pink Nail Polish- $2.99, marked down to $.75

Sally Hanson Quick Clear Coat Nail Polish- $10.49, marked down to $2.62

2 Sally Hanson Eyeshadow Trios- $8.79 each, marked down to $2.12 each

Sally Hanson Quik-Dry Red Nail Polish- $5.49, marked down to $1.37

Wet & Wild Black H2O Mascara- $2.99, marked down to $.74

Wet & Wild Purple Metallic Eyeshadow Pen- $1.99, marked down to $.49

Pedicure Brush (pumice stone on one side, bristles on the other)- $6.99, marked down to $1.74

3 Magic Reveal motion photo frames (think that plastic ridged stuff that makes stickers look like they're in motion)- $3.99 each, marked down to $.25 each

King Size Reeses Mini's (have you tried these? OMG SO GOOD!)- $1.69 minus a $2.00 coupon, -$.31

27 digital prints (bottle cap images) $5.13 (no discount sadly)

Total Spent:

$32.67 ($1.87 was tax)
Total on the discount items:
$25.36

Amount saved in-store today:

$95.85

WOOT!

Now, had I used coupons, that would have been better, but for spur-of-the-moment makeup shopping, I think I did pretty good.

Little Maddie

Last week, 4 month old Maddie passed away unexpectedly, and her mother and father are laying her to rest this morning.

Her mother has asked that people all over wear big bows today in honor of her little darling.

To read more about her story, check out her blog- but just be prepared to cry for this family!

http://kandjstaats.blogspot.com/?spref=fb

Vintage Inspired Headband Tutorial

I have neglected my poor blog for so long, that it's hard to get into the habit of posting here. While I don't make regular crafts all that often anymore, I do make a lot of hair items, because those sell. And, well, I need to do something to support my craft-addiction, right?

On to the tutorial. This weekend, Nick and I are going to a Clue themed party for his office, and the invite said to pick a character, and include some accessory in that characters color in your outfit. I chose Miss Scarlett, because red is easy, right? WRONG. I could not find a red dress that A) I liked, B) fit me, and C) was in my budget. It had to be all 3, and yet, sadly, nothing. I wound up with a really cute black dress that A) I loved, B) fit me, and C) was in my budget. Yay!

That left me needing red accessories, though. I decided I'd make something for my hair. I had no idea what, but when I sat down to make it, it just came together and I fell in love with it! Here's a few pictures of the item, which I think totally rocks.

Isn't it lovely? I think it'll be a hit at the party- at least I hope so! I love it, and wish I could wear it every day.

So, when I was making it, I just sort of tossed it together, no rhyme or reason, just the desire to make something pretty. However, I did re-make it today, and decided to offer it up as a tutorial to my sadly neglected blog. So, here we go!

Vintage Inspired Rose Headband

You'll Need:

1. 2 Rose Heads- both times, I used 2 different colored roses, all of them found at dollar stores on bushes. You want roses that look open already, not the ones that are all closed up.
2. Tulle in a coordinating or contrasting color- I used glitter tulle on my red/black one, and love the little added sparkle.
3. 1 headband- I recommend skinny. I picked up a 3 pack of satin headbands at Dollar Tree.
4. Gem center- this isn't really completely necessary, but the center of the rose will look bare without it. Again, these were from Dollar Tree in a packet I picked up last fall.
5. Felt- DT has this as well. I recommend a color that will blend in- it won't be visible, but as a 'just in case' kind of moment.
6. Feathers- this is the only thing I had to get at the craft store FOR this project. I didn't have any on hand in red. I recommend soft, silky feathers. They are fantastic to work with, and are still usually inexpensive.
7. Glue Gun
8. Scissors

Now, let's get started!

1. Take the roses apart, and toss the plastic stuff aside. You won't need it or use it in this project. Once they are apart, figure out the largest piece from both roses- this will be your base.
2. Take your tulle, and cut out squares roughly the size of 2-3 of your flower petal sections. You are going to fold this into 4's, find the middle, then cut a petal shape out of it. When you unfold it, it should be a 4 'petal' base. Cut as many as you would like- these will be interspersed with your flower petals.
3. Once you have your tulle petals and regular petals laid out, it's time to start gluing. Using hot glue, glue a circle around the center hole of your base flower. Take your next largest flower, and line the center holes up, but lay it so that the petals are interspersed from one another. Press it down, and smooth the material with your finger so it holds nice and tight.
4. Continue adding layers, adding in tulle layers as you go, until you have added in all the layers. Glue the center gem to the middle of the flower, covering up the hole. 
5. Next, cut a circle or square smaller than the flower out of felt. This is going to be the base pad for the feathers. 
6. Take your feathers out, and before gluing, start arranging them in the design you would like. I suggest longer feathers on the bottom layer, myself. Once you are happy with the way they are arranged, you will want to start gluing them down. To do this, glue a strip across the felt pad, and gently press the feathers into place. Once there is no glue showing, you can add another strip of glue and repeat. If you are adding quite a few feathers, you may want to add a second pad of felt on top of the feathers already laid down. Glue and feathers can get messy!
7. When you are happy with your feathers, add a top 'pad' of felt, gluing it in place. This will help sandwich the feathers. 
8. Add glue to the top side of the pad, getting close to the edges. Once it's covered decently, but not too thickly, center your flower on it, and press nice and tight to make sure it's in place. Unless you want to add more tulle, small gems, or beads, your flower is done.
9. Put your headband on, and using a mirror, move the flower around until you find a place on your head where you want it to be. Make sure to hold that place on the headband when you remove it, so you know where you will be adding the flower to. The first one I did, I placed higher up than what I would have liked. The second time, I went much lower and love where it sits.
10. Cut a long oval or rectangle out of felt- about 1" wide, and no longer than the base of the flower- roughly 2". Add a strip of glue to the underside of the headband on the place you want the rose to go, and press the felt to it, along the center so the edges hang over.
11. From there, simply add glue to the entire top side of the felt and headband, and press the flower into place, holding it against the curve while it dries.

And that's all there is to it! I'd estimate that it cost me about a dollar in materials to make this headband, even with craft store feathers and tulle. It's inexpensive, easily customized, and a super cute headband for special events. 

And here are some step by step photos of the process. :)

New Glasses: A Review

Several weeks ago, I was contacted by GlassesUSA.com to see if I would be interested in a review, which sells cheap eyeglasses. To give some back story, I ordered my first pair of glasses online almost a year ago from a competitors website. Over the past year, I have not been pleased or happy with the product I received from Zenni. In fact, I had taken the time to replace the glasses in December at a local discount department store- another pair I wasn't thrilled with, and paid out the nose for.

I have an extremely high prescription. If my vision were the same, but uncorrectable by prescription lenses, my prescription would be defined as legally blind. Because I can wear glasses to correct it, it isn't actually considered legally blind, though. This leads to thick heavy lenses more often than not.

When I placed my order with GlassesUSA, I left the prescription glasses up to them- I did not place a traditional order, choosing the type of lenses I wanted. Instead, I left it in their hands to provide me what they could. With my prescription lenses, I was expecting them to have some width to them. The other two pairs I've ordered from difference companies over the past year were depressingly thick, despite getting the highest index I could the second time around.

I was happily surprised when the glasses arrived and were thin. Not super thin- that's just not going to happen with my prescription, but thin enough that the lenses are light weight, and don't look as noticeable from the sides.  Below are photos of the 3 pairs of glasses I have used over the past year.

This is pair #1, ordered online from a competitive online website. I did not get the highest index I could due to finances at the time, however, these are exceedingly thick.  

This pair is #2, ordered from a discount department store in the highest index available, with a roll & polish added to minimize the edge width. These are almost the same width as the pair ordered from Zennioptical.com

This is pair 1 and 2 next to each other- they are both very wide, and exceedingly noticeable. The frames chosen did enhance how wide the lenses are, but aside from that, they are wider than I was comfortable with.

This shows all three pairs, with the newest pair on the left. They are quite a bit thinner than the other two pairs.

This is my new pair of eyeglasses, ordered from GlassesUSA.com. I am happy with how thin the lenses are, and how accurate the prescription was. I  love these!

I really like the frames- it's been several years since I've worn plastic frames. Generally, I prefer metal frames, but the last two pairs I got left me wanting a change, so I chose a pair of black plastic frames. I had forgotten just how much they chance my face! I choose a slightly retro-ish pair called Hilarie, which retail for $39.00, which includes basic lenses.

If you have a prescription in the -4 or +4 range or up (mine is -10.5 and -11.25 in each eye), you will want to add in a higher index lens than those provided. The price goes up depending on the index chosen for your glasses. For my prescription, it's recommended that I use 1.67 high index, or 1.74 super high index. With the high index, it adds in $67. With 1.74, it adds in $139. Not a small fee, but if you don't have optical insurance, it's not as high as it could be. At a regular optometrist, my glasses easily run in the $300-400 range, so under $200 is still a really decent deal.

I had planned to take photos specifially for this post, but I've had a horrible head cold, and don't care to share that image with anyone. Instead, here's a photo I took a few days ago, to show off a headband I made for an upcoming event. ;) I'll be posting a tute for that soon ;)

I am hoping to save up some money, and order a nice pair of prescription sunglasses this summer. I have a pair from the competitor, and the frames are miss-shaped. The bows bend outward from the frame, so in order to wear them, I actually have to have a sports band on. Because I am so sensitive to light, sunglasses are a must.

To help you out even further, GlassesUSA provided a handy 10% off coupon code for all of you to enjoy. Simply add BLOG10 to the coupon code area in check out to receive a discount on their already great prices!

This is a product review for GlassesUSA. GlassesUSA specializes in the sale of Designer Prescription Glasses, Nike Prescription Glasses, Discount Eyeglasses, Cheap Designer Eyeglasses, Cheap Eyeglass Frames, Cheap Prescription Sunglasses, and Cheap Reading Glasses. The review is based on my own personal views of the product I reviewed. The product was provided to me for free to review and use. No other compensation was given for my unbiased review.