COSTUME JEWELRY

Have you ever purchased costume jewelry from Forever 21 or any accessory store only for it to lose it's "gold" look after wearing it 3 or 4 times? Or sometimes it turns green? The obvious reason is because it's not real gold. It's usually plated over brass or copper and when it comes in contact with your skin, the acid from your sweat reacts to form salts that are green and you sometimes see that residue on your skin.

I just bought these pieces and I wanted to preserve the look for more than 3 or 4 wears.

A trick that I use is Mod Podge Gloss Clear Acrylic Sealer. I bought this can from Walmart for less than $6.00.

*ALWAYS SPRAY OUTSIDE*

I took a shoe box top and covered it with a plastic bag.

Arrange the jewelry on the plastic bag and make sure they are not touching.

Spray 12-15 inches from the jewelry. Wait 15 minutes and flip over and spray the back.

After the pieces are sprayed, I recommend storing the jewelry in cellophane bags.

Voila, what a beautiful shine!

MOTORCYCLE BOOTS/BIKER BOOTS

Wearing motorcycle boots has always been en vogue. Look at Rachel Bilson rocking them with a dress, and Mrs. Tom Brady going through the airport. Whether you ride bikes for real or just want that tough girl look, motorcycle boots are here to stay.

These are available from Leatherup.com  for $79.99. I want to try this trend, but this is too much money.

Motorcycle Harness Boots

They done messed up now cuz, I found these for $5.99 at Unique!

They were kinda dull and dingy. So, I took an old cloth and washed one, look at the difference a little water makes.

But after they dried, they were clean but still dull. So I used some black shoe polish for some shine.

Here's the result. Looks good, right?

BEFORE

AFTER

Here I am at work getting my "Biker Chick" look on....

Jaclyn Smith leather sweater jacket-thrifted, Banana Republic tee-thrifted
Old Navy Rock Star jeans, H&M belt, motorcycle boots-thrifted

TARGET + STARBUCKS = HEAVEN

My Target, in Watchung, NJ just opened a Starbucks inside the store. Yippee!!! My two loves!!

When I got to the counter, I ordered the "Double Chocolaty Chip", the barista said "Frap?" I said, "the one WITHOUT coffee." She said, "that's a Frappuccino". I said, "Oh, that's what it's called". She said, "Yeah". Then I said, "Yeah".  Hey, I didn't know, I don't drink coffee, but I like this drink, because it's like a chunky chocolate chip milkshake.

I was so excited that I drank it and forgot to take a picture of it...

LEATHER IS TRENDING PART 2

Leather is still trending. Three of the biggest names in music are seen here rocking leather shirts.

Justin Bieber                                                         Kendrick Lamar                                                            Kanye

You already know what I'm thinking. That's right Imma make my own "leather"shirt. While in Unique, I found a faux leather skirt, size 2X and I had a black shirt that I purchased from A.C. Moore for $3.33.

I'm going to replace the front panel of the shirt with the faux leather, so I cut along the seams and removed it, but I left the collar of the T-shirt and the sleeves.

First I cut one side of the skirt and then cut it in half. Then I used the front panel that I cut from the T-shirt as my pattern to cut the skirt and pinned the pattern to the faux leather skirt.

After I cut it, I pinned it inside out on the T-shirt, taking special care while pinning on the collar.

Guess what happened? Since I cut the skirt in half, it wasn't long enough, so I took the bottom half of the front panel to put at the bottom of the faux leather. I had to sew that together before I could sew the side seams.

After about an hour or so, I am happy with the finished product.

Here's how the collar turned out.

It was a little snug on me. I'll give it to my son, it'll hug his muscles.

BRITISH INVASION

Have you seen Downton Abbey? It is a British period drama series and it's absolutely "Brilliant". Season 4 will be premiering January 5, 2014 and I can't wait. I've already watched seasons 1 and 2, have yet to watch season 3.

I've been inspired by the British culture so much, that I'm helping my daughter decorate her room with a British theme. We went to IKEA and she purchased this large picture featuring their underground subway and I found this picture of the Tower Bridge at Unique for only $2.12.

Just the other day I found a nightstand at Unique for $4.99 that I'm going to paint red to resemble their infamous telephone booths.

Before I started, I put down plastic to protect my floor from the paint and I removed the door pulls.

I used some left over primer from when I painted my kitchen. Using primer gives you a blank slate to work with. I used the brush to put on the first coat of primer and then the roller for the second coat. 

*wait at least 30 minutes between each coat of primer*

I bought red spray paint from Home Depot, and I took this project outside. Spray painting this nightstand was easier and quicker than using a roller or brush. It took me less than 20 minutes. I left it outside to dry for about 2 hours and also because of the fumes.

I purchased gold door pulls from Home Depot for about $1.67 each to resemble the door knob on the booth. I'm thinking about writing "TELEPHONE" on the inset of the drawer to really pass for the booth. What do you think? Too much? Taking it too far? Or just leave it as is?

Voila!

When her room finally comes together, I'll update ya'll.