This girl made curtains!

WHOOP!! I made curtains for the shop and I found a way to incorporate our dragonfly!

Here's the lucky dragonfly applique I designed. It's on there thanks to some fabric glue and the lovely swirlies are puffy fabric paint.  We have a dragonfly in our salon's logo :)

Please ignore the blinding glare through the window.. The curtain provides a nice backdrop so one can actually see the information on the door. Success!

ROLO COOKIES!!

SO YUMMY!! and easy too!
 All you need is: 1 box devils food cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/3 cp oil, bag of Rolos

Mix the cake mix, eggs, and oil in a large bowl.
Form balls of dough around each Rolo.
Bake on cookie sheet coated in no stick spray at 35oF for 7-8 minutes.
That's it!

MMMM!
This picture brings back happy memories..these cookies are all gone now!

Smile!

Hiking in Ithaca!!

Just realized that I never put up the pictures from my hiking trip in Treman Park (that's in Ithaca, NY )!  Not only was this park gorgeous, but it was also a challenging hike!

Here's a peek down the gorge. Incredible!

It felt like being in some ancient city's remains. I'm thinking the hanging gardens in Babylon or something..

I know it needs to be said but still. hahahaha!

All the world's a stage :) It was so hot that day, I actually rolled up my jeans and risked getting my legs scratched up or bug bit.

Great photo op I couldn't pass up.

This made me laugh so hard! Somebody carved this in to a rock. I love that they included the stink lines!

Movie Monday!! Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel (1932) starred a string of popular actors from the period including both Lionel and John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, and Greta Garbo.

The film is set in the Grand Hotel, of course, and follows the stays of several different unrelated characters. One is Baron Felix van Geigern (John B.), a charming gambler/ jewel thief who is in debt and must find a way to raise the money he needs. He runs into Otto Kringelein (Lionel B.), a modest accountant who has learned that he is dying and wants to live his last days in luxury. They become friends but the Baron is too proud to accept the man's money even when it has been offered to him.

The Baron attempts to steal a string of pearls from the room of the Russian ballerina (Garbo) but falls in love with her on their first meeting and feels compelled to return them. She forgives him and they plan to go away together but first, he must fulfill his debts.

Joan Crawford is a stenographer (I forget her character's name) hired by Gen. Preysing (Wallace Beery), who is trying to make an important business deal that will make or break his company.  He makes advances to her and they agree to go to London together with him paying her handsomely..

This movie was a little dull at first but it came together in an interesting way at the end. It seemed to have a message about the high value we place on money and what an impact too much or too little can have on our decisions. I also found it interesting that although Kringelein was dying, he was so much more happy and free than all these other characters who seemed to be on the way down in life.

Joan Crawford was beautiful, Garbo's accent was adorable, and there were two Barrymore's in one film! It is worth watching for the star power but the movie itself was not especially engaging. Thumbs hovering in the middle.

Dressing up an old sweater

I've had this old turtleneck for a few years now. Just when I was about to toss it in the give away box (it's still in good shape but I don't wear it because I'm bored with it),  it occurred to me that I could totally make it more stylin'! Especially since Fall is in the air already- at least it is here..

See what a little embroidery thread and needle can do? So pretty and super easy too!

I hope you all had a terrific weekend!

Movie Monday!! Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte

This week I watched Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, a thriller starring Bette Davis and Olivia DeHavilland.

A young Charlotte has an affair with a married man and they plan to run off together but their families find out and he is strong armed into ending it. He is then brutally murdered with a meat cleaver in the garden house at one of their parties and the rumor is that she did it.

In a wildly over-the-top performance, Bette Davis as Charlotte becomes known as a half crazy old spinster and lives a secluded life in her father's house after his death. But the town has plans for the land the house is on and now she must find a way to keep them from bulldozing her home to make way for a highway.

Thinking she will help her keep the family mansion, Charlotte calls in her cousin Miriam (DeHavilland) who grew up with her and her father. Miriam renews her relationship with Dr Bayliss (Joseph Cotton) while in town but they have other ideas about what to do with Charlotte. Their plan is to drug her and they set up events around the house to scare her causing her sanity to deteriorate.  Once she loses it, they will send her off to the looney bin and take her money.

Charlotte figures out the plan with the help of her housekeeper. On the night before they take her away, Miriam and Dr. Bayliss celebrate with champagne. Believing her to be fast asleeep (and insane to boot), they congratulate themselves on a job well done. Charlotte is neither asleep nor crazy, however, and overhears everything from the balcony above and conveniently knocks the large stone planter off the ledge..

Charlotte does have to leave her home in the end but not without knowing the truth about what really happened in the summerhouse so many years ago. It is worth watching so I won't give it all away. Thumbs up!!

DIY Hair Fascinator & the Roaring Twenties Ball!

The long awaited Roaring Twenties Ball was last night (I've been waiting since the end of the ball last year!). I will take you through the transformation from plain Jane 2011 to flapper Fanny 1925!
That's me up there fresh as a daisy..lol

Here I have my hair done in a faux bob and real finger waves by Marci at 1033 Main Salon & Spa (she really is amazing! and you can see more of her work if you "like"
our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/1033main ), a little eye makeup, and, of course, PEARLS!!

I wanted to make a pretty piece for my hair so I took some grossgrain ribbon and put a running stitch through the bottom of the long end of it.  At the end of the length of ribbon, I pulled the thread to gather the ribbon until it started circling upon itself. I then ran the thread up through the layer above to secure the end of the ribbon. I used a craft rose (the kind that come on a wire stem) and ran the stem through the center of the rose. Then I wrapped the wire stem around a plain hair barrette. Now it's ready to go in my hair!

Feathers make this so much more eye catching! I just took some white craft feathers and stuck them into my hair around the barrette.  Glamorous!

I liked this angle better but I didn't get all the feathers in the shot..

Makeup is all finished! I even did the lipstick myself! This is a big deal because I am typically a non-makeup wearer..


In order to get my lips to look tiny and pouty ala Clara Bow, I used lip liner to draw the outline of the shape I wanted and filled it in with my lipstick then powdered the extra parts of the real lips (I always wondered how they made their mouths look so tiny!).


The last part is to take a lighter lip gloss and apply it to the center part of my bottom lip to make it look fuller.

I am in LOVE with this dress! Plus, I added some dangly earrings for extra glam.
All ready to go!

The bottom of my fabulous dress- so fun to dance in. The tassels brush my legs when I'm doing the Charleston!

Me and my two favorite flapper girls at the end of the evening. Whew! Time to call it a night.lol. My leggies are hurting me today!

Movie Monday!!

I don't have a movie for you this week because I have started watching the Mad Men television series.  I've been wanting to see it for awhile now since I have heard so much about it.  So far, it is pretty interesting.

Also sucking up my movie time this week is the book I picked up entitled "Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible's Harlot Queen." It is a fascinating read by Lesley Hazleton. I just need to dig out a bible and start cross referencing things because she is working from the Hebrew version of the book of Kings in addition to  other historical resources and records available.

While Jezebel was no angel, it seems she also was not a harlot in the literal sense of the word. Apparently, even her name was changed in the writing as a play on words that modified the meaning of it! According to this book, her real name was Itha-baal or "woman of the Lord" in her language but in Hebrew she was known as I-zevel ( woman of dung) which was written in Greek as Jezebel. How ironic!

I should have an actual movie to discuss next week. I'm picking up some good ones tonight, as a matter of fact.

Framing my embroidery..so pretty

I came across some pretty cross stitch patterns in a craft book a month or two ago and needed to frame them- or do something nice with them rather than just let them sit neglected..

So I found a couple of old frames and set to work making them more presentable for my lovelies.

Ahh.. that's much better! All I did was wash and dry it then put a thin layer of paint on but not filling in the spots that didn't pick up the color because I was going for a distressed look.

Next, we frame it.

First, center the back from the frame on the backside of your piece of embroidery.

Now wrap the fabric around the back from the frame. I just used packing tape to secure the edges (In case I decide to change the frame at a later date it will be easy to remove the tape. I'm super indecisive sometimes..lol)

This frame didn't have a clip to hang it with so I had to get creative..Pop tops are soooo handy!

This one still needs a frame but I love bobbed hair. I think I was a flapper in a past life ;)