PopBetty

A Love Letter to Pop Culture

Halloween Week: Autumnal Options

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Not everyone wants spooky, Halloween-specific decorations. People who consider Halloween a one-day holiday and people with conflicting religious beliefs may prefer more neutral seasonal options. The following decoration ideas are dual purpose: suitable for Halloween without being restricted to it. They’re also not scary, a bonus for households with small children and easily unnerved adults (ghastlier options will follow, of course).

Note: Almost of all of these are D.I.Y., and if you click on the link you’ll get a recipe or tutorial.

Bronze & Gold Decorations

Bronze gold autumnal

My favorite type of autumnal decoration uses and mixes warmer metallics, like bronze, gold, deep orange, even purple. It’s a rich and elegant look. Credits row by row, from left:

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D.I.Y. Idea & Tutorial: Nail Polish & Glitter Bobby Pins

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Sorry about missing Wednesday & Friday last week! I had a post queued up for Wednesday (another Out-of-Print Wonder), but realized too late that the photos weren't good enough. 

I did do blog spruce-ups, however: I moved the search field to the navigation bar, and made a major change to the blog's category system. Now the blog has 10 main categories, which I created buttons for in the sidebar (examples below):

Category buttons

I'll write more about making these, the new category system, & other key blog changes soon. For now, here's a goofy D.I.Y. project I hope will serve as creative fodder.

Inspiration

Neon bobby clip inspiration

Above image from a cool neon wedding concept shoot by Brooklyn Bride (styled by Merci New York, and photographed by 1. art beauty life). 

When I saw the bobby pins above, my mind immediately went to Discount Creative's faux enamel jewelry tutorial and my new yellow nail polish. I felt very clever for five seconds, then I read the accompanying text and saw the words: "Adding pops of neon doesn’t have to be expensive!  Sometimes all it takes is a spray can, fabric dye, paint or even nail polish." Oh, well.

The bobby pins are credited as J.Crew, though they don't appear to be for sale anymore. You can, however, get 50 neon bobby pins from Rue 21 for $3.99. 

I decided to try the nail polish bobby pin hack anyway, and while I was at it, make glitter bobby pins with Mod Podge.

What I used:

Neon glitter bobby pin materials

From left: Crafter's Choice foam brush, Mod Podge Matte Finish, Martha Stewart glitter in White Gold, Wet N Wild Megalast in Tropicalia, China Glaze Lemon Fizz, Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Base & Top Coat; not shown: bobby pins, disposable plate or cup, aluminum foil.

I had all of these items already, and I'm betting most of you at least have bobby pins and half-finished bottles of nail polish. For those interested in pricing/sourcing info for the rest: the Mod Podge was $4 at Hobby Lobby (during the Labor Day Weekend sale), the glitter was $6 at Michael's (with a 40% off coupon), and the foam brush (as part of an assorted 15-piece pack) was $4 at Michael's. Also, Michael's has weekly printable coupons on their site, usually offering 40 to 50% off one item. 

Step-By-Step:

Nail polish glitter mod podge bobby pins (2)

For the nail polish pins: Slide bobby pins onto a card or piece of aluminum foil to keep the two sides from sticking together. Paint two or three coats of polish on each side, then finish with a clear top coat. I recommend painting one side, then waiting at least 12 hours for it to dry completely before flipping the pin & foil over and painting the other side.

For the glitter pins: Combine glitter and Mod Podge in a disposable plate or cup. You're only doing 2 to 3 coats, so you want a high proportion of glitter to glue. Slide bobby pins onto small strip of aluminum foil to protect the non-glittered side/keep the two sides from sticking. Paint on 2 to 3 coats of the glitter/Mod Podge mix with the foam brush, allowing each coat to dry between applications (about 10 minutes each coat). Since I didn't have clear acrylic sealer, I finished off each barrette with one application of the Sally Hansen base/top coat. The result is remarkably smooth, without any glue tackiness or (to my amazement) any flaking.

Taking It Further: 

  Nail polish hair accessories next steps

From top left: Conair wide headbands, 3-pack; Goody No Metal barrettes; jagged manicure by Forever the Ugly Duckling; striped nails by Let Them Have Polish!; China Glaze Neon in Lime Light; DCNL black auto clasp barrettes.

I loved the ease and results of both bobby pin upcycling methods, and think both methods lend themselves to bigger D.I.Y. projects. The Mod Podge/glitter method came from two glitter shoe tutorials; I'm already thinking about using it on larger hair accessories, eyeglasses, even notebooks. The nail polish upcycling method would work well on non-flexible barrette surfaces, and also for accents/detail work on larger accessories like bracelets and headbands. What's more, there is copious nail art inspiration online, featuring some truly amazing designs. Start with Chloe's Nails, SuPa Nails, or the two blogs credited above for more ideas.

D.I.Y. Idea & Tutorial: Floral Wedges

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First, a quick note about the blog. Starting this week, I will be posting Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. I have some long-term blog projects I’d like to get done, plus I tend to go off in a million directions posts-wise, the result being that nothing gets finished. By limiting the number of days I intend to post, I hope it will allow me to focus and deliver. Okay, onto the post!

Inspiration 

Floral wedges

From left: floral high heels* {via} // Chinese Laundry wedges at ThreadSence {via}.

I’ve been considering potential D.I.Y. tutorials, and one idea that stood out was a tutorial for wrapping shoes in floral fabric. It helped that I already had shoes to revamp:

Target wedges

I bought these Target wedges long ago because I loved the shape, but haven’t worn them much since. The blue color (which is a bit darker than the photos) doesn’t really go with anything, being too blue to blend in, but not bright enough to make the shoes a statement piece.

Luckily, it turns out many bloggers have wrapped shoes with fabric before, meaning there are many inspiring tutorials for guidance. Here are the ones I referenced:

And here’s how it came out:

Floral Wedge Tutorial

Finished shoe versus old shoe

Finished shoe vs old side view

Ta-da! Much brighter and more fun than the original.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

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Recipe: Houston’s Grilled Chicken Salad Copycat

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Houston's salad copycat

I love Houston’s Grilled Chicken Salad.

I know it is one of those “bad salads” that morning talk shows are always discovering (“1000 calories for a salad?! Outrageous!”), but I do not care. I love the crisp textures (tortilla strips, lettuce, carrot sticks), the grilled chicken, and of course, the combination of the two dressings, Honey Lime Vinaigrette & Peanut Sauce. However…

Long ago, the salad used to be $9. It is now hovering at $16, and what’s more, the portion size has shrunk. Economic realities of the restaurant industry aside, I hate spending $16 simply to get some dressing.

So I decided: I had to learn how to make the dressings myself. And, after only one failed attempt, I hit the jackpot.

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Currently Enjoying…

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Another quick check-in. It's been family-intensive over here: my aunt visited on Tuesday, and tomorrow we're heading out for a family reunion at Guntersville State Park. Good times! Some other things we're enjoying: 

Cheap Movie Tickets

Grottu22

Living Social has another 2 tickets for $9 deal up, so click on over. I actually squealed when I saw the deal on a friend's Facebook post; summer's my main movie-going season, and sweet mother is it expensive.  The fine print says it doesn't apply to IMAX or 3-D movies, but I used the last coupon for the 3-D IMAX version of Thor (blergh), so…maybe?

Trader Joe's

Trader joes delicious

Oh, I love Trader Joe's. It was love at second sight, but that doesn't make it any less sweet. Recent successes (above):

  • Frozen croissants (both plain & chocolate)
  • Bagged salad (mache & the spinach/cranberry/pecan salad kit)
  • Sweet & spicy pecans
  • Kerry Gold unsalted butter 
  • Frozen pear tarte
  • Frozen garlic naan

The croissants are probably my favorite find; I've heard them compared favorably to Williams-Sonoma's frozen croissants, which are about 3 times more expensive. 

BOOKS!

Book pile

Book pile covers

I recommend all of these! Top row: Gideon Defoe's The Pirates!, Nick Hornby's Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt, Georgette Heyer's The Unfinished Clue, Winifred Watson's Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day. Bottom row: Dorothy L. Sayers' Strong Poison, Guy Delisle's Burma Chronicles, Barbara Pym's A Glass of Blessings, Elizabeth Von Arnim's The Enchanted April.

They recently closed the biggest Borders in the Atlanta area. Towards the end, as the sales got better and better, my mom and I went every Friday to leisurely pick over the store's carcass, making intense decisions over whether or not to buy X book now, or risk losing it by waiting for a deeper discount.

The above pile cost $39.32, with individual discounts of 60% to 70% off.  I bought a comparable stack every week, even though I couldn't afford it and certainly don't need more books. I now understand the manic helplessness of gamblers and other compulsives. It is not pretty.

Have a great weekend (and drop me a line if you have any book or Trader Joe's recommendations)!