PopBetty

A Love Letter to Pop Culture

Welcome to Halloween Week!

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Vintage Halloween Witch by Gil ElvgrenWelcome to Halloween Week! For the next five days, expect 2+ posts a day featuring Halloween party concepts, D.I.Y. tutorials and ideas, vintage and budget Halloween inspiration, costume ideas, and scary book recommendations.

A quick list of my top Halloween resources:

Next up: Halloween Week 2011: Autumnal Options.

Vintage witch pin-up “Riding High” by Gil Elvgren.

Fall Frame of Mind: 4 to 6

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Just as Miss Moss had to psyche herself up for summer, I’ve decided to do a series of posts to get myself and readers psyched for fall. Think of it as a to-do/photo inspiration list. Here are items 4 to 6:

PopBetty Fall Inspiration - Warm Knits
From left: Toast’s cable knit socks (sold out; link is to a similar item); Yokoo’s The Snow Leopard Scarf.

4. Break out the knits: No more trying to mentally suck in your back fat. Time to don your favorite sweaters, cable knit socks, hats, and warm scarves. You’ll be snuggled and warm, and as far as anybody can tell, shaped like Miss World.

Oktoberfest Inspiration from Joy the Baker, Epicurious, and Design Sponge
Row by row: soft seasoned pretzels with mustard by Joy the Baker; beer stein from Amazon; bratwurst with apples, onion, & sauerkraut from Epicurious (photo by Lisa Hubbard); German chocolate cake from Design*Sponge (photos by Kristina Gill). 

5. Oktoberfest: Getting drunk off beer while wearing a dirndl & surrounded by strangers? No thanks. But a mini-homemade Oktoberfest, with friends & hearty foods (and no lederhosen) sounds like fun. Typical Oktoberfest foods include brats with apples and cabbage, soft pretzels with mustard, German chocolate cake, potato dumplings (knödel), and apple strudel; the beer I’ll leave up to you.

PopBetty Fall Inspiration - Bonfires and Smores
Row by row: Bonfire from Tereasa & David’s wedding, via Martha Stewart Weddings; cooking marshmallow photo from What’s Cooking America; fireplace from Country Living; Pillsbury double-stack s’more recipe.

6. Open fires (fireplaces, bonfires, candles): We made s’mores over the grill this summer, and let me say: cooking over an open flame in July is like standing in the mouth of hell. Never again! But open fires in the crisp fall breeze? Pure bliss. Add s’mores (preferably made with Petit Ecolier biscuits) for maximum effect.

Fall Frame of Mind: 1 to 3

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I know I said in this post that I was excited for fall. It’s true, and yet…I’m dreading the season too. Not for it’s own sake, but for the cold winter it promises. While I tend to throw myself into fall and winter festivities, it’s largely an act of willful resistance–to the cold, the darkness, and the sense of another year gone.

So, just as Miss Moss had to psyche herself up for summer, I’ve decided to do a series of posts to get myself (and readers) psyched for fall. Think of it as a to-do/photo inspiration list. Here are 1-3:

PopBetty Fall Inspiration - Pumpkin Foods
Row by row: Starbucks pumpkin spice latte copycat recipe by Angie McGowan; pumpkin shake by Martha Stewart; pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin spice pancakes by Joy the Baker.  

1. Pumpkin-based foods: Something about pumpkin and its attendant spices says fall in the coziest way possible. I’ve only ever had sweet pumpkin dishes like the ones above; this year, I’ll also try branching out into savory pumpkin dishes like this pasta with pumpkin, pancetta, and broccoli rabe.

PopBetty Fall Inspiration - Pile of Books
2. Reading books under a blanket: Thanks to the Borders’ liquidation sales, and as a former bookseller & a frequent thrift store shopper, I have hundreds of unread books in my house. While I believe personal libraries should have lots of “to-read” books (that way you can shop your own shelves, a wonderful feeling), it’s getting ridiculous. My current goal is to get rid of 50 books by the end of October (donated, posted on PBS, or sold on Amazon). Which means lots of reading to figure out what goes.

PopBetty Fall Inspiration - Halloween
From left: Luella Bartley AW2008 witch from Vogue.co.uk (love the orange tights!), vintage Betty Grable Halloween photo, and Grandin Road synthetic pumpkins (no longer available, but good D.I.Y. inspiration).  

3. Halloween/Día de los Muertos: It’s time to announce it: next week is Halloween Week on She’s A Betty. From Monday to Friday, it will be all Halloween, all the time. I know some of you might not find that exciting, and I hear you–I’m personally not so into Halloween. But even I’ve had a blast assembling Halloween party concepts, costume ideas, vintage Halloween inspiration, scary book lists, and a few original D.I.Y. projects for the occasion. Can’t wait to show you everything!

What about you guys? How are you dealing with the new season?

Industrial Bookshelf Inspiration

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PopBetty - Industrial Bookshelf Inspiration

Clockwise from top left: photo by Douglas Friedman, for Domino; pipe bookshelves via Lark & Linen; French industrial shelves, $799 from Wisteria (no longer for sale); bookshelf stairs from Locati Architects & Interiors; industrial closet shelving by D.I.Y. Diva (includes tutorial); sconce bookshelves, 2 for $139.00 from DirtyBils. All images via Pinterest (click through for specific credits).

Lately, I’ve come across striking examples of industrial shelving. Something about dark metal piping and rich-colored woods hits me square in the gut, and luckily, it’s a look that can be recreated without too much money or effort. See the links above for great retail options and D.I.Y. inspiration/advice. Not pictured, but also helpful, are these D.I.Y. industrial shelving instructions from iVillage.

P.S. There’s less than a week left to enter the Mad Men: The Illustrated World giveaway. The contest closes at 12:00 AM September 28th, and the winner & October’s giveaway book will be announced later that day. Thanks to all who have entered so far!

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.