Blog Archives

And this week's project is:

2/26/2015

A felt peacock! Although, I will be making some martenitsi later, and I will probably give you some ideas. Hopefully before 1 March. :) Now enjoy this cute fluffy bird, almost like the real thing:

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What's in my bag?

2/24/2015

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Let's face it. You have no idea what's in your bag right now. There's no way (unless the bag is brand new, obviously). I didn't know either. So I emptied it. Here what I found:

Three pairs of gloves. Two spare for the kids and one for me. It's winter, after all. During any other time those are replaced by umbrella or sunglasses. Or, more often, both.

A pile of something. Pebbles, paper clips, a hair clip, plastic eye, playmobile parts, soda pops, coins and a small elsatic band for K. I must admit, I put all that back in my purse after I took the photo. No idea what to do with it.

Wallet (really really full wallet, mostly with documents and bank and shop cards), coin purse and work badge. Simply essential.

More essentials. Gummy bears and tissues and eye drops. No idea why I have any of the rest in my bag, nor when did I put it there.

GoPro, hand cream, a tampon, lipgloss, hair clips and McQueen. The two items that could totally save my day are in here. Yup, you guessed it, a tampon and McQueen. You never know when grumpy TO or grumpy kids could happen. What I'm missing here? My cherry lip balm. Nowhere to be found. I'm starting to think it has been eaten by K.

More surprises: a finger toy, bag hook, and a pen. I would not expect to find any of those on me. Oh well, I guess I had them all along. And my keys. Strangely, I can never find my keys when I search for them, but I KNOW they are there. Usually. :)

There is more! Random papers, plus random papers. Don't even ask.

What am I missing?

My phone. My phone is usually in my bag, to make sure I don't hear it when it rings. In this case, I don't know its where abouts (blame it on the kids!). I will find it in the morning, when the alarm starts.

Then, the other day I went out. So I grabbed a smaller purse and put in there only what I needed:

So I don't need that much. Question is, how does the rest accummulate? And am I the only one?

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Fasching Crashing

2/17/2015

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Happy Faschingdienstag, Shrove Tuesday, Carnival, or just Happy day on which I managed to do my nails! And convince N that his Superman outfit is actually a Spiderman outfit after somebody had already convinced him that Spiderman flies, and Superman doesn't. And make K swap her pink fluffy crown for purple kitten ears. Wait, what?

So many accomplishments, I decided to write a recap of what I managed to do last week:

1. Baked key lime pie (never tried key lime pie before), and with the leftover egg whites made French macarons with cashews instead of almonds. Happy to report both were pretty awesome.
2. Distributted 39 free 1-hour anti-stress massage coupons. People love me.
3. Finished reading Gone Girl (seriously, people, if you want a really really good book, read The Goldfinch).
4. Filmed a birthday video for a friend in the oh-so-fashionable draw as you talk style.
5. Did my nails with a fancy hearts manicure (no photo of the event, I actually only like to THINK it turned out well).

Now I only need to give you a Fasching last-minute costume idea, and I can go back to my less-superwoman self. Here it is, Alice's apron:

Go costum-ize yourselves!

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Ball night, Cinder Edna style :)

2/12/2015

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Or, more like, a Great Gatsby and Pinup girl inspired TO, which worked pretty well in the end. And because some people asked me how my 99 steps turned out, here a brief summary.

I managed to find a cheap second-hand purse that I transformed into a cool accessory:

Then, finally, I got the dress into a wearable state:

Ta-daaa! And of course, I tested it. :)

To add a little detail, I made this nice pin for my hair:

And danced the night away. Cinder Edna style. :))

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...99 Easy steps (Part 2)

2/4/2015

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~one week before the ball~

38. You have been focusing on the dress, and forgotten to book an appointment with the hairdresser. You'll have to do your hair yourself, all hairdressers within a radius of 5 km are fully booked.
39. Look at youtube to find inspiration.
40. End up finding inspiration for your make-up.
41. Still inspired, go to a beauty shop and buy at least 8 products that you will never use.
42. Realise you're not Camila Coelho.
43. Go back to working on the dress.

~5 days before the ball~

45. A friend asks you if she can borrow your silver ball clutch. It dawns on you you don't have a purse for yourself.
46. Nor shoes.
47. Did anyone mention jewellery?
48. Go through your closet searching for above items. Find used eye drops, Madame Tussaud's tickets and some hairpins (score! hairpins!).

~4 days before the ball~

49. Seriously, you should work on that dress.

49. And on your pedicure, for that matter.
50. Instead, spend a few hours browsing fancy clutches.

~3 days before the ball~

51. Watch YouTube. Maybe someone can teach you last-minute how to dance.
52. Try to convince your partner to dance with you.
53. Fail.

~2 days before the ball~

54. Consider doing your legs.
55. And eyebrows.
56. And please, wash that favourite underwear that you were planning to wear in case your dress project fails.

~1 day before the ball~

57. Panic (optional).
58. Buy/borrow/make a clutch that matches your outfit... At least a little.
59. Panic (optional).
60. Finish that dress.
61. Panic (optional).
62. Paint your old shoes with acrylic paint, so they appear somewhat decent.
63. Panic (optional).
64. Decide on make-up and hair.
65. Panic (optional).
66. Decide on the menu for the ball evening (who invited guests??).
67. Shop groceries for abovementioned menu.
68. Panic (optional).
69. Stuff sick kids with medicine and keep your fingers crossed they get better. Fast.
70. Panic (optional).
71. Try doing your manicure. (remember step 42?)
72. You are now allowed to take a shower.

~the day of the ball~

73. If you have completed optional steps 57, 59, 61, 63, 65, 68 and 70, take the kids to the park and breathe.
74. Cook for guests (who invited guests??).
75. Take 1/2 hour to convince your hair to form curls.
76. And about double that time to look like Kim Kardashian on a bad day (and yet, see step 42).
77. Stuff yourself in the dress (should fit by now if you've been on the diet from step 35).
78. Pack spare shoes.
79. Try to straighten the house.
80. Fail.
81. Your guests are here.
82. And your zipper is stuck.
83. Which doesn't matter, as your hair is still not styled and is covering all of your back.
84. Take 24 seconds to fix makeup, hair and dress, and serve food.
85. Drink a glass of champagne.
86. Repeat.
87. Attempt to take group photo.
88. Remove 3 lego pieces, 1 teddybear, 1 half-chewed olive and a cheerio from the floor.
89. Take group photo.
90. Attempt to put kids to sleep.
91. Fail.
92. Fix makeup and hair again. And that spot on the dress.
93. Let the nanny deal with the kids and search for a taxi company number.
94. Fail.
95. Decide to walk to the palace.
96. Stupid idea, it's cold and wet outside.
97. You are now completely exhausted.
98. And sick.
99. Are you sure you still want to go to that ball? And where did you put those tickets anyway?

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How to prepare for a ball in 99 easy steps (part 1)

2/3/2015

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We live in Austria, land of balls (yeah, we have balls here). Waltzing season starts in winter and ends... pretty much never. And we always go to this one ball in February. After years of experience, I am ready to share with you some preparation secrets ;).

~three months before the ball~

1. Attempt to buy tickets. They are all sold out. Excellent. You're late.
2. Talk to all your Facebook and work contacts. This friend who you met in Zumba class four years ago is one of the organisers. Score.
3. Buy ball tickets.

~two months before the ball~

4. Order a dress from China (ok, men, you should order a tuxedo from Thailand. I will continue though these instructions for the ladies only). Prepare to be surprised.

~one month before the ball~

5. Fill out your customs clearance forms and finally get the dress.
6. Suprise! The dress is too small/big/ugly.
7. Find a tailor to alter the dress. Realise this would cost you more than the dress itself.
8. Abandon the tailor idea.
9. Order a dress from the US (probably also made in China).
10. Have your credit card details rejected, you must be a scammer to ship a dress from the US to Austria.
11. Order the dress to be shipped to your mother-in-law's address in the States.
12. Have your mother-in-law reject your order with the delivery company. Twice.
13. Abandon idea of ordering the dress from the US.

~three weeks before the ball~

14. Book a babysitter to make sure you're going to the ball, naked or not.
15. Have a second nanny lined up just in case.
16. Explore dress purchasing options in Vienna. Realise you might as well buy a ticket to a nice warm destination for the same price.
17. Abandon the idea of purchasing a dress in Vienna.
18. Procrastinate. There is still time until the ball.
19. Try out your old ball dresses.
20. None of your old dresses fits.
21. Start a diet.
22. For one hour. Then someone brings French macarons. And violet chocolate.
23. Decide to make your own dress. Or, kind of. All you need is to buy a cheap dress and transform it into something you actually like.
24. Get excited.

~two weeks before the ball~

25. Find a cheap dress online.
26. It's too late for shipping, go buy it in a real shop.
27. Ok, they don't have it. Try another one. Or two.
28. Finally get the dress:

29. The dress is the wrong size, but you don't have time now to search for another dress.
30. Buy what you need to alter the dress.
31. The shop doesn't have what you need to alter the dress.
32. Get whatever they have.
33. Try to make the dress in a size that fits.
34. Fail. If you could make the dress fit, you could have altered the dress from China.
35. (not recommended) Start eating donuts in order to fit the dress.
36. Decide on the alterations that you actually CAN do.
37. Test your sewing skills again:

(to be continued)

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