sparkle, sparkle

i don't remember where exactly i heard that liking shiny, sparkly things was because of one's german-ness, but whether it's that, or that i'm part magpie, i can't deny my love of anything gold and sparkly. and that's why i had to have this belt (which i knew i was wearing before i had my clothes picked out)...

sweater: target // dress: forever 21 (it's one of my new dresses from our little shopping trip!) //belt: tj maxx // shoes: payless // flojo: aratinga solstitialis

can you believe i'm not wearing anything vintage or thrifted in this outfit? neither can i. i almost feel a little high maintenance about it, but then i remember i only paid $2 for that leather belt and all is well. also, i've decided i'm way too shy to have chris take my pictures anymore, so when the camera's taking a picture and chris is walking by, i instinctively make some weird face. case in point, photo number 3.

a GLITTER diy!

i don't know about you, but i love some sparkle - especially in the form of glitter (and a sequin skirt, but i still don't have one of those). i've been on a bit of a mission to find clear nail polish with BIG pieces of gold glitter, but i've come up empty-handed. i'm sure it's sold somewhere around here, but with all the busyness that comes with this time of year, i've not been able to look everywhere in this city that sells nail polish, so i figured i'd just save some time and make my own.

what you'll need: clear nail polish (be sure you get some that's thick as i learned on my first attempt that the glitter will NOT stay even remotely suspended in the thin, watery polish), glitter. i found this tube of big gold glitter at michael's for $0.99.

i forgot to take a picture of this, but to get the glitter in the bottle of nail polish without a beautiful gold mess, i folded a small piece of paper in half, poured some glitter into it, and then dumped the glitter into the bottle from the fold of the paper. mix it up, shake it around, dance for a minute, then go paint your nails!

i'm going to go ahead and tell you that, like my underwear, i do not spend a lot of money on cosmetics. i'm cheap. i bought the N.Y.C. brand polish for less than $2, and although i haven't been wearing it long, i think it works fine for this project.

also, i have to tell you that painting my nails is sort of like a celebration of accomplishment for me! i've been so incredibly busy making jewelry to have orders filled, shipped, and delivered by christmas that i had a breakdown and cried like a baby because i felt so overwhelmed that i haven't been able to do anything that, yes, is unimportant, but fun to me. since i've finally finished the christmas orders so i know my hands will have a break for a little while, i decided there was no better time to paint my nails, because with a slow down in business, the polish would actually last more than a few hours!