Off to NYC!

Off to New York for a few days of Broadway shows, hipster-hunting, cupcake eating, and exploring! 

DIY Glitter and Paint Chip Notecards

Last weekend, thanks to the enabling of my mother and some pretty sweet Michael's coupons, I ended up buying a whole lot of glitter:

That darn Martha Stewart.  Her craft supplies are so annoyingly irresistible.

I also accidentally picked up a bunch of paint chip samples from the hardware store, even though I have no intentions of painting any rooms any time soon.  (I'm sorry, Ace Hardware. My bad.  I saw the colors and went a little crazy.)

I was itching to use the new glitter in some way, so I decided to make a notecard to send to a friend.  One of my goals for this year is to send more letters to friends--because who doesn't like getting unexpected mail?

Using ALL OF THE GLITTER

I decided to make the theme of the notecard "Happy Spring!" because I am indeed incredibly happy that spring has made its appearance.

A little paint chip grass and paint chip flower, et voila!  Instant spring notecard.  Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go glitter everything I can get my hands on.

Music Monday--Noah & the Whale

Somehow Noah and the Whale were able to encapsulate the beginning of spring perfectly--I pull out this album every March, and it never fails to disappoint.

St. Patty's Day Nail Art

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays, mainly due to 1) being Irish, 2) the abundance of green, and 3) shamrock shakes!  The other day I decided to make my nails festive for the occasion.  The materials needed:

Martha Stewart's glitter in aquamarine is my new Windex.  It will solve any problem, I swear.  The nail polish colors are Essie's Pretty Edgy, and Essie's Navigate Her. (Insert dirty joke here.)

Simply paint nails in Pretty Edgy, and paint the disco nail (ring finger) in Navigate Her.  Once you've done two coats and they are dry, dip a q-tip in clear nail polish, then the glitter, and then apply to the tips of your ring fingers.  (Or if you're feelin crazy, ALL OF THE NAILS!)  After the glitter is well in place, cover with one more coat of top coat.  Et voila!  Instant Irish pride!

Things I Want to Buy: Rain, Rain Go Away

This has certainly been the weirdest winter ever in Chicago--I feel like it never truly became winter.  Instead, we had a constant see-saw between winter and spring, back and forth.  The past few days have been very spring-like though, so I'm crossing my fingers that spring will stick this time.  The warmer weather has gotten me thinking about the rainy weather that April will most certainly bring with it, which of course got me thinking about a few essentials I'd like to upgrade. To the online shopping mobile!

Penguin rain boots from Target!  I already own a pair of rainbow heart boots from Target, but they're a little worse for the wear and there's a hole in the right boot. A fact that I sadly did not discover until jumping into a ginormous rain puddle last spring...that was a very soggy walk home.

Raincoat from Target! When I was five, I had the coolest reversible raincoat ever, that could be purple OR pink.  I've basically spent the rest of my life trying to find a grown-up version of that coat.  This is the closest I've come to so far!

Rainbow polka dot bubble umbrella from Totes! I love the look of bubble umbrellas, but they aren't the most compact or practical when folded up.  But this one is so adorable I may have to get it!

Here's hoping spring sticks around for awhile!

Music Monday--State and Madison

About a week ago, this arrived at my doorstep...

...and I haven't stopped listening to it since!  State and Madison hail from Chicago, and have been one of my favorite local bands for a long time.  They've finally put out an LP, and it is an amazing collection of music.  Check out the single here.  

They put on a mean live show--if you know what's good for you, you'll be at their record release show on April 6th at the Beat Kitchen!

Obsessed.

You guys.  I am obsessed.  I made the mistake of putting a sample of this on my keyboard at work, and I have found myself re-applying more often than a 13 year old girl who just spent her entire weekly allowance at Walgreens' makeup counter.  But in my defense, it actually moisturizes!  And smells like roses!  And has just a hint of color, so no one can tell that you've put on 50 layers before lunch.  That, in my book, is a win win.

A Robot Accessory Love Story

Meet Nerdbot:

He was a Christmas gift from a good friend (who clearly knows me well!) and we've been biffles since we met.  As you can tell by his sharp attire, he works hard for a living and firmly believes in the power of a good suit and tie.  He has a heart of gold and a unique ability to brighten your day with his sparkly eyes.

Last weekend while shopping at Charming Charlie's, the mecca of accessories, I found a ring that I knew would be a perfect match for Nerdbot!

A girlfriend for Nerdbot!  She clearly understands the power of accessorizing, as she thought far enough to match her bow to her eye color.  She enjoys long walks on the beach and putting on her dancing shoes.  

They've only known each other for a few days, but I'd venture to say it's a match made in heaven.  

Music Monday--Tommy & the High Pilots

Happy Monday!  I know it's going to be a good Monday, because tonight I'll be seeing these guys at Lincoln Hall!

Organizing Solution--Chalkboard Clipboards

Keeping track of papers on my desk has always been an issue for me.  I constantly feel like my desk surface spontaneously generates a mixture of coupons, pretty pictures, and grown up paperwork.  In an effort to turn the crazy into order, I came up with the following solution:

It's SUPER easy to execute.  All you have to do is:

1. Buy traditional hardboard clipboards.  (Fun fact: clipboards are twice as much at Staples as they are at Office Depot!  At least, this was true when I did my price matching.)
2. Paint clipboards with chalkboard paint.  This a) turns ugly brown clipboards into more attractive black clipboards and b) allows for easily changeable labeling!
3. Hang clipboards with clear 3M command hooks.  (I promise 3M is not paying me for an endorsement--I'm just obsessed with how easy they are to use!)
4. Label clipboards with chalk, and then load up with papers!

I love how it clears up horizontal space on my desk, and also gives me a visual reminder of things like to-do.  Also, because they are clipboards on hooks, you can easily take down a clipboard to tackle that to do list and empty out the clipboard!

Etsy Shop Update

I've been sewing like a madwoman, and am proud to introduce a new addition to Fits of Wanderlust Accessories--clutches!

They come in several different fabric designs, and are made mostly out of flannel and woven cotton.  I'm a little bit obsessed with big bows, so I figured I'd make that bow functional by pairing it with a grommet to secure the flap!

I think I had the most fun pairing up fabric and lining combinations, and went for pops of color in many of the clutches.  Who doesn't love opening your bag to find a hot pink surprise?

Check out all of the designs here!

Music Monday-Be My Valentine?

A little late, but here's the playlist that I sent out to friends for Valentine's Day this year.  I've been making Be My Valentine? mixes for 5 years now--thank goodness there is no shortage of love-themed songs out there!

Angry Birds Cake

It was a no-brainer when choosing the theme for my mom's birthday cake last month.  Ever since we got her an ipad awhile ago, she has been obsessed with Angry Birds.  Obsessed.  I first thought about making a round cake and adding angry birds characters on top, but somewhere along the line decided on a cake rendition of an angry birds level, complete with slingshot. GO BIG OR GO HOME.

It actually ended up taking less time than my brother's Mario cake a few months ago.  I think that's partly because I might be getting better at fondant?  But a large factor was probably also that I decided to just frost the cakes, and not cover them in fondant.  (A time saver to note for the future!)  

I had the help of my younger brother (in between arguing over how to make tower structures, we work quite well together!) and we had to wait until my mom went to bed to prevent her from finding out our plans. But it was quite worth it.  She was surprised and we pulled off a pretty cool cake!  I don't think I'm ever going to become comfortable with the cake cutting process though.  

Crayon Art DIY

I've seen this idea all over the internet, and last weekend finally got around to testing it out myself!  It's a simple process--hot glue crayons to a canvas, and then take a hair dryer and melt the crayons down until you get the look you're going for.  

There is a lot of splattering involved, so make sure you cover your space adequately!  The good news though, is if you happen to get crayon wax on your mom's laundry room floor tile, it's pretty easy to scrape off once it's dry again.  Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.  

The hair dryer I used had a concentrator attachment on it, and that definitely helped a lot in melting the crayons.  It made the hot air more focused and effective, and allowed me to minimize splattering as much as possible.


I might be addicted now, and have already bought another canvas to experiment with.  It would be cool to make canvas with only one or two color groups!

Surprise Ball DIY

Last week it was one of my friend's 25th birthday, so I decided to give her something fun to unwrap with a surprise ball.  These are super simple to make--just find a bunch of small presents, grab some crepe paper, and start wrapping!  I found most of these small gifts at the dollar store, Target's dollar spot, and World Market.  You could make these with virtually any theme for any holiday, but in Colleen's ball I included sillybandz, tic tacs (she's obsessed with them), worry dolls, shower gel, a finger puppet, mini colored pencils, bangle bracelets (which work well in helping making the surprise ball more round!) and for the grand finale, a Hello Kitty mega blocks.  As much fun as they are to make, it's even more fun watching the person unwrap the ball and discover their presents!