I decided to try candle making over Thanksgiving with mild success on my first attempt. I’m hoping to give these away as gifts at Christmas using some holiday themed fragrances and colors, but wanted to do a test run before using the supplies for the gift ones. Last night I made these two pumpkin pie scented candles using a paraffin/soy wax blend, amber color chips, pumpkin pie fragrance, and two 8oz mason jars.
I started by attempting to use an eye dropped to secure the wicks to the bottom of the jar as I had read about online with very little success. Then after melting and mixing up the wax, fragrance and dye chips, I poured the wax into the containers and used popsicle sticks to try to hold the wicks in place at the top. Unfortunately this didn’t work very well, and one of them moved after it had started cooling and left a large empty space where the wick had been.
Based on this experience I ordered some wick stickers and wick bars to use next time, so I don’t have the same problem. I thought I could get away without them, but it is much harder then it looks. My whole house was filled with the scent of pumpkin pie after mixing up the wax, so I’ll have to remember to do one fragrance at a time. I suspect a mixture of the scents would not be very pleasant.
Sometimes I’ll be having an otherwise crappy day at work, and then I’ll look down and my shoes will put a smile on my face. These new flats from Jessica Simpson were making me feel happy today with their adorable little spots of shine.
This weekend I made a few more necklaces inspired by Fusion Beads.
Lotus and the Koi Necklace
I love this one because it’s very zen-like and makes me feel peaceful. I wish the chains would stay separated better though. They keep getting all twisted together.
Again, I only remembered to take pictures 3 times, but here is what I wore.
Red Skirt and Polka Dot Blouse
I really love this skirt I bought at Ann Taylor Loft back in the early fall, but it was gaping somewhat unattractively and I’m not sure the cut really works with my shape. The color is beautiful though and it went well with this sleeveless white polka dot blouse I also bought from Loft.
Burgundy Blouse and Leather Jacket
This was a somewhat leather heavy outfit between the jacket and the boots, but it’s getting really cold outside and the jacket helped keep me warm in the office. The blouse was from one of my stitch fixes.
Dress and tights
The dress and necklace were from an old stitch fix, and the cardigan was from Target. I paired everything with these teal tights, but I didn’t love the look of the tights. I think I’ll stick with black and neutral tights. For some reason the color made me look sort of sickly.
This weekend I pulled out my old jewelry making supplies and put together a few small projects. First up was this bracelet and earrings that I think go well together: I got the inspiration for these projects from Fusion Beads. The bracelet I modified by replacing the mauve bead with this teal one and swapping the accents for silver. I also used a bit of hot glue to hold the side beads in place because they were sliding all over the place.
I felt like making a few pairs of holiday earrings and thought these were super cute. I really adore the chubby little Santas with their dangling feet. I can’t wait to wear these during the holidays.
Well, just when I didn’t think my fixes could get worse, they proved me wrong. I believe part of the issue with this one was a miscommunication and I am partially to blame. At one point in my comments after a fix I accidentally said I wanted tops that hit “mid-thigh” because they kept sending me tops that were too short. What I meant to say was “mid-hip” or “mid-back pocket” which is what works best for a pear shaped lady, and I immediately realized my blunder and added a note to the next fix request and updated my profile with another note to say that’s not what I meant.
Apparently the new stylist only saw the mistake comment because this fix was all super long tops in boring colors and a dress that was too short. I think some of the tops might have actually been longer than the dress. For this particular fix I had asked for a “fall floral patterned dress in a chiffon or similar pattern, to wear with boots and a oatmeal cardigan I have, hopefully about 40″ long, and a piece of jewelry.” Here’s what I got:
A holiday surprise!
First off, the site had made a big deal telling customers to make sure to order their November boxes because there would be a special surprise. I saw the little packet and got excited thinking maybe it was a coupon of some sort? No, it was simply a coupon code for a discount on some wine, a few recipes, and advertisements trying to get you to give Stitch Fix gift cards for holiday gifts. That turned out to be a dud.
The goods
Infinity ScarfRed open cardiganblouse or dress, not sureFall Dressdress or blouse?
The outfit ideas all came on one card this time. Here were the suggestions:
41Hawthorn Colibri Colorblocked Henley Blouse $48
Boring color, completely unflattering cut.
Ezra Agnes Belted Floral Print Dress $58
Paired with my own cardigan and belt, it was okay, but way too short. If I shrugged my shoulders the whole dress lifted up another 6 inches or so. Not appropriate for work at all and it felt too young for me, probably because of the length.
Ravel Marleena Front Pleat Button-Up Shirt $68
I don’t think this could be any more unflattering. Also I don’t need boring white blouses. This one looks sort of like a lab coat.
41Hawthron Abrianna Longsleeve Knit Cardigan $48
I’m wearing my slippers in this pic, but the cardigan was just sort of shapeless and didn’t do anything for me. I toyed with the idea of keeping this one since I liked the color and the fabric was nice, but in the end it just wasn’t worth the extra $28 it would have taken to keep it. I realize I am losing out on the $20 styling fee, but there was nothing in that box that felt worth investing any money into. Even the scarf was just okay, and at $48, I felt like I could have gotten the same thing at Target for a fraction of the price.
So overall this was a very disappointing and sad fix. I returned every last item and was out $20. I don’t know why they started sending me the most boring blah colored items with no patterns and the length of these was just awful. I know I am partially to blame for that, but I really wish they would read ALL of the notes. Also there was no jewelry and I specifically asked for jewelry.
I’m giving December one last go, and this time I just asked for tops with colorful patterns and textures that hit mid-hip or mid-back pocket and maybe a soft chunky sweater. It would be nice to get a December surprise that I didn’t want to rush back to the post office.
A Pear to Remember 