Black Friday ready

Can you believe that the holidays are upon us??! Thanksgiving is just eight days away, which make Black Friday just nine days away!!! Of course, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving food and whatnot, but I'm WAY more excited about Black Friday!! 

However, I'm not one of those insane people that stand outside of electronic stores at midnight in the cold or hit the malls before the crack of dawn. I tried that once or twice and it just wasn't my thing. (I give major props to those who do this religiously each year). It didn't seem worth it for me to wake up so early, fight the crowds, the lines, and fight the traffic getting out of the mall just for those deals. The year I actually went to the mall at 5AM, the deals were ok, and I ended up purchasing a few items, but it wasn't something to-die-for. 

I've gotten smarter since... Now I just do Black Friday shopping online or shop during Cyber Monday. I've learned that most retailers will offer a lot of the same discounts online as well. Sure, the selection may not be as great as actually hitting the stores, but it's beats waking up early and dealing with the crowds. Also, a lot of the retailers are offering free shipping as they are competing for your money. Hmmm... Waking up early to fight crowds to buy merchandise or have the merchandise be delivered to your doorstep free. I choose the latter.

This year, I've already did my homework thanks to online sites such as http://bfads.net/ and http://www.2011blackfridayads.com/ that post retailers' Black Friday ads and promos. I've pinpointed what stores and products I'll be purchasing online. Now, all there is to do is wait to eat turkey and spend money. :) 

Randomness: Post Its

Have you ever wondered why Post Its are so damn expensive?!! The random thought popped into my head recently as I had to reorder supplies for the company. If you think about it, Post Its are just colored pieces of paper with sticky adhesive, cut into different shapes and sizes. However, those things can get ridiculously expensive. A stack of them is more than a ream of paper!! (Darn 3M making lots of dough off of these things!)


Also, have you ever noticed the variety that these things come in?!! I feel like it sure is a lot of choices for a piece of paper you write notes on, then later might toss away. I walk into Office Max and there is a whole shelf dedicated to just Post It Notes.


There is so much variety....


Different sizes: 1.5x2, 3x3, 8x6, etc
Different types: lined, unlined, pop-up notes, post-it flags
Different shapes: your typical square and rectangle, to round, star, heart-shaped
Tons of colors: canary yellow, electric glow colors, tropical breeze colors, pastels, jewel pop colors, etc


When my coworkers ask me to buy "Post Its", they have to be very specific because some people are very particular with their Post Its only wanting a certain size, colors, etc.

Sewing away....

So, the recent lack of blog activity has been due somewhat to laziness and the rest because of trying to put together a costume last minute for Halloween. I thought what I was going to dress up as a while ago, but like always, I procrastinate. My friend was going as Snow White, so I had decided I'd go as the Evil Queen from Snow White to match her. I actually started looking for the costume three weeks prior to Halloween, but had no luck at Party City, Price Busters, Savers, or Walmart. I later decided that the picture of the costume I saw online was easy enough for me to make and I had ample time to do so. 


Materials:  Went and purchased the basics for the costume and accessories
-Black tank top
-Petticoat (couldn't find purple, so had to settle for black)
-Purple ribbon
-Grommets
-Purple fabric 


Then, during the week of Halloween, I finally worked on putting everything together. 


Process:  
-Put grommets on the black tank top and looped the purple ribbon through
-Sewed on ruffles on the sleeve using organza
-Attached a layer of purple tulle to the petticoat
-Sewed a collar using boning and bonding fabric to make it stiff. 
-Made a small crown using card stock, acryllic paint, glue, jewels, and lots of gold glitter. (Was originally thinking of using the Burger King crown, but didn't feel like it matched the outfit)


I was pretty satisfied of the end result with my last minute sewing... 

 Lessons learned:
-Grommets do not stay well on stretchy knit cotton.
-Organza and stretchy knit cotton do not make a good combination
-I haven't totally forgotten all my sewing techniques.