Bows are usually some of my best friends, but there was something about having one pretty much smack dab on the front of this already very frou frou red mini dress that was rubbing me the wrong way. So I decided to remove it and make it into a cute bow-shaped purse. Click on the steps to see how you can refashion your own ugly bow!

I fell in love with this delicate blue and green floral print, but unfortunately it was on a size 12 mumu when I found it. It was only $10 at Goodwill, though so I thought I’d give refashioning it a whirl. Here’s the (rather shoddy) finished product. I might wear it to NY Fashion Week if it doesn’t fall apart on me before then!

Let me know what you think!

After:

With the economy in shambles, accessories that allow us to add some flava to our existing wardrobe pieces and avoid having to buy brand new ones seem to be all the rage. My absolute favorite example of this trend? SHOE JEWELRY! Especially these fab pieces by Litter SF. While Litter’s glamorous baubles will cost you upwards of $70, there’s no need to feel left out if you don’t have a pile of dough to spare. I made my own shoe sparkle by taking an old dangly earring I had in my jewelry box and hooking it over the back of my heels. Just secure with a piece of duct tape, and voila - instant FREE shoe bling!

what a cute craft to give your valentine, especially filled with some organic chocolate goodies.

thanks for the pics tatertotsandjello and prettyinthecity!

here’s how.

this is a card i received in the mail from macy’s after i specifically told them never to send me one again. ahhh, macy’s. my first instinct was to cut it into a million pieces and tell it to begone. but when i thought about all the design work, glittery gold and red pigments (actually quite pretty), energy and plastic it took to make this card, i couldn’t bear to just throw it in the trash.

so here’s what i did:
1. first, cut the part of the card with your name on it off in a long strip.
2. then, cut it to a size that will fit your finger.
3. next, bend the strip around a marker or something that has a similar circumference to your finger to form a loop.
3. last, poke a hole into each side of the strip, and use strong thread to link them.
voila!

you can also use the part of the card that has your account number (after you’ve canceled your account, please) to make a bracelet symbolizing man’s plight (addiction to shopping).

i added an extra lil suttin’ suttin’ to mine with a dior ribbon that i found in a garbage pile right outside of the flagship store on 57th street. all it needed was a good wash.

other ways to deal with unwanted credit cards: when a paper shredder just won’t do

1. use the showercaps to cover leftovers. it saves saran wrap and is a lot easier to work with.
2. this one’s obvious - after using up all your shampoo on a trip, clean out the bottle and save it so that you can refill it for your next trip.
3. building off of that last one, i just started a “waters of the world collection.” fill your empty bottles with water from your destination as a souvenir of your travels.
4. use the shampoo as dish detergent (or just use it as shampoo!) instead of buying it at the store.
5. melt all of the soaps down in the microwave and make them into one giant soap. you can buy molds here.
6. krissy just mentioned something that blew my mind: why don’t hotels just refill those big shampoo/conditioner/soap dispensers that hang on the shower wall instead of giving out individual bottles? it would save money and materials. i’ve stayed at a couple places in europe that do this and i did not even miss the bottles at all! while we’re on the topic, i was excited to see that many hotels are adapting to a system where guests must insert their keycard into a slot in the room for the electricity to work. this way, the tv, ac and other devices do not drain energy when no one is in the room. you can’t leave the lights on either.

shower cap…forgot to take a pic of it in use. kind of defeats the purpose, i suppose.

the 2nd ave. line, a situation more desperate than me trying to find a non-slutty, but still not completely man-like costume for halloween, is not likely to be completed until, well, until i find a non-slutty but still not completely man-like halloween costume. not anytime soon, but i’ll keep you updated.

bottom-line, most of us have abandoned the prospect of a comfortable and reliable subway ride. the 7 line is packed and often runs local even though it starts off as an express. the indicators that tell you how long the next l train will arrive in work great, except that the train comes into the station right on schedule and then does not stop. the g train, well let’s not even get started on the g train.

ask any new yorker why we have to suffer so to get to work and he/she will say the same thing - there are simply too many people trying to get to work at the same time. and ridership is increasing. so what do we do?

with money, time and capacity as our limits, it seems the only thing we can do is stagger our work schedules. now, there are many obvious reasons that people might think this approach won’t work:

1. my boss needs me at work at 9am.
2. i don’t want to stay at work later than i have to.
3. i don’t want to look like a slacker.
4. i am an stockbroker and need to be in early.

the list goes on. but consider the following:

1. almost everyone has a mobile device and much of what we do between 9am and 10:30am can hardly be called “working” anyway.
2. some people are still sleepy at 7am in the morning and would appreciate being able to come in at 11am (and would work more effectively).
3. some of us do not mind staying late if we get to come in later.
4. some of us have kids and would love to come in a little early if it means we can pick them up from school at 3 in the afternoon.
5. if your office makes it a policy to have staggered schedules, and dept. heads know about it, they won’t think that you’re lazy…well they might, but that’s probably due to the fact that you are.
6. imagine 1/2 or even 1/4 of the people that you usually ride the train with, not riding the train with you anymore.

i’ve run this idea in front of a lot of different people and most think it is great. yes, there are a lot of roadblocks, namely your employer not being down with you coming in later or earlier. but there has to be some way that the mta and employers across the city can strike a deal. incentives of some kind? employers should know that not everyone is a morning person and allowing people to come in later could boost productivity. the mta should know that many of their delays and necessary repairs are caused by the super-high volume of riders.

if anyone has ideas, let me know.

in the meantime, i’m going to ask john liu what he thinks.

here is his email address: liunewyork@gmail.com

imagine eating these sprinkled over some steamy rice, or scrambled eggs? rarrrr.

now i just have to figure out the website. from what i can decipher, you can purchase a 200g container for 2100 yen or about $19.91.

www.gyutoro.com! who knew?!!