QUICK FIXES!!

I am a plus size person..".right now anyway."...said I for the last forty years!  LOL.  I hate to shop for myself.  When I was younger all the sizes for me looked like they were for women who were sixty and seventy years old.  Hey, I'm not saying anything against older womens fashions..'cause frankly, I have reached the age.

As the years have gone by and Walmart and Kmart have emerged as the biggest seller of women's affordable clothing, especially when you live on a Walmart size budget, the fashions have changed and now clothing is more stylish for women young and older.  But the one thing that really bugs me is the fact that for the last four or five years, clothing manufacturers are making almost all large women's fashions, especially blouses, with huge necklines that tend to show everything up top.

Do they not realize that some women are still modest and some don't think their necklines are all that pretty, so some prefer to wear blouses that are not so revealing.  I get so frustrated when I go shopping and can not find anything that has a normal neckline.  Even the winter blouses and pull-over sweaters are very revealing.  Do you know what it's like to try and keep warm with a blouse that is showing your babies behind.

Anyway, when I went shopping today with my "birthday bucks"....I really had one goal in mind.  I recently acquired the cutest pair of seersucker capris in baby blue and white pinstripes. I didn't have a blouse to wear with them and have been searching for weeks.  Well I found one at Beall's today that was suitable in color but you guessed it....the neck line revealed more than my babies behind. 

So being the ingenious person that I am I fixed it.  The capris were a little too long, so I shortened them and used the leftover to fix the blouse.  My before and after pics.

FINGERNAILS

As many of you know, I have chewed my fingernails for years.  Since I was a child.  There were times when I got older that I would try and grow nails but never had any luck.  The draw of nail chewing was just too much.

There was a period that I went through getting my nails done in acrylic and even went as far as getting my own nail tech license to make the "big bucks"!  What a joke that was.  Never made enough to cover the cost of all the supplies I bought.

Having your nails done in acrylic is very bad.....and I MEAN VERY BAD!!!.  It damages the nail beds, causes ripples and ridges in your natural nails and even can cause fungus's that ruin your nails forever.

I have always lamented that my nails have always been so thin and easy to break and split and even worse....peel.  My sister, Joan and my Mom, always had really hard beautiful nails but alas they got all the calcium and left me with none.....lol.

Last year, I heard about a new nail technique that did not damage your nails but made them strong so they could grow better.  About 8 years ago I quit biting my nails but still lamented they wouldn't grow out before they would break, chip, split or peel.  So I decided to try this new technique.  It's called gellac but pronounced...Shellac..  You heard me right.  It's pro-nounced just like the clear stuff they put on furniture.

Whether it is the same stuff, I could not tell you but I do know that I am extremely happy with the results.  I've had them done four times now and my nails have NEVER looked better.  I do have to warn you though...some of the techs seem to want to use the little electric grinder to take off the shellac when you go back for re-do.  DON'T LET THEM...THIS DAMAGES YOUR NATURAL NAIL.  Have them use a buffer pad.

I've included a couple of pics of my nails...this time I just left them with clear but have had color and french.  It all works well.

PAYING IT FORWARD

     At the beginning of the year, a bunch of people on Facebook decided to do the Paying it Forward gift giving thing again this year.  The whole premise was that if you signed your name under the person who wanted to partake in the PIF promise, then you had to paste the PIF promise on your page and have people sign up that you would send gifts to during the year. 

     There were a whole lot of promises made last year but then no one ever heard or said anything else about it.  Well, this year, we did it again and I decided...if you are going to sign up then you need to carry out your promise.

     So, I had a whole bunch of leftover yarn from prior projects and had recently told Danny as a joke..."you know, I'm probably gonna die and you're going to have to get rid of all that yarn, 'cause I don't have anything to do with it".  Little did I know that my PIF promise would give me an out to get rid of all that un-used yarn.

     I started crocheting a "scrappy afghan" out of the un-used yarn.  The first one turned out really good, so I decided I'd make all the rest of my sign-ups a "scrappy afghan".  Well, I've used up a lot of yarn.  So much in fact, that I've had to start buying more.  It's so funny.  I am having a blast making these afghans.  I've made a lot in my lifetime and can truthfully say that these are by far the prettiest and most colorful I have made.

    I am including a picture of my yarn holders.  The small basket on the left is basically what left of all my old yarn.  Most of what is in the other two has been bought to help finish them.

I hope everyone who receives their "scrappy afghan" enjoys it as much as I have making it.