Lipstick organizer DIY

A lot of my DIY projects seem to be born out of necessity. I love how lipstick tubes look standing up (as opposed to tossed in a bucket or something) but if you keep them on top of your dresser, like I do, that poses a problem every time you close a drawer and they all tumble over. So I came up with this little lipstick organizer, and it works like a charm! :D



Materials you'll need: Empty nail polish remover bottles* (you only need the caps), spray paint, the lid from a jar (I used a plastic jar from the craft store), hot glue gun, embellishments (optional)

1. Clean the bottle caps and jar lid, and let them dry. 2. Spray paint all of the caps and lid, and let them dry. 3. Arrange the caps in the lid the way you want them to look, and then glue them down one at a time. 4. (Optional) Add embellishments like ric rac or floral cabochons! :)



*If you don't have already-empty bottles, make sure to dispose of the nail polish remover in a safe, environmentally-friendly way! You can find a local recycling center here.

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Giveaway: Custom mermaid necklace! [closed]

I Love Crafty is offering one lucky girl a personalized seashell mermaid necklace! You get to choose the color (pink or gold) the words, and the chain color (gold, blue or pink!)

What you'll win: One personalized necklace!

How to enter: Follow I Love Crafty on facebook.* And leave some way for me to contact you if you win (email, twitter, blog, whatever floats your boat!) Also, you must be a follower of this blog to enter! This is mandatory, too! (And, please, none of this follow-and-leave as soon as the giveaway is over jazz.. that's super rude!)

For additional entries: (leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Tweet this "I just entered to win a custom mermaid seashell necklace on @kategabrielle's blog http://www.scathingly-brilliant.blogspot.com" (Only counts if you use that exact tweet.)
2. Visit I Love Crafty's etsy shop and let me know what your favorite item is!

This giveaway ends on August 6th at 12:01AM EST. Giveaway is over.

Winner: Comment #10


*If you don't have facebook, you can still enter by doing one of the additional entries instead :)

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who's laughing meow

Well, my macbook came in the mail yesterday and right now I am using it to type this blog post! yay!! I've decided on Margo for the name after all, and thanks to some super helpful comments on my last post, I'm going to get this pink speck case for her :) Thanks!! :D

This shirt says "Who's laughing meow?" on it (I LOVE a good pun. Extra points if it's a cat pun.) although you can't really see the words since I have it tucked in. I was aiming to do some close up shots but by the time my camera's self-timer had started ticking, I was already entranced by two little fluffballs on my bed. I'm not easily distracted by shiny objects, but put something with fur and whiskers nearby and you'll lose my attention completely.

Shirt - c/o modcloth | Skirt - h&m | Shoes - modcloth

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today is a most exciting day...

...for today, my new laptop arrives in the mail! hooray! I've been sans-laptop for almost a month and I just can't wait to have one again. I want to name it but I'm not sure what yet. I'm leaning towards Margo (after the character from The Good Neighbors) but we'll see. Also I really want a hard case for it/her... does anyone have any recommendations? I'm getting an 11" macbook air. Ideally I'd like a pink case (surprise!) but most of the ones I'm looking at on amazon don't have reviews, so I'm wary.

In other news, how amazing are these leggings?! I'm not usually a huge fan of footless tights/leggings so I tried concealing the fact that they don't have feet by wearing black socks underneath lol. I think it actually worked rather well, though. The key was using really thin socks so it looked sort of seamless. Black tights would probably have worked too!

Dress - vintage | Cardigan - f21 | Leggings - c/o romwe | Shoes - urbanog

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wishlist wednesday

Actually, it's just one of many best-wishlist-wednesday-finds-ever, all from an etsy shop called The Science Boutique. My favorite is the Tesla Brooch, but my mind can't even comprehend the amount of awesomeness going on in this store. A close runner-up in the favorites category would be this charm bracelet depicting the evolution illustrations from Carl Sagan's Cosmos. Speaking of my hero, they also have two Carl Sagan brooches and a necklace! Best etsy shop ever? I vote "yes!!!!"

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un deux trois

remixed item: urban outfitters dress from trade with Amber
outfit 1: cardigan - forever 21 | belt - old navy | shoes - blowfish
outfit 2: cardigan - forever 21 | shoes - modcloth | tights - target
outfit 3: cardigan - c/o modcloth | shoes - urbanog

This is one of my favorite dresses... partially because it's so pretty and fits like a glove but mainly because me and Amber got to be friends during this trade *aww* :) But seriously, I wear it quite a bit. It's one of my go-to dresses when I don't feel like spending a lot of time putting an outfit together, because it's so easy to style and always makes me feel put together.

It's funny, I always go back and read the old posts when I do these remixes and in the first one I wrote about having a rough time with my move to Canada (which eventually fell through.) I'm actually going through a bit of a rough patch right now, and reading that post reminded me that no matter what disappointments I'm facing, or how much something may be weighing on my mind day and night, I eventually move on and forget. Not moving to Canada seems like a distant memory now and I don't feel even remotely emotional about it anymore. Eventually the things that seem like colossal failures to me right now will fade, and I'm really glad I was reminded of that today.

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a happy hypatia post

Hypatia doesn't really stand still very often for photos, so I was pretty thrilled to get this one last night. It's like she was posing for me, standing in front of my curtains looking all 70's big-eyed-cat cute and everything. And I thought it would be the perfect picture to use for a little Hypatia update in case anyone is interested in how she's doing!

She had another episode of feline herpes about 1 month ago and I was doing a decent amount of worrying (and an un-decent amount of sleeping) but she's doing really well now! *knock on wood!* I keep track of her weight, and I am SO over-the-moon happy to say that right now she's the heaviest she's been all year! I'm seriously giddy about it. And it's been over a month since her last vet visit-- she is usually in there at least every 2-3 weeks! I know it's not a guarantee that she'll remain healthy but at this moment I'm just so happy! She's acting like her usual playful, sweet self and I couldn't ask for anything more!

I know I definitely walk a fine line between cat lady and crazy cat lady (people who know me would probably say I crossed that line a long time ago) when I do posts like this, but I really wanted to share the good news, especially since I know that Hypatia has a lot of people rooting for her :) Every single time someone online asks me how she's doing, my heart feels so full. xo!

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doublemint

Actually, more like quadruplemint lol! I love mint green so much (can you tell?) but I don't think I ever do head-to-toe, it's usually a touch of mint here.. a touch of mint there. I loved this though, especially with my freshly-dyed pink tips. I'm a sucker for mint and pink.

Dress - h&m | Shoes - c/o BAIT footwear | Tie - flapper girl (custom 26" length)
Cardigan - old navy | Belt - asos

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it's still me

Last week as part of my grandmom's birthday celebrations we went to Grounds for Sculpture. It's a natural park/sculpture garden, and it's absolutely beautiful! The last time we were there I was about 10 years old and admission was still free (the fact that they charge now is probably why we haven't been back in so long lol) The highlights for me were the gorgeous gardens (some of them felt positively Alice-in-Wonderland-esque!) and the life-size sculptures of impressionist paintings by J. Seward Johnson (who also founded the park). It was like stepping into a Renoir!

It was sweltering hot, so I had my bangs pinned back and took this rare opportunity to wear shorts (although I still wore tights, but they had a really loose weave so it made me feel more covered-up without being overheated.) I didn't feel like me, I'm so used to wearing dresses lol! But it was a nice change for a day ;)






Me and my grandmom pretending to have a dinner party... it's actually a sculpture! Even the tablecloth is made of bronze (something I forgot momentarily and banged my knee! oops)

Shirt - f21 | Shorts - emerging thoughts | Shoes - Dorothy Perkins
Bag - modcloth | headband and belt - f21 | tights - target | sunglasses - asos

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the awkward call for sponsors...

August is the last month for my summer sponsorship rates -- they'll be going back to normal for September so if you're interested snag a spot at the discounted price while you can :) For rates, traffic and statistics, or to purchase an ad, click here! Ads go up as soon as I approve them, unless the size is all filled up, in which case they'll go up as soon as there is an opening! Also, I think the featured slot is currently open for August so ... just saying ;)

Also, you can take 10% off any ad booked before August 1st with code AUG10, and if you purchase 3 months at once you can take 20% off with code 3MONTHS :) Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

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instagram

I haven't done one of these in a while so I thought it was about time.. especially since there are some precious cat photos in this batch that I never got to share here lol! ;D

1. fooling around with embroidery (available here)
2. they are killing me with their cuteness.
3. I taped Creed to a pizza box that I shipped to Millie
4. SUCH a weird cat! seriously.
5. free slurpee day! (July 11)
6. on the way to the beach
7. at the beach ;)
8. new brooches in the shop!
9. my new fantastic pink clock
10. hypatia modeling my new pendants (in the shop here)
11. watermelon nails! :D
12. my unicorn dress (more pictures here)
13. the 4th of july (morningstar fake meat = YUM!)
14. Chloe looking cute, with a dose of "I'm going to kill you."

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Scalloped edge purse DIY

I saw this scalloped lace trim at the craft store a while back, and although I was positive I wanted to use it for *something* I had no idea what exactly. Then while sorting through some of my old bags, I stumbled upon this tan one from H&M last year and thought it would make for a fun DIY project! It's so nice to revamp an old item that you completely forgot about! :)



1. Gather your materials. You'll need: A bag, embroidery floss, a needle and scalloped (or something equally pretty) trim. 2. Beginning at the corner of the bag, start to attach the trim. I tried lining up my stitches with the existing stitching on the bag, and I matched the embroidery floss to the color of the thread. 3. If you're using lace, it's easy to just thread the floss through the holes in the trim, for consistent stitches. 4. When you get to a corner, gather the trim a bit as you go along. I didn't do this on my first try and had to take out all of my stitches because when I closed the bag, the lace was way too tight on the corners! I think the gathering makes it look even prettier, too :) When you get to the end, just knot your thread and voila! A brand new bag!

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