Manicure Mardi and Stashoholism Confessional

I never paint my nails, much to Cidell's despair. But I found myself in the CVS looking for a lighter color for my toenails (I usually wear dark) and ran across this Wet'n'Wild. So I will imitate Shannon's Lacquer Lundi and share "Blazed." I love the pinky-coral color, but alas, you get what you pay for when you spend 99 cents on a bottle of nail polish. The first time I used it I painted my nails outside. The good thing about this polish is that it dries very quickly. The bad thing is that if you're using it outside on a sunny, breezy day it dries midstroke. So the outdoor manicure was a disaster.

I tried again at home, and it was much better. It definitely required two coats, and I still didn't get opacity. Not being a manicure person, I didn't bother with base coat or topcoat, so it started chipping on the second day. Oddly, my left hand--painted with my more dextrous right hand and used less--chipped badly, while my right stayed intact with only tip wear. I wonder if my clumsier left hand applies polish more heavily?

I will try to resist the cheap nail polish in the future, but this was the only color in the CVS that appealed to me and I really like it. If I could find the same color in a good quality polish I would consider buying it.

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G Street Fabric


I headed to the suburbs on Thursday to hit up Joann's Vogue and McCall and half-price notions sale, and of course had to visit G Street as well for 25% off zippers. I wanted to get a sheer-ish white woven for a quick top I wanted to make, and a white linen with black embroidery for a wearable muslin. I was hoping that I had some kind of willpower not to buy any fabric other than these planned purchases. Alas, I do not.

I found my white sheer, and got the navy rectangles (it looks black or gray in the photo, but the fabric on the left is actually navy) instead of the embroidered. But then I found the knit print that is perfect for a maxi dress (assuming there's enough of it) and the sheer black and white print as another wearable muslin. So much for willpower.

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When I posted instructions on how to add more holes to a belt, several people asked what to do about the excess. If it's a cheap belt (as most of mine are) without a real edge finish, I just chop it off with scissors. For a nicer belt where this would be obvious, I use a hair elastic as an additional belt-loop-holder-thingy to keep the excess in place. For a black belt, a black hair elastic is perfect. For the red/gold belt from the post, I use one of those clear hair elastics. These were popular several years ago and I still have a whole bunch of them. I'm not sure if they're still available in stores, but they are sold on the internet. It's completely unnoticeable on the belt, but keeps the long flap from waving around.