For my third craftinista* post of the week, Brit + Co sent me this fabulous Brit Kit to make your very own zipper necklace.
That’s right… a necklace made out of zippers. It sounds incredibly weird and honestly the directions intimidated the crap out of me. But I thought that if my finished necklace turned out even half as cute as the one that Brit is wearing on the website, it would be worth the time I spent on it.
Here’s what came in the kit: 3 black zippers, 4 colored zippers, gold findings, glue, 3-in-1 pliers, black backing and the instructions.
Here’s how the project went:
The kit supplies. Are you kidding me with this? I’m supposed to make a necklace out of THIS?!
Ok, I cut the extra fabric off the zippers.This is do-able so far…
Then I glued the zipper tabs on each end and glued on my first zipper. Not too hard…
More gluing. I’m actually doing a pretty good job!
Holy guacamole, I just MADE this out of zippers!
Impressive, right? Who would have ever thought that I’d end up with something so sassy when I started with a desk full of zippers?! If you’re interested in this kit for yourself or a fashionable friend, it’s available on Brit + Co’s website for $24.99.
Would you like to win this necklace? I’ve decided to give away this zipper necklace, as well as the Joan of Arc necklace I made in this post. All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me which necklace you’d like to win! I’ll draw the winners on Wednesday, January 15th at noon.
Disclosure: I was provided a Brit Kit for free as a ‘thank you’ for participating in the Brit Co-Op. I was not required to review the kit, recommend it or even blog about it at all. I just loved it so much that I wanted to share it with my readers!
* If TJ Maxx can call someone a Maxxinista… I can certainly call myself a craftinista!
1/15/14 Update: Winners have been picked and I’m thrilled to announce that Erika has won the zipper necklace and Cathy C has won the Joan of Arc necklace! Emails will be going out to the winners today so that I can pop your prizes in the mail by the end of the week. Thank you to everyone who entered and keep your eyes pealed for more fun contests and giveaways in the near future.
I hear it all the time, “Joules, you NEED to make time for yourself” but let me tell you that when you work full-time and you’re a mom full-time you don’t really GET time to yourself.
Errands with an (almost) 2 year old are their own special brand of challenging. Forcing myself to exercise at 6:30 in the morning is darn hard when my body would prefer to sleep and my tummy would rather be filled with cookies. Even my sleep is interrupted by an 8 pound fluff-ball trying to snuggle into that little area behind my knees.
My mom usually watches Jack three days each week, so I don’t feel comfortable asking her to do any more – especially an overnight slumber party. However, the perfect storm lined up where my mom had almost three weeks of a babysitting break (due to my work vacation) and my husband had a Saturday off of work!
So we did something CRAZY… we had a 24 hour date!
Just us. No toddler. No dog. Just US.
And it was WONDERFUL!
6ish
My husband was able to get off of work a little early and we checked into the 1840’s Carrollton Inn at 6:00 pm. The parking garage was a few blocks away, so he waited in the truck while I did the registration thing and threw our overnight bag into our room. From there, we parked in the Old Bay garage (got to love Baltimore!) and walked around Little Italy to find somewhere fun for dinner.
7ish
We wandered up to Amicci’s and hung out in the bar for a little while until a table was available. I had the Pomegranate Martini and it was delicious…like lick the glass kinda good.
And yes, I may have licked the glass. It would seem by the yummy noises coming from everywhere that everything on the menu was amazing. We had an appetizer of The Pane’ Rotundo, which was basically a huge hunk of Italian bread covered in garlic, shrimp and a creamy scampi sauce. So. Darn. Good. I had the Chicken Marsala for my meal, while the hubby had Penny’s Tortellini. For dessert, I insisted on a homemade cannoli and I’m not going to lie…I ate the whole thing because Travis didn’t want any. Worth it.
9ish
After stuffing ourselves so full of delicious Italian food that we practically had to roll ourselves out the front door, we walked back to our B&B. We finally had a chance to check out the room and bathroom and HOLY MOLEY was this place nice. The room was HUGE and the bathroom…well, that was huge too!
The bed was so incredibly comfortable and I kind of wanted to shove it out the window and take it home with us. The huge Jacuzzi tub was amazing too… and we (of course) had to keep calling it a Jacuzzzzz like on How I Met Your Mother.
Do you see how HUGE everything is? I look like a little girl!Yes, I opened the wardrobe and checked for Narnia. It was not there… just a television.
8ish
Before we went to bed for the evening, we had filled out our breakfast menu and chose to have coffee delivered to our room at 8:00. We had a nice little seating area on one side of our room, so we didn’t have to worry about balancing coffee on our laps and spilling it all over the bed.
Normally at a B&B, you would be sociable and eat breakfast in a main dining room with the other people who are staying there. However, we decided that we weren’t letting anyone bother us on our 24 hour date and had them deliver our breakfast to our room at 9:00. Honestly, I expected to be blown away with an amazing breakfast (as we have been at other B&B’s), but this one was just…fine. I mean, there was nothing wrong with it, but nothing that made it extraordinary either.
11ish
We hung out in the room until 11am, when we had to check out. Once we left, we just walked around Baltimore for a while and I picked up a few things from Anthropologie, while Travis patiently waited on the “husband’s couch.” After getting my shop on, we decided to grab sushi at one of our favorite places, Ra. We’ve been there a few times and every time we leave in a satisfied sushi coma. Hmm… I realize now that most of our date has been eating…
Look, we’re not eating! For now.
2ish
Since we rarely are able to see movies in the theater, we went to see Anchorman 2 at the Baltimore Landmark Theater. It was funny. I mean, I laughed pretty hard at different parts of the movie, but I also was wishing it would go a lot faster at other parts. That’s kind of what you expect with Anchorman though, right?
4ish
Eating again. Travis wanted some ice cream and there is a Haagen Dazs right next to the theater. Okay fine, it’s not like I just WATCHED him eat ice cream, I had one too and it was yummy. After ice cream we walked back to our truck in the Old Bay garage and by time we got back up the road, it was almost exactly 24 hours after we left!
It is amazing how just 24 hours away from real life felt like an actual vacation. We actually had the time and energy to just enjoy ourselves. While Jack is a master at eating out in public, it is still so much more relaxing to just have a little grown up conversation once in a while (without picking up a discarded fork off the ground, occupying a kiddo with crayons, helping him sip from his cup without drenching himself in water, and sharing any piece of my food that he decides he wants). We had so much fun and hopefully will be able to do it again sometime. Sometime sooner than two more years!
Did you have a chance to get away at all when your kids were young? Where did you go and what did you do?
I guess I’m a Stitch Fix addict at this point, because this is my forth Fix in just as many months. If you’re interested in checking out my other boxes, you can find my first three Stitch Fix boxes here.
This month I tried to mix it up – instead of expecting them to read my mind, I gave them a little more direction in what I wanted. Since Christmas is coming up and my Fix was due to be delivered the week before, I asked for a holiday dress and some ‘fun’ tops.
I also totally cheated this month and checked my Stitch Fix account once the order was sent. Then, I googled each item so that I had a ‘heads up’ on what not to buy when I went shopping the other day. What’s funny is that I made snap judgments on each item and was then shocked when I actually liked them on me in person. Oh and this was the first time I’ve actually had the same stylist – Claire, who styled my Fix last month, did this one too!
As much as I love posting my pictures on here to get your feedback on what I should buy, this month I had to return my package by Monday… and there is no use posting a blog on a Friday because pretty much NOBODY stops by. So I put the pictures up on my Pocketful of Joules Instagram page and emailed a couple friends to get some feedback before making my decisions.
So what did I get?
Kensie Benzer Mixed Material Sweater – $78. To say that I hated this shirt would be an understatement…I really HATED this shirt. Do you see the bottom of the sweater? That white part is like an old-school dickie sticking out the bottom. BLEGH! It just looked SO CHEAP, which is ironic because it was almost eighty bucks! Verdict: Hell NO!
Papermoon Wynn Ikat Print Front Pocket Blouse – $48. I really liked the color and pattern on this blouse. I even liked the tab sleeves and the peekaboo see-through-ness of the top. What I didn’t like is the fact that it did absolutely nothing for my figure. It was just kind of boxy, but somehow at the same time it was a little tight across the shoulders. Verdict: Nope!
41Hawthorne Freddy Sleeveless Chiffon Dress – $58. So when I first saw this dress, I hated it. I googled around and saw how it fit on other bloggers and was convinced that there was no way I’d like this dress. Even when I pulled the dress out of the box, I was still thinking grinchy thoughts. But then I put it on… and still didn’t like it much. It was only when I took the outfit picture that I was like, hmmmm this is actually kind of cute. Weird, right?! I even got a lot of great feedback on my Instagram page, so right up into the moment where I was packing up my returns I was thinking I might keep it. But, it’s a lightweight chiffon dress. And it’s DECEMBER. The dress is cute, but somehow doesn’t look so hot with a blazer or sweater for work. And really, where else do I really go in life besides work and Target? Verdict: So close, but no cigar.
Oxmo Dawson Split Neck Heart Print Blouse – $48. When I first picked up this shirt I thought, “eh” and then I slipped it on and it fit perfectly. It looked okay untucked, but looked super cute in an “I’m a naughty secretary” way when paired with a high-waisted pencil skirt. I came SO CLOSE to buying it… but it’s almost $50 and it’s a sleeveless top in DECEMBER. It looked fine under both a blazer and cardigan, but it also looks like a shirt I can find at ANY store ANYWHERE… and probably for less money. Honestly, it was cute and fit nicely, but there was nothing SPECIAL about it. Verdict: Nope.
HoneyPunch Payge Striped Cross-Back Sweater – $48. When I saw this sweater online before my package came, I knew that it would be true love. When I tore into the package and felt its silky-smooth fabric… I sighed with the anticipation of putting it on. I slipped it on… and I LOVE IT! This sweater is exactly the reason I use Stitch Fix. I wouldn’t have ever picked it up on my own, but now that I have it, I can already think of a ton of outfit pairings that will work for work, home or a date night. Admittedly, my husband thinks that the back is weird, but I’m blinded by love so I don’t even care. Verdict: LOVE IT and want to make sweater babies with it!
This month was a tough one – I came REALLY REALLY close to buying three items and hope I don’t regret putting the dress and blouse back in the mail. I’m in love with the one sweater I purchased though and I might even wear it for our full-day of Christmas brewhaha!
For my next Fix, which will be coming in mid-January I asked for a particular blouse that I’ve seen other bloggers receive, a work-appropriate dress or outfit, and maybe even a flannel shirt. I can’t wait to see what I get!
What do you think, did I make the right choice? Or should I run after the mailman to get the dress and heart blouse back?
Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by Stitch Fix, I pay for the $20 styling fee and any clothing I purchase with my own hard-earned money. I do have a special referral link though and if you decide to click through and sign up I will receive a small referral reward. Here’s my link. So thank you for anyone who chooses to click through and support my shopping addiction.
Psssst…Do you love checking out what other people received in their Fixes? I added quick links to every single one of my reviews on my Stitch Fix Reviews page!
The kit supplies. Are you kidding me with this? I’m supposed to make a necklace out of THIS?!
Ok, I cut the extra fabric off the zippers.This is do-able so far…
Then I glued the zipper tabs on each end and glued on my first zipper. Not too hard…
More gluing. I’m actually doing a pretty good job!
Holy guacamole, I just MADE this out of zippers!
