Hipster Survival Kit

My friend Krista is kind of a hipster. Her birthday was this week so I made her a kit.

Illustration from Nan Lawson on Etsy, 2 pairs of fake glasses from StarSturckLadies on Etsy , and hipster beer of choice PBR.

Bloomers

I get on kicks. You know, where you see something or have some idea and you become obsessed with it and it is super intense for about a week and then you are over it? That's how I was with bloomers. I had bought a bunch of these pretty summery dresses that were just a teensy bit see-through-ish in bright light. Somewhere the idea came to me that I needed bloomers to go under them. They would be totally cute AND functional.

Well I went out the next day and bought fabric for them and then the 'project' just sat in a huge pile of other half-finished projects.

Then something amazing happened...I had some time one day so I actually made them! Now I just have to rock them and it will be a great summer. I am thinking these will make biking in dresses and skirts way easier as well.

What do you think? Cute? or completely dorky?

Bachelorette Party: Part 2

The Party.

We were ready to get our party on. We started at a local comedy show. The featured comedian really liked us because we were (and I quote) "classy." That's right ladies. It is possible to go out, have a good time, celebrate your friend's upcoming wedding and not end up like a bunch of crazy people. Well....at least at the beginning of the night!

The headliner was so funny my whole body hurt from laughing so hard. We knew it was going to be a good night!

Next on to a new local 'hotspot' (a term I use loosely in this town.) More friends met up with us and then some phallic objects did make it into the party...one of the girls made a huge box of penis cookies that we gave to the locals...if they let us take a picture of them with it. This was great fun.

Another bar...more fun.

Then we ended the night dancing. This is that place that when you are sober you say "Oh, lets not go there tonight" but as soon as you are drunk you start screaming at people "I WANT TO DAAAANNNNCEEEE!!!! WE HAVE TO GOOOO THERE NOW!" Yep. That was me. And 10 other girls. Good times. The favors were fun and we all looked great in our 'pink and sparkly' theme. Our little tiaras and sashes were adorable and it made it easy for us to keep track of each other.

To all the ladies: go out and have fun but keep it classy(ish)!

Bachelorette Party Part 1

Have you ever planned a bachelorette party? This was my first and while it was fun I was pretty stressed out! The other bridesmaids and I could not find a weekend that worked for all of us between may and July! Tis the season for weddings, graduations, family camping trips, etc....making this summer super busy. (But fun!)

A few days before the party I went out looking for favors. I knew I wanted to stay away from the phallic references (don't we already have enough of that everyday?) so we were going to go with our theme of 'pink and sparkly'. Hey, it may not be the most creative but it all gave us something to work with that was fun, easy, and do-able.

For the gift bags each girl got a pink martini glass, a mini tiara, a big bling ring, some pink beads, 'Hello Kitty' chapstick, blow pops, ring pops, and starburst. The bride got more beads than anyone else and also a big tiara but sadly it was a bit small so she felt more comfortable rocking the mini-tiara.

(Also notice glow in the dark bracelets and a large amount of underwear...for the bride!)

I also wanted sashes for everyone so our group would stand out even more. Do you have any idea how expensive those things are? The cheapest ones I found were $3 a piece and they were kind of lame. Being the crafty person I am I was convinced that I could make them for cheaper than that.

I already had some leftover iron-on transfer paper from another project and I also already had safety pins. All I needed to buy was 2 rolls of hot pink ribbon from a craft store. I made 12 sashes for $1.16 a piece. Not too shabby.

Just remember to reverse your words before you print them off so they will iron on the right way! Also I found that ironing them on to the ribbon I had to iron for longer than I would have for a t-shirt. I would recommend using a scrap of the ribbon to practice on.

This was a fun way to do it because I could put whatever I wanted on them as well. The Bride was easy: "Bride to be". But what for everyone else. A good chunk of the girls were bridesmaids but there were of course other people. 'Friend of bride'? Bleh. I didn't want to do the whole MOH, Bridesmaid, Friends thing so I went with "Team Bride." Because really we are ALL on team bride and we have to support our favorite team right? This way no one was 'put above' anyone else and it was just a lot simpler. Win.

Next up: the party.

Summer Storms

Did you hear about the storms in Minnesota from last week? Tornadoes ripped through southern MN creating quite the path of destruction. We were ok in our apartment though it was a bit scary for awhile there! The next morning I stopped at my mom's house to pick up my sister and this was the sight I was met with:

It looks WAY worse than it was (thank goodness). Mostly gutter damage and also a trash can and some lawn furniture bit the dust.

It took my sister and me a few hours to clear it all away onto the lawn. We were pretty proud of ourselves. The biggest bits we had to use hand saws to get them down to a manageable size so we could heave them into the yard. The next day our excellent uncles came all the way up from Iowa to haul away the pile that was in our yard.

We were lucky. So many people got it way worse. Lots of cleanup has already happened but our thoughts are with those who will have to rebuild and have lost so much.


Hope everyone is having a safe and happy summer!

Catching up

Where did May go? Everyone I talk to seems to think that May is the month that magically slips away from you and before you know it you are well into June! My May was super busy but in a good way. Lots of good friends and good times.

My best friend Brittany sent me this adorable package in the mail that actually made me tear up a little. I am still in MN and she currently lives in Colorado. Inside there were two cds and a hand written note from her. The only thing that didn't make me completely lose it was that she came at the end of May for her sister's wedding!

Of course she was really busy with wedding stuff but I still got some time with her. I bought us breakfast rolls at the local farmer's market one Saturday for us to share. I also bought myself flowers. Nothing feels more indulgent to me than buying flowers. Is that weird?

But hold on! More amazingness: Brittany played a show while she was in town. Yes my friend is in a band called Janesville Dolls. Check out their myspace. Brittany played solo most of the night but here she is with her dad backing her up. It was really cool because you can see where she gets her talent from! She writes her own music and she does some really awesome covers. Check it out already!

As May drew to a close I went on yet another zoo trip. This time helping my friend chaperon his first grade class. This is the baby orangutan isn't he cute?

And here are the monkeys I was in charge of. Running away from me. Long day.

Now it is June and wedding season is about to kick into high gear. Plus I have to find a new place to live by August. Time you are moving fast. I am doing my best to catch up.

What have you been busy with?

Shop Update

Well it seems that posting gods are back on my side...for now.

New items in the shop today with a few new colors.

Agatha in Bubblegum

Agatha in Black


Agatha in Natural


Agatha in Cloud


Edwina in Chocolate


Edwina in Cloud


Gertrude in Cloud

Have a great day!

Asparagus pizza

Asparagus pizza
Originally uploaded by RubyMarilyn

This post was supposed to be filled with a bunch of random things that would sum up what I have been busy doing these past couple of weeks but for some reason blogger wont let me post! What is that? I have no idea but it seems other people are still getting on just fine so I am assuming it is just me. This is partially a post about pizza, and a bit of a test to see if I can post from flickr still.

For now I will leave you with this asparagus pizza- recipe at http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/05/shaved-asparagus-pizza/

When I say it was good I mean it was REAL GOOD. My friend Sarah came over and as we were preparing for a full night of revelry (it was going to be her bachelorette party- party post coming soon.) we decided to watch a movie and make some pizza. This tasted so fresh and perfect it was even worth setting off my smoke alarms twice. (Don't judge me.) For dessert I made my mom's apple cinnamon dessert pizza which I have still to completely master but it was delicious nonetheless.